World Pool-Billiard Association Blackball Pool Rules.
"In Blackball, the objective is to pocket all seven balls of your assigned group and then legally pocket the black ball to win the frame. During play, every legal shot requires the cue ball to first strike one of your "on" balls and then either pocket a ball or cause any ball to hit a cushion, with any fouls granting your opponent a "free shot" allowing them to strike any ball on the table Standard fouls include potting the cue ball (an "in-off"), hitting the wrong ball first, failing to hit a cushion after contact, or driving a ball off the table. If a player commits a foul, the incoming player is awarded a "free shot" plus one visit. "
Objective and Equipment:
Blackball is played with a cue ball and 15 object balls: two groups of seven balls (typically red and yellow, or blue and yellow/solids and stripes), plus one black ball.
The goal is to pocket all of your designated group's balls and then legally pocket the black ball to win the frame. In blackball, shots are not called.
The Break:
The balls are racked with the black ball placed precisely on the foot spot. The break shot is played with the cue ball placed anywhere in baulk (behind the baulk line). For a break to be legal, at least one ball must be potted, OR at least two object balls must fully cross the imaginary line joining the middle pockets.
Open Table and Determining Groups:
After the break, the table is always declared "open," meaning groups are not yet decided, even if balls were potted on the break.
A player's group is exclusively decided when they legally pot a ball or balls from a single group on a normal shot. Once a group is assigned, the player must focus entirely on their "on" balls.
Legal Shots:
To execute a legal shot, a player's cue ball must make initial contact with an "on" ball. Following that initial contact, the player must either pot an "on" ball, OR cause any ball (including the cue ball) to strike a cushion.
The only exception is when a player is "snookered" (unable to strike both sides of an "on" ball in a straight line); when escaping a snooker, a ball is not required to hit a cushion after the initial contact.
Fouls and Free Shots:
Standard fouls include potting the cue ball (an "in-off"), hitting the wrong ball first, failing to hit a cushion after contact, or driving a ball off the table. If a player commits a foul, the incoming player is awarded a "free shot" plus one visit.
During the free shot, the rule requiring you to hit your own ball first is suspended—you may legally strike any ball on the table first, including the opponent's balls or the black ball.
The player can choose to take the free shot from where the cue ball rests or play from baulk.
Loss of Frame:
A player instantly loses the frame if they pot the black ball while balls from their own group remain on the table, pot the black ball on a foul shot, intentionally play a ball that is not "on", or make a deliberate attempt not to play a legal shot.