13 ball rack?

[Kevin3824]

I was watching the high desert shootout a little bit earlier and noticed they were not racking 15 balls. Instead they racked 13 balls. No balls in the bottom corners of the rack. then it appeared like they proceeded to shoot it like it was eight ball only they shot the balls in numerical order.

Is this just a different way of playing eight ball I have never seen prior to this? If so what is it called?

 

[Bob Jewett]

I was watching the high desert shootout a little bit earlier and noticed they were not racking 15 balls. Instead they racked 13 balls. No balls in the bottom corners of the rack. then it appeared like they proceeded to shoot it like it was eight ball only they shot the balls in numerical order.

Is this just a different way of playing eight ball I have never seen prior to this? If so what is it called?

It's called "Saratoga" after the town in Wyoming about 30 miles from the tournament. On the stream they said it was invented there. The rules are on Dr. Dave's site here:

http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/games.html#Saratoga

 

[Kevin3824]

It's called "Saratoga" after the town in Wyoming about 30 miles from the tournament. On the stream they said it was invented there. The rules are on Dr. Dave's site here:

http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/games.html#Saratoga

Thank you so much Bob I was interested in it because It was not how I ever played 8 ball. I was reading the rules on that link you supplied and it stated the 13 ball was racked in the middle and was the winning ball. Yet that was not the case in yesterdays tournaments. The players potted all the solids or stripes then shot the 8 ball in for the win. Maybe I am just remembering it wrong.

I do plan on playing that Saratoga game here at home though that seems like a lot of fun. Thanks again for the link.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Thank you so much Bob I was interested in it because It was not how I ever played 8 ball. I was reading the rules on that link you supplied and it stated the 13 ball was racked in the middle and was the winning ball. Yet that was not the case in yesterdays tournaments. The players potted all the solids or stripes then shot the 8 ball in for the win. Maybe I am just remembering it wrong.

I do plan on playing that Saratoga game here at home though that seems like a lot of fun. Thanks again for the link.

The players in the stream were playing the black ball last. I think the official set has the stripes numbered 1-6, but I'm not sure. ....

Well, here I found a picture of one official set:
http://thepoolscene.com/promotional/a-brand-new-game-saratoga-the-tournament
but I don't think that's what they were using on the stream.