Free ball !!

[Andy Travis]

Blue pink and black left on the table, player 1 misses the blue and leaves white behind the pink and the blue over the pocket, can player 2 pick the pink as his free ball and knock the pink onto the blue potting the blue.

Dispute in our club last night.

[DeanH]

Yes. Essentially the Pink becomes the Blue for that shot, so same with Reds you can use one Red to pot another.
I say essentially the Pink is the Blue for the shot because if the Pink is potted directly (like in usual Free Ball scenario), 5 points awarded not 6.
Note: if the Pink is pocketed in the same shot as the Blue being potted, only 5 points, the Blue remains off the table and the Pink is spotted and becomes the ball on.

[Souwester]

When you have a free ball, and you nominate a ball other than the ball on, you are nominating that that is the ball you will hit first. Therefore, providing the pink is nominated and the cue ball first strikes the pink before the blue, then if either pink and/or blue is potted then it is a legal shot.

[Souwester]

Following on from my last post, imagine this scenario. Blue, pink and black left on the table. Pink in the jaws of a pocket with blue immediately in front of it. Black is partially obscuring the path of the cue ball to the blue, after a foul, so a free ball has been awarded. The incoming player cannot now nominate pink, and play the blue onto it to pot it, because, as I said before, the nominated ball must be strucj first. Even though the blue is the ball on, you've nominated pink and that is the ball you must hit first.

[Andy Travis]

Thanks guys.

[bally969]

If player 2 is awarded a free ball, he can nominate black, roll it onto pink, pink can then roll onto blue, pot it, blue stays down 5 scored he can then take pink, which would be over pocket, and then go for black, Long winded but fair stroke.

[DeanH]

Bally969, from my reading Souwester's scenario was that the "Pink is in the jawsof the pocket" and the Blue infront of it - further into the table- so your solution would pocket the Pink
Obviously if the Blue was in the jaws, you solution would work

Free Ball: the first ball struck MUST be the nominated ball.