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What is a Spot, and how do I set one?

By default, every One Pocket match on 8nOut is Even — you both need 8 balls to win a rack, same as it's always been. A Spot changes that: it gives one of you a personal target above 8, and the other a target below 8, so two players of different strength can still have a fair match. Nothing else about how you play changes — only how many balls each of you needs to win the rack.

You'll find it when you start a new live scoreboard, as a Spot row that comes after choosing your opponent and how many racks you're racing to. It shows Even until you tap in and change it.

Tap the row and you'll see the current spot as one big number or pair — Even, or something like 10 – 6. Milder and Steeper step you through a fixed list of preset spots, from the smallest gap between the two numbers up to the largest, one step at a time. If you already know the exact spot you want, open Browse all spots instead and tap it directly, rather than stepping through.

Once you've picked anything other than Even, you'll also see two cards — one for you, one for your opponent — each showing which of the two numbers is theirs. Tap the swap button between them to flip it, so the higher or lower number lands on whichever of you it should.

A Spot is completely separate from race-to. Race-to is how many racks you need to win the whole match; a Spot is how many balls each of you needs to win a single rack. You set them one after the other, and changing one never touches the other.

Once the match starts, a small Spot badge appears on the board if you set one — nothing shows at Even. Each of your own columns shows your own target — of 10 to win rack, or of 6 to win rack, instead of the same number for both — and the row of dots under your score tracks that same personal target, wrapping onto a second row if it's a large one. The summary before you start, and the recap once the match finishes, both mention the Spot too — for example vs. Jan · One Pocket · Spot 10–6 · race to 3 — but only when it isn't Even.

If your two targets add up to more than 16 between you — a spot like 10 – 6, say — there aren't enough balls in one rack for both of you to reach your targets from potting alone. Some of the higher-target player's own potted balls get physically respotted back onto the table mid-rack instead, so the rack can still run all the way to both targets. You'll see this on the board as a small row of hollow rings under that player's score — one ring for each ball still to respot — and each ring clears as the ball actually goes back on the table. If your race is Even but longer than the usual 8 – 8 — a 12 – 12 spot, say — you can each have your own rings to clear, independently of each other.

Whoever is scoring also gets a reminder right on screen the moment a turn ends — on a new match that's both of you, each on your own phone — if any balls still need to go back on the table — so it's something that finds you, not just something to notice on the board. It clears as soon as the last one's respotted, whether that happens through normal potting or by tapping Respotted, and it stays up — and gets harder to miss — if another turn ends before it does.

Start a rematch with Start new match (on a match you both scored, either of you has this button), and the same Spot carries forward automatically, exactly like race-to and venue already do — nothing to set up twice. Each of you keeps your own target, whichever of you starts it.