Bumper Pool: All Your Questions Answered

Most people know pool in one form or another. Even folks who’ve never picked up a cue have probably seen a pool movie like The Hustler, The Color of Money, or Poolhall Junkies. Say the words “bumper pool,” though, and most people draw a blank. That’s a shame, because bumper pool is a genuinely fun game, fun enough to get addictive. I’ll walk you through how it works and answer the questions that come up most.

Is Bumper Pool Any Fun?

Yes, and it’s the kind of fun that sneaks up on you. Fun is relative, sure, but anyone who enjoys any billiard game tends to love bumper pool. Even people who’ve never played a cue sport in their life pick it up in minutes.

What is Bumper Pool?

Bumper pool is a billiard game played on a small two-pocket table with a cross of bumpers in the middle that blocks any straight run at the pocket. It has very few rules, which sets it apart from most billiard games. The tables are also much smaller than a standard pool table, so they’re perfect if you want a real billiard game but don’t have room for a big one. If you’d still rather squeeze in a proper pool table, our guide to pool tables for small spaces covers the 6- and 7-footers that fit tight rooms.

How a Bumper Pool Table Works

Bumper pool is played on a rectangular or octagonal table with two pockets, one on each end. No matter the shape, the table has a cross of bumpers in the middle that creates obstacles between the pockets and makes straight shots impossible.

Two more bumpers flank each pocket. Depending on the table, the total number of bumpers runs from 12 up to 16. Bigger tables pack more bumpers into the middle, but there are always just two flanking each pocket.

It can be played one-on-one or with four players in teams of two. It’s suitable for ages 12 and up, though with a little help younger kids can play too. That’s the main reason bumper pool keeps showing up in our best pool tables for kids picks. A young kid can bank a ball off a bumper long before they can bridge on a 7-footer.

A Short History of Bumper Pool

Like all billiard games, bumper pool’s roots trace back to around the 15th century, when lawn games moved indoors and onto tables. Most people connect bumper pool to croquet, which has similar rules and objectives. There’s no real consensus, though, on when bumper pool in its modern form was actually invented.

The game’s mid-20th-century popularity is usually credited to table manufacturer Valley, which started building bumper tables for bars and homes. It stayed popular through the 70s and 80s before losing steam in the 90s.

These days you rarely see a bumper pool table in a bar, but they’re still being made and plenty of people play daily. I doubt it’ll ever fully disappear, even if you’ll never catch a bumper pool tournament on ESPN2 the way you might other cue games.

Bumper Pool Tables and Equipment

You can’t play bumper pool on a regular pool table (not without drastically altering it, which you shouldn’t). You need an actual bumper pool table, and our best bumper pool tables guide rounds up the models worth buying. The balls differ in number and style, and the cues are shorter, but the table is where it starts.

Compared to other pool tables, bumper pool tables are small. They come in different shapes, which gives you different overall sizes. You can get a rectangular or an octagonal table, and the basic rules are the same either way. Each shape presents its own challenges, and there’s no clear best choice between the two.

The standard rectangular bumper pool table is 41.5” wide x 57.5” long x 32” tall. You can find them bigger or smaller, but this size works best for home use.

The standard octagonal bumper pool table is 48” wide x 48” long x 30” tall. These aren’t as long as rectangular tables, but they’re wider.

Most standard tables have 8 bumpers in the middle in a cross formation and 2 more flanking each pocket. You can also find larger tables with more bumpers in the middle if you look hard enough.

Bumper Pool Balls

Bumper pool is played with ten balls total: 5 red and 5 white. One red ball and one white ball are each marked with a spot to signify the starting ball for each player. There’s no cue ball anywhere in the game, which is the first thing that surprises people who come to it from regular pool.

How to Play Bumper Pool

Each player owns five balls and wins by sinking all five in the pocket at the far end of the table. Your balls start on the marked spots at your own end, with your spotted ball sitting directly in front of the pocket nearest you. The pocket you’re shooting at is the one across the table. The one your balls are parked in front of belongs to your opponent, and I’ve watched more first-timers get that backwards than get it right.

The opening shot is the part that throws everyone. Both players shoot at the same time, and both have to bank the spotted ball off the cushion on their right before it heads for the far pocket. Whoever’s spotted ball finishes closest to their target pocket shoots first. Sink your spotted ball outright on that opening shot and the next turn is yours anyway.

After that it stays simple. You have to score your spotted ball before you’re allowed to shoot any of your other four. Sink a ball and you keep shooting. Miss and your turn ends.

Two penalties come up constantly. Shoot an unmarked ball before you’ve scored your spotted one and every ball it disturbs goes back where it was. Knock one of your own balls into the pocket at your own end and your opponent gets to place any two of their balls in their pocket by hand.

If you sink an opponent’s ball in their pocket it counts for them, so leaving their balls alone is usually the smart play. Any ball that jumps off the table goes back near the center bumpers.

First player or team to clear all five balls wins.

In the market for a table? Our guide to the best bumper pool tables covers rectangular and octagonal models that hold up.

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For more on this topic, check out pool tables for small spaces, the history of billiards, snooker vs pool, snooker cues for pool, and billiard game types.