If you were to walk into any pool hall in North America you can be sure to see a game of 8-ball being played, but what about 9-ball? It would appear that 9-ball is much more popular in Europe then in North America but even so it's a good idea to know how to rack a proper game of 9-ball. Not to mention it can be a lot of fun.Generally speaking, the rules for racking 9-ball are similar to those for 8-ball, the difference being that the balls are placed into a diamond configuration instead of a triangle configuration. Fortunately, you don't need to have a special rack to do this (although they do exist).To begin with, there are two hard and fast rules that must be observed when arranging the balls into a diamond shape.
The first is that the 9-ball must be in the center of the diamond. The second is that the 1 ball needs to appear at the apex (the top point) of the diamond.Other than those two rules, the balls can be placed in a random order in the diamond. Some players (usually amateurs since they often want to be more careful than they need to) make up other rules as far as ball placement. For example, it is not uncommon for players to always rack the balls in numerical order (starting from the apex and moving down) except for the 9-ball, which as I said before must always be placed in the center of the rack.After you've decided on the order that the balls will appear it is time to actually place the balls. As in 8-ball, the balls must be placed so that the 1 ball at the apex is directly over the 'foot' on the pool table.
That is, it must be directly over the white circle on the pool table.Also, it is very important that the balls all be touching one another when you rack them. If you happen to have a diamond shaped rack then this is easy, just place the balls in the rack and then slide them forward along the table quickly and pull them back slowly to put them in place.If you only have the larger triangle rack available then you can do something similar. Make use of the apex of the triangle as if it were the top half of the diamond and then using your fingers, make the shape of a V with your thumbs and index fingers and then press upwards from the bottom against the balls. With your fingers arranged in this way place the balls where they need to go, keeping pressure on the balls so that they are still touching. Then simply release the balls and remove the rack.It is important when racking the balls that you be very careful. This is especially true if you are playing in some sort of tournament or event since if all of the balls are not touching one another or if the 1 ball is not directly over the foot, your opponent can call a re-rack.