Black (new) Magic Rack?

Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
What is with all the re-racking at the Ultimate 10-ball tournament with the new Black Magic Racks? I never saw such problems from MR's before. Somethings not right there. Either they got a bad batch, or they don't know how to use them, or someone don't want them to work well. Johnnyt
 
Hey, johnnyt

Me and Mark's been watching and the couple re-rack was requested due to rack being sat crooked. Impersonally haven't heard anyone complain about Magic Ball Rack being not tight.

S.G.
 
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The racks work exceptionally well and the only reason for the re-racks was that they may have been placed at a slight angle.

ooooops.....Sunny beat me to it.....
 
With a rack like that, pros expect *all* balls to be touching each other. I think that's what it is.
 
My first generation MR's work great. All balls are tight. Hit it the same each time and balls go to the same place on the table each time. Johnnyt
 
I had the original one and when I got it , there was a little piece of film that was to be removed. And the same directions are on the new black ones also. But I can not find a edge to remove film. I asked the guy I bought it off of here on AZ but he says he has yet to find it either. Has anyone else found and removed the film piece on the new black magic racks ?....>> ED
 
Johnnyt said:
My first generation MR's work great. All balls are tight. Hit it the same each time and balls go to the same place on the table each time. Johnnyt
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Sometime there is still a gab, so you need to push a couple of balls together. This was being missed by the referees, reason the players have been checking the rack.

Very similar to SVB against Earl, even though the balls were tapped. Same problem, SVB would push or squeeze the balls together eliminating the gaps.
 
ARROWCRUSHER said:
I had the original one and when I got it , there was a little piece of film that was to be removed. And the same directions are on the new black ones also. But I can not find a edge to remove film. I asked the guy I bought it off of here on AZ but he says he has yet to find it either. Has anyone else found and removed the film piece on the new black magic racks ?....>> ED
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Yeah, I had a tough time finding it at first too.. it has a blueish tint. I had to use a sharp pair of tweezers to separate the film from the rack. Once you get it started it comes off really easy though.

The Magic Rack is the best 10 bucks I've ever spent. They rack much quicker and give you a perfect rack every time without having to finagle, move, or tap the balls at all.
 
Johnny;

At one point I saw Ken Schuman grab a box of magic racks trying to get one that would lay flat. I saw him showing Mike Deschaine in his earlier match with JJ how you have to flip them over to see which way lays better (unless there's a top & bottom?). I would have thought the weight of the balls would take care of that. :confused:

Ray (Bigtruck) mentioned that there needs to be a better way to handle/transport the magic racks as all of the handling was taking a toll on them. He added that maybe something with thumbscrews could be used for storing them - I think he meant for maintaining flatness.

Are they that flimsy? I thought I heard some people say you could roll them up, put em in your pocket, then use them with no problems. Maybe that's not right.

And while some of the attention may have been due to crookedness, I definitely saw (and even heard) a number of times where the players were pointing out certain balls that were not touching. So does this mean that even though you are supposed to get a perfect rack every time that you still have to fool with balls to get them tight? And does this differ from the first generation clear magic racks?

I ordered a set just the other day and am anxious to see how they do.

Best,
Brian kc
 
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Hope I didn't come off as knocking MR. I think it's the best racking device for 7-ball, 9-ball, and 10-ball that is on the market and the best thing in racking since Joe Tucker's "Racking Secrets" came out. My original MR's you just have to tap/jiggle a looose ball or two with your finger to tighten the rack. The whole racking time is about a minute or less. What I am concerened about is that other tournament promoters and TD's will see all the time and problems these refs were having with the black model and not use them. One of the biggest advantages is the time they save. In a tournament they save a huge amount of time. Johnnyt
 
Kickin' Chicken said:
Johnny;

At one point I saw Ken Schuman grab a box of magic racks trying to get one that would lay flat. I saw him showing Mike Deschaine in his earlier match with JJ how you have to flip them over to see which way lays better (unless there's a top & bottom?). I would have thought the weight of the balls would take care of that. :confused:

Ray (Bigtruck) mentioned that there needs to be a better way to handle/transport the magic racks as all of the handling was taking a toll on them. He added that maybe something with thumbscrews could be used for storing them - I think he meant for maintaining flatness.

Are they that flimsy? I thought I heard some people say you could roll them up, put em in your pocket, then use them with no problems. Maybe that's not right.

And while some of the attention may have been due to crookedness, I definitely saw (and even heard) a number of times where the players were pointing out certain balls that were not touching. So does this mean that even though you are supposed to get a perfect rack every time that you still have to fool with balls to get them tight? And does this differ from the first generation clear magic racks?

I ordered a set just the other day and am anxious to see how they do.

Best,
Brian kc
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Storing and transporting them is, as well, the question I've had. Anyone have any thoughts/experience?
 
I have yet to see this rack used without issues. Not sure why the big push for it? Do the Pros like it? Doesnt seem so
 
sunnyday said:
Hey, johnnyt

Me and Mark's been watching and the couple re-rack was requested due to rack being sat crooked. Impersonally haven't heard anyone complain about Magic Ball Rack being not tight.

S.G.
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I watched about a dozen matches at the Ultimate 10 Ball Championship over the weekend. There was only one (1) request for a referee to "fix" a racked set of balls. Pretty amazing.
 
dsb8541 said:
I have yet to see this rack used without issues. Not sure why the big push for it? Do the Pros like it? Doesnt seem so
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The pros that don't like it are the rack mechanics. They want to have the option of rigging the rack...plain and simple. Johnnyt
 
I believe that I could spend a lot less timing racking balls in a tournament on tables in "tournament condition" (read: new cloth) with a Delta-13 than I could with a Magic Rack, and STILL get a perfect rack. Of course there would be SOME racks that would take a bit longer to get "right", but total racking time for the ENTIRE tournament would be shorter, imo.
And.......there would NEVER be an issue with having to remove the rack afterwards or any balls rerouted/halted. I saw the 10-ball get halted by the Magic Rack on several occasions when I was watching the streaming this weekend.

Maniac
 
A little tip

To ensure the MR rack isn't "tilted", pull a string from head to foot. Using a Sharpie pen, make a little dot on the cloth just behind where the 9 ball goes in the MR. Anyone can then look at a completed rack, for 9 or 10 ball, see the dot behind the rack, and verify it's straight.
 
UPlayLucky said:
Sometime there is still a gab, so you need to push a couple of balls together. This was being missed by the referees, reason the players have been checking the rack.

Very similar to SVB against Earl, even though the balls were tapped. Same problem, SVB would push or squeeze the balls together eliminating the gaps.
Click to expand...

The table for the Strickland/Van Boening match was not tapped using a template as the Euro Tour event tables are tapped. It was tapped holding the balls tight in a rack, which does not make the balls freeze the same way as template tapping does.

Template tapping makes the balls lean in toward the center and freeze, the alignment of the rack stays the same for each rack, the balls can be moved up to rack in groups or all at once with a triangle instead of placed one at a time, and there is nothing to place on the table before each rack and nothing to remove after the break, which also saves a lot of time.
 
I just got my MR last week, it's the black one, I don't see any sign of a "blue" cover. It plays great, I'm sure that there are tables like the ones we have in our AZ room that would definately benefit from using it. The tables are nowhere near the standard used in the tournaments and to get a "perfect" rack is almost impossible.

I also like the idea that you are not dragging the rack across the table each time you rack.
 
Magic ball rack

There are almost no issues with the magic ball rack.
We used it at us bar table for 8, 9, and 10-ball. It worked GREAT- with no major problems. It saves a lot of time.

At ultimate 10-ball I saw a lot of players inspect the rack. I only saw 2 re-racked and they were from alignment problems.

There is no way a 'normal' triangle will perform as well.
As stated earlier, these type of racks make the balls lean into each other.

The only thing you have to do is to very gently push the balls towards each other to insure they are tight.

It is easy to learn to use. It probably takes 20 seconds to rack the balls.

We are very happy and will be using them more and more.
They definitely speed up a match - I am guessing they save 15-30 minutes on a typical match.

Mark griffin
 
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