If a referee is not present and there are balls obstructing the removal of the Ball Rack Template, the opponent must be the one to remove the Ball Rack Template. With the removal of the Ball Rack Template, the referee or opponent may use markers in the form of ball markers or chalk blocks which are at their disposal to mark the obstructing balls. In pool, players use the cue stick to strike a white ball called the cue ball to hit other similar balls into semicircular holes called pockets along the inner edge of the table. In pocket billiard games, what is billiards a single cue ball is used by both players. In some games, object balls are required to be placed on the playing surface other than when forming a new rack. A scoop shot, in which the cue tip contacts the playing surface and the cue ball at the same time and this causes the cue ball to rise off the cloth, is treated like a miscue. The shooter, after the break at any time may call "safety" which permits him to make contact with the legal object ball without pocketing a ball and end his inning. Pocketing cue ball is a fault.

If a player nominates and legally pockets the ten ball prior to the ten ball being the last remaining ball, the ten ball is re-spotted and the shooter continues, while pocketing the ten ball as a final ball at the table, he wins the rack. If the ten ball is pocketed on a foul or push out, or accidentally in the wrong pocket, or driven off the table, it is re-spotted. If a player misses his intended ball and pocket, and either makes the nominated ball in the wrong pocket or pockets another ball, his inning has finished and the incoming player has the option to take the shot as is, or hand it back to his opponent. The cue ball is in hand, and the incoming player may place it anywhere on the playing surface. However, if the shooter pockets the legal object ball the incoming player has the option to play the shot as left, or hand it back to his opponent. The Ball Rack Template must be placed in its required spot away from the playing area including the rails and the balls placed back into their original position. Mastering cue ball control allows players to position the cue ball for the next shot effectively.

In any case a position of balls needs to be amended it is solely the referee’s duty and responsibility to perform this task. If that is the case you need to have the cue ball sliding, not rolling or spinning when it makes contact with the object ball. A miscue occurs when the cue tip slides off the cue ball possibly due to a contact that is too eccentric or to insufficient chalk on the tip. There are three ways of scoring: (1) the losing hazard, or loser, is a stroke in which the striker’s cue ball is pocketed after contact with another ball; (2) the winning hazard, or pot, is a stroke in which a ball other than the striker’s cue ball is pocketed after contact with another ball; (3) the cannon, or carom, is a scoring sequence in which the striker’s cue ball contacts the two other balls successively or simultaneously. A shot on which the cue ball is pocketed is called a scratch.

If the shooter legally pockets a called/nominated ball on a shot (except a push out, see 9.4 Second Shot of the Rack - Push Out), any additional balls pocketed remain pocketed (except the ten ball; see 9.9 Spotting Balls), and he continues at the table for the next shot. In some games a player may choose not to come to the table in certain situations when play would normally pass to him, and then the player remaining at the table continues the inning (e.g. a push-out at nine ball). It may be inferred that it developed from a variety of games in which propelling a ball was a main feature. Only one ball may be called on each shot, except on the break shot where no ball may be called. It begins when it is legal for him to take a shot, and ends at the end of a shot when it is no longer legal for him to take a shot. If no foul is committed on the break shot, the shooter may choose to play a "push out" as his shot. If the shooter commits a standard foul, play passes to his opponent. Whether such a shot is legal depends on how it is accomplished and the intention of the shooter.