How to Play Carrooka Pool8: A Beginners Guide

If you've stumbled upon this post, you have most likely either 1) just gotten yourself a Pool8 Carrooka board, or 2) seen a clip of one of these boards online. Whatever the reason, this blog will go over the basic rules of this novelty game, so that you can get to playing ASAP!

Note: if you are more of a visual learner, watch the video explanation here. 

Objective

If you've ever played Pool, then it's the same objective as that - sink all of one set (stripes or solids), and then sink the black 8-ball at the end to seal your victory. You can either play with 2 players, or 4 players (teams of 2). 

Shooting - Basic Rules

The first shot of the game will be taken from the break line (the inner most circle on the board). Afterwards, shot will be taken from wherever the striker is on the board. 

Your shot must be: a flick with one finger hitting the edge of the piece. This means that your shot cannot be:

• A slide from the top
• a push
• a flick with two fingers

The Beginning - Open Board

At the beginning of the game, you are not designated to a set (stripes or solids), so you can shoot for anything except for the black piece. 

Once you sink a piece, you are now designated to whatever type of piece that is:

1. If you shoot and sink a stripe, you are now shooting for stripes. This applies as well if you sink two stripes in one shot. Note your designation, and shoot again.
2. NOTE that you aren't designated a set if you sink both types of pieces - if a stripe and a solid go in a pocket, continue play as if it is an open board. You still get to shoot again. 

When you are designated a set, your opponent is automatically designated the other set (ie. if you sink stripes, you are stripes, and they are solids). 

Rest of the Game

You will spend the rest of the game trying to sink pieces of the appropriate set. Now, it matters what you hit - you must hit your own pieces with the striker before any other piece on the board. When you pocket your own piece, you get to shoot again, otherwise, your turn ends. Once you've pocketed all of your pieces, end the game by pocketing the black piece! 

Fouls

It'd just be too easy if your goal were just to pocket your own pieces, with zero restrictions. Here are the things you cannot do:

1. Hit nothing: hitting nothing on the board counts as a foul
2. Hitting the wrong set first: whatever your designation is, you must make contact with that piece first - otherwise, it's a foul (ie. I'm stripes and hit a solid with the striker before anything else). 
3. Pocketing the wrong set: if you're stripes and you pocket a solid, it's a foul
4. Pocketing the striker: if the striker goes in the pocket or completely off of the playing surface, it is a foul.
5. Pocketing the black 8 ball: This isn't just a foul - this is an automatic loss of the game-  so, don't pocket the 8-ball!

Consequence of a Foul

If a foul occurs, your turn ends immediately, and your opponent now gets a bonus shot - that means, the first time that they miss, and their turn would normally end, they get to go again. Some notes:

• If someone gets a bonus shot, they must still make a valid shot to use their bonus shot. If they themselves foul, their turn ends as it normally would
• If the foul includes the striker being removed from play, the person shooting next gets to put it anywhere on the break line. 

And That's It!

Those are the fundamental rules to Carrooka Pool8! There are variation rules, but we'll save that for another day - for now, go and enjoy the great game of Carrooka! And, if you don't already have a board, you can buy one here! Happy flicking

P.S: If you'd like a visual on these rules, check out our rules video below. Cheers!