User:Demolista/sandbox

Jo Po, short for John Pool, was created as an alternative game for a billiards table. It was originally created by John West Martin in 2012 at Hood College in Frederick, MD. The game is meant to be relaxing and, in essence, utterly ridiculous.

The Rack
Jo Po uses the full set of 15 balls. The rack can be set up in any pattern as long as all the balls are touching each other. The only exception is something that looks like a triangle because the point of the game is to be interesting and making a triangle is not creative enough. The rack can be placed anywhere as long as it is behind the racking line similar to how a behind the line break must have the cue behind its line.

The Cues
Jo Po is played with two cue balls. One of the cues is put behind the line as in a traditional break. The other cue must be on the side of the table on the rim. This cue ball still must be behind the break line but can be placed anywhere on the rim of the table.

The Break
The person who breaks can shoot the cue balls in either order. Both cues are considered to be part of the break so making something with the second cue ball does not claim a set of balls. The first person to make a ball after the breaking period claims whatever set of balls he/she makes.

General Game play
Jo Po has the same rules as PPA standard billiards. You do not need to call your shots in Jo Po you only need to make a ball from your claimed set. Each player takes turns shooting their set of balls ending their turn if they do not make a shot or if they scratch. See special cases for rules on scratching. Players can shoot from either cue ball to make their shot. Once all of their balls have been made, a player can then attempt to shoot the 8 ball. If a player makes the 8 ball after making their set of balls they win the game depending on the rebuttal. The rebuttal is explained in the special cases section. If a player makes the 8 ball before they make their set of balls the 8 ball is put back on the breaking point of the table and the game continues.

Cue to Cue
If a player makes a ball by comboing one cue ball directly into the other cue ball that player can then remove a ball of their choice with the exception of the cue ball and 8 ball.

Rebuttal
After a player makes a game winning 8 ball shot the opposing player has a chance to rebuttal. The opposing player must shoot one cue ball into the other and make the target cue ball. Making the cue ball that they shot with does not count. If the rebuttal is successful, the game is restarted. It is not a win, lose, or tie the game just restarts and continues. The person who rebuttals racks the restart if they are successful. If the shot cue ball scratches the rebuttal fails.

Outs
If at any time during the game, if the cue ball becomes airborne and the non shooting player catches the cue ball, they give the shooting player an out. If a player accumulates 3 outs they lose. If a player catches the cue ball it is considered a scratch

Scratching
If a player scratches the opposing player gets a ball in hand shot and they may place one opponent's ball onto the table. The ball can be replaced anywhere whether on the felt of on the table rim. The ball in hand shot may be taken from anywhere as well. If the cue ball goes off the table and is not caught it is a scratch.

Rainbow Rule
If a player successfully lines up their balls in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple order they automatically win. The 7 ball and the 15 ball, the maroon balls, cannot be part of the rainbow. The rainbow must be full, if even one ball is made the rainbow cannot be completed.

Scratching on the 8 ball
If a player scratches on a game winning 8 ball shot it is considered a scratch. The 8 ball goes back on the table, ball in hand for the opponent, and the opponent may place a ball from the shooter's set back on the table.

Cheating
Cheating in Jo Po is encouraged. If a player successfully cheats in any fashion and 1 opponent turn passes the cheat is viable and the game continues. If a cheat is made during an opponent shot, the opponent must shoot one more time before the cheat is legal. If you are caught cheating, you cannot cheat for the remainder of that turn.