The rules / FRAME ARCHIVE
After a foul: points, respotting and replacement
Hitting the wrong colour does not reset the table. Separate colour respotting, cue-ball in-hand and referee-directed replacement.
Common situations based on the WPBSA 2024/25 rules, not a replacement for a referee. The final section identifies our game's simplifications.
Reconstruct the stroke first
Record the ball on, the first contact and the balls pocketed. Looking only at the last ball to fall can hide the reason for a decision. Contacting another colour after a legal first contact is different from contacting it first.
Common fouls award the opponent 4–7 points, using the highest applicable penalty rather than adding separate infringements. The striker's previously earned frame points are not simply deducted.
Wrong contact does not automatically respot a colour
An unpotted colour generally stays where it stops after a foul. A pocketed colour that must be respotted is handled under the spotting rules. Watching whether the ball entered a pocket helps explain what the referee does next.
| Situation | Normal position treatment |
|---|---|
| On a red: blue hit first, blue stays up | Blue remains where it stops |
| On a red: blue hit first and pocketed | Blue is respotted |
| Blue legally potted during the ordered clearance | Blue stays down |
A scratch means in-hand, within the D
After the cue ball is pocketed, it is played from a legal position in or on the boundary of the D. This is not permission to place it anywhere on the table or overlap another ball.
Keep two notes when watching: the points awarded and where the next stroke begins. One changes the score; the other changes the difficulty of the position. Tracking both makes the next decision easier to follow.
A miss and replacement are separate decisions
Foul and a Miss involves the referee's assessment and conditions in the rules. It does not mean every failure to make contact automatically resets the balls. A request to restore the previous position following the appropriate decision is different from ordinary colour respotting.
When a referee consults video and replaces several balls, listen for both the call and the player's choice. The fact that a foul occurred is not enough on its own to explain a full replacement.
What Game147 simplifies
The game records first contacts, pots and basic penalties, then respots the necessary colours once the balls stop. It automatically changes player after a foul. The option to ask the offender to play again, free balls and miss-related replacement are not implemented.
After a red, the game automatically treats the first colour contacted as the target. Real play follows the official nomination rules. Our warning icon is advisory and never blocks a stroke: read the actual result as well as the ball-on label.