What is Heyball?

The table and the balls

The playing surface measures 2,540 by 1,260 millimetres, almost exactly the size of a 9-foot pool table. The difference is in the pockets: they are rounded and tighter, so a ball has to arrive close to the centre of the pocket to drop.

The balls are the same size as pool balls, 57.15 millimetres across. There are fifteen numbered object balls and a white cue ball: solids 1 to 7, stripes 9 to 15, and the black 8.

Racking and the break

The balls are racked in a triangle with the front ball on the foot spot and the 8 in the centre. One solid and one stripe sit at the two back corners, and the other solids and stripes are spread as far apart as possible.

The breaker plays from anywhere behind the head string, the line across the near end of the table. The break must be a hard one. If fewer than four object balls reach a cushion and nothing drops, the break is illegal, and the other player chooses whether to play on from that position or have the balls re-racked. A referee can also rule a deliberately soft break illegal, with penalties that rise from a warning to losing the frame.

If the 8 drops on a legal break, the breaker either has it put back on the foot spot and plays on, or breaks again.

Choosing groups and playing a frame

The table is open after the break, whatever dropped. The first ball a player pots legally after the break decides the groups: that player takes its group, solids or stripes, and the other player takes the rest.

Each shot must hit a ball of your own group first. Once your group is cleared, the 8 is your only target. After the cue ball hits a ball, either a ball must drop or a ball must reach a cushion.

You never name a ball or a pocket, even for the 8, and a fluke counts. After a foul, the other player has ball in hand and may place the cue ball anywhere on the table.

Winning and losing a frame

You win by clearing your group and then potting the 8 on a legal shot. You lose the frame if you pot the 8 before your group is cleared, pot the 8 on a foul, or knock the 8 off the table. While the 8 stays on the table, a mistake is only a foul.

How Heyball differs from 8-ball pool

The balls, their numbering and the aim are the same: clear your group, then pot the 8. The table is the same size as a 9-foot pool table, but its pockets are tight and rounded, where a pool table’s are wider and angled.

In international 8-ball, every shot after the break is called, including the 8 into a named pocket. In Heyball no shot is ever called. Heyball also asks for a hard break, and a soft one can cost the frame; in 8-ball, at least four balls must reach a cushion or a ball must drop. The rack differs too: Heyball spreads the solids and stripes apart on purpose, while 8-ball sets nothing beyond the 8 and the two back corners. In both games, an 8 on a legal break is put back on the spot, or the balls are broken again.

In competition, Heyball is usually played with a shot clock, typically 45 seconds a shot with one 30-second extension per frame, and players wear a waistcoat and bow tie unless the event says otherwise. Casual games follow house rules that vary from table to table, for example on what happens when the 8 drops on the break, so agree them before you start.

Its names in Chinese

Its Chinese name means “Chinese-style billiards”: 中式台球 in Simplified Chinese, 中式撞球 in Taiwan and 中式桌球 in Hong Kong. 黑八, “the black eight”, is the name for the 8-ball itself.

Where to play Heyball in Singapore

As of November 2026, Bida Nào lists 10 venues in Singapore with Heyball tables, in 9 areas. All of them have pool tables too, so a group can switch between the two games. Seven of their pages show the venue’s own published prices, with the date we checked them. The venues are named, by area, on the Heyball page, and the Heyball leaderboard shows who plays well.