page_title: Three-ball
section_title: The rack
hierarchical_section_title: Three-ball / Play / The rack
caption_attribution_description: Racking up a game of three-ball, in straight line formation, using the diamond rack more commonly used for nine-ball, but at an angle so that its side is perfectly aligns the balls with the center diamonds on the head rail and foot rail. In this example, the 2 ball is on the foot spot. (This is the closer-up cropped version; for the more expansive-view version, see below.)
context_page_description: Three-ball is a folk game of pool played with any three standard pool object balls and cue ball. The game is frequently gambled upon. The goal is to pocket the three object balls in as few shots as possible. Theoretically, any number of players can participate, in rotation, but more than five can become unwieldy. The game involves a somewhat more significant amount of luck than either nine-ball or eight-ball, because of the disproportionate value of pocketing balls on the break shot and increased difficulty of doing so. In some areas and subcultures, such as the Asian-American youth-dominated pool hall scene of San Francisco, California, three-ball is a popular local tournament game.
context_section_description: Three object balls (conventionally the 1, 2 and 3 balls) are racked either in a triangle — usually aluminum, wooden or plastic, like a miniature eight-ball or snooker rack — with the apex ball on the foot spot, or in a straight line, again with the lead ball on the foot spot, and the other balls behind it, lined up toward the center of the foot rail.  
  No particular arrangement is necessary, as there is no specific order in which the balls must be pocketed, nor do any of them have specific point values.  Racking is often simply done by hand, though there have been at least two manufacturers of triangular three-ball racks, and many also simply use the front of the eight-ball/straight pool triangle (or the straight side of the nine-ball diamond) to rack for three-ball.  Players usually are not permitted to rack their own balls that they are about to break, because of known techniques for occasionally sinking all three object balls on the break in a predictable manner (which can be maximized by making particular, minute adjustments to the rack angle, position and tightness — i.e., cheating.)  If straight rather than triangular racking is required, the rule against self-racking may or may not be dropped; as of February 2012, there are no publicized techniques for predictably sinking all the balls from a straight rack.  As in other games, the player at turn may demand a re-rack if not satisfied with the correct formation or position of the racked balls.
caption: A three-ball straight rack, using the side of the nine-ball diamond rack to align the balls with the head and foot spots. [wider view]
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