Pocket Sidequest: Free 8, 9 & 10 Ball Pool

Pocket Sidequest: pool and trick shots

Play free 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball pool against Easy, Medium or Hard bots. Try five daily trick shots or 288 practice challenges across 18 skills, including spin, banks and cue-ball position.

How to play

Choose 8-ball, 9-ball or 10-ball, then select an Easy, Medium or Hard computer opponent. Choose Trick shots for untimed daily challenges.
Drag on the table to aim. On phones, pull the cue backwards and release to shoot. On desktop, use the power bar or shot button. Arrow keys adjust aim; Space shoots.
Follow the selected mode’s rules and choose a pocket when prompted. In trick shot mode, read the table’s challenge before taking your shot.

Playing guide

Choose a pool mode and opponent

For a free online pool match against the computer, choose 8-ball, 9-ball or 10-ball, then pick Easy, Medium or Hard. Easy gives you a more forgiving opponent; Medium makes fewer mistakes; Hard uses the more precise bot. Your 45-second shot clock starts after you select a level and includes placing the white ball. Rolling balls and a hidden tab pause the clock. For untimed practice, choose Trick shots instead: play five daily challenges or browse 288 practice layouts across 18 skill families.

Aim gently, then choose your power

Drag on the table to change the angle; clicking alone does not move your aim. On phones, grab the cue, pull it backwards and release to shoot. A longer pull adds power. Drag the white ball into position when you have ball in hand or before the break. On a PC or laptop, use the fine-aim wheel and separate power bar; keyboard players can use the arrow keys, power slider and shot button.

Build a practice routine

Start with Feather touch to learn a pot at no more than 20% power, then try Stop on the spot to make the white finish inside a marked zone. Cushion bank asks the 8 to touch a cushion; Kick to the pocket asks the white to touch one before hitting the 8. Those are different shot paths. Move on to Draw it back and Follow through, using the cue-ball control to choose backspin, topspin or side spin. Change one setting at a time so you can see what it does. A hint supplies a tested angle, power and spin setup; a hinted clear earns one star.

Clear your group before the 8

In 8-ball, clear your assigned solids or stripes on a previous shot, then call the pocket for the 8. Potting your last group ball and the 8 in the same shot loses the rack. So does potting the 8 in the wrong pocket or with a foul. Ordinary group balls do not require a called pocket. These are this game’s house rules: on a legal break, potting the 8 wins immediately.

Check the score before potting the 9

In this version of 9-ball, contact the lowest ball first. Legal pots of 1–8 score one point each and the 9 scores two; foul pots score nothing. After the break, a legal 9 ends the rack and the higher score wins; equal scores draw. For example, if you trail 2–5 and legally pot only the 9, the final score is 4–5 and the bot wins. Any balls left on the table are not awarded to either player. A legal 9 on the break is a separate exception: the breaker wins immediately.

Call the ball and pocket in 10-ball

Hit the lowest ball first and call the ball you intend to pot and its pocket. To win, the 10 must be the lowest ball remaining and go into its called pocket without a foul. An early 10, including the 10 on the break, is respotted. After a legal break, the available push-out lets you play a positioning shot without the usual first-contact or cushion requirement; scratching still fouls. The opponent can take the resulting shot or pass it back. An uncalled pot also gives that choice. Three consecutive fouls by the same player lose the rack, with a warning after two.

Tell a dry break from a foul

A legal break that pockets nothing is a dry break: the layout stays and the turn passes, without ball in hand. It does not need a minimum number of cushion contacts. An illegal break or an expired break clock restores the rack and gives the other player the break. After the break, scratching, hitting the wrong ball first or missing all balls is a foul. If nothing is potted, a ball must reach a cushion after contact. An ordinary foul gives the opponent ball in hand anywhere; drag the white to a clear position before shooting. Read the rule message because a foul on the deciding ball can end the rack.

Common questions

Is this online multiplayer pool?: No. Full racks are played against the computer. You do not need an account, an opponent waiting online or a download.
How many racks do I need to win a pool match?: Choose Single rack for one win, Best of 3 for two wins, Best of 5 for three, or Best of 7 for four. Race to 3 and Race to 5 need three and five rack wins respectively. A drawn 9-ball rack adds no win to either side, so play continues until someone reaches the target.
How do I change the bot difficulty?: Choose a level before starting the match. You can change it before the first shot or after the match; the level stays fixed through a series.
Why can’t I take my shot yet?: Wait for the balls to stop and for your turn. Place the white if you have ball in hand, select the required pocket for the 8 or ball and pocket in 10-ball, and resolve any take-or-pass-back choice. The game will not shoot while one of those decisions is outstanding. Increase power above zero before using the shot button.
I potted the challenge ball. Why did the challenge fail?: Check the objective as well as the pocket. A bank needs the 8 to touch a cushion; a kick needs the white to touch a cushion first. Position challenges also need the white inside the marked finish zone, and Feather touch limits power to 20%. Retry the same layout and adjust the missing part, or use Set up hinted shot to examine a working solution.
When do the daily trick shots change?: Five new tables arrive at midnight in your local time. An open tab refreshes when you return, after any rolling shot finishes. You can retry without changing the layout. All 18 skill families appear within four days, with no layout repeated within 57 days.
Can I practise without waiting for tomorrow?: Yes. Open the challenge library to choose any of the 288 practice layouts. Practice stars are saved separately on this device and do not reset with the daily set. Clearing browser storage removes those saved stars.

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POCKET SIDEQUEST