Heyball Rules: How Chinese 8-Ball Is Played Under the WPA Rules
The game in one line: heyball is Chinese 8-ball. It uses the same 15 balls as 8-ball: one player takes the solids (1–7), the other the stripes (9–15), and you win by clearing your group and then legally pocketing the 8.
What makes it different: you never call a shot, not even the 8, so flukes count. The break must be hard, and soft breaks are penalized. On an open table your group is decided by the ball the cue ball hits first. The pockets are far tighter than on an American table.
What loses the rack: pocketing the 8 on a foul, pocketing it before (or together with) your last ball, or knocking it off the table. A scratch while playing the 8 is only a foul if the 8 stays up.
Heyball is the international name for Chinese 8-ball (中式八球), the game behind China's huge pool hall scene and the Joy Heyball Masters tour. It looks like American 8-ball, with the same balls, the same rack shape and a table of almost the same size, but the rules and especially the pockets make it a different game. This guide follows the WPA Rules of Heyball, effective August 16, 2025, the current international rulebook, and points out where older Chinese rule sets you may find online still differ.
Equipment
- Table: playing area 2,540 × 1,260 mm (±9 mm), a 9-foot table, with the cushion tops 800–850 mm off the floor. The foot spot is 635 mm from the top cushion and the head string 635 mm from the bottom cushion (rule 3).
- Pockets: the rulebook does not set a pocket size. Heyball tables have small, rounded pocket openings cut more like a snooker table's. Joy, whose tables are used on the Heyball Masters tour, lists an opening of about 85 mm on its 9-foot tables, against 114–118 mm for a corner pocket on a WPA-spec American table. See Chinese 8-ball table size and pockets.
- Balls: standard 57.15 mm (2¼ in) pool balls weighing 156–170 g. Since August 25, 2025, WPA events must use the WPA's UNITY ball set.
- Cues: at least 101.6 cm (40 in) long.
The rack
Rule 4: the apex ball goes on the foot spot, the 8-ball in the centre of the triangle, one solid and one stripe at the two ends of the back row, and the other solids and stripes separated as far as possible. That last part differs from WPA 8-ball, where the other balls must be racked without any deliberate pattern. The referee racks: the front three balls must be frozen together and the rest racked as tightly as possible, and each player may check the rack once. Racking for every game is covered in how to rack pool balls.
Lag and order of break
The first break of a match is decided by a lag (rule 5). Both players shoot a ball from behind the head string to the top cushion and back at about the same time, and whoever finishes closer to the bottom cushion chooses who breaks. A lag is lost if the ball crosses into the opponent's half of the table, misses the top cushion or hits it twice, touches a side cushion, or is pocketed or knocked off the table. After that, players alternate breaks.
The break
Rule 6 sets out the break:
- It must be forceful. Soft breaks are prohibited, and the referee decides. The first soft break draws a warning, the second loses the rack and the third loses the match. A deliberate miscue or refusing to break counts as an intentional foul and loses the rack.
- Legal break: pocket at least one ball, or drive at least four object balls to the cushions. Otherwise it is an illegal break: the opponent either accepts the table as it is or has the balls re-racked and chooses who breaks. There is no ball in hand for an illegal break.
- Cue ball position: anywhere behind the head string. If more than half the cue ball crosses the line, the first time is a reminder and the second a foul.
- Foul on the break (a scratch, for example): the opponent chooses between ball in hand behind the head string and a re-rack, breaking themselves or making the breaker break again.
- 8-ball on the break: not a win and not a loss. With no foul, the breaker spots the 8 on the foot spot and plays on, or breaks again. If the break was also a foul, the opponent chooses: spot the 8, take ball in hand behind the head string, or re-rack with either player breaking.
- An accidental miscue that misses the rack entirely: the opponent breaks, or has the breaker break again, with no ball in hand.
Ball in hand behind the head string (rule 8) means the cue ball's centre must be behind the line, and you may not shoot directly at an object ball that is also behind it, although you can play off a cushion back to it. If all your legal balls are behind the line, you can ask the referee to spot the nearest one on the foot spot.
Open table and choosing groups
The table is always open after the break, whatever went in (rule 10). On an open table you may hit any ball first except the 8, and hitting the 8 first is a foul. Your group is then decided by the ball the cue ball hits first: if you pocket that ball, or any other ball of its group, the group is yours and the table is closed (rule 12.1). Balls of the other group that drop while the table is open stay down.
Two edge cases: if the cue ball legally hits a solid and a stripe at the same moment and balls of both groups go in, you choose your group. And if one whole group was pocketed on the break, both players can only play the remaining group until someone legally pockets one of them.
No calling, not even the 8
Rule 11 is short: there is no need to call your shot or designate a pocket, even for the 8-ball, and flukes are allowed. This is the biggest practical difference from WPA 8-ball, where every shot after the break must be called if it is not obvious and an 8 in the wrong pocket loses. Some Chinese amateur competitions and pool halls still require a called pocket for the 8, so check the local rules.
Legal shots, fouls and ball in hand
Once the table is closed, the cue ball must hit one of your own balls first, or the 8 once your group is cleared. After that contact, a ball must be pocketed or at least one ball, cue ball included, must touch a cushion (rule 12.2). If the object ball you hit is frozen to a cushion, that cushion does not count: some ball has to reach a cushion after the contact, or a ball has to drop (rule 15.2).
Every foul gives the opponent ball in hand anywhere on the table, except after a foul on the break (rules 9 and 17). The fouls are:
- scratching, or knocking the cue ball off the table;
- the cue ball hitting a wrong ball first;
- no ball pocketed and no ball reaching a cushion after contact;
- shooting before all the balls have stopped;
- both feet off the floor at the moment of the stroke;
- an object ball ending up off the table (it is not spotted back, except the 8, which loses the rack);
- touching a ball with your body, clothes or equipment;
- a double hit or a push shot;
- a bad shot from behind the head string after a break foul;
- playing a shot with one hand;
- a mobile phone ringing: a foul the first time and the loss of the rack after that.
Potting an opponent's ball is not a foul as long as the cue ball hit one of yours first, but only your own balls keep you at the table. A deliberate foul is unsportsmanlike conduct: the first loses the rack and the second the match (rule 18). There is no three-foul rule in heyball. If the players are found to have been playing the wrong groups, the rack stops and is re-racked (rule 19).
Jump shots
Jumping over a ball to hit one of your own is legal, as long as you strike the upper half of the cue ball (rule 16). If the cue ball is struck on its lower half, or jumps because of a miscue, and clears an obstructing ball, it is an illegal jump and a foul. If it hops but does not clear anything and still hits your ball legally, the shot stands. The jump shot lesson shows how a legal jump works.
Losing the rack
Rule 20. You lose the rack if you:
- pocket the 8 on a foul, for example the 8 and the cue ball together (the break excepted);
- pocket the 8 on the same shot as your last group ball;
- pocket the 8 before your group is cleared;
- knock the 8 off the table.
The rule adds a useful line: as long as the 8 stays on the table, there can only be fouls. So scratching while playing the 8 is not a loss if the 8 does not go in; your opponent simply gets ball in hand. Missing the 8 completely is also just a foul.
If the table reaches a stalemate, the referee re-racks after giving each player about three more shots to change it, and the original breaker breaks again (rule 21).
Shot clock, time-limited matches and the shoot-out
Most heyball events use a shot clock. The rulebook's default is 45 seconds per shot, with one 30-second extension per player per rack, a warning at 10 seconds and a countdown from 5. Running out of time is a foul. The break has its own 30-second clock with no extension.
Some events play to a time limit instead of a fixed number of racks (the rulebook uses 120 minutes as its example). If the score is tied when time runs out, the match goes to a shoot-out: the cue ball on the head spot and the 8 on the foot spot, five shots each with a 30-second clock, one point for each legal pot, then sudden death if still level.
One more thing you will notice at a heyball event is the dress code. Unless the event says otherwise, every player wears a waistcoat, a long-sleeved shirt, a bow tie, black trousers and black leather shoes.
Heyball vs American 8-ball
| Rule | Heyball (WPA 2025) | 8-ball (WPA 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Calling shots | Never, not even the 8; flukes count | Every shot after the break, unless obvious |
| 8 in an uncalled pocket | Counts | Loss of rack |
| Choosing groups | The group of the ball hit first, once you pot that group | The group of the called ball you legally pot |
| Rack | 8 in the centre; solids and stripes spread apart | 8 in the centre; the rest with no deliberate pattern |
| Break | Pot a ball or four balls to cushions; soft breaks penalized | Pot a ball or four balls to cushions |
| 8 on the break | Spot it and play on, or re-break | Spot it and play on, or re-break |
| Scratch on the 8, 8 stays up | Foul, ball in hand | Foul, ball in hand |
| Pockets | No size in the rules; about 85 mm on Joy tables | Corner 114–118 mm, side 127–130 mm (WPA spec) |
| Playing area | 2,540 × 1,260 mm | 2,540 × 1,270 mm (9 ft) |
| Shot clock | 45 s, one 30 s extension per rack | 35 s recommended, one 25 s extension per rack |
8-ball column: WPA Rules of Play effective 2026-10-21 (sections 1.7, 4.2–4.8), WPA Recommended Equipment Specifications and WPA Playing Regulations (shot clock). The full 8-ball rules, with the APA and CSI league versions, are in 8-ball rules: 14 questions answered.
The rules are close; the table is not. With pockets about three quarters the width of an American corner pocket, a ball has to go into the middle of the pocket, and a shot that would rattle in on a bar table stays out. That is why players switching from pool find heyball much harder.
Older rules you may still see quoted
Heyball's rules have been rewritten several times, and many pages online still describe older versions:
- Rules of Chinese Pool (Rev. 2017, updated 2019), used at the World Chinese Pool Masters. Its break was judged by how many times balls crossed the head string: four crossings for men, three for women and players under 14, with a pocketed ball counting as one. The head string was 450 mm from the bottom cushion. It also gave women a handicap against men: their last ball was removed. The 2025 WPA rules replaced the break test with the four-cushion rule and moved the head string to 635 mm; they keep a general procedure for handicaps but leave them to the event.
- The Chinese Billiards Association's domestic text, as reproduced in Chinese amateur tournament documents, requires the 8-ball pocket to be called, and a wrong pocket loses. The WPA rules for international play do not.
If a pool hall or league has its own rules, theirs apply. Before a match, settle two things: is the 8 called, and what counts as a legal break?
Tight pockets punish small aiming errors
AimGeometry is a free pool trainer in your browser. It draws the aim line and the ghost ball, and after every shot it tells you how many degrees thick or thin you were. The practice table is a 9-foot American table, so the pockets are more forgiving than heyball pockets; if you can pot cleanly into the centre of the pocket here, you are ready for the tighter heyball pockets.
Start the aiming lesson →FAQ
Is heyball the same as Chinese 8-ball?
Yes. Heyball is the international name for Chinese 8-ball (中式八球), the game governed internationally under the WPA Rules of Heyball.
Do you have to call the 8-ball in heyball?
Not under the WPA rules. Rule 11 says there is no need to call a shot or a pocket, even for the 8, and flukes count. Some Chinese domestic and pool hall rules still require the 8-ball pocket to be called.
What happens if you scratch on the 8 in heyball?
If the 8 stays on the table, it is only a foul and your opponent gets ball in hand. If the 8 goes in on the same shot, you lose the rack.
What is a legal break in heyball?
A forceful break that pockets at least one ball or drives at least four object balls to the cushions, with the cue ball starting behind the head string. Soft breaks are penalized: a warning, then loss of the rack, then loss of the match.
Are jump shots allowed in heyball?
Yes, if you strike the upper half of the cue ball. Lifting it by hitting the lower half, or jumping over a ball because of a miscue, is an illegal jump and a foul.
Is there a three-foul rule in heyball?
No. Every foul gives ball in hand, but there is no rule that three fouls in a row lose the rack. A deliberate foul, though, loses the rack the first time and the match the second.
Related reading: Chinese 8-Ball Table Size and Pockets · 8-Ball Rules: 14 Questions Answered · 8 Ball on the Break · How to Rack Pool Balls · 9-Ball Rules · English Pool vs American Pool
Sources: WPA Rules of Heyball, effective 2025-08-16 (Chapter I rules 4, 12, 14; Chapter II rules 3–21; time-limited match rules), published at wpapool.com; WPA Rules of Play effective 2026-10-21; WPA Recommended Equipment Specifications (pocket sizes); Rules of Chinese Pool, Rev. 2017 updated 2019 (older break and head string rules); Joy 9-foot heyball table specifications as listed by retailers (pocket opening). Events can add their own regulations, so check the rules in use. This article contains no sponsored or affiliate links.