Straight Pool (beta)

Straight Pool is in beta. It is playable today and marked BETA in the app because it is still being developed — rules, screens and graphics may change between updates.

Straight Pool is 14.1 continuous, refereed by the camera on the same game screen as 9-Ball. Every ball you make on a legal shot is a point. When one ball is left, the other 14 are racked again and you shoot on. The first player to the points wins. Ball in hand, fixing a call and run-out advice work as in 9-ball.

No called shots

In straight pool every ball is called. The camera can't see which pocket you called, so FusionCue doesn't ask: every ball on a legal shot scores, any ball, any pocket. Call your shots amongst yourselves. When a ball doesn't go where it was called, or for a safety, open the shot from the shot log (or press FOUL) and pick Not called / safety (no points): the balls are spotted and the turn ends.

The camera counts balls, it never needs their numbers — which one it calls the 3 doesn't matter.

Setting up a match

Open STRAIGHT POOL on the Games page and press PLAY for you against the ghost, or LOCAL MULTI for two players at one table. The settings:

• Rules — WPA (to 100): every ball a point, a foul −1, a third foul in a row −15 more and a full re-rack, an illegal opening break −2. Casual (to 50): no three-foul penalty.
• Points to win — 10 to 200.
• The switches under the rack: Third foul in a row: −15 and re-rack, Break scratch: ball in hand behind the line and Allow run-out advice.

Scoring

• A point a ball on a legal shot. The cards show each player's points, the shooter's current run (RUN 12) and each player's HIGH RUN.
• Fouls cost a point each, and any balls made on the foul are spotted.
• Three fouls in a row cost 15 more (16 in all): all 15 balls are racked again and the player who fouled breaks.
• The opening break must put a ball in, or two balls and the cue ball to a rail. If it doesn't, mark it on the shot: it costs 2 points, and the other player chooses TAKE THE TABLE or BREAK AGAIN. A scratch on the break gives ball in hand behind the line.

Re-racking the 14

When a legal shot leaves one ball on the table (or none), the game pauses and the screen says RE-RACK THE 14. Rack them with the apex left empty and press READY TO BREAK. The same player shoots on, and their run carries over.

Run-out advice

SHOW RUN-OUT plans every ball on the table, in the best order, with the same shot planner as 9-ball and Instant Recall. It resets when the turn passes, and waits for BALL PLACED after a foul.

Recording and streaming

As in 9-ball: the score bug with both players beside it, a call-out for each scoring shot (+2), a call-out at every 10 of a run, and the winner at the end.

Things to know

• Ball call-outs — after each shot FusionCue says what it counted ("Fourteen. Fifteen.") and asks aloud about a ball it lost track of. Turn them off in the game's settings under Audio & voice → Ball call-outs.
• Straight Pool plays on the v8s v5 ball model with exact ball matching, as 9-ball does.
• Game history — matches aren't saved to your game stats yet, and there's no end-of-match breakdown yet.
• If the game's card says Coming soon, Paused or Unavailable, it isn't open for your account right now.