For Olympic Pool to exist...

u12armresl

u12armresl

One Pocket back cutter
Silver Member
It has to be 8 ball, the universal game.

The tables also need to be either 7ft or 8ft.
Think of the player pool to pull from with bar table 8 ball. UK, China, US, too many people are familiar with smaller tables, the only answer will be the type of pockets. IMHO you can't do the Chinese type pockets because of the lack of excitability, position, break outs, etc.

So what if the people from AZ are up in arms, we are mostly purists or players, and against things like APA.

What a great feeling if it were to make it to the Olympics and you see qualifying tournaments pop up all over the World.
 
westcoast said:
I think 9 ball on 9 footers is easy for the general public to understand and is quicker.
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Agreed. This is also why 9b became the TV game right? Fast paced, exciting shot making and easy to understand.

With all due respect to the OP, I'm cringing at the thought of putting even more emphasis than there currently is on barbox 8 ball. For goodness sake, there's a reason barbox 8b is becoming the most universally played form of pool, because it's SO EASY for casual players, compared to rotation games on a 9 foot table.



But, as I've said in another thread before, in order for pool to be in the Olympics IMHO, pool would have to be a sport. And it is not. Pool is a game that requires very minimal athleticism.
 
MuchoBurrito said:
Agreed. This is also why 9b became the TV game right? Fast paced, exciting shot making and easy to understand.

With all due respect to the OP, I'm cringing at the thought of putting even more emphasis than there currently is on barbox 8 ball. For goodness sake, there's a reason barbox 8b is becoming the most universally played form of pool, because it's SO EASY for casual players, compared to rotation games on a 9 foot table.



But, as I've said in another thread before, in order for pool to be in the Olympics IMHO, pool would have to be a sport. And it is not. Pool is a game that requires very minimal athleticism.
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Does shooting really require any more athleticism than pool? I would say it's more about skill too.

I agree about table size though, English Pool is a completely different game with much tougher pockets. If the discussion is about US style pool gaining entry it has to be on a 9 foot table.

That said, I suspect the most likely cue sport to gain entry will be snooker, given they are actively trying to get in and have much better global exposure (currently).
 
vjmehra said:
Does shooting really require any more athleticism than pool? I would say it's more about skill too..
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That's a fair comparison (although tbh I know nothing at all about guns or sport shooting).

But the present inclusion of some non-sports in the Olympics (ex. Dressage... it's not even a sport for the horse IMO.) doesn't justify adding more non-sports.
 
pool and snooker is under consideration for tokyo 2020. However, the olympic committee only adds so many new sports, and there's a few that are ahead of pool in terms of popularity, like baseball. Fingers crossed though, will do wonders for the game i think
 
u12armresl said:
It has to be 8 ball, the universal game. The tables also need to be either 7ft or 8ft. Think of the player pool to pull from with bar table 8 ball. UK, China, US, too many people are familiar with smaller tables, the only answer will be the type of pockets.

IMHO you can't do the Chinese type pockets because of the lack of excitability, position, break outs, etc. What a great feeling if it were to make it to the Olympics and you see qualifying tournaments pop up all over the World.
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Absolutely correct!..There is zero chance of pool being accepted by the Olympics, unless the game is 8ball!..Why bother to try?...Regardless of table size, or pocket configuration, even the most pool illiterate people on the planet, know how to play 8ball!

PS..Stop anyone on the street, you'll find that 9/10 ball or one pocket, would not have a chance at acceptance, most won't even know what you're talking about!..One pocket is by
far the best gambling game, but that could never fly for the same reasons! :eek:
 
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The problem with 8-ball at that level, especially if you play on a table bigger than 6ft, is pros are going to break and run 50% of the time. Safeties are few and far between and too often people willl see that both players have balls to shoot but are playing safeties at each other and they won't underestand that they're both refusing to move a certain problem ball until they can run out.I don't think the casual player would be interested in watching that, they can't relate to it.

10 ball is far more watchable at a high level, I think, and I also think 10-ball would be better for addressing the sticky issue about why pool would be an Olympic sport before snooker considering snooker is more widely played. 10-ball patterns lend themselves better to the skill sets of snooker players. Scotch double 10-ball would be a decent event, and I actually think for the Olympics you need a tiny bit of a 'wow factor' so it should be played on 10-footers.

You are right that while pool players like the challenge of the chinese style tables, I think it would put spectators off seeing a table the same size they can find in any pool hall but the players constantly rattling shots or ducking on shots that would go on an American table.

If I'm making the decision, you'd be playing 15-ball American Rotation on 12-foot snooker table for the Olympics, going to 125 points.
 
You got that right!

u12armresl said:
It has to be 8 ball, the universal game.

The tables also need to be either 7ft or 8ft.
Think of the player pool to pull from with bar table 8 ball. UK, China, US, too many people are familiar with smaller tables, the only answer will be the type of pockets. IMHO you can't do the Chinese type pockets because of the lack of excitability, position, break outs, etc.

So what if the people from AZ are up in arms, we are mostly purists or players, and against things like APA.

What a great feeling if it were to make it to the Olympics and you see qualifying tournaments pop up all over the World.
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It has to be 8 Ball on a 8ft table for everybody to get it.
 
If pool came to the Olympics, and it was Eight-Ball, I wouldn't watch it. Why would I want to? I don't play it, much less watch it at my local pool room.
One Pocket, now that I'd watch. :smile:
 
Gorramjayne said:
...for the Olympics you need a tiny bit of a 'wow factor' ...
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Exactly. And there really isn't any "wow factor" in 8 ball. Not that the casual player would necessarily get. As one of my team mates says, if you play 8 ball well (especially on a 7' or 8' table) it should LOOK boring.

9b or 10b and make sure the commentators explain things regularly so that people understand what's happening, why a player is playing a certain shot, etc.
 
u12armresl said:
It has to be 8 ball, the universal game.

The tables also need to be either 7ft or 8ft.
Think of the player pool to pull from with bar table 8 ball. UK, China, US, too many people are familiar with smaller tables, the only answer will be the type of pockets. IMHO you can't do the Chinese type pockets because of the lack of excitability, position, break outs, etc.

So what if the people from AZ are up in arms, we are mostly purists or players, and against things like APA.

What a great feeling if it were to make it to the Olympics and you see qualifying tournaments pop up all over the World.
Click to expand...

Ping Pong (Table Tennis) is an Olympic sport (I was watching the ladies play it last night), so why not pool? Yeah, I think 8 ball on a bar table would be the best game (it is pretty difficult, compared to 9 ball, I think). The Pro's make it look so easy though (it amazes me).
 
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Tramp Steamer said:
If pool came to the Olympics, and it was Eight-Ball, I wouldn't watch it. Why would I want to? I don't play it, much less watch it at my local pool room.
One Pocket, now that I'd watch. :smile:
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One Pocket is a great game, but to the general public, they would be falling asleep (of boredom). 8 ball is a very interesting game (it takes a lot more thinking then rotation 9 or 10 ball, and in ways, more skill I think). You have to think about what the general public would want to watch, if they enjoyed watching pool. For example, look at how many 8 ball league teams there are, and how many 9 ball leagues there are. I do not know, but I bet 8 ball is the much more popular game among league players, and beginners to the game.
 
u12armresl said:
It has to be 8 ball, the universal game.

The tables also need to be either 7ft or 8ft.
Think of the player pool to pull from with bar table 8 ball. UK, China, US, too many people are familiar with smaller tables, the only answer will be the type of pockets. IMHO you can't do the Chinese type pockets because of the lack of excitability, position, break outs, etc.

So what if the people from AZ are up in arms, we are mostly purists or players, and against things like APA.

What a great feeling if it were to make it to the Olympics and you see qualifying tournaments pop up all over the World.
Click to expand...

There is already an equivalent for games not contested in Olympics called World Games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Games
Held every 4 years next edition is next year 2017.
9 ball and snooker are played and if billiards are to be in Olympics, they will first choose 9 ball and snooker
Past winners of World Games 9 ball include Ralf, Darren, Yang :)
 
spartan said:
There is already an equivalent for games not contested in Olympics called World Games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Games
Held every 4 years next edition is next year 2017.
9 ball and snooker are played and if billiards are to be in Olympics, they will first choose 9 ball and snooker
Past winners of World Games 9 ball include Ralf, Darren, Yang :)
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Off this, I believe pool would be perfect for the winter Olympics. It's heavily played by the masses during the winter months not the summer.
Also, it's a stationary sport, not reactionary, where your opponent plays their move and you have time to analyze and play your turn. I do not see many stationary sports in the summer Olympics.
It's just like the stationary sport/game curling in pace and strategy. And curling had become more popular in later years for the winter Olympics.
 
SJDinPHX said:
Absolutely correct!..There is zero chance of pool being accepted by the Olympics, unless the game is 8ball!..Why bother to try?...Regardless of table size, or pocket configuration, even the most pool illiterate people on the planet, know how to play 8ball!

PS..Stop anyone on the street, you'll find that 9/10 ball or one pocket, would not have a chance at acceptance, most won't even know what you're talking about!..One pocket is by
far the best gambling game, but that could never fly for the same reasons! :eek:
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the scoring for gymnastics is complex, but people still watch.

9 ball, in comparison, is not that difficult to comprehend- basically you just have to shoot the balls in order
 
Gorramjayne said:
... I actually think for the Olympics you need a tiny bit of a 'wow factor' ...
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How's this for a wow factor. The competitors stand as still as possible and use high-tech air rifles to poke little round holes in paper targets about 11 yards away. An American teenager won a gold medal Saturday for doing this. Quite a sport.
 
AtLarge said:
How's this for a wow factor. The competitors stand as still as possible and use high-tech air rifles to poke little round holes in paper targets about 11 yards away. An American teenager won a gold medal Saturday for doing this. Quite a sport.
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Right which is exactly why we don't want bar box 8 ball to be how the world of cue sports is represented. Choosing bar box 8 ball over 10 ball on a ten footer to be the crucible of cue sports would be like choosing air rifle benchrest over the biathlon to be the crucible of shooting sports.
 
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