Who plays first in English billiards?
I · Intermediate · The game · 1 of 5Players decide who chooses first by stringing: both strike a ball up the table at the same time and back, and the ball that stops nearer the bottom cushion wins. The winner chooses which ball to play with and who goes first. The red goes on the Spot, and the first player plays from the D.
How it works
- Stringing: both players strike a cue-ball each, together, from opposite halves of the baulk-line towards the top cushion.
- Winning the string: the ball that finishes nearest the bottom cushion.
- Losing the string by rule: touching a side cushion, or crossing into the other player's half.
- The winner's choice: which ball, and who plays first. Players may agree another way.
- The order: fixed for the whole game.
- The start: the red on the Spot, and the first player in-hand.
- The game begins: when the cue-ball is on the table and the cue tip touches it.
- Wrong ball: the striker's responsibility, even if the referee handed it over.
- Wrong player starts: replayed if only one stroke has been made without a foul. Otherwise play goes on.
The glossary has the stringing, the in-hand, the striker, the spots, the game and the referee.
Tricky cases
A player's ball touches a side cushion during the string. What happens?
That player forfeits the string.
Does the string winner have to play first?
No. The winner chooses both the ball and who plays first.
The referee hands the striker the wrong ball and they play with it. Whose fault is it?
The striker's. It is their responsibility to play with the correct cue-ball.
Does the same player start every game of a match?
No. In matches of several games the start passes in turn. If a game is started by the wrong player and more than one stroke is played, the order is put right in the next game.
Why the rule exists
Stringing is a fair test of touch that also settles the choice of who starts. Both players strike at once from the same line, so neither gains from seeing the other's shot first.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| String | Both strike at once; nearest the bottom cushion wins | WPBSA Billiards 2.5 |
| Start | Red on the Spot; first player in-hand | WPBSA Billiards 3.2 |
| Wrong player, one clean stroke | Restarted | WPBSA Billiards 3.2(d) |
| Snooker | Fifteen reds in a triangle; the first player plays from the D | WPBSA Snooker 3.2, 3.3(c) |
From the rule book
World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, Official Rules of the Games of Snooker and English Billiards (May 2022 update), English Billiards part, English Billiards Section 2 Rule 5 and Section 3 Rule 2. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: the association's rule book, which covers snooker and English billiards together.