There are multiple listed on the following chart:


Not sure why G2 (layered) tips are not listed on this chart. They are here:


Sounds like the Royal Oak would be a good softer side of medium between the Elkmaster and Triangle, good luck finding an installer that has one to try as I've never seen one of these type of tips in 35+ years of pool:


I've heard Elkmasters and Le Pros can be very inconsistent.

I have this beautiful older Barnhart with ivory joint.

Pressed elkmaster. Milkdud.

mikepage said:

Following the break, one suit is easier to run and the other is harder (forget for a minute that the players won't always agree which is which).

The two ways we tend to play 8-Ball are
(1) Open table --player never shoots the hard suit
(2) Take-what-you-make --player shoots the hard suit roughly half the time

There is a third way that, IMO, we should be doing at the pro level or any time 8-Ball is too easy (like 700+ players on 7-foot table)

(3) Opponent assigns suit --this way the player at the table after the break shoots the hard suit every time

This is a simple modification that would make 8-Ball more interesting at the pro level.

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"Opponent assigns suit" <-- That's an even dumber bastardization for pool than the "3-point rule".

Vahmurka said:

Watching Robbie's performance vs Chinakhov (x2 speed mode advised ) would make you reconsider. Struggled big time. Okay, only first day in, but still, did not look like his former self.

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To be fair, I did not watch. Le's see what he looks like tomorrow. Thanks for your input.

Gatz said:

Take what you make punishes good breaks. Example, make 3 solids, squat the cueball, have no shot on a solid, you lose the game for breaking good. 8ball should always be played open after break and alternate break. Mistakes are heavily punished so stop making mistakes and hold your serve, simple.

Watching two great players hold their serves, trading blows, going hill hill is awesome.

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On what percent of the breaks in 8ball on a 9-footer does a player make more than two balls in one of the two sets. My guess, based on having attended numerous pro level 8ball events, would be 1%. Protecting players from the possibly negative consequences by making the game incredibly easy, which is what "open table after the break" does, makes the game boring when world class players are the ones playing.

The most exciting 8ball I've ever watched came during Darren Appleton's World Pool Series about ten years ago. It was "take what you make" and "break from within a few inches of the long rail" and luck had nothing to do with the outcomes. The cream rose to the top and Kaci and Woodward, two of the best 8ball players in the world, won the two events that I attended.

Irving Crane once offered that 8ball was way too easy for the top pros and he was referring to "take what you make" version.

The "open table after the break" makes a lot of sense for leagues players, but it is ridiculous for pros.