Blackball International is the officially recognised governing body for the sport of blackball pool worldwide.

Blackball International the Governing Body of Blackball Pool

Our primary objective is to promote and develop the game of blackball pool as an international sport.

The World Blackball Championships is a biennial event in which countries from throughout the world are represented in individual and team competition.
The 2024 Championships will be held in Bridlington Spa, England.


Blackball pool was officially sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) in 2005 following a meeting in London the previous year in which the rules of the game were formally introduced to the cue sports community.

Having secured the recognition of the WPA, national organisations were able to unite under a single structure and everyone could play the small-table game of pool to exactly the same rules.
Blackball International as an organisation came into being in August 2008 and was charged with administering the sport.

Blackball is now enjoyed globally.
It is played as a fun game in bars, clubs and pool halls.
It is also played competitively by both amateur and professional players at national and international level.



Cue Sports Organisations

Blackball International administers all aspects of blackball pool under the auspices of the World Pool-Billiards Association (WPA) which is the international controlling body for all forms of pool.

The WPA is in turn a member of the World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS).
The WCBS is the umbrella organisation encompassing all major billiards sports. Those being carom billiards, snooker and pool games of several varieties, including blackball.

The WCBS is the only billiards organisation recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
Note that billiards is a generic name for all cue sports in the above context.



Blackball Rules

It is a responsibility of Blackball International to promulgate and when necessary update the rules of play relating to the game of blackball pool.

The game is a form of eight-ball pool which was first popularised in the USA early in the last century.

Blackball is played with 15 coloured object balls and a cue ball.
The object balls consist of two groups of seven and the black ball.
The group balls are coloured red and yellow.
The player or team potting their own group of object balls and the black ball wins the game.

The rules of blackball pool are well documented and can be viewed on this website.



World Championships

Blackball International liaises with continental and national pool organisations to ensure the success of the World Blackball Championship.
This biennial tournament has been held at worldwide venues since 2006.

Championships have previously been hosted by Morocco, Republic of Ireland, England, Scotland, France and Swaziland.
The 2024 event will be held in Bridlington Spa, England.

Winning teams and individuals in a range of competition categories have been recorded since the first Championship tournament.



Our Website

We hope that you find our website a friendly place to visit, informative and easy to navigate.

On this page and throughout our website you’ll notice there are ‘buttons’ at the foot of various articles which link, we hope usefully, to related content.

The administrators of Blackball International may be contacted using our online form or simply email contact@blackballinternational.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

There’s also a site page detailing our privacy policy which explains how we collect, use, and share information when you visit this website.