Except when clearly contradicted by these additional rules, the General Rules of Pocket Billiards apply.
TYPE OF GAME
Cutthroat is a unique three player game. To win this game, the
player must see his opponents' balls taken off the table while he still
has some of his on the table (except for the case where he runs off all
balls and wins).
PLAYERS
Three (or three teams).
BALLS USED
The standard set of object-balls numbered 1-15, plus a cue-ball. The
numbered balls are split into three groups. The first group is composed
of balls 1-5, the second group has balls 6-10, and the third group has
balls 11-15.
THE RACK
Standard triangle rack with the apex on the foot spot. A ball from the
first group should be on the foot spot. A ball from each group should
be placed in each of the different parts of the rack. That is, the
three corners of the rack are filled with one ball from each group, one
ball of each group goes on each side of the rack, and one ball of each
group goes in the middle of the rack.
OBJECT OF THE GAME
To be the only one with balls from his group on the table. Balls are
taken off the table by being pocketed on legal shots, or by being
"dropped" as payment for a foul.
OPENING BREAK
Shooting order is determined by lot or lag. The player being third in
the shooting order will rack the balls, while the player being first
will break them.
The starting player must make an open break or pocket a ball. If he fails to do so it is an illegal break (a foul) and the second shooter has the choice of either:
Any balls which fall from a legal opening break count as legally pocketed balls if there were no fouls.
Should a player foul on the opening break, their opponent has cue-ball
in hand behind the head string. Any balls made on a foul break must be
spotted (in numerical order, lowest closest to the foot spot), except
for those belonging to the breaker's group. In addition the breaker
must then "drop" (take it off the table and put it in a pocket) one of
his balls to pay for the foul.
RULES OF PLAY
When shooting the player must make the cue-ball contact an
object-ball and then either:
A player may shoot at any ball that he chooses, but before he shoots he must call the ball and the pocket. He need not call any detail such as kisses, caroms, combinations, or cushions (all of which are legal). A legally pocketed ball entitles the shooter to continue.
If a player sinks his last ball he can still win the game if he runs the
table out in the same inning.
LOSS OF GAME
Does not occur until the game is won. This is necessary since a player
can be put out of the game (when his last ball is pocketed -- at the end
of his inning if he pocketed it) and then later be brought back into the
game by one of his opponents choosing to spot one of his balls to pay
for a foul they committed.
(When the game is over the last person to have been put out is the
second player of the next game, the winner becomes the breaker, and the
last person racks for the next game. This usually results in a
shuffling of who has which group from one game to the next.)
ILLEGALLY POCKETED BALLS
Any of the shooter's balls pocketed on an illegal shot will be spotted,
unless it was the shooter that pocketed them. (Note that an
uncalled shot is an illegal shot.)
JUMPED OBJECT BALLS
Jumped balls will be spotted if they do not belong to the shooter. If
the jumped balls belong to the shooter they will count as pocketed.
CUE-BALL AFTER JUMP, SCRATCH OR FOUL
Each of these requires the shooter to either: