FYI - Those are exactly the same reasons 'push out' was invented.
Dale
In part, I agree. 'Honest effort' was a real joke. You acted like you tried to hit the ball, but, in fact you were playing whitey safe. And on and on it went.
So, along came 'shoot again' where you could make your opponent shoot if you didn't like where whitey was....and on and on it went.
Then came pushout. In the beginning, it was 2 consecutive fouls by the same player.You would push, he would push back...and on and on it went.
Enter pushout (mod). The player who committed the second consecutive foul gave up ball-in-hand. And we had a winner!
The strategy of where to push ( knowing what you're opponent would likely do ),Being able to bank, being able to make 'spot shots' ( a lost art ) , ... it is a great game.
When 1 foul was invented ( around 1969-1970 ), the rules were drastically different from the mess that texas express came with.
1. scratch on the break, all balls spot, whitey behind the head string.
2 Scratch and pocket a ball, ball-in-hand,ball pocketed spots up.
3 Scratck on the 9 ball, ball behind the line. If 9 ball pocketed, 9 ball spots..Gotta make those spot shots to play pushout.
Good luck 1 foulers.
If you see me playing 1 foul 9 ball, bet on me, because I'm stealing! ( only way to play 1 foul ).
I will match up playing pushout.