Pool format
Ring game: rules and how to play
Multi-player rotation played for a set amount per ball. The money moves every single shot.
| Players | 3–6 |
|---|---|
| Length | 20–40 minutes |
| Equipment | Nine or ten balls, and money |
| Difficulty | Advanced |
The object of the game
Finish ahead on money, not on games.
Setting up
- Three to six players, each putting in the same stake.
- Agree a value per ball — often the money ball is worth more than the rest.
- Play nine-ball or ten-ball rules with the turn passing round the group.
The rules
Rotation rules, more players
Lowest ball first. Pocket one and keep shooting. Miss and the next player in the ring takes over from where you left it.
Every ball is money
Each pocketed ball is paid by every other player at the agreed rate. The money ball — usually the 9 — pays several times that.
Fouls pay
A foul normally costs the agreed amount to every other player, which is what keeps people from firing at everything.
How a night of this actually runs
It takes 3–6 and runs about 20–40 minutes, which is the number that decides whether it suits your room more than any rule in it does. You need nine or ten balls, and money, and it sits at a advanced level — so think about whether the weakest player in the room will still be enjoying it an hour in.
Compared with three strikes, the format this site is built around: that one takes any number of players, keeps everybody in the room for roughly two hours, and needs nothing but a rack and a way to count lives. Most of the games on this site are better as the game inside a night than as the shape of the night itself.
Is it any good in a bar?
A strong players' game. Fun to watch, intimidating to join, and not something to run as a bar's advertised weekly night. Three strikes does the same social job with a tenth of the risk.