3-Cushion Rules 1919 Revision

Bob Jewett

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I just got an old rule book and the "new" rules for 3-cushion were included as a 4-page insert. Can you spot some differences from the modern game? This was from about the time that 3-c started to compete with balkline.

3CRules1919_Cover.jpg

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Bob Jewett

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And here is how that 1919 tournament came out, thank's to Charlie Ursitti's website of billiard records. For comparison, the $1500 first prize plus salary would be equivalent to about $53,000 today, and the weekly salary offered ($100, to the runner-up?) would be about $1300 today.

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pt109

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Wow...the entry fee was pretty stiff...almost two Gs in today's money.

I also think it was amazing that nobody averaged one....but there was a 10 and a 17 run.
 

3kushn

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Wow...the entry fee was pretty stiff...almost two Gs in today's money.

I also think it was amazing that nobody averaged one....but there was a 10 and a 17 run.

Beside the argument of the equipment the rules and the style of play in those days allow for safety play. If I understand 1 safety per game without penalty. I'm going to assume some safeties were taken even though they would be penalized.

It doesn't take too many blank innings to destroy an average. Couple that with the penalty points and its really tough to break 1.00 average.
 

Bob Jewett

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... If I understand 1 safety per game without penalty. ....
The rules above are not clear. I'm pretty sure you were only allowed one safe in a row. See "consecutively" in the rules above which seems to have been left out of the first part of the rules. In theory, a player could play a safe to end each scoring inning and conceivably play one safe every inning if he had no open innings.
 

HomeBrewer

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Rule #17 under 'Shooting with the Wrong Ball' is a new one on me.

Is that still actually the rule, that if I shoot and score twice in an inning with the wrong ball and it hasn't been called, we then reverse the colors of cue ball for the duration of the game (or, I suppose, until the mistake happens again)?
 

mr3cushion

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The 'Old' rules state, "A player is only allowed to play 1 deliberate safety in a row!" Their next inning must be an attempted shot of a scoring possibility!

Back in the day, some Pro players were known to play 4 or 5 deliberates in a 50 point game! That's 10% of innings in a game gone!
 
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Bob Jewett

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Rule #17 under 'Shooting with the Wrong Ball' is a new one on me.

Is that still actually the rule, that if I shoot and score twice in an inning with the wrong ball and it hasn't been called, we then reverse the colors of cue ball for the duration of the game (or, I suppose, until the mistake happens again)?
In the current rules, you don't change balls. When the reversal is discovered, you go back to your original ball. In tournaments the player who breaks takes the white ball. That helps the inattentive a little.
 

bbb

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Beside the argument of the equipment the rules and the style of play in those days allow for safety play. If I understand 1 safety per game without penalty. I'm going to assume some safeties were taken even though they would be penalized.

It doesn't take too many blank innings to destroy an average. Couple that with the penalty points and its really tough to break 1.00 average.

if you win the match is your average that important??
 

Texas Carom Club

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if you win the match is your average that important??

I could see it come into play say for seeding in national or international tournament play

If you have a .5 average and they are 40 point matches were talking potentially 80 innings of play
Hypothetically

;)
 
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