Local Rules

Someone over at BeijingBoyce was asking for a definitive account of the local pool rules a little while ago. I attempted to post an answer, but..... well Boyce claims he's been having problems with his comment moderation (although this is just a recent glitch, and I don't think he's posted anything I've left for him this year; so I must assume he's still in a grump with me for likening him to Da Shan during the Olympics - silly man!).

Anyway, I thought I would attempt to address this topic here.

First off, it's pretty silly to suppose that there is any canonical set of rules for any given place. There are huge variations from country to country and city to city, and even within the same city; every venue, almost every single player has an individual concept of what the rules should be.

I give credit to recent opening The Stumble Inn, which is the only place I know which actually posts a comprehensive set of house rules (though in English only, so it can cause some moments of awkwardness with Chinese opponents). Luga's Villa seems to have just posted some rules too, but again in English only, and rather incomplete. Everywhere else, you just have to suss out what the 'regulars' are doing, and/or conduct a friendly negotiation with your opponent before you start.

The rules I like to play are classic, 'old school' UK rules (more specifically, they're probably south Midlands rules, circa late '70s or early '80s). I'd like to call them 'Temple rules', if anyone would get the reference (and there was no danger of people supposing that it was a Freemasons reference!). My buddy The Chairman, when we play each other, likes to lobby for a slight variation which he terms 'Birmingham rules'.

1) Two shots after a foul. (The alternate penalty of taking the cueball in hand and placing it anywhere you wish is a relative novelty in the British game, and is, I imagine, designed to make the games go faster. I suspect that it may also act as something of a leveller, since ball-in-hand is often a bigger advantage to the less skilled player, while better players usually press home more of an advantage from two shots.)

2) The first of the two shots is also a 'free table': i.e., you can play any ball and count it as one of your own. (Problems arising around this rule - Can you also play the black first? I say YES. Does potting a ball other than your own count as a legitimate pot allowing you to continue your break, or is it merely not a foul? I say YES, it's a legitimate pot and you can continue.) Although I don't particularly like this rule, I have learned to accept it.

3) If snookered after a foul, you may reposition the cue ball (behind the line, or in a notional 'D' - proper pool tables should have a 'D' marked on them, but you hardly ever see that anywhere these days) and still have the two shots - and a 'free table', as above. You should have the choice of being able to play one of your own balls if you want to, and still have the full benefit of your opponent's foul penalty.

4) The two shots 'carry': i.e., they allow you to take two consecutive turns at the table. Some people say that you are merely given two opportunities to pot a ball, but that if you pot a ball on your first shot you can only play a single break. That severely limits the impact of the penalty, and I can't see any persuasive logic behind making such a distinction. 'Two shots' should mean 'two breaks'. Simple enough.

5) Lucky pots count (although it is polite to explain your intended shot if you're going to try anything the least bit exotic or unexpected).

6) The black ball can only be legitimately potted in a nominated pocket (but there's no need to 'stick' to the first nominated pocket; you can choose a different pocket every time you take a shot). I don't particularly like this rule, but it's one of the 'Birmingham variations' that the Chairman has foisted upon me.

7) You only get one shot on black - not two - after a foul. Now, I think this is an utterly silly rule. It effectively means there is no penalty at all for your fouls once your opponent is on the black ball. However, it does make it a bit more difficult to close the game out, which is sometimes to my advantage when playing New Dad or The Chairman and battling back from behind.

8) The only 'game foul' is potting the black out of sequence, or knocking the black off the table. Going in-off the black with the cueball results in 'two shots' with the cueball replaced in the 'D' (or behind the line). [Some folks allow respotting the black if it's potted out of sequence or knocked off the table, and I am in sympathy with this approach; it sucks to have a game cut short by an unlucky accident. However, I don't think this has ever been a very common rules variation in any of the countries where I've played, and I've certainly never seen it here in China. On the other hand, many people - Americans, especially - insist that any foul on the black is a game foul.]

9) You can play the cueball backwards when respotting (in the 'D' etc.). It is very, very common to find people who insist that you can't - but there is no compelling logic for that: it is the silliest and most annoying of all pool rule aberrations.

Yes, I think that's all.

Ah, but now...... the common 'Chinese' rules we have to put up with when playing the local pool sharks.

a) No 'slop', as our American friends say. All pots must be called in advance, and lucky shots don't count (they're not treated as fouls, but your break comes to an end).

b) Ball in hand after a foul (but only one shot - well, ball in hand and two shots would be a bit crazy!).

c) It is not a foul to pot one of your opponent's balls (but you do have to hit one of your own balls first). I HATE this rule. [You also occasionally come across Chinese players who claim that the black ball belongs to both players, and it is thus not a foul to hit the black ball first. I think they're just trying it on....]

d) It is a foul if you do not drive at least one ball to a cushion with every shot (sometimes you even encounter a really hardcore version that holds you must drive a ball to a cusion after first contact; it's not enough to play the cueball off a cushion on to one of your balls). I hate, HATE, HATE this rule: it makes it almost impossible to play many kinds of safety shot or to attempt long slow pots.

e) You cannot lay claim to spots or stripes until the first pot after the break. If you make a pot from the break, you can take a further shot - with a free table (i.e., any pots you make from the break don't actually count). Bizarre.

So, there you have it. Chinese rules are pretty fucked up, and take quite some getting used to. I always prefer to play by my old-style UK rules, if I can (which is pretty much what they have at the Stumble, god bless 'em). However, they are not the worst I've ever encountered: there are a lot of places in Sydney where there are no fouls, and deliberate foul play (especially potting of your opponent's balls) is an integral part of the tactics; I found it impossible to get my head around that.

Even after 6 years of playing pool here (and 2 years of playing regularly in the Pool Bar) I'm still learning new wrinkles in the local rules from Chinese opponents. I sometimes suspect they're making them up as they go along. I like to joke that these are perhaps 'Tianjin rules'; it's quite common where I come from to gently mock obscure, unlikely, or unheard of new rules by suggesting that they must originate from a neighbouring town or city (much as the inhabitants of The Simpsons' home of Springfield disparage everything about nearby Shelbyville). The Chairman is similarly disdainful of 'Coventry rules'.