Cut-throat billiards for three. Finally with rules you won't argue about.
Trulečník is billiards for three players at once. It is built on classic cut-throat, but we have tuned it so that most of the argument-starting edge cases now have a clear answer.
The fifteen object balls split into three groups of five. Each player owns one group — which one is settled by the group draw. Your job is to sink your opponents' balls and protect your own. The last player with at least one of their own balls still on the table wins.
Three players, a six-pocket pool table, a cue ball and fifteen numbered balls. Sharing cues is fine.
The balls form three groups of five by number: group A is balls 1–5, group B is 6–10, and group C is 11–15. Solid or striped does not matter — only the number counts.
Split the groups before the break — put the three names into the group draw and it assigns everyone a group. The assignment holds for the whole game and never changes. Players take turns in group order (A first, then B, and C last), and the player with group A breaks. The ball groups themselves are all equal, and the turn order is dealt out by chance — so the draw is fair.
In classic cut-throat you "claimed" a group by potting the first ball, which caused disputes. Assigning up front removes all doubt.
Rack the balls in a triangle like standard pool, apex on the foot spot. So no group is short-changed, put one ball from each group in the three corners of the triangle (say 5, 10 and 15). Mix the rest.
The player who drew group A breaks, with the cue ball in hand behind the head string. The break is legal if it pockets at least one numbered ball or drives at least four balls to a cushion. If it does not, it is a foul with its own penalty: the next player may either play the table as it lies, or have it re-racked and break themselves.
If the break pockets an opponent's ball (and none of your own), you keep shooting. If your own ball drops — alone or together with an opponent's — the When you sink your own ball rule applies as usual: it stays down and the turn passes on. If the cue ball drops, it is a foul: the opponent who shoots after you takes the cue ball in hand behind the head string and plays at the balls on the far side of the line.
Sink your opponents' balls and guard your own. The moment a player has zero of their own balls left on the table, they are out (though not necessarily for good). The winner is the last player with at least one of their own balls remaining.
You keep shooting as long as every shot legally pockets at least one opponent ball — and none of your own. The moment you fail to pocket an opponent ball, sink one of your own, or foul, your turn passes to the next player in group order. The one exception: the first of the two shots after a foul does not have to pocket anything.
A legal shot has two conditions. The cue ball must first strike one of your opponents' balls — any of them will do. And after that contact, either a ball must be pocketed or at least one ball must reach a cushion. If the cue ball hits one of your own balls first, or neither of those happens after contact, it is a foul.
On both of these fouls the cue ball stays where it lies — the opponent who shoots after you does not get ball in hand, but gets two shots: usually the first nudges the cue ball into a better spot, though potting right away is fine too. How exactly the two shots work is spelled out under The penalty for a foul.
It happens. Your potted ball stays down — you have just hurt yourself, and on top of that you have helped the previous player in group order: thanks to you, one of their balls comes back into play, provided they have any pocketed. Pure group order counts here, even if that player is currently eliminated — this returned ball brings them straight back into the game. The returned ball goes on the foot spot.
Sinking your own ball always ends your turn — even if the same shot also potted an opponent's ball. In that case your ball still stays down, and on top of that the opponent gets back the very ball you just sank.
If the shot was not also a foul, the cue ball stays where it lies and the next player simply plays on. If it was (say you scratched too), the returns happen exactly the same and the usual foul penalty is added on top.
A foul never costs you a ball — but it helps your opponents. That is exactly why clean play pays off.
A foul is, in particular: pocketing the cue ball (a scratch), the cue ball or any numbered ball knocked off the table, hitting no ball at all, hitting one of your own balls first, or — after contact — pocketing nothing while no ball reaches a cushion. Double hits and push shots are fouls too.
The penalty for a foul follows where the cue ball ends up. ("The next player" always means the next surviving player in group order; only a failed break has its own penalty.)
The cue ball left the playing area — potted, or off the table. The next player takes the cue ball in hand and places it anywhere (only behind the head string after a scratch on the break). Knocking a numbered ball off the table is punished exactly the same — and the launched ball goes back on the foot spot.
The cue ball stayed on the table — no contact, first contact with one of your own balls, or nothing potted and no ball reaching a cushion after contact. The cue ball stays where it lies and the next player gets two shots.
The two shots work like this: the first shot is exempt from the legal-shot conditions — you may simply nudge the cue ball into a better spot, hitting and potting nothing, and it is not a foul. If your first shot legally pockets an opponent ball right away, you just keep shooting as normal — the second shot is forfeited, it does not carry over. All other fouls (a scratch, a ball knocked off the table, a double hit…) still apply to the first shot, and sinking your own ball ends your turn here too — either way you lose the second shot.
A foul never brings anyone's ball back out of a pocket — numbered balls potted on the fouling shot stay down. Pocketed balls return solely under the When you sink your own ball rule — and that rule applies even when the shot was also a foul.
A returned ball goes on the foot spot. If it is occupied, place it just behind it on the long string toward the foot rail, at the first free spot.
You are out the instant you have zero of your own balls on the table. Balls pocketed on a single shot count simultaneously — the shot finishes first, then eliminations are checked. This applies to you too: if you sink your own last ball, you are out — even if you did it with your own cue.
A shot resolves in a fixed order: first the balls drop, then any returned balls are spotted, and only then are eliminations and the win checked.
An example: player A is eliminated, and player B pots their own last ball and player C's last ball with a single shot. C's ball comes back to the table (it fell together with B's own ball), player A gets one ball back (B sank their own) — and only now is the state counted: B has no balls and drops out, A and C have one ball each, and the game goes on. C, the next surviving player after B, is up.
As soon as a shot settles (returned balls spotted included) and exactly one player has any of their own balls left, that player wins immediately. No need to clear anything further.
If a single shot pockets all remaining opponents' last balls at once and none of your own, you win — only your balls are left on the table. (If your own ball fell too, the When you sink your own ball rule applies and play goes on.)
After the shot, count the players who still have at least one of their own balls. If one remains, they win. If two or more remain, play continues: the eliminated are out (for now) and the turn passes to the next surviving player in group order. You keep shooting only if the shot was legal, pocketed at least one opponent ball, and none of your own.
If all three agree the game is going nowhere (endless safeties, say), re-rack. The new break goes to the next player in group order after whoever broke last. Groups stay the same.
Classic cut-throat is fun, but it leaves a lot of situations unresolved. Here is a summary of where we made a firm call. These are exactly the rules we are most curious whether you play the same way.
No claiming a group by the first pot. Draw before the break, fixed for the game.
A sunk own-ball stays down, your turn always ends, and the previous player in group order gets one ball back.
We unified the foul penalty around the cue ball: if it leaves the playing area (or you knock a numbered ball off the table) the next player gets ball in hand; if it stays on the table, they get two shots. Only a failed break has its own penalty. A foul by itself brings no ball back out of a pocket.
Balls from one shot fall simultaneously; the resulting table state decides. Clear all opponents and you win.
Enter three names and let chance decide who gets which group of balls.
A quick reference for when the table starts arguing.