I finally played Ultimate Pool

2 other rules.
A defensive shot e.g. playing a designated group legally to pocket an opponent's ball. (you can't hit your solid and pocket your opponents stripe)

Failing to "Play Away" from a touching / frozen ball(s). (proven you can hit into and not "play away" from a touching ball and not foul)
I'm not sure I follow on your first point. You can absolutely hit your solid and pocket your opponent's stripe. You just lose your turn at the table. Just like BCA.

Edit: Looks like I'm late to the party...

I finally played Ultimate Pool

2 other rules.
A defensive shot e.g. playing a designated group legally to pocket an opponent's ball. (you can't hit your solid and pocket your opponents stripe)

Failing to "Play Away" from a touching / frozen ball(s). (proven you can hit into and not "play away" from a touching ball and not foul)

I'm not sure I'm reading you right, but you can use your ball to pocket your opponent's ball. It's just a loss of turn if none of your balls go down.

Or are you referring to the rules after the break on combo shots?

Buddy Hall talks "Deflection"

yes in a way i am. but have done really well in my life so it is not substantial enough to be bothered with smaller bets.
plus no longer a spring chicken.

most courses i played were links and public courses, many 7000 yards. when gambling you play what they want, and from the tips to whites or blues.

my above post was to say that its not the equipment that determines how well you play, it can only help a little bit.

Who is Jesus Atencio? Find out in Billiards Digest (April 2026)

Atencio’s A-game is very solid, but he is very inconsistent and is not a great finisher. He is a quality guy who presents himself gracefully and has a good attitude, but I will be surprised if he emerges as one of the World Top 25 as measured by Fargo. Hope I am wrong here, and I hope that, if he wins a major, I am there to shake his hand. Wishing him the best!

Pro Pocket Size TOO Small for 9 Ball

The reason that the runout has become so difficult is the break rule. For three full WNT seasons, nine on the spot with a narrow break box has ended the days of players being able to play any kind of shape for the first shot after the break. Yes, they can still make the one in the side with cut break, but that is rarely enough to string many racks.

The 4 inch pockets are not the main reason there are fewer runout chances, and players have become more conservative in their play. Despite their suggestion that 9ball is the better game, Matchroom has made 9ball more like 10ball by stifling some of the offense and robbing the game of, what I believe, is a more fan-friendly pace of play.
I disagree....

Pro Pocket Size TOO Small for 9 Ball

When player's have to duck fairly mundane shots because the pockets too small is not fun to watch. It becomes 'cinch' pool because there's so little room to cheat the pocket. To me the 'snookerization' of pool is not good.

I don't agree with making the pockets extremely small (like 3.9 inches) but I wouldn't want them to go back to say, 5 inches either.

4 1/8 seems to be a sweet spot for pros, but I do think the Predator side pockets are too harsh.

I'm not sure 4.5" pockets would bring the excitement up more or not, but would definitely make it easier to pocket a ball for the top pros. Pool today is more of a chess match than it ever has been. The outlaws we grew up watching had more freedom to show their personalities than the sponsor world would allow today, not to mention they came up hustling to put food on the table. A different world today brings a different player. Another problem is that there are around 4 pros that are a step above all the rest. If they weren't in the field, you would see a lot more action and different winners all year. I wouldn't want those 4 not playing in the tournaments, but they pretty much stink it up for all the rest. All but 1 of the 4 are also not US-born, which I think plays into it as well. I'm not knocking that fact, but I do think it doesn't help to drive up interest at home in the US. Those 4 in my mind are Filler, Gorst, Shaw, & SVB. I do feel Shaw brings a lot of excitement to his matches, and especially to the Mosconi Cup arena. I agree that European influence has changed the sport, in some positive ways and in some negative ways. We need more support in the US for the sport to control the direction of it, and that will take promotion at all levels, including having a group of US-dominant players today instead of European.

Ko Ping Chung can hang with the 4 you mentioned

Pro Pocket Size TOO Small for 9 Ball

to be fair the pro tour is more watchable for a die hard pool fan as he sees the best of the best position and shot making.

but for the masses it is less exciting at least from my point of view. ask them, not the die hard pro circuit pool watchers.

ask the viewers if it was more fun watching miz, earl, fats, hall, mike, keith, cole, efren, busti, etc. at every tournament or on tv during their heydays.

or watching filler, svb, gorst, kaci etc, all taking twice or more as long and showing little emotion.

Filter

Back
Top