What Killed Straight Pool?

HUKIT

F* ks Given...Zero
Silver Member
I played when I was younger then after a 25 year break due to the Army, marriage, and kids I’m back playing again. So the other night I’m playing straight pool and was shocked as some of the players were coming up asking me what I was doing. Was there any definitive reason?
 

pmata814

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
IMO it's that straight pool can be boring to the casual viewer. Especially when compared to 9ball. In 9 ball the cue ball travels long distances and bounces off many rails from shot to shot. And 14.1 (when played well) is minimal cue ball movement with "simple-looking" shots.

Just a thought.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

mvp

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'd guess the length of the game, every thing seems to get quicker as I get older! These damn kids have no patience lol
 

deanoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
nothing killed straight pool

some people still consider it the elite game

i would rather watch straight pool than 9 ball
 

Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
Pool killed itself
Seem like there were much less players but higher quality way back

Now that everyone likes it,
It's so watered down, shit you can give one lucky wack at a rack and "win"a game if a 9 ball goes
 

Jeff Rosen

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I played when I was younger then after a 25 year break due to the Army, marriage, and kids I’m back playing again. So the other night I’m playing straight pool and was shocked as some of the players were coming up asking me what I was doing. Was there any definitive reason?
Coin operated bar tables killed or hurt straight pool. People started playing in bars and thought pool was eight ball.
 

Straightpool_99

I see dead balls
Silver Member
I feel sad for pool in the US. So many things have diminshed and damaged it through the years that it's hard to pinpoint any specific cause. I laugh when I hear people come up with phrases like "one pocket is a superior game" and "bar box pool is much tougher than playing on a 9 footer".

Straight pool was never much of a gambling game. When you play straight pool, you can't hide your skill and the strongest player usually wins, or always, depending on how long the race is. That is why it's the superior championship game. It's a game for straight shooters literally and figuratively. One pocket is a carnival game, a gaff game for hustlers and old people who can't shoot straight anymore. That is not to say there are no interesting shots, but it should never determine the champion of the sport, IMO.

For most of the time pool has existed, the US has ruled supreme. Now you all play bar box, handicapped pool or one pocket, and others are taking over. It's not the fault of one pocket of course, it's just that pool as a sport never had any real chance in the US. The hustlers killed or sabotaged all attempts at making pool legitimate and now you are left with no pro tour, no sponsorships, no real sport at all. One pocket is a way to make a little money, so that's what is being played. The hustlers chose that for you, not any particular federation. As long as the hustlers are in charge, you will all be robbed and deprived of proper management of the sport.

Snooker was transformed from a back room gambling novelty into a proper sport, and it's thriving. Pool in China, Japan and parts of Europe is trying to take the same path, and doing much better than pool in the US. Asians play rotation games, Europeans play rotation games and straight pool. Those are shooters games. There is no hide and seek or 3 card monte in the olympics, but there is shooting and running. Precision and performance sports, not trickery at least not inherently. While pool will never be in the olympics, the future is the sport direction.
 

maplecap

Jack
Silver Member
nothing killed straight pool

some people still consider it the elite game

i would rather watch straight pool than 9 ball

I would rather watch straight pool then one pocket. People say too boring, takes to long, Tv killied it, etc. Watching one pocket- now there’s a long boring game.
 

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
Pool killed itself
Seem like there were much less players but higher quality way back

Now that everyone likes it,
It's so watered down, shit you can give one lucky wack at a rack and "win"a game if a 9 ball goes

Two movies, the Hustler with Paul Neuman, then the Color of Money with Neuman/Cruise. The Color of money increased play from 30-40 million for a ten year period once released, then player numbers diminished. Then along came many other sports $$$$$$$. Then along came computers, then along came less and less free time to play pool, and the costs went up. Then to finish it off, those two great movies, brainwashed the American public into thinking all pool rooms were like the movies, with bad hard nose people. That's how I see it.
 

MalibuMike

Banned
Straight Pool Rules!!!!!!!!!! All skill.. The Pool Gods are Dead!!!

People do not like it because it quantifies how good or how bad you play!
No luck involved like every other game... All skill.. The Pool Gods are dead and 14.1 killed them and no amount of talk will wash the blood off our hands!
Straight Pool Lives in La Mirada Ca. at Scratch Billiards! Gold Crowns with new Simonios Felt and 4" Pockets!
 

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book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It's toooooooo sloooooooowwwwww.
It was too slow for my generation and the 2 subsequent ones have wanted an even faster pace than mine.
 

MalibuMike

Banned
Same thing happens to me!

I played when I was younger then after a 25 year break due to the Army, marriage, and kids I’m back playing again. So the other night I’m playing straight pool and was shocked as some of the players were coming up asking me what I was doing. Was there any definitive reason?
They do not even know what the thumb-wheel numbers on every pool table mean!!!!!!!!!
 

MalibuMike

Banned
Not the way I play it!

It's toooooooo sloooooooowwwwww.
It was too slow for my generation and the 2 subsequent ones have wanted an even faster pace than mine.

aND THE *****ES LOVE IT!

All skill.. The Pool Gods are dead!
 

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Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
Those are the ones I don't want to be around
The fast and furious crowds

You can't eliminate every bit of luck, but it's got a very high skill to luck ratio,

Keep games slow(SKILL FULL) let the speed racers find something else to do
 

lfigueroa

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I played when I was younger then after a 25 year break due to the Army, marriage, and kids I’m back playing again. So the other night I’m playing straight pool and was shocked as some of the players were coming up asking me what I was doing. Was there any definitive reason?


People's attention span killed straight pool.

It's the same reason people say they hate 1pocket. Both are intricate subtle games. Some people can appreciate a good bottle of wine, an aged scotch or bourbon, a great cigar. Some people would rather play 9ball.

Lou Figueroa
 

Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
People's attention span killed straight pool.

It's the same reason people say they hate 1pocket. Both are intricate subtle games. Some people can appreciate a good bottle of wine, an aged scotch or bourbon, a great cigar. Some people would rather play 9ball.

Lou Figueroa



Killed off Carom completely for Americans

Agree with Malibu Mike, straight pool rules
1pkt too ;)
 

MalibuMike

Banned
One Pocket! OMG! I know, I know The Chess of Billiards! Belongs in the Senior center

A superior game came along and took over, it's called one pocket. It requires a combination of skills from all other games.

One Pocket! OMG! I know, I know The Chess of Billiards!
More like the Mah Jong or Cribbage!
Belongs in the Senior centers and rest homes!
 

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