Hot Shot is the 4-player version. Big Shot is the 2-player version. The two tables have identical layouts and scoring.
Pro Pool is a single-player add-a-ball version with the same layout, but the rules are just different enough that it will get its own page.
Hot Shot is not to be confused with Hot Shots (Premier Gottlieb, 1989).
Plunge the 8 ball just to make your life a little bit easier. Learn from the first three plunges so that you can be sure not to house ball on balls 4 and 5 where the end of ball bonus is doubled or tripled. Other than that, just collect pool balls. There really isn't much else to do.
The outer lanes score 1,000 points. The center lane scores 500 points and awards the 8 ball. Not going through any of these lanes on the plunge is a high center drain house ball risk.
Scores 100 points in 5-ball play and 1,000 points in 3-ball play.
Two 7-banks on either side of the table, with solids on the left and stripes on the right. Each target down scores 500 points and lights the corresponding pool ball. Be careful of slow EM scoring causing some targets to not register if hit simultaneously- both of the balls will light, but only one set of 500 points will be scored.
Score 100 points each, or special when lit. These targets will be lit alternately (toggling with 10-point switch hits) after the 1-8 or 8-15 balls have been completed (note that the 8 is required in both cases). The odd angle that these targets face means they either need to be hit with a rather precise backhand, or ricocheted into off of the drop targets or the rubbers/posts that form the side lanes.
Scores 500 points, awards the 8 ball, and opens the right outlane gate. The 8 can be collected at anytime and does not require clearing any targets first.
Score 500 points, or 1,000 when lit. Which lane is lit alternates with 10 point switch hits.
Hot Shot has a conventional in/out lane setup. Out lanes always score 1,000 points, and in lanes always score 500 points.
There is a gate in the right out lane that redirects the ball back to the shooter lane for a replunge. The gate is opened by shooting the center saucer, and the gate is closed at the beginning of each ball or after being used.
Bonus is equal to the value lit at the bottom of the table times the number of pool balls collected on that ball. The lit value is always 3,000 on the final ball of the game (ball 3 of 3-ball, ball 5 of 5-ball), 2,000 on the second to last ball of the game (ball 2 of 3-ball, ball 4 of 5-ball), and 1,000 otherwise. This value is tied solely to the ball number and cannot be increased by anything during gameplay. These rules make it extremely important to avoid house balls on the final two balls of the game, because the bonus from these two balls can very easily outweigh the rest of the game's scoring combined. There is no super bonus or second rack or anything of the sort, and the drop targets don't reset mid-ball for any reason, so once the bonus is maxed out, there isn't much left to do.
Back to top