Official Team Manual

APA/CPA Official Team Manual for League Years 2023/2024, 2024/2025 & 2025/2026
Game Rules
SECTION 3
POCKETED BALLS
Balls must remain in a pocket to be legal. If any ball, including the cue ball, goes in a pocket, but bounces back onto the playing surface, it is not considered pocketed and must be played from where it lies. The shooter does not need to designate their intended ball or pocket during the shot, except when they are legally shooting the 8-ball.
NOTE 1: Once a ball has stopped all motion, it cannot move again without outside forces affecting it. Therefore, if a ball which has been hanging in a pocket for more than a few seconds suddenly drops, it is to be placed back on the table where it was originally sitting.
NOTE 2: If two balls become jammed in a pocket and are leaning off the edge of the slate to some degree, they are deemed pocketed. Drop them in the pocket and resume playing unless doing so ends the game.