8-ball rotation

i've played it this way a while ago, too hard for me back then.

thoughts:
-very easy to safe.
-significantly easier to run out once opponent has cleared off some balls

we weren't that good so we switched to two or three ahead 8 ball.

IA8baller said:

I'd like to see this form of 8-ball rotation become more popular. It's simply a combination of the traditional 8-ball and 9-ball games.

Player breaks and takes what he makes, or makes the most of, or in the case of making the same number of each, player has choice. If no balls are made on the break, or a cue ball scratch, then the incoming player has choice. Players have to shoot their balls (solids/stripes) in rotation order and win by making the black ball with a legal hit. All shots are call pocket only - NO SLOP. You can't ride the black ball early as in 9-ball, an early pocketing of the black ball means the black ball gets spotted. Safety plays can become very interesting in this game. Ball in hand for fouls.

Anybody out there playing this game this way?

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There is a variation of what you describe. One is called Crazy 8. In this game you don't choose stripes or solids. You just have to pocket the highest or lowest ball on the table as you run out and the 8 last to win. Or you can play stripes and solids with each player having to pocket the highest or lowest ball of their suit. You don't have to wait for it to be official, you can play any game you make up.

There used to be a guy called Crazy Bruce. He played a game all over the country. It was one pocket 9-ball You had to pocket the 9 in your pocket. Sounds easy right? He beat top players playing this game he made up and this guy bet high. There was a reason they called him Crazy Bruce but I will leave that to others who knew him better. I will only say, I once saw him punch himself in the face so hard he knocked himself out for a few seconds.

It sounds impossible to do but he did it. He also liked to bounce balls off his head. Funny thing was, he was usually winning when he did this stuff. All it took was a bad roll to set him off. Crowds would gather when ever he played just to see his act.

It sounds hard... run half the balls on the table in rotation with lots of traffic? Might as well play actual rotation. I like your thinking though.

Raj Hundal mentioned a funny little variation on 10 ball the other night. Where he plays, there's a house rule where if you combo in the 10-ball early... it's not a win. Instead it stays down and the 9 becomes the gamewinning ball.

Random idea off the top of my head: 8 ball... but you can sink the 8 ball anywhere in your run. Like you can clear 4 stripes, then the 8, then 3 more stripes and it's a win. BUT, if you miss any shot, all your stripes come back up. Not sure how you'd spot them, we don't want a long line of balls behind the spot. Maybe footspot/headspot/centerspot and so on. It would be a little easier to run out than regular 8 ball, but if you fail to get out you're hosed.

It sounds like each rack could take 30 mins.

i like the easier games that macguy describes, will definitely have to try that out, there are a lot of people that like 8 ball at my school but it is too easy.

highest or lowest ball of your balls sounds interesting, as of highest/lowest of any ball.

...............

-very easy to safe.

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Too easy. Too easy to get safe by accident, too.

How about this to fix that? --> The first shot of each inning can be an out-of-order ball.
[Optional: But you have to spot any out-of-order ball made that way.]

pj
chgo

IA8baller said:

Good points but to me that's what makes it more interesting and challenging and I've always loved a good chess match. I see a lot more opportunities for kicking, jumping out of safes, which is a good thing in my eyes, but maybe that's just me.

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Look into cribbage

If you just want a harder game play one pocket.:thumbup:

Back in the Jurassic, we used to play a game similar to macguy's Crazy 8. We called it High-Low 8-Ball. On each turn, the player can select to shoot the highest or lowest of his balls. He then had to continue shooting the same (either highest or lowest) for that turn only. The game probably took two to three times as long as a normal 8-ball game. At the time, a rack of 8-ball was ten cents (not per cue, per rack), so we really got our money's worth.

It sounds something like Convergence 8-ball. Convergence 8-ball rules.

Big difference is that like 9-ball you only have to hit your proper ball first, but you can put in any ball, except the 8, off a combo or billiard, including your opponent's ball, to keep shooting.