Billiards Rack – A Simple Guide
A billiards rack is a frame usually made of plastic or wood that is used to organize billiard balls at the beginning of a game. A triangular shaped billiards rack is used for eight-ball, straight pool, one-pocket, snooker, bank pool and many other games.. Each game has unique regulations for racking.
Near the foul spot of the pool table, place one corner of the billiards rack. This corner is referred to as the apex. The proper position to place the racked balls is marked by the foul mark which is a small marking. It is traditional to put the yellow 1 ball at the apex for eight-ball game whilst the rest of the balls may be placed in any order except for the 8 ball which has to be placed at the center. Sometimes the balls are placed alternating with a solid and a striped ball, this is mostly seen in amateur competitions. Make sure to push the billiard rack so that the ball at the apex is on the foul mark and that the side that is opposite the apex is close to the end of the table and parallel to it too. All ball should be tighly placed together at the break shot or the desired results will not come about. So that is why it is a good idea to push the balls forward with your fingers until they are jammed pack.
Depending on the game the order of the balls in the billiards rack varies although the steps to racking the balls are the same. Such as for straight pool the 1 ball is placed at the right corner and the 5 ball is placed at the left corner. All other balls stays in order. For a game of bank pool and one ball, the balls may be placed in the billiards rack at random.
Even though a diamond-shaped billiards rack is used for the game of nine-ball, the triangular shaped billiards rack can be used and most of the time is during a nine-ball game. When using a diamond- shaped billiards rack, one of the two opposing corners that have smaller angles serves as the apex, having the rack aligned so that the opposing corner is pointed directly at the closest end of the table. The 1 ball is always placed at the apex because in the nine-ball game the cue ball must strike the lowest numbered ball on the table first on each shot, whilst the remaining balls can be placed in random order in the rack.