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Cue Ball leaving and return

10/1/2011 1:15:15 AM

Cue Ball leaving and return

I was just playing billiards casually with some friends when I hit the cue ball off the flat surface of the table and it somehow spun back in on the edge of the table and hitting one of my balls in the process. Does this still count as a no scratch since it "left" the table and came back?

This question relates to the following billiard rules:

Cue Ball leaving and return

Replies & Comments
  1. bakaFenwick on 10/1/2011 5:03:25 AM

    There was a very long debate on this very subject some time ago. You did state you were playing, " billiards casually" Billiards to me means three cushion but I'll presume you mean pocket billiards. 8, 9, 10 ball or 14/1.

    I thing it depends what is consider the playing surface. I myself consider the rails part of the playing surface. As long as the ball stays off the floor all is good with me. Others feel it's the table surface. Some players break in a manner that the cue ball hits the rack so hard it becomes air born and drops back down, see gravity, and stops right in the middle of the table. I've never heard of it being called a foul. I've also seen the cue ball hit so hard and with a lot of english it will ride the rail a short distance and drop back down on to the table. I've never call it a foul.

    Without a extensive search I can't give you a scripture and verse answer. That is Mitch Alsup's area of expertise.

    So what did you and your friends decide? Get back to us!

  2. bakabaka on 10/1/2011 9:58:27 AM

    This was my first time playing so I had no idea what the rules were, I hit the cue ball, hit some balls and bounced off the table and did a 360 degree turn on the edge of the table, and my friends said it was a no scratch since it "left" the table.

  3. bakaMitch Alsup on 10/1/2011 12:06:45 PM

    It is only called a scratch in a pedantic sense if the CB ends up in a pocket. Otherwise it is colloquially known as a foul.

    In most rule sets (BCA in particular) as long as the CB starts on the flat bed of the table and ends on the flat bed of the table and does not touch any object other than things permanently attached to the table (rails, pocket material,...), it is not a foul in and of itself, however other actions durring the shot may constitute their own foul opportunities.

    However, note; there are rule sets where a CB leaving the flat bed of the table constitutes a foul in and of itself (3-C billiards falls into this catagory).

    So, unless a particular set of rules has been specified, the casual conclusion is that what happened was a legal shot.

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Cue Ball leaving and return

  • Title: Cue Ball leaving and return
  • Author:
  • Published: 10/1/2011 1:15:15 AM