Sickpotter wrote:..
Anyone have the official rule handy?
Of course, Sickpotter, you have the answer exactly correct. As for the official Rule, it is Section 3., Rule 11., (g):
"If more than one foul is committed in the same stroke, the highest value penalty shall be incurred."
Looking at this from a practical standpoint, it is best to remember that Referees are just human beings like anyone else. They have two eyes that can only focus on one object or event at a time, they are subject to error because their vision may have been obstructed, or two events occurred more or less simultaneously on different parts of the table so they obviously weren't watching both, or maybe, like everyone, they just have a brain-fart once in a while and might make a mistake:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27_RC27gSdwSo the Rules are actually written in such a way to assist them as much as possible in completing their duties accurately with the least chance for mistake. That sounds complicated but all it means is that the Referee will instinctively watch (and listen....the click of the balls could be critical) at crucial times for particular fouls to occur. And that means that when those crucial times pass, their attention can now be freed to watch for other actions which may or may not occur. For instance, in the OP's scenario number 1, one of the "crucial times" to watch for is which object ball is the FIRST contact of White? After that FIRST contact is made, it is simply either fair or foul and the Ref no longer has to pay any attention at all for the purpose of "first contact", he (or she) has plenty of other things to worry about, so it wouldn't matter if the White went along and in turn shook hands with every other ball on the table, the FOUL occurred the instant that White contacted Blue so currently, the PENALTY (which will not yet be called audibly) is FIVE AWAY. Before we move on, let's consider another thing that the Ref must watch out for...the possibility of "jump ball". By definition, a jump ball can only occur on the White's FIRST ENCOUNTER with an object ball. First Encounter means either the first ball White contacts OR the first ball White jumps over without actually touching. If the White passes the crucial First Encounter without a jump ball occurring, the Ref no longer has to pay any attention if White jumps over any other ball. Beyond that FIRST ENCOUNTER, the White might bounce back off (not over) the first ball it strikes, hit a cushion, pop up in the air, hit the lampshade, then bounce around like a ping pong ball over three other balls...there is no "jump shot" because the First Encounter was legal and the Ref need devote no further attention to it.
Now, moving on to scenario 2, of course multiple fouls might be committed, such as Blue (ball not on) struck first, and then Black falls in pocket. The Referee will only call "Foul!" once. A stroke is simply "Foul" or "Fair"....it cannot be "Double-foul" in the same way it cannot be "Double-fair" so if any additional fouls occur, the Ref will just take note of them for Penalty assessment later. So in scenario 2, Blue is struck out of turn, the Ref calls, "Foul" and thinks to himself (Five away) but continues watching and then the Black falls in a pocket, which of course is also a foul. After the stroke is finally completed, the Referee will then tally penalties and assign the largest value penalty awarded to the opponent so in the case of scenario 2, he will call any legally scored points to the striker and also the proper penalty points to the opponent, in this case Seven away, overriding the foul on Blue.
Of course, the Rules do seem to be complicated. But in actuality, they have been quite painstakingly written to help the Referee to do his or her job as accurately and succinctly as possible, striving to point out the specific points at which things are very important so pay attention versus the points in time at which things are not so important so you, Mr. Referee, can focus on other things.