14,1 Question of Old Timers

Colin Colenso

Colin Colenso

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was wondering if 14.1 was ever adapted to league play or for small tournament formats.

Would seem to me that any race below 50 was like a coin toss for the better players, so curious about the formats it was played when time restraints were in place.

Cheers,
Colin
 
Colin:
In the early 70s we had a tournament associated with my hometown's annual Fourth of July festival. It was single elimination, 100 points. I do not recall leagues in that era, but typically if there was a tournament of any kind, pro or amateur, it was straight pool. Eight ball, nine ball and one pocket were played, but straight was the tournament game.

Roger
 
RogerO said:
Colin:
In the early 70s we had a tournament associated with my hometown's annual Fourth of July festival. It was single elimination, 100 points. I do not recall leagues in that era, but typically if there was a tournament of any kind, pro or amateur, it was straight pool. Eight ball, nine ball and one pocket were played, but straight was the tournament game.

Roger
Click to expand...

Thanks Roger,

Would love to play races to 100 points instead of race to 2 or 3 games as we generally do. That said, I'd probably prefer the later over the former if I were playing great straight pool players.

Cheers,
Colin
 
I play in two different 14.1 leagues here in Illinois, and there are many others. I think Red Shoes had a $25 14.1 tournament just last weekend. The matches do tend to be long, 2 or 3 hours.

I agree that anything less than 50 points wouldn't feel like straight pool.


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longhair said:
I play in two different 14.1 leagues here in Illinois, and there are many others. I think Red Shoes had a $25 14.1 tournament just last weekend. The matches do tend to be long, 2 or 3 hours.

I agree that anything less than 50 points wouldn't feel like straight pool.


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Click to expand...

Thanks Longhair,

Confirming how the game hasn't become a 6 v 6 player league night I guess.

Maybe that's a big reason the game turned into the shorter formats which rely more on luck and tactics than skill.

Cheers,
Colin
 
I used to play in the straight pool league at Amsterdam Billiards in NYC. Depending on your group's skill, you play race to 50, 75, 100, and 125. My match of 75 usually last about 2 hours.

Our own 14.1 forum regulars Steve Kurz and Charlie Eames came up with a fast paced format (14.1 challenge) that became a regular feature at Super Billiards Expo.
 
I think one of the Accu-stats 14.1 events was double round robin matches to 75 points. Exciting -- any mistake can be fatal.

I assume you want things to progress in a reasonable time. Use chess clocks. They are being introduced in a 14.1 league I play in because some of the matches are taking 3.5 hours for 100 points. My matches are closer to an hour for 100 points, and I like to get in a second or third match per day.

If you need handicapping tables, see http://www.sfbilliards.com/Misc/14.1_charts.htm which has handicapped match lengths where the better player is going to 50 up to 150 points. Adjusting ratings in the system is simple and automatic.
 
Colin Colenso said:
Thanks Roger,

Would love to play races to 100 points instead of race to 2 or 3 games as we generally do. That said, I'd probably prefer the later over the former if I were playing great straight pool players.

Cheers,
Colin
Click to expand...
It is not a race. We do not play a race to 100. A race would indicate a set of games. When we play straight pool we play one game. We specify up to how many points, say 100 points.
 
the old timers that were good at Straight Pool used to play 50 / No-Count... if you didn't make at least 50 points, you didn't get to count anything.

That was some tough goings...
 
There have been several attempts at starting a 14.1 League
in Northern California over the past 10 or so years. Many
of us signed on as willing to travel a circuit, but nothing
concrete was ever achieved. I am still more than willing
to travel in a 14.1 League, but feel that's wishful thinking.
 
BeiberLvr said:
How do you determine your rating?
Click to expand...

The initial ratings for a new group of players can be determined by how they normally play each other. You assign ratings so that the typical handicapped match comes out about right. If someone is seriously badly rated in the first few weeks, you move them up or down.

After that the ratings are automatically adjusted after each match (or week). If you win you go up; if you lose you go down. If you want to be fancy, you can adjust new players faster -- say 6 rating points per match compared to 3 for veterans.

There is no rating committee and you don't have to keep track of innings -- only wins and losses are reported.

The ratings in this system are open-ended so the handicap is determined by the difference between ratings of the two players. If you want a reference, make the guy who runs 100 once a month a 900 and adjust the rest to fit.
 
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