Official Rules for the Hopkins Q Skill Challenge

The answer from last year was you must MAKE the lowest numbered ball, not combo another. IIRC, DM was asked.
 
DougT said:
The answer from last year was you must MAKE the lowest numbered ball, not combo another. IIRC, DM was asked.

Thanks Doug. That is what I thought, which is why I played it that way. I just could not remember for sure.
 
Cameron Smith said:
Who came up with this rating system? It seems a bit off.

Regardless I'm happy, I don't need to pot one more ball for the next four sessions and I'll at least be intermediate. :D

In all seriousness I won't be impressed with myself if I do not at least manage an 801.
Given the fact that I can reasonably expect to make it to 500, given the 118 I scored in my first session today, I re-worked the rating system as follows:

0-150 Recreational
151-300 D or beginner
301-450 C or intermediate
451-600 B or advanced
601-800 A or expert
801-900 SS
901-1000

Even still it sounds a bit generous. A 500 should probably be a C or C+. Whadda'ya guys think?
 
Cameron Smith said:
Who came up with this rating system? It seems a bit off.

Regardless I'm happy, I don't need to pot one more ball for the next four sessions and I'll at least be intermediate. :D

In all seriousness I won't be impressed with myself if I do not at least manage an 801.
Given the fact that I can reasonably expect to make it to 500, given the 118 I scored in my first session today with less than stellar play, I re-worked the rating system as follows:

0-150 Recreational
151-300 D or beginner
301-450 C or intermediate
451-600 B or advanced
601-800 A or expert
801-900 SS
901-1000 Pro

Even still it sounds a bit generous. A 500 should probably be a C or C+. Whadda'ya guys think?
 
Agreed. I dd my first session tonight, and I'm embarassed to report the results, because I know I'm not even a developing pro, much less anything higher than that! After I complete the next four sessions I'll report back.

One of the things, IMHO, that contributes to the ease of the drill is that the player determines what the last five balls will be. For a straight pool player, it's simply child's play to engineer it so that the last five balls, even though in rotation, constitute a connect-the-dots pattern.
 
Rules Question

Are the scratching penalties during normal play the same as during the break? ie., 2 points for jumping the CB off the table, and 1 point for other scratches?

In my first session for the 2008 BUD Bowl, one of my runs ended prematurely when I made a double hit shooting a close object ball.

It would have been my 4th point of the rack. I made the ball, but double hit the cue ball. So I didn't count that last ball, and took off 1 point for the scratch, for a total of 2 points on the rack. (Arg.) Did I score that correctly?
 
Cuebacca said:
Are the scratching penalties during normal play the same as during the break? ie., 2 points for jumping the CB off the table, and 1 point for other scratches?

In my first session for the 2008 BUD Bowl, one of my runs ended prematurely when I made a double hit shooting a close object ball.

It would have been my 4th point of the rack. I made the ball, but double hit the cue ball. So I didn't count that last ball, and took off 1 point for the scratch, for a total of 2 points on the rack. (Arg.) Did I score that correctly?

Cue-B,
That is what I would have done.
 
Williebetmore said:
Cue-B,
That is what I would have done.

Excellent! Thank you, sir! I just now realized that next time I'm in doubt on the rules, I should ask myself ... WWWD? :D ;)
 
I posted this in the "other" thread (I'm so sick of 9-ball), but thought I'd ask it here as well.

4. After the break, whether you made a ball or not, proceed to shoot, calling each shot. Try to run the table, shoting the ball in any order UNTIL THERE ARE FIVE BALLS REMAINING. If you do pocket ten balls, then the last five balls must be shot IN ROTATION (in numerical order starting with the lowest number ball). If you MISS A SHOT, the rack is OVER. There are no second chances or mulligans! The first ten balls score 1 point each, and the last five balls score 2 points each. On each rack you can score a MAXIMUM of 20 points.

5. When there are six balls on the table and you pocket two or more balls in one shot, they all stay down and are each worth 1 point. Shoot the remaining balls in rotation, in which each ball is worth 2 points each.
I hate to bump an old(er) thread, but I'm wanting to use this "Q Skill Challenge" as a practice. However, I noticed a discrepency in the scoring methods; particularly regarding the 10th shot, and need clarification on two things.

1. Per rule #4, you must call each shot. What happens if you call a shot, pocket the called shot, but also drop *another* ball in a different pocket, without calling it? Do you spot the ball? Or does it too count as 1 point? Rule #5 seems to address this, but is ambiguous.
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If the ball does not count as a point, does it stay down (meaning I can't score the maximum 20 points per rack), or does it get spotted?

2. Per rule #5, on the 10th shot, if you drop TWO (or more) balls, each is worth only 1 point. That means you cannot score the maximum of 20 points should you run the entire rack. For each additional ball you pocket on tha 10th shot, you end up losing (or rather, failing to gain) one point, albeit unintentionally.

Example: break, drop two balls, ergo your starting score is 2 points. Then pocket seven more balls (each worth one point), so your running score is 9. On the 10th shot, drop two balls (assuming I called BOTH shots, so regardless of my first question, they would count), and my score would be 11 points; then continue shooting per rule #5, with each ball being worth 2 points, and should I drop the remaining four balls (thereby running the entire rack), my total score would be 19, not a perfect 20, which would have been my score had I not pocketed two balls on the 10th shot.

Not that I run racks regularly, but for the rules and scoring sake, if someone runs the entire rack but dropped two (or more) balls on the 10th shot, should they simply award themselves 20 points (which would have been the score had each ball been pocketed individually), or should they take only the score they made? :confused:

Hope those two questions make sense. :embarrassed2:
 
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Yeah, Willie....it's time again for the Drivermaker Holiday AZ tournament...Did I miss a thread about that, or what?

Jeff Livingston
 
I've two questions, one about rule #3:


3. After the break, if you do not have a shot or do not like the shot you have, you may choose one of three options. (a) Place the cue ball anywhere behind the Head String and shoot any ball above the Head String. (b) Place the cue ball on either the Head Spot or the Foot Spot and shoot any ball.
(c) Place the rack over the cue ball (where it lies) and move the cue ball anywhere inside the rack and shoot any ball. All of the options noted above are a penalty and incur a minus 1.

This may be obvious to everyone but me, I'm unclear if "After the break..." refers only to the shot immediately following the break, or if you can take one of these options any time during the rack-under a 1 point penalty. When I read this I at first assumed it referred to only immediately after the break (like a push-out), but then I noticed rule 4 starts with the same phrasing and that rule refers to the entire rack. The intepretation of this rule could obviously affect the scores significantly.

The other question is:

Where do we post the results? There are several different threads now in circulation. Might one of the OP's start a new DM Memorial thread titled "The 2008 DM Memorial Rules & Results Scoreboard" thread, or some such thing, with the official rules posted on the first post? Also, when is the game over?

Thanks anyone, for the proper interpretation of rule three!
 
DogsPlayingPool said:
This may be obvious to everyone but me, I'm unclear if "After the break..." refers only to the shot immediately following the break, or if you can take one of these options any time during the rack-under a 1 point penalty. When I read this I at first assumed it referred to only immediately after the break (like a push-out), but then I noticed rule 4 starts with the same phrasing and that rule refers to the entire rack. The intepretation of this rule could obviously affect the scores significantly.

...

Thanks anyone, for the proper interpretation of rule three!
Good catch. The way I read it, rule #3 is only for the shot immediately following the break, thereafter you must play the cue ball where it lies. I believe that the original wording is merely ambiguous in that respect.

I suppose one could allow the cue ball to move like that on any shot, but it would make this challenge much easier to score higher, which IMO isn't the intended goal of the challenge.
 
That's the way I interpreted it as well, hfelsh. But because the wording is not clear and could be interpreted as meaning you have that option during the course of the rack, I just wanted someone to rule on the issue. It could easily be remedied by changing rule three to begin with the phrase: "On the shot immediately after the break, if you do not have a shot or do not like the shot you have...yada yada...
 
Very funny training exercise, but the scores are waaay off (or the game is too easy to evaluate high skills), I made two sessions, both in the Pro range, and I'm not anything close to a Pro, not even a semi-pro, or a developing-pro.
 
Very funny training exercise, but the scores are waaay off (or the game is too easy to evaluate high skills), I made two sessions, both in the Pro range, and I'm not anything close to a Pro, not even a semi-pro, or a developing-pro.

Post your score on the 50 innings.
 
That's the way I interpreted it as well, hfelsh. But because the wording is not clear and could be interpreted as meaning you have that option during the course of the rack, I just wanted someone to rule on the issue. It could easily be remedied by changing rule three to begin with the phrase: "On the shot immediately after the break, if you do not have a shot or do not like the shot you have...yada yada...

Without question, it means immediately after the break. If it meant anytime, it would not have mentioned "after the break" . It did not state "WHENEVER you don't like the shot...." .
 
Very funny training exercise, but the scores are waaay off (or the game is too easy to evaluate high skills), I made two sessions, both in the Pro range, and I'm not anything close to a Pro, not even a semi-pro, or a developing-pro.

Get a backer and hit the road.

Jeff Livingston
 
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