Handicaps in 8-Ball

M

Meucciplayer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi,
I am playing a couple of buddies pretty often and they mostly prefer 8-Ball. Now, we all know how easy it is to spot someone in 9-Ball, 1P or Straight Pool as well as many other games.

But how is it done in 8-Ball?

Ok, you can give them games on the wire in sets.

But - in single games, what do you do?

You could declare the 7-Ball to be a stripe and/or the 9-Ball a solid. Is that how it is done or is there a better way to do it? It is a bit awkward but I currently can't think of other ways ...

How do you do it?
 
Meucciplayer said:
Hi,
I am playing a couple of buddies pretty often and they mostly prefer 8-Ball. Now, we all know how easy it is to spot someone in 9-Ball, 1P or Straight Pool as well as many other games.

But how is it done in 8-Ball?

Ok, you can give them games on the wire in sets.

But - in single games, what do you do?

You could declare the 7-Ball to be a stripe and/or the 9-Ball a solid. Is that how it is done or is there a better way to do it? It is a bit awkward but I currently can't think of other ways ...

How do you do it?
Click to expand...

Let the player giving up the spot remove 1 or more of the opponents ball/balls balls (depending on the spot given) immediately after the break.


The way I do it is I have to play last-pocket on the 8-ball...that or I might play where I have to bank the 8-ball for the win. There are other ways and you will soon hear about it.

Maniac
 
The best way is games on the wire IMO. That said, depending on the discrepancy of skill between the players, you can:

Have the stronger player run his balls in rotation
Stronger player banks the 8 or plays last pocket
Weaker player gets all breaks and designates the opponents pocket for the 8 after the break
Stronger player plays call pocket, weaker player can slop balls in
1 or 15 in a side
etc etc etc

Lots of little things you can do, but it can get gaffe ridden pretty quick. If its gambling, I would go games on the wire only and keep the players at least playing the same game. :grin-square:
 
One way to play is to give him say the last ball optional or the last two or the last three. The last one optional means that if he gets to only one ball left he can shoot it to get position on the eight or just take it off the table and shoot at the eight
.
With the last two optional when he only has two balls left before the eight he can take them off the table and shoot at the eight. If he decides to shoot another ball he now has the same option on the last ball. The last three goes the same way.
 
Thanks a lot, guys. Some great ideas there. I'll try some of those in the near future. I like the stronger player (me) having to play in rotation, probably cancels the skill difference between my buddies and me the best. Last pocket called isn't bad but largely depends on luck because my buddies always bump balls a lot. I love to keep as much skill and as little luck in the game as possible. Else we could stick to 9-Ball or Kelly Pool.

No, we don't gamble. Just for fun.
 
dabarbr said:
One way to play is to give him say the last ball optional or the last two or the last three. The last one optional means that if he gets to only one ball left he can shoot it to get position on the eight or just take it off the table and shoot at the eight
.
With the last two optional when he only has two balls left before the eight he can take them off the table and shoot at the eight. If he decides to shoot another ball he now has the same option on the last ball. The last three goes the same way.
Click to expand...

Never heard of that. Sounds interesting. I bet you have had to give up that spot or more often in the past.
 
dabarbr said:
One way to play is to give him say the last ball optional or the last two or the last three. The last one optional means that if he gets to only one ball left he can shoot it to get position on the eight or just take it off the table and shoot at the eight
.
With the last two optional when he only has two balls left before the eight he can take them off the table and shoot at the eight. If he decides to shoot another ball he now has the same option on the last ball. The last three goes the same way.
Click to expand...

My idea is similar, but without removing any balls. Opponent can shoot the 8 with x number of balls on the table. I wouldn't do more than two, as they can block pockets or be part of a cluster.
 
At one time I played in a tournament that used a handicap that seemed reasonable. The previous weeks winner was required to give up the handicap in winners bracket matches only. The handicap was that their opponent only had to make all the balls in their set (not the eight) to win the game. In a situation where I was shooting and made my shot but also pocketed my opponents last ball he was declared the winner at that point. :eek:
 
If you don't want to re-invent the wheel, look at APA's 8-ball handicap. It's games on the wire. It works well enough for APA, they haven't changed the handicap in over 20 years, with 250K playing weekly. Yes, some are able to game the system, sandbag.
This should work with skill D - B+.

Here is a link
https://poolplayers.com/equalizer/

I've played in leagues where handicap is by balls. The skill level is D+ and below. When I was ranked a 7, I would give 2 balls to a 5, and 3 balls to a 4, and outcome was close.
 
ctyhntr said:
If you don't want to re-invent the wheel, look at APA's 8-ball handicap. It's games on the wire. It works well enough for APA, they haven't changed the handicap in over 20 years, with 250K playing weekly. Yes, some are able to game the system, sandbag.
This should work with skill D - B+.

Here is a link
https://poolplayers.com/equalizer/

I've played in leagues where handicap is by balls. The skill level is D+ and below. When I was ranked a 7, I would give 2 balls to a 5, and 3 balls to a 4, and outcome was close.
Click to expand...

The APA system is a non-issue as the OP was looking for a way to handicap 8-ball on a per game basis. He already was familiar with the on-the-wire system.

Maniac
 
I have played where I have to shoot all my balls in, then have to run opponents balls in order and the 8 to win. Meanwhile your opponent has to make a certain number of balls and the 8. I played my dad like this and he had to make 3 balls and the 8. It's a big spot, but it's just a bar box.
 
You can get very creative with handicaps, I played a few times where the opponent could shoot the 8 in at any time for a win, or play normally and make one of their balls. So they can make a one solid, then the 8 and win. Or just shoot the 8 on their turn.

You have to bank the 8, or bank every ball, last pocket is good as already stated, play every other shot opposite handed, your balls spot till a certain number is reached (say you have to shoot 2 extra balls).
 
When my wife and I were different by 300 in Fargo, she played normal 8-ball while I had to pocket my group in rotation. It surprisingly worked well on a per-game basis.
 
Use this when I'm playing casual\inexperienced players:

Winner loses a pocket. Losing a pocket means you can't shoot balls in that pocket. If you do, it's loss of inning, cue ball plays from position and the pocketed ball gets spotted (on a coin op it stays down)

First win means you lose the right foot corner. if you win again, you also lose the right side and so on around the table.If you lose, then you get a pocket back in the same order.

Once you start losing pockets, things get pretty tense and it gives you a great opportunity to practice your kicks and banks. So you stay challenged and can play even against a weaker player.
 
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