EIGHT BALL

U.S. pocket-billiards game in which 15 balls numbered consecutively and a white cue ball are used. Those numbered 17 are solid colours; 915 are circled in white; and the eight ball is black. To begin, the balls are racked in a pyramid with the eight ball in the centre. One player or a side plays numbers 17, while the other plays 915; but choice of group is not made until a ball is legally pocketed. Once a side has pocketed all of its group, that side tries to pocket the eight ball and thus win the game. Should a player pocket the eight ball before all of his group is sunk, or misplay the eight ball (as by playing it into a pocket other than the pocket designated before the shot), that player loses.