#Cutthroat billiards rack plus

Once a player has knocked in a ball, they know that they do not own that group of balls. The three players take turns attempting to knock any ball into a pocket. This practice is known as 'drop.'Įach set of five balls is initially unclaimed, and the assignment of groups of balls to each player is done during the initial stages of game play. In addition the breaker must then take one of their off the table and put it in a pocket to pay for the foul. Any balls made on a foul break must be spotted in numerical order, lowest closest to the foot spot, except for those belonging to the breaker's group. Should a player foul on the opening break, their opponent has cue-ball in hand behind the head string. Shooting the opening break shot themselves.Īny balls which fall from a legal opening break count as legally pocketed balls if there were no fouls. If they fail to do so it is considered an illegal break, which is a foul, and the second shooter has the choice of either:Īccepting the table in position and shooting, or The starting player must make an open break or pocket a ball. Whoever has at least one ball from their group on the table when all the other balls are pocketed is the winner. The next player to make a ball gets his choice of the remaining two groups, and the third player gets whichever group is left. A successful breaker gets to choose which balls will be theirs: numbers one through five, six through ten, or eleven through fifteen. The one-ball is placed on the top where it is spotted. When starting the game, the one-ball, six-ball, and eleven-ball are placed on the three points of the rack. The player who is third in the shooting order is to rack the balls, while the player being first will break them. Shooting order is determined by lot or lag. That is, the three corners of the rack are filled with one ball from each group, one ball of each group goes on each side of the rack, and one ball of each group goes in the middle of the rack.

A ball from each group should be placed in each of the different parts of the rack. A ball from the first group should be on the foot spot. The numbered balls are split into three groups, the first group has balls one to five, the second group has balls six to ten, and the third group has balls eleven to fifteen.Ī standard triangle rack is used in Cutthroat Billiards, with the apex on the foot spot.

#Cutthroat billiards rack plus

In Cutthroat Billiards, the standard set of object-balls numbered 1-15, plus a cue-ball are used. During this process, you will want to 'snooker' your own balls into unsinkable positions as often as you are able, while simultaneously pocketing your opponent's balls. With that said, the object of Cutthroat Billiards is to pocket all of your opponent's balls. Balls are taken off the table by being pocketed on legal shots, or by being 'dropped' as a payment for a foul. The object of Cutthroat Billiards is to be the only player with balls from their group remaining on the table. This means that even though all of your balls may have been sunk, you are not necessarily eliminated.Įach player is assigned a set of numbered balls. The name 'cutthroat' is not unique to pool, but refers to any game played with three or more players in which each player must fend for themselves.Ĭutthroat billiards is sometimes played under a different name, 'Elimination.' This name is not particularly well suited to the game, because when a player scratches, one of both of his opponent's balls is returned to the billiards table. To win this game, the player must see their opponent's balls removed from the table while he or she still has some of their own balls on the table (An exception is where all balls are run off the table and the player wins the game.) Subtle differences in game rules exist, with many regional variations.

Cutthroat is a three-player billiards game, played on a billiard table using cue sticks, that is characterized by the ruthless actions required of the players.