THE LETTER of the LAW in Our Sport, Rules Are Made to Be Refined and Reworded
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+ T E C H T A L K + BY Bob Jewett THE LETTER OF THE LAW In our sport, rules are made to be refined and reworded. N MY February 2 0 0 2 column, 1 did a days near Chicago to work out the re- The WPA General Assembly will be brief history of the rule changes in maining details. The rules drafted from meeting as this c o l u m n is going to 8-ball. I was surprised by how many that meeting were distributed to the na- press, and will be voting on whether there had been. The Billiard Congress tional federations for further feedback, to adopt the new proposed Rules and of America (BCA) had published an- and a final final version was finished in Regulations. If they are adopted, you nual rule books, sometimes with signif- November. will notice a few minor changes, which icantly different interpretations of the The WPA's World Standardized Rules we'll cover here. same rule from year to year. Three fouls differentiates between Rules, concerning T h e major change for U.S. players for loss of game was in very briefly; and game play, and Regulations, the periph- will be the disappearance of the old there have been perhaps six different eral issues like dress code, referee behav- Rule 1.16, which suggested "cue-ball sets of rules for what fouls only." This pertained happens on the break. to non-refereed matches: Of course, this prolifer- If the shooter acciden- ation is dwarfed by the tally move an object ball, variety of rules that you it is not a foul. T h e non- will find in your local shooter has the option of taverns, but more than leaving the moved ball once 1 was startled by in position or moving it changes the BCA made b a c k to its original posi- for no apparent reason. tion. Basically, by discard- The global rules situ- ing the option of cue-ball ation for pool is some- fouls only, all rules are to what different now. The be applied in all matches. BCA is a m e m b e r of the T h e Regulations suggest World Pool-Billiard As- h o w to handle the situa- sociation ( W P A ) , which tion where a referee can- has been the world gov- not be continuously at the erning body of poo! table. since about 1 9 9 0 . ( T h e T h e meeting in 2 0 0 6 was BCA follows WPA rules, a real eye-opener to me on while the BCA Pool this rule. It seems that the League, n o w a private whole world — except the organization, prints U.S. — is happy to apply their own rules, sepa- all the rules all the time. If rate from the WPA.) you brush a ball with your One of the most impor- sleeve, it's a foul. While tant policies of the WPA your local leagues may de- is enforcing a five-year cide to play with the old period between rule rule (meaning cue-ball changes. While there fouls only) since "all fouls" may be s o m e wording requires a level of sports- adjustments between the revisions, you ior and shot-clock operation. While the manship that is too rare these days, I can expect few surprises most years. Rules are intended to be changed only think they would be doing their players About two years ago, I was asked as absolutely necessary, the Regulations and the game a favor if they would try to begin editing a new revision of the are considerably more flexible and had to implement this change. rules for possible adoption in January to be rewritten to match the new word- Also under the proposed changes, a 2 0 0 8 . A first revision was put on the ing of the Rules. Together, the two docu- late lag is no longer penalized as a loss Web, and a lot of players provided feed- ments amount to about 30 pages of text of lag. Instead, the lag will be replayed. back on both the wording and intent. and diagrams. A further document is the Maybe you were unaware of this rule. In September 2 0 0 6 , about 15 delegates Equipment Specifications, but that was Some players wait until their oppo- from around the world met for three not part of this effort at revision. nent's lag is nearly done before they 34 BILLIARDS DIGEST J a n u a r y 2008 lag. T h a t way, they can get a better feel ball and straight pool. Black ball is a for the speed of the table. Of course, game similar to 8-ball that is played in if both players adopted this strategy, England and quite a few other coun- the game would be called on account tries. Among other rules that Ameri- of darkness with no shot having been cans might find surprising is that a foul fired. is penalized with a "free shot." This In straight pool, a stalemate rule allows the shooter to hit whatever he has been added at the same time that pleases, before starting his normal in- the "nurse-safety" rule was removed. ning. A nurse safety is where both players In 14.1 play, it is no longer an option play safe on the same ball that is near to accept the balls in position after your a rail. Under the old rules, the ball was opponent commits three successive declared frozen after each player had fouls. Under the new rules, the fouler played safe twice on the ball, which will always re-break under normal con- forces play in s o m e other direction. All ditions, while still being penalized 18 racks now can be declared a stalemate, points (3 for each foul and 15 for three meaning the balls are re-racked and the consecutive). players lag for the break. One change that generated a surpris- T h e rule for "No Rail" in the case of ing amount of controversy concerns the frozen balls was revised. T h e old rule rack in straight pool. If you need to spot was quite confusing and didn©t really the 15th ball with an untouched 14-hall rack on the table, the referee is permitted to WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME re-rack all 15 balls. If he can©t make a proper YOU READ THE RULES? NOW 15-ball rack by simply placing the 15th ball on WOULD BE A GOOD TIME. the foot spot, then he cover the reason for the rule. ( T h e has to re-rack. The referee has to decide "No Rail" rule was intended to prevent whether a re-rack is necessary. Evident- repetitive safeties, like rolling the cue ly there was an unwritten rule used in ball off a ball frozen to the rail.) Under some areas that the triangle was not to the new rule, many strange exceptions return to the table after racking. I think have b e e n eliminated. For example, if it©s fairer to give the incoming player a the object ball is frozen to the corner of correct rack if the spotted ball doesn©t the side pocket, and your shot causes fit well on the original 14. it to rattle back and forth in the j a w s Finally, under the old rules, if you of the side, you do not get credit for wanted to play a ball behind the head- having hit a rail under the old rules. string when you had cue ball in hand T h a t has been fixed. You will need to behind the headstring, the cue ball had understand the revised definition of to contact a cushion above the head- "Driven to a Rail" in c o n n e c t i o n with string before coming back. Under the this rule. new rules, the cue ball is j u s t required Several things were moved into "Un- to cross the headstring before any sportsmanlike Conduct" that were pre- contact with a ball behind the string. viously specific fouls. A major example That means that the two shots shown of this is the intentional miscue. Un- in the diagrams are now allowed. For der the rules currently being reviewed the shot in D i a g r a m 1, the referee will by the WPA, the only permissible way have to make a decision on whether to set the balls in motion is by a for- the cue ball has crossed the line before ward stroking motion of the cue stick contacting the object ball. As long as on the cue ball. To intentionally move the cue ball has completely crossed the the balls in any other way is completely headstring before making contact with outside the rules. T h e referee is allowed the 2 ball, this shot is legal. considerable latitude in penalizing un- Similarly, in D i a g r a m 2, as long as the sportsmanlike conduct, ranging from a entire cue ball crosses the headstring, warning to expulsion from the tourna- you can pocket the 7 ball without hit- ment. Play fair. ting a rail. T h e rules for black ball are included W h e n was the last time you read the in the new rules along with 8-ball, 9- rules? Now would be a good time.