American pool (WPA rules) 8-ball vs. 9-ball (a rant)

(Originally posted on Friday, 23 October 2026)

Honestly, I can’t believe how many people „brag” about preferring American 9-ball pool (WPA rules) over 8-ball. Even though 8-ball is played by more people overall, most of the Internet discussions are dominated by “9-ball fanatics” who seem to be oblivious to the inherent flaws of the 9-ball RULES.

First I will describe the CRUCIAL argument AGAINST 9-ball and then I will give FIVE MORE arguments why 8-ball is better than 9-ball.


1. The CRUCIAL triple-example.

9-ball:

Your opponent pots the balls 1 through 8, hitting some extremely difficult shots, but somehow he/she barely misses the 9 ball and it stays near the pocket. You easily pot the 9 ball, so you win after potting just ONE ball. Could you feel REAL satisfaction in such a situation? I couldn't. One silly shot against EIGHT very hard shots. No contest.

8-ball:

Your opponent pots all the balls from his/her group (either solids or stripes), hitting some extremely difficult shots, but somehow he/she barely misses the black 8 ball and it stays near the pocket. You pot all the balls from your group (not necessarily an easy task) and then you easily pot the black 8 ball, so you win after potting EIGHT balls one after another. Could you feel REAL satisfaction in such a situation? Yes, of course! For most of amateur pool players it would actually be a dream come true to pot so many balls one after another.

Snooker:

Imagine a snooker player who tries to achieve a maximum break, but misses the last black ball and ends up with a break of 140. If you told the snooker player that you wanted to introduce an additional snooker rule that his/her opponent could still win the frame by potting the last black ball, the snooker player would look at you as if you were a complete idiot.


Other CLEAR advantages of American 8-ball pool (WPA rules) over 9-ball:

2. You have to nominate/call shots (indicate the intended ball and pocket if they are not obvious), so you can't remain at the table by a complete accident (unlike in 9-ball).
3. You can't nominate the black 8 ball before potting all the balls from your group, so you can't achieve an instant/early win (unlike in 9-ball).
4. You have to nominate/call shots, including the intended pocket when potting the black 8 ball at the end, so you can't win by a complete accident (unlike in 9-ball).
5. At the start of a frame/rack there are FIFTEEN object balls on the table (SIX object balls MORE than in 9-ball), which means that some object balls block each other much more often than in 9-ball (it adds a whole new layer of complexity, making 8-ball even more fun, because there are some additional challenges to overcome).
6. You are FREE to choose which exactly ball (from your group) you want to hit (unlike in 9-ball), which means that you are able to shape the frame/rack in many more ways than in 9-ball (I really enjoy the moment in 8-ball when I just stand there, wondering IN WHAT ORDER I want to pot object balls AND how, at some moment, I could try to free some of the blocked balls from my group).

I played with my 11-year-old son a few frames/racks of 9-ball and I've stopped it once and for all because he kept trying to achieve an instant/early win. In other words: the main effect of playing 9-ball was that my son was clearly developing BAD HABITS – he was NOT practicing the most important thing in pool, namely potting balls in a standard/typical/repeatable way (that is used 95% of the time in 8-ball), but instead he kept attempting dubious shots.

I can’t believe that some “9-ball fanatics” write that newcomers should start with 9-ball instead of 8-ball! This is INSANE!


Additional issues:

7. The most manipulative (or should I say stupid) argument by “9-ball fanatics”.

I HAVE to comment on one argument that infuriates me every time I see it because it’s completely illogical, but “9-ball fanatics” use it as if it were “rock-solid”. The argument is “You prefer 8-ball over 9-ball because you are a weak player and you can’t control the white/cue ball properly.”

This argument is manipulative (or should I say stupid) because players with good white/cue ball control don't lose their abilities when they play 8-ball! Such players DON’T revert to newcomers under any circumstances, so IF the reason for enjoying 9-ball were JUST good white/cue ball control then ALL such players (with good white/cue ball control) should enjoy 8-ball as much as 9-ball! If a player enjoyed BOTH 8-ball and 9-ball JUST because of good white/cue ball control then he/she would NEVER use this argument in a discussions 8-ball vs. 9-ball! What a fucking manipulation!

It means that “9-ball fanatics” dislike 8-ball for a WHOLE DIFFERENT reason! So, they use this manipulative (or should I say stupid) argument (“You prefer 8-ball over 9-ball because you are a weak player and you can't really control the white/cue ball properly.”) to DIVERT attention from the REAL reason they dislike 8-ball. Whatever that reason is.

Well, I think I know what the reason is. The “9-ball fanatics” must know how to play some particular types of shots well, in most cases relatively strong shots, so they are able to move the white/cue ball around the table, BUT they need an open position to do it. When they face a cluttered position they are often unable to use their go-to shots and they struggle with different types of shots. It seems to me that they simply can't play 8-ball as well as 9-ball, but they can't stand this truth.

If I myself were a world-class player I would still avoid 9-ball, simply because the RULES of 9-ball would NOT change according to my level of play. The CRUCIAL case (“I potted just ONE ball and I won! Yay!”) seems ALWAYS laughable to me.

By the way: I HATE when some professional players openly CELEBRATE the fact that they were just lucky (achieving an instant win right at the start/break) – to me it’s simply pathetic. For comparison, this is how OBJECTIVE people behave (not-surprisingly he’s a snooker player):




8. Another manipulative (or should I say stupid) argument by “9-ball fanatics”.

The argument is “Playing 9-ball improves your positioning skills much more than playing 8-ball.”

Oh, boy. My counter-arguments are:

8.1. You can improve your positioning skills without playing ANY pool game – just keep practicing.
8.2. You can improve your positioning skills while playing 8-ball too, so it's not about which game you play, but HOW you play it.
8.3. It's not fun for a newcomer (or a casual amateur) when he/she keeps missing shots during a game (of either 8-ball or 9-ball) just because he/she “practices” his/her positioning skills by using various side-spins on various shot distances. Such shots (with a side-spin) require HUGE amount of experience, so in reality they are out of reach for newcomers (or casual amateurs) who usually have significantly limited playing/practicing time. Such players, by the way, play 8-ball games just to have fun, not to practice anything (other than potting).


9. 10-ball.

The lack of need to nominate/call shots in 9-ball is a complete disqualification not only to me but also to many other pool players and this is why 10-ball is often preferred over 9-ball. But the CRUCIAL argument AGAINST 9-ball is “valid” also AGAINST 10-ball – potting just ONE ball (10% of all the balls in case of 10-ball) is enough to win a frame/rack. This is completely RIDICULOUS by default and no “explanation” can ever change it.


10. Why is there no game “15-ball” similar to 9-ball (or 10-ball)?

Just think about it – there are 15 object balls in one ball set (used in whole in 8-ball), but only 9 object balls are used in 9-ball (or 10 object balls in 10-ball). Why only so few? My guess is that the inherent illogicality/unfairness/stupidity of the 9-ball (or 10-ball) MAIN RULE would be more pronounced then.

In general, the inherent illogicality/unfairness/stupidity of the 9-ball (or 10-ball) MAIN RULE would be more and more pronounced with more and more object balls being used, so 29-ball (2 ball sets, but with only 1 “money” ball) would be even more illogical/unfair/stupid than 15-ball, but not as illogical/unfair/stupid as 43-ball (3 ball sets, but with only 1 “money” ball).

One object ball to win a frame/rack out of 15 or 29 or 43 object balls (6.7% or 3.4% or 2.3%) would be one thing and another thing would be completely cluttered position. The superiority of the 8-ball can be clearly seen here too, because in 15-ball or 29-ball or 43-ball played with 8-ball rules the game would still be enjoyable, just longer – more additional challenges to overcome, different for each player due to different groups (solid or stripes). No problem with logicality/fairness there.


Summing up:

I LOVE American 8-ball pool (WPA rules) even more than I love snooker (on a 12 ft table) and I HATE the inherent illogicality/unfairness/stupidity of the 9-ball (or 10-ball) MAIN RULE with all my passion!

Pheeew! I had to vent my thoughts.