why is 8-ball most popular (not tournaments)

F

framedglasshadd

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have always wondered why 8-ball is so well-known and popular. Don't get me wrong, I like 8-ball too, but I would think that 14.1 would be most well-known. Out of all the games I introduce to my friends, pocket and carom, 8-ball is always the most familiar, and not just by a little bit. I know 9-ball is a very popular tournament game, but it does not seem to be very popular when I play at a parlor. 3C is undoubtedly the most popular carom game, but it is practically unheard of compared to 8-ball. Even though I do not play pocket so much anymore, whenever I am invited to play a pocket game, it is always 8-ball.

Is it perhaps the "Magic 8 ball" (the device to tell fortunes)? The many, many 8-ball flash games? Why don't they make 9 or 10-ball flash games? "8-ball" the clothing line? Just googled this and found out "8-ball" also specifies 3.5 grams of coke.
 
Easiest game to understand, uses the full rack, easy to play when drunk. :)

Near perfect coin-op game.
 
Its the only decent game that uses all the balls. I mean can you picture trying to play straight pool in a bar.....zzzzzzzz
 
I think another reason 8-ball is popular is that there is enough luck in the break and resulting table congestion and layout that you almost always have a chance at winning even against a better player.
 
DecentShot said:
Its the only decent game that uses all the balls. I mean can you picture trying to play straight pool in a bar.....zzzzzzzz
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You can't play 14.1 in a bar, unless there is no one else in the joint. but typically a coin op has a line of people waiting to play after each rack or at least at any time someone may come over a put their marker on the rail. For the same reason you can't play straight pool, you also can't play 9 Ball and then 6 Ball. The guys waiting to play won't appreciate it much when go to rack that 2nd game. Besides which 14.1 doesn't lend itself to BB play as balls often have to be spotted. Same with One Pocket even though that is a single rack game; you can't spot balls.

In any event, the coin operated bar box is the reason 8 Ball is the most familiar game to casual players. It gives you the most bang for the buck. You get to use all the balls; it's one rack then the next guy gets to play; and you don't need to spot balls.
 
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I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the simplicity of the game. Get your solids/stripes in, then make the 8. With 9 and BiH, push shots, 3-fouls, etc, it becomes a little complicated to play a standard game between many people that don't play very often. With 8, you start with the basics and work from there. Granted, some rules get skewed, but it more or less boils down to call-shot and making yours and getting the prize first before the other guy.

Maybe that even gives it a more competitive or balanced feel, since running to the 8 and leaving an easy out for the other guy doesn't really seem like much of a game without it involving a race. You get the feel of a game without the idea that the other guy didn't really do anything. That's not a result people wait to jump on a table for. For many people that take part, it either begins or stays casual and a part of socializing. 8 tends to last an acceptable amount of time for a few participants.

Just a few ideas.. could just be more people are introduced to that game and so it snowballs in popularity/participation.

I just think it has more creativity and that makes it a bit more fun for me.
 
I like 8 ball because it has both a chess and checkers mode..

in checkers mode aka banger mode
you blast the break pick a group and make as many as you can.. each player does that for several innings with one finally getting to the 8 ball.. then you get the cheesehead who extends that misery even further by playing last pocket.. because they are to cheap to rack the balls again...


or you get chess mode aka run out mode for the big kids

lots of moving and problem solving strategically setting up your out while playing safe and trying not to let the next guy do the same...

two entirely different worlds wrapped up in one game..
largest possible appeal = largest possible audience
 
Banks said:
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the simplicity of the game. Get your solids/stripes in, then make the 8. With 9 and BiH, push shots, 3-fouls, etc, it becomes a little complicated to play a standard game between many people that don't play very often.

Just a few ideas.. could just be more people are introduced to that game and so it snowballs in popularity/participation.

I just think it has more creativity and that makes it a bit more fun for me.
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Good point... I never really thought about the actual differences in gameplay. It is even simpler when some say they don't play with call shot... I wonder when ot became the most well-known game though. The 8 ball is just so fascinating, maybe.
DogsPlayingPool said:
In any event, the coin operated bar box is the reason 8 Ball is the most familiar game to casual players. It gives you the most bang for the buck. You get to use all the balls; it's one rack then the next guy gets to play; and you don't need to spot balls.
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This probably sounds stupid, but I have never played on nor seen a coin-operated table before... So I have no idea how that works. I have only played at billiard/pool hall, someone's house, or an arcade, and even at an arcade where there happen to be tables, you just give them an ID and they give you the balls and chalk.
 
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8 ball's popularity was brought about by the coin op table. People started playing pool in places other than pool halls, and as stated before it's easy to understand, fast paced and uses all of the balls.

:cool:
 
DelaWho??? said:
8 ball's popularity was brought about by the coin op table. People started playing pool in places other than pool halls, and as stated before it's easy to understand, fast paced and uses all of the balls.

:cool:
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There is a whole bunch of games that can be played in the rule book, but when bar tables became so popular 8 ball was the most adaptable. Having said that, 8 ball has been a predominant game years before the bar table. It also ends fairly quickly allowing for a nice turnover and profit for the bar table.

There is also more to the game then one may think. For the beginner it is simple to understand and play. As they get better the game becomes more strategic and still remains fun to play. It is really a pretty good game that even many pros like Jimmy Reid enjoyed. Years ago it was also played by other rules such as 1 & 15 in the side.
 
It is for the competition. Here in PR, there is even trash talking and taunting. We do not have many pool halls here, about 4 or 5 in all the island, but almost every place that sells alcohol, have 1 or 2 tables. We basically are beginning to use BCA Ball in Hand rules, with the only difference consisting the eight ball goes where you pocketed your last ball. That's add a lot to the strategy in the rack.
 
Banks said:
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the simplicity of the game. Get your solids/stripes in, then make the 8. With 9 and BiH, push shots, 3-fouls, etc, it becomes a little complicated to play a standard game between many people that don't play very often. With 8, you start with the basics and work from there. Granted, some rules get skewed, but it more or less boils down to call-shot and making yours and getting the prize first before the other guy.

Maybe that even gives it a more competitive or balanced feel, since running to the 8 and leaving an easy out for the other guy doesn't really seem like much of a game without it involving a race. You get the feel of a game without the idea that the other guy didn't really do anything. That's not a result people wait to jump on a table for. For many people that take part, it either begins or stays casual and a part of socializing. 8 tends to last an acceptable amount of time for a few participants.

Just a few ideas.. could just be more people are introduced to that game and so it snowballs in popularity/participation.

I just think it has more creativity and that makes it a bit more fun for me.
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Lock N Load<---- Trying to remember the last time I played 8 ball!
I give up.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
Amateurs don't want a long game where one must keep score, so that rules out straight pool.
They also struggle just with making balls, so they don't want restrictions like "you can only shoot in one pocket" or "you can only shoot at one specific ball". I guess 8 ball gives them all of these things.

But mostly, I think it's because it's what their friends play. I've met one or two who came up thinking of 9 ball as the "main game" because they somehow grew up in an area with a real pool hall that had no bar boxes, and everyone there was mostly into rotation games. It's pretty rare though. Like one of those kids who grows up in the forest and only speaks chimpanzee.
 
8-ball is easier to play because it offers the shooter more potential shots each time he's at the table. In a rotation game you've only got one ball you can shoot at. If that ball can't be pocketed...well, you're out of luck.

So, it's more fun.
 
I agree that eight ball is a relatively easy game to learn, as is ten ball, nine ball, and rotation, but not necessarily easy games to play. Or, at least, play well. Play a game of nine ball with Efren, and I'm sure a person's appreciation for the game would change.
I also believe that eight ball is more like checkers, and One Pocket is more like chess. :smile:
 
Banks said:
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the simplicity of the game. Get your solids/stripes in, then make the 8. With 9 and BiH, push shots, 3-fouls, etc, it becomes a little complicated to play a standard game between many people that don't play very often. With 8, you start with the basics and work from there. Granted, some rules get skewed, but it more or less boils down to call-shot and making yours and getting the prize first before the other guy.

Maybe that even gives it a more competitive or balanced feel, since running to the 8 and leaving an easy out for the other guy doesn't really seem like much of a game without it involving a race. You get the feel of a game without the idea that the other guy didn't really do anything. That's not a result people wait to jump on a table for. For many people that take part, it either begins or stays casual and a part of socializing. 8 tends to last an acceptable amount of time for a few participants.

Just a few ideas.. could just be more people are introduced to that game and so it snowballs in popularity/participation.

I just think it has more creativity and that makes it a bit more fun for me.
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I think a lot of people are forgetting what the original post is about. Minus the top 1% (all of us here), the rest of the world STINKS at pool. To them a single game of 8ball is a sufficient contest! If Bob beats Sam, Bob is clearly a better pool player.

So, to add what Banks has to say, 8ball looks like a balanced game. To the remaining 99%, 9ball looks like bullshit even though we know this isn't true.

When I first started playing at the ripe old age of 5, we just played to 8 points. Whoever got any 8 balls in first won. To a 5 year old, this is a challenging game. To the average 30 year old, it's a bit of a joke. 8ball provides enough of a challenge for the average Muggle to allow both Muggles to shoot.
 
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