Canadian Skittle Pool Rules

A variation on how to play Canadian skittles pool (billiards with skittles). These Canadian skittles pool rules were contributed by Billiards Forum member gully-foyle, of British Columbia back in 2008.

This is a version that uses only one black pin (among other colors).
There's also a version of Canadian Skittle Pool using 3 black pins (among other colors).

Also, if you are looking for variations on this game:

Visit the thread skittle pool played on a snooker table layout.
Alternate rules for how to play skittles pool

Setup for Canadian Skittle Pool

Below are the details on how to set up the pins/skittles on pool table and where to place the balls to begin the game.

Placement of the Skittles on the Pool Table

One black skittle goes on the Blue spot in the center of the table (on the dot). The others are placed as follows:

The skittles are roughly 3" high. The placement is figured out by laying a skittle down so that one end is at the edge of the Blue spot, aimed at directly a side pocket. A white skittle is placed there. There should be room for a ball to pass between them (tough, but doable).
The same for the other side (toward the other side pocket).
Repeat so that the remaining two skittles are placed in the same way, but towards the foot spot and the end of the pool table (in line with the brown spot and the pink spot).

The result should be a "diamond" placing of the skittles on and around the blue spot.

The skittles are numbered: starting from the one closest to the brown spot and going counter-clock wise: 1, 2, 3, 4. Therefore the one toward the Yellow spot is "1," the one to the right side pocket is "2", toward the pink spot is "3" and toward the left side pocket is "4."

The Black Skittle is worth "5."

The Balls

One Red Ball is placed on the Pink spot to start. It is worth Three points if you sink it or sink the cue ball after hitting it.

The Yellow Ball is placed on the Brown spot. It is worth Two points if you sink it or sink the cue ball after hitting it.

Pea Selection by Players

Typically, pea selection should be done after lagging to determine shooting order (see "Determine Who Shoots First" below)

Each player takes a numbered "pea" from the flask aka pill bottle. The peas are numbered from 1 to 15. You keep your pea's number a secret. Your "target" is result of subtracting the value of your pea from 31.

Therefore, if you have the "1" pea, your winning target is "30." If you have the "5" pea, your target is "26" and so on. The best pea to have is the "15" pea, as you will need only "16" to win (15 deducted from 31).

How to Play Canadian Skittle Pool

Rules for how to play Canadian Skittle billiards aka Canadian Skittle Pool.

Starting the Game:

To start the game, players lag for shooting order (or just decide). We used to establish the shooting order by lagging before drawing peas.
The cue ball is placed in the "D," and you must shoot the red ball (on the pink spot).

Continuing Play

The player shoots until he doesn't make points. Keep track of the points make on the board, assigning 'Jits' and 'Blacks' as they occur.

Scoring in Canadian Skittles Pool

Editor's Note: This section is very complicated. The author has described it to the best of his ability, but offers to clarify any confusion if you post your questions in the comments below.

In playing Canadian Skittle Pool, players MUST score points in two ways:

Sinking or Caroming Balls

You can score points by sinking balls or caroming balls (making the cue ball strike both the red and the yellow), AND getting some points by "getting wood" (knocking down skittles at least once).

Sinking the Red gets you three points.
Sinking the Yellow gets you two points.
Making a carom (striking both the Red and Yellow on the same shot) gets you two points.

IF YOU SINK ALL THREE BALLS (Red, Yellow and Cue Ball) on the same shot, YOU WIN AUTOMATICALLY (regardless of how many points you need or have).

Making Wood

You can knock down skittles either with the cue ball or the Red or Yellow, BUT you must hit a ball with the cue ball first. That is: hit the Red or Yellow, making it knock down skittles, OR, hitting the Red or Yellow and rolling the cue ball to knock down skittles. The trick is: YOU CANNOT KNOCK BOTH WHITE SKITTLES and THE BLACK SKITTLE on the same shot. You must knock down the Black Skittle ALL BY ITSELF.

If you knock down White skittles, you score the value of the skittles knocked down:

just the "1" skittle, one point
just the "2" skittle, two points, etc.,
both the "1" and "2" = 3 points, etc.

If you knock down JUST the Black skittle, you get FIVE points, and "a black" is scored for you. To track these, you just mark it on the board with a "B".

Knocking down all the white skittles on the same shot is called "a sweep", and if this occurs, YOU WIN THE GAME AUTOMATICALLY, regardless of how many points you need or have. This is not easy.

Now the scoring gets a little complicated. Remember, we always played this for money, so the rules get rather arcane. The thing to remember is you MUST "get wood" (at least once), and you MUST score by sinking or "sewering off" a Red or Yellow ball.

To summarize the skittles pool scoring rules:

Red (sunk or in-off) = three points
Yellow (sunk or in-off) = two points
Carom (hitting Red & Yellow with Cue Ball) = two points

You can "combine" (make a carom AND sink or sewer off a ball) for cumulative points, i.e., Hit Red, sink Red, Cue ball hits Yellow, Cue ball drops:

Red = 3 points
Carom = 2 points
In-off Yellow = 2 points

The shot is worth "7" points.

Add wood to the above and you score "7" plus the value of the skittles knocked down (ONLY white or JUST THE BLACK) for a maximum of "16" points on the above shot:

"7" for ball action
2, 3 and 4 Skittle for "9" more.

And remember, if you knocked down ALL the white skittles you'd win automatically.

Fouls in Canada Skittles Pool

If you "foul" by committing any of the following offenses, you LOSE ALL YOUR POINTS AND HAVE TO START OVER from ZERO:

Fail to hit a ball
Knock down the Black and some White skittle(s)
Fly off the table, etc.,
Knock something over with your cue
Commit any basic foul e.g. jump a ball off the table, double kiss, etc.

When this points reset happens, you are assigned a "Jit". (this is what we called fouls. They are cumulative.

If you GO OVER your target number of points (i.e., you have the 10 pea, need 21, and score more than 21 points), YOU LOSE ALL YOUR POINTS AND START OVER.

Also, you cannot make the same shot more than three times in a row, i.e.,

you cannot sink the Red or Yellow more than three times in a row.
you cannot make more than three caroms in a row.
you cannot knock down the same skittle(s) more than three times a row.

How to Win in Canadian Skittles Pool

This is a game we played for money. If you don't want to play for money, you can substitute the currency amounts with points.

When someone wins the game, the following are the "payout" rules:

A set amount for each "Black" paid from EVERY player.
A set amount for each JIT paid from every player.
A set amount for winning the game itself.

Way back, we played for nickel and a quarter. A quarter for each "Black", a quarter for winning the game, and five cents for each "Jit" each opponent had.

If we were feeling rich and bloodthirsty, we'd play "Ladder," where the last finisher paid everyone above him, second-last ditto, etc. AND paid five cents for every stroke you were away from winning (i.e., if you needed 25 to win and only had 10 points, you paid five cents for each of "15" points you needed) to the winner.