Dangerball – The Official Billiards Game of Gangplank

At Gangplank we not only work by the motto “Be Dangerous” but we play that way as well.   To embody that spirit we came up with the game Dangerball – which is the most dangerous game you play on a pool table without explosives or sharp objects.   The rules are available at Wikipedia but run as follows:

• The goal of the game is to get as many balls as possible into your side of the table.
• Balls are racked as in Eight-ball, but with the 8-ball (“danger ball”) removed.   The order of the balls in irrelevant.
  

  Dangerball Rack

• Tradition holds that whoever picks up the 8 ball from the table doesn’t have to break.   In subsequent rounds the loser of the previous round breaks.
  

  Stealing the 8ball

• The breaker is assigned the pockets on the left side of the table as facing the break.
• After the break, the danger ball is placed in the center of the table.
  

  Dangerball Placement

• If the danger ball is disrupted(moved at all by ricochet or direct hit) during the game, the shooter must give one of their sunk balls to the other player. If the 8-ball is sunk, the shooter must give two sunk balls to the other player. In both cases, the 8-ball is returned to the center of the table.  The other player then can place the cue ball anywhere on the table.
• If the shooter sinks the cue ball (i.e., scratches), his or her turn is over and the next player can place the ball anywhere on the table.
• If the shooter sinks one of the other player’s balls, he or she continues playing the turn as normal. (There is no penalty for sinking the other players ball.)
• “Slop” (lucky shots) are counted as fair, even in tournament play.
  

  Slop

• When all other balls are sunk, the danger ball becomes a normal ball, and the game continues until either it is sunk, or until it is mathematically impossible for one player to win (in which case the point is automatically awarded to the victor for scorekeeping purposes).

• When the game is over, the player with the most balls wins.

Sunny and James played the largest role in creating the game while myself and others have beta tested it to the playable version it is today.

Stay tuned for the first Dangerball tournaments and feel free to bring the game to your own pool game.