Your opponent then takes position at the table and may continue shooting or take the cue ball in hand and play from behind the headstring.
If you shoot a ball off the table during an opening break, you forfeit your turn.The opponent can rebreak if the 8-ball is pocketed or can spot the 8-ball on the table on the foot spot. If you pot the 8-ball on a break shot, all the balls stay potted except the 8-ball, which is returned to the table.If you fail to make a legal break (no ball is pocketed), then your opponent may decide to shoot the balls as they rest on the table after the break, or the opponent may choose to rebreak.If you are making the break, you may make another shot as long as at least one ball on the break was legally pocketed.The opening break is never a called shot.One way or another, your turn is forfeited to the next player. However, many people prefer to return the slopped ball to the footspot. If you pot a ball that you did not call (called “slopping”), official rules say to leave the ball in the pocket. If the shot is obvious, you don't have to call it, but your opponent is entitled to ask if he or she is not sure. First, you pick your shot, then you say it aloud so your opponent can hear you: “Five ball in the corner pocket” or whatever the shot is that you're about to make. Eight Ball is generally played as a call shot game, which means that before you hit a ball, you must call the shot.