10 ball IS my game. Why? Because I truly believe playing rotation games forces you to be a better player. One main reason: Cue ball control.
Let's face it, though 8 ball can and sometimes be difficult (eg clusters, traffic, etc,), it can also be "anybody's game" depending on the break. Let's ask ourselves how many times we, (yes, WE), have been beaten by players with less than half our skill set. It can be pretty demoralizing sometimes. Scenario: You win the lag because you are, well, just better. But you break dry. Your opponent chooses high balls and has an easy stop shot, another stop shot, a little roller, then yet another stop shot, then an easy 2' draw, then another stop shot and bang, the 8 is in and you sit in your chair wishing you had just one more game left to prove yourself in that silly race-to-3 tournament. Or worse, it's some dumb bar tourney with a race-to-1 single elimination format, and this guy who's buzzed on weed and 4 beers with a house cue beats you simply because he got super lucky and left you absolutely no shot on your last two balls - one of which was the 8. You can't even believe it. You stand there in denial. Your mind cannot even process the fact that out of the 26 million small matrix dots on the table, especially after this banger just whacked the shit out of the cue ball, it comes to rest on the BACK side of the 8, and your last ball is the 5 sitting nice and pretty, on the FRONT side! Yep, a full lunar eclipse. So you do your best at a kick shot, barely tapping the 5, feathering the cue-ball long and far down toward the end rail, all while acting like you miscued because the alcoholic bar people "frown" on safety play. Then, Mr Weedbeerbuzz hits his easy pocket hanger, one more simple shot, then proceeds to pocket the 8 in the big wide side. Smiling but ripped apart on the inside, you question yourself. You question God. You question pool, and life itself. (Thus the reason(s) I typically avoid 8 ball, and especially with races to 3 or less and most definitely bar 8. No thanks.)
But with the above said, the games I DO enjoy, in addition to 10B, are OneP and even 14:1 as they teach you to look deeper into racks or clusters and "see" shots the average player would often overlook or avoid. Those games tend to refine the player and develop much needed skills such as speed control, offensive / defensive strategies as well as better pattern reading. 9B fun too as it's still rotation pool, but just not a fan of ANY slop. At least its a fast game. Now on occasion, 9B bank pool can be a good road to drive down. It's helpful. Not a lot of people play or practice it. Just don't play it with below-average or slow players.
I guess all games have their place and their fan base. 10B can be a tough game. Someone mentioned earlier of simply "bunting" balls. Nice try, but that's what 8 ball is for. 10 ball means one can be going from one end of the table to the other, 7 different times, each with position. The break, running out 10 balls instead of 8, the challenge of effective defensive shots where there are only 2 or 3 balls left on the table, calling every shot, precise cue ball speed and control, rails, banks, kicks, caroms, jumps, etc. It's all good stuff. I do favor an early 10 though, whether combo or carom, if called. ,
