I think it's time. Rack your own or loser racks... the ball patterns should all be the same and standardized for 8, 9 and 10 ball. The game is played and enjoyed by the shots, not by the racking pattern. Thoughts...
Tournament Directors - It's Time for a Standard Racking Pattern
- Thread starter BarTableMan
- Start date
I think it's an interesting idea.
You could also have several different patterns to change things up.
Racks 1-5 use pattern 1
Racks 6-10 use pattern 2
etc
I have often thought the same thing. Rack everything the same way for everybody and get the show on the road.
NO MORE rack mechanics and shenanigans!
NO MORE rack mechanics and shenanigans!
I AGREE - But the standard should be as written within the rules as set by the WPA. The balls should be randomly racked - That can only come from player integrity...
...Am about to draw breathe and hold. :thumbup:
I agree. "Random" racking is a fine idea in theory, but I don't believe any racking can truly be random when the players are racking (for themselves or for their opponent). It may not be blatant but certain preferences will likely leak in anyway. And then there is enforcement...sure, you can look for the same pattern every rack but it seems easy enough for someone to create a few basic pattern variations that would allow them to avoid detection.
I think there should be a standard pattern and yes, that will allow people to learn how to best play that pattern, but ideally it would be a pattern that is challenging and least conducive to providing easy runs, not the opposite which is what can happen now.
In conjunction with this, it seems like slightly altered rack positions that lessen the odds of sinking a ball consistently could be useful as well.
I think there should be a standard pattern and yes, that will allow people to learn how to best play that pattern, but ideally it would be a pattern that is challenging and least conducive to providing easy runs, not the opposite which is what can happen now.
In conjunction with this, it seems like slightly altered rack positions that lessen the odds of sinking a ball consistently could be useful as well.
Use mosconi cup rules? Players figured out how to make the wing balls.
Mosconi Cup rules 9 on the spot? Players figured out how to make the 9 in the corner.
Use the magic rack? Make a ball every time.
Use the sardo rack? Make a ball every time.
Rack your own? Pattern racking.
Neutral Racker? Cost too much.
Standard Racking Pattern? Players will figure out the pattern.
Stop penalizing players for playing well.
Playing pool is as much mental, as it is physical.
IMO, every match should be rack your own/alternate break formats.
Mosconi Cup rules 9 on the spot? Players figured out how to make the 9 in the corner.
Use the magic rack? Make a ball every time.
Use the sardo rack? Make a ball every time.
Rack your own? Pattern racking.
Neutral Racker? Cost too much.
Standard Racking Pattern? Players will figure out the pattern.
Stop penalizing players for playing well.
Playing pool is as much mental, as it is physical.
IMO, every match should be rack your own/alternate break formats.
I like this idea too. Compared to a standard racking pattern this would at least provide variety in the patterns and rack your own and alternate break format helps even things out I feel.
The more I think about it the more I like this idea better maybe.
Players should lag for the break. No coin flipping.
Players should rack their own. No magic racks.
Players should alternate breaks.
I'm not for pattern racking, but I'm also not against it.
If I'm breaking, I'm going to rack the balls; Why? Because, there are no rules that say I can't force my opponent to rerack the balls until I like the layout and I'd rather save the headaches and bickering.
A SIMPLE solution to the pattern racking problem would be to make an App or a simple number generator that could be used before each rack.
Then activate the "App" before each rack to generate the random numbers and the balls have to be racked in that sequence.
The only exclusions could be 1 on the head spot, game ball as the center ball, etc.
Then activate the "App" before each rack to generate the random numbers and the balls have to be racked in that sequence.
The only exclusions could be 1 on the head spot, game ball as the center ball, etc.
What problem do you think this solves? The pattern racking "problem"?
If you FORCE pattern racking, you don't SOLVE pattern racking.
You make the so-called problem even worse.
Of course, people who hate pattern racking are mostly just making a kneejerk reaction
without actually asking themselves "does this really do what I think it does?"
A lot of them claim it's soooo boring because every runout looks "the exact same".
But you can't point to a single example online where someone ran out a set
using pattern racking, and even if they won several games they didn't all go the same way.
For example, people cried about Dennis Orcullo's pattern rack in one tournament,
and he never had 2 runouts that were the same. Check out the location
of the 2 ball over the course of his 7 runouts: http://i.imgur.com/rlOp7LI.jpg
It is NOT time to add a potentially boring and standardized rack to any pool game.
It doesn't solve any problem, least of all pool's biggest problem -
the fact that it's boring to watch, therefore nobody sponsors it, therefore there's no money in it.
It is not an epidemic, only like 3 guys are doing it to any effect and they still
have to shoot like champions to win. Let's revisit this when it becomes an actual problem.
If you FORCE pattern racking, you don't SOLVE pattern racking.
You make the so-called problem even worse.
Of course, people who hate pattern racking are mostly just making a kneejerk reaction
without actually asking themselves "does this really do what I think it does?"
A lot of them claim it's soooo boring because every runout looks "the exact same".
But you can't point to a single example online where someone ran out a set
using pattern racking, and even if they won several games they didn't all go the same way.
For example, people cried about Dennis Orcullo's pattern rack in one tournament,
and he never had 2 runouts that were the same. Check out the location
of the 2 ball over the course of his 7 runouts: http://i.imgur.com/rlOp7LI.jpg
It is NOT time to add a potentially boring and standardized rack to any pool game.
It doesn't solve any problem, least of all pool's biggest problem -
the fact that it's boring to watch, therefore nobody sponsors it, therefore there's no money in it.
It is not an epidemic, only like 3 guys are doing it to any effect and they still
have to shoot like champions to win. Let's revisit this when it becomes an actual problem.
V good post. You're so correct; so many other things to get right in the game.
Still a good thread tho... :thumbup:
Standard racking pattern for 8 ball is fine. In rotation games it is a bad idea. I want to see different patterns. A random pattern generator can be used for tournaments to avoid pattern racking. Patterns would be generated before the tournament and all players would use a certain pattern for Rack 1, another for Rack 2 and so on.
Joe T
Well-known member
my .02 and 2 thoughts;
Mike Davis once said to me about dead corner balls "Joe, maybe 9 ball was meant to be or should just be a runout contest?" and I'm very much okay with that. One way I would like to see it played is alternating break, rack your own any pattern breaker chooses with a magic rack and let them trade blows. I'm still waiting to see a nice 9 ball match where they trade racks right to the end, something like Shane and Biado did in last years 8 Ball Open at the Rio, absolutely loved that match.
The other way is what Mosconi Cup did last year; Shrink the break box and 9 on the spot. I don't think there was one corner ball made in last years match. There was some unwritten agreement between players to not cut break though but I can tell ya KNOCK yourself out with that set up. The only shot I see there (and I did practice it) is 1 ball in the side which is a skill shot, not wired shot and you have to cut it so much its very tough to control the cb to a certain spot.
I don't like the second option as much as the first because it leaves more up to simply lucking a ball in and getting a shot on lowest ball.
Mike Davis once said to me about dead corner balls "Joe, maybe 9 ball was meant to be or should just be a runout contest?" and I'm very much okay with that. One way I would like to see it played is alternating break, rack your own any pattern breaker chooses with a magic rack and let them trade blows. I'm still waiting to see a nice 9 ball match where they trade racks right to the end, something like Shane and Biado did in last years 8 Ball Open at the Rio, absolutely loved that match.
The other way is what Mosconi Cup did last year; Shrink the break box and 9 on the spot. I don't think there was one corner ball made in last years match. There was some unwritten agreement between players to not cut break though but I can tell ya KNOCK yourself out with that set up. The only shot I see there (and I did practice it) is 1 ball in the side which is a skill shot, not wired shot and you have to cut it so much its very tough to control the cb to a certain spot.
I don't like the second option as much as the first because it leaves more up to simply lucking a ball in and getting a shot on lowest ball.