Texas express

For much of its history nine ball rules allowed participants to push out multiple times during a game (see The push out, above, for the modern push out rules), meaning any player could call a push out, and then hit the cue ball to any area on the table without being penalized by normal foul rules, such as failure to contact the lowest numbered ball on the table. However, once a push out was called and executed, the incoming player had the right to shoot or give the inning back to the opponent. If the player shooting the resulting shot fouled, the other player would have ball in hand; hence this manner of play was called the two foul version. One foul became popular in the 1970s, as play turned more aggressive for the early televised matches. This newer version of nine ball awarded ball in hand on any cue ball foul. A now standard rule variant, which started to sweep the sport of nine ball in the mid 1980s, restricted the push out option to once per game and only to the inning immediately following the break. This change profoundly affected the way the game was played. By about 1990 this new push out rule had become ubiquitous and it and any additional rules appended to it were collectively referred to as Texas express rules, so called because of the supposed US state of origin and the speeding up of the game. Today, Texas express push out rules dominate the way nine ball is played and is the variant incorporated into the official rules maintained by the WPA and its affiliates like the BCA.