3 or More Balls

Three-ball (or \"3-ball\", colloquially) is a pocket billiards folk game played with three standard pool object balls and a cue ball. more...

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The goal is to pocket the three object balls in as few shots as possible Theoretically, any number of players can participate, in rotation, but more than five can become unwieldy. The game involves a somewhat more significant amount of luck than either nine-ball or eight-ball, because of the disproportionate value of pocketing balls on the break shot. In some areas and subcultures, such as the Asian-American youth-dominated pool hall scene of San Francisco, California, three-ball is a popular local tournament game, and is also frequently gambled upon (typically for a one- to five-dollar (or equivalent) ante per round.)

Play

There are no widespread official or standardized rules for three-ball, though local tournaments promulgate rulesets that have some sway over area player populations even outside the context of the tournaments. Below are listed the most common, widely-accepted rules.

The game is played on any pocket billiard table with six pockets. Under tournament conditions, a single round usually consists of three or five games (innings) per player (with each player's individual inning scores added to calculate their final score for the round), and a match may consist of several multi-inning rounds, back-to-back or spread out over a period of time (even weeks). In a gambling context, three-ball (like the group pool games killer and cutthroat, and the card game poker) is typically played in multiple games (each played out until someone wins the betting pool, then after new antes are placed, play begins again), sometimes for many hours, with players able to enter and leave as suits their finances and risk-aversion.)

Object

The object of the game is to sink all of the object balls in as few strokes as possible, with points being added to the player's score for each stroke and for specific fouls. Unlike in eight-ball and nine-ball, the player at turn remains at turn until all object balls are pocketed, or the player concedes or reaches the maximum point limit (see below). All strokes count as one point each, whether they pocketed no balls, one ball or more than one ball. (Fouls incur additional penalty points; see below.)

Read more at Wikipedia.org