Purposely scratching in 8-ball?

[rowdyclassmate]

Is it legal? Assume that you have 2-3 balls left and the cue ball is close to the pocket in such a way that you have no shot. Is it legal to scratch?

[asofel]

Sure. What happens next depends on the rules you're playing, but I often play ball in hand, so this type of choice is punished severely.

[kerowo]

It depends on the house rules. Generally, a scratch is ball in hand and happens if you hit the ball in the pocket or don't hit one of your object balls first.

[daryn]

right this is why you must play ball in hand, otherwise scratching on purpose becomes too much of an advantage.

[SpaceAce]

A lot of people play that scratching on the 8-ball is loss, however, under the world standardized 8-ball rules, you only lose if you pocket the 8-ball and foul the shot.

So, if you just scratch when you're down to the 8-ball, it is just a normal foul and your opponent gets to take the cue ball in hand. If you scratch AND pocket the 8-ball, you lose.

SpaceAce

[rowdyclassmate]

What happened was this: I had 2-3 balls left with no shot. My opponent had just the 8-ball left, but it was close to the rail on the other side of the table. Well within the mark where you cannot pass for ball in hand. So essentially, his only shot was shoot across the table (longways), hit one or more rails and pocket the 8-ball.

Now I've always played where you can purposely scratch... it's a defense move. Especially if you have no shot or an impossible shot leaving you in a bad position. He said it was illegal. Based on the additional information, what is your ruling? Legal or illegal?

[SpaceAce]

Legal, except for the fact that there is no "mark" that he can't take the ball behind; that rule only applies on the break. If you foul, he can put the ball anywhere he wants.

SpaceAce

[asofel]

rowdy,

If these types of situations come up a lot within the rules you and your friends play with, i'd just get really good at kicking off the end rail. People used to try this [censored] against me and its incredible sweet to let them try this bs and still make the ball.

That, and just play ball in hand. Anything else makes baby jesus cry (and contributes to this same idea being rehashed here every few months).

[Josh W]

I was playing in a 8-ball tourny at Hardtimes in Bellflower a few years ago, and an unusual situation came up. They played ball-in-hand, and have the 3 scratches rule (if you scratch on 3 consecutive shots, you lose).

Player A had scratched twice, and had only one object ball left. His object ball (OB) was near the rail, covered on all 3 sides by Player B's OBs. Player B's shot.

Player B intentionally scratched, leave A with ball in hand. However, given the setup, there was no way for A to even TOUCH his ball. He just conceded the match at that point.

Josh

[pergesu]

Why don't you hook him (put the cue ball behind one/several of yours so he has no shot)?