To begin playing the game, either click on the Play Now button above or look below and select the room that you wish to play in. The game room will open in a new window.

If you have never played the game before, you will be asked to install the game. Instructions on how this is done will appear on this page.

Once the game window opens, there are three ways to start the game.

• The simplest way is to press QuickStart! and wait for the game to automatically find you an opponent. This is likely to be the fastest option, as the game starts as soon as another player with QuickStart! is found.
• The second option is to find an available table from the list of open tables, and click Join.
• If you would like to customize the game preferences, you can create a new table by clicking on the Create Table button located in the control panel box.

When the new table is created and you have a partner ready to play, click on Start and wait for your partner's confirmation.

• Click on the white cue ball to begin a shot. During the break, you may first click and drag the cue to change its position on the table.
• Click the cue stick and, while holding, drag it around to aim at the white cue ball.
• Find the cue stick in the control panel box. Click and drag it down to determine the strength of the shot. The farther down you pull the control panel cue stick, the more powerful your shot.
• Right click anywhere in the game window. This causes the cue stick to hit the cue ball.

• In 8 ball pool, the colored balls are divided into two groups (solids and stripes.)
• The game begins with a break shot. This is when one player uses the cue ball to break the triangular formation of colored balls so that at least 4 colored balls hit the railings.
• Once a colored ball has been pocketed, the players are allocated groups of balls which they must attempt to pocket (either solids or stripes).
• During the game the player must attempt to avoid a number of fouls. For more information on fouls, please read the main rules page.
• The objective of both players is to sink their own group of balls first, and then nominate and pocket the black 8 ball.