Understanding the Kitchen Rule in Pool: A Complete Guide
The “kitchen” is the end of the pool table you break from: the area between the head rail and the head string. The kitchen rule decides where the cue ball goes after a scratch, and it is one of the most common sources of arguments in bar pool because different rulebooks handle it differently.
Where is the kitchen?
The head string is an imaginary line across the table through the second diamond from the head rail on each long rail. Everything between that line and the head rail is the kitchen. On the break, the cue ball must start in the kitchen.
What is the kitchen rule?
Under many bar and league rules, when a player scratches (pockets the cue ball or knocks it off the table), the incoming player takes the cue ball “in the kitchen”: they place it anywhere behind the head string and must shoot at a ball that lies outside the kitchen, or bank off a rail outside it first.
Kitchen rule vs ball in hand
Modern World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) rules do not use the kitchen rule for ordinary fouls. After a scratch or any other foul, the incoming player gets ball in hand and may place the cue ball anywhere on the table. The kitchen only applies after a foul on the break, when the cue ball is placed behind the head string.
Because both versions are widespread, agree before the game which one you are playing. If you play in a league, its rulebook decides.
Common questions about the kitchen
Can you shoot at a ball in the kitchen?
Under the kitchen rule, not directly. You must shoot at a ball outside the head string, although some house rules let you bank off a rail outside the kitchen to hit a ball inside it.
Is scratching on the break the same?
Yes, in most rule sets a scratch on the break gives the opponent the cue ball in the kitchen, even under WPA rules.
This guide was first drafted with the help of AI writing tools and is being reviewed and expanded. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will fix it. How we work.
