8-ball pool is often overlooked in favor of the apparently simpler 9-ball, but people who don’t play this game are missing out on a lot of things. Here are some reasons why 8-Ball Pool is a lot of fun.

First, you and your opponents are going after two groups of balls, instead of just one in 9-Ball pool. You two shoot a break at the start of the game, to decide which group of ball one will be aiming for when the game proceeds. The type of ball that you pocket on your break is the group that you will be working on for the rest of the game.

There are two types of balls used here, so there are a total of 17 balls in the table rather than 9. That’s a lot of work to do, and that’s where 8-ball pool’s charm is. The two groups are: solids, and stripes. Stripes are the balls that are colored white with a stripe down the middle of their bodies, with their numbers. Solids are monochromatic balls, with their color dominating their entire appearance.

The rules in 8-ball dictate that it is only legal for you to pocket balls that belong to your group. This means that you’ll have to take extra time in order to plan out your attacks, especially when the two groups of balls are intermingling in the table. You cannot just aim to pocket one ball without thinking about how to pocket the next one, especially when there’s a ball in the other group that’s in the way.

Compare this with 9-ball – you and your opponent follow a specific progression in pocketing balls. You have to pocket them in ascending order, from 1 until 9. You cannot pocket the 9-ball legally unless all the other balls have been sent to the pockets. One exception is when you hit a lower number ball first, and use it to send the 9-ball to the pocket.

That exception does not exist in 8-ball; however, there’s no order to be followed when pocketing balls in your legal group either. You can hit and pocket any ball you like as long as you avoid the 8-ball altogether, until you’ve sent all the balls in your group to the pockets.

Imagine how challenging it is to plan an approach and to take into consideration also the placement of your opponents’ balls. To get around obstructing balls from the other group, you’ll have to call on your knowledge of trick shots so you can get around those corners and pocket your balls without being affected by your opponents’ balls.

Another dimension to planning in 8-ball also involves finding out how to pocket your balls while keeping your opponents’ balls away from the cue ball in case you are not able to pocket any ball from your group.

There are a lot of things that one will find enjoyable with 8-ball pool. There are plenty of pool games now that one can play for free online, and you don’t even need to be an ace to compete!