Glossary

Pool terms, explained properly

30 terms you will hear at a bar table, with what each one actually means, where it came from, and — because it is what this site is about — what it does to a three-strikes night.

• Ball in hand

  Permission to place the cue ball anywhere on the table.

• Bank

  An object ball played off a cushion before it drops.

• Bar box

  A coin-operated seven-foot table.

• Break

  The opening shot that scatters the rack.

• Buy-in

  What each player pays to enter.

• Call shot

  Naming the ball and the pocket before you shoot.

• Draw

  Backspin that pulls the cue ball back after contact.

• Dry break

  A break that pockets nothing.

• English

  Sidespin applied to the cue ball.

• Foul

  Any illegal stroke.

• Head string

  The line across the table you break from behind.

• House cut

  The share of the pot the venue keeps.

• Kick

  The cue ball off a cushion first.

• Killer

  The British and Irish name for three-strikes pool.

• Life

  The British name for a strike. Same thing, counted upward.

• On deck

  The player whose turn is next.

• Payout

  How the pot is divided between the top finishers.

• Pot

  Two meanings: the prize money, and British for pocketing a ball.

• Rack

  Both the triangle and the balls arranged in it.

• Rotation

  Two meanings: the order of play, and a rule that you hit the lowest ball first.

• Run out

  Clearing everything you need without missing.

• Running order

  The sequence players shoot in, fixed at the start of the night.

• Safety

  A shot played to leave your opponent with nothing.

• Scratch

  Pocketing the cue ball, or knocking it off the table.

• Shot clock

  A time limit on a single shot.

• Slop

  A ball that goes in by accident.

• Snookered

  Having no direct path to the ball you must hit.

• Spot

  The marked point a ball is returned to, and the act of returning it.

• Strike

  A missed turn. Three of them and you are out.

• Three strikes

  The format: one shot a turn, three misses and you are out.