How pool works

1. Pool is played on a table with six pockets. Players take turns to strike the white cue ball at numbered balls to drive them into pockets. A player who pockets a ball legally keeps shooting.
2. What wins depends on the game. In 8-ball one player takes the solids (1 to 7) and the other the stripes (9 to 15); a player must pocket all of theirs, then the 8-ball, to win the rack.
3. In 9-ball the cue ball must hit the lowest-numbered ball first, and whoever legally pockets the 9-ball wins the rack.
4. In 8-ball and 9-ball a foul gives the opponent ball in hand: they may place the cue ball anywhere on the table.

Who breaks

The lag decides it: both players shoot a ball up the table and back, and the one that stops nearer the cushion wins the choice.