15 Draw

I got bored today and decided to come up with a new pool game.  If nothing else, for practice.  I call it 15 Draw, since you use all 15 balls and a pill bottle to draw your next ball.  As you will see in the rules below, it is a game of randomness and creativity.

Here is the table layout I chose:

General rules of the game

Object of the game:  The object of the game is to pocket all 15 balls in the lowest number of shots.  The player with the lowest score at the end of the game wins.

Determining opening shooter:  For more than one player, a numbered pill shall be drawn from a bottle to determine shooting order.  Player with the lowest numbered pill shoots first, player with the next lowest numbered pill shoots second, and so on.

Called shots:  All balls are called shots unless it is blatantly obvious in which pocket the shooter is trying to make the ball.

Arrangement of the balls:  All 15 balls are to be arranged and ordered as diagrammed above.

Opening shot:  Incoming player shall draw a numbered pill from a bottle to determine first ball to shoot.  Once the opening ball is determined, player shall have ball in hand*.  Ball in hand only applies on the opening shot, or after a scratch or ball jumped off the table.

Legal hits:  Player shooting must hit the cue ball once, causing the cue ball to hit an object ball.  The object ball must then hit at least one rail after contact.  If an object ball is frozen to a rail, the cue ball must hit at least 2 different rails after contact, or the object ball must hit a different rail from which it was frozen.

The shooter is not required to hit the ball drawn by numbered pill from the bottle.  For example, in the diagram above, if the shooter legally pockets the 1-ball and stops the cue ball where the 1-ball was, then draws the 4-ball as the next ball to shoot, the shooter is not required to hit the 4-ball in the next shot.  The shooter may hit another ball first to get position on the 4-ball.  As long as the object ball was legally contacted and rules of a legal hit followed, then the shooter may continue until the 4-ball is legally pocketed.

A ball pocketed that was not called shall be spotted as closely as possible to the original location of the ball illegally pocketed before the next shot is taken by the player at the table.

Fouls:  A foul occurs if the rules of legal hits above is not followed.  Shooter is assessed a 1-shot penalty for each occurrence of the foul.  Cue ball shall remain in place for the next shot.  If the shooter scratches the cue ball, a 2-point penalty is assessed, unless the object ball was made in the called pocket, in which case, only a 1-point penalty is assessed.  The incoming player shall have ball in hand* for the next ball.   A cue ball jumped off the table is a 2-point penalty, unless the object ball was pocketed in the called pocket, in which case, only a 1-point penalty is assessed.  The incoming player shall have ball in hand* for the next ball.

*See rules of Solo game vs. Multi-player game for rules of ball in hand.

Solo game

1.  Draw a pill from the bottle to determine first ball to shoot.
2.  Give yourself ball in hand anywhere on the table for the opening shot.
3.  Shoot the ball that was determined by drawing a numbered pill.
4.  Record the number of shots it took to legally pocket the ball.
5.  Leaving the cue ball where it came to rest after legally pocketing the first ball, draw another numbered pill from the bottle to determine next ball to shoot.
6.  Repeat Steps 3 to 5 until all 15 balls have been legally pocketed.
7.  Total the number of shots it took you to pocket all 15 balls.

If you foul by scratching or jumping a ball off the table, assess a penalty as described in the general rules of the game and give yourself ball in hand anywhere on the table for the next ball as determined by a pill drawn from the bottle.

If a foul occurs by not following the rules for a legal hit, then the shooter is assessed a 1-shot penalty for each occurrence of the foul.



Multi-player game

1.  Draw a numbered pill from the bottle, player with the lowest numbered pill shoots first.
2.  Following the same general rules for the Solo game, draw a pill to determine first ball to shoot.
3.  Opening player has ball in hand behind the headstring.  If the first ball to shoot, as determined in Step 2, is behind the headstring, player must shoot past the headstring, legally contacting an object ball or rail before hitting an object ball behind the headstring.
4.  Shoot until the object ball is legally pocketed in the called pocket.  Record the number of shots it took to pocket the ball.  The object ball made by player A is then spotted as close to the original placement of the ball and player B has ball in hand behind the headstring.  Player B shoots until the object ball is legally pocketed in the called pocket.
5.  Continue drawing numbered pills to determine the next ball until all 15 balls have been pocketed.
6.  The player with the lowest score for the game wins.

If a foul occurs by scratching or jumping a ball off the table, assess a penalty as described in the general rules of the game and incoming player has ball in hand behind the headstring for the next ball as determined by a pill drawn from the bottle.

If a foul occurs by not following the rules for a legal hit, then the shooter is assessed a 1-shot penalty for each occurrence of the foul.


Let me know what you think.  I've got a few more games I've made up and I might post them some other time.