favorite game

14.1'er said:
My favorite game is straight pool. I'm just getting back to the game after a 15 year layoff, and there doesn't look to be many playing straight pool. It was dying when I stopped playing 15 years ago, and it now looks dead.

Good thing I do like 9 ball, or I'd be a lonely player, lol.
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It is a shame. Great, great game.
 
It’s easier for me to pick the games I don't like to play.

I wouldn’t play eight ball for a long time...until some decent rules showed up.
Golf...:eek: on a pool or snooker table....I hate that game.
Straight rail billiards....:angry:....love 3-cushion though
 
pt109 said:
It’s easier for me to pick the games I don't like to play.

I wouldn’t play eight ball for a long time...until some decent rules showed up.
Golf...:eek: on a pool or snooker table....I hate that game.
Straight rail billiards....:angry:....love 3-cushion though
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Yeah, I don't care for 8ball. Made tons of $$$ on it in bars back in the day. Just never cared for it.
 
1. One Pocket - imo the best all around game, normally you hear its a game for the older guys but thats normally said by a 9 ball player that has no clue how to move within the game.

2. Golf on a snooker table
3. Golf on a 9ft
4. Short rack banks
4. Ring game 10 ball on 9ft


123. 9 ball
 
Michael Andros said:
But what is YOUR favorite game, strictly for yourself, Chris?
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It would be real hard for me to pick between 9-ball and 14.1 - the two main games I've played over the past nearly 50 years. Straight pool was my first love when I first got really addicted to pool in my mid teens back in the early 1970s when straight pool was still the main game for the pros. However, most of my playing in the past 40 years, and all my tournament play has been 9-ball, so I'm certainly a better 9-ball player than I am a 14.1 player.

I really like that there is not much of a luck factor that comes in to play in 14.1 as opposed to 9-ball. However, something about 14.1 I find as extremely frustrating - a game you can certainly never master. I have broke and run 4+ consecutive racks in 9-ball a number of times - that is running nearly 40 consecutive balls in rotation. So you would think running 100 balls in straight pool - a game you can shoot at any ball on the table, should be easy. It just never works out that way for me - something always goes wrong!

That is why I'm currently obsessed with 14.1 and trying to achieve my personal high run, at least when I'm practicing. Yet at the same time, I still have a strong incentive to keep up my 9-ball game, as those are the only tournaments I play in. Yeah I know, I still haven't answered your question as to which of the two I prefer.
 
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TxOnePocket said:
1. One Pocket - imo the best all around game, normally you hear its a game for the older guys but thats normally said by a 9 ball player that has no clue how to move within the game.

2. Golf on a snooker table
3. Golf on a 9ft
4. Short rack banks
4. Ring game 10 ball on 9ft


123. 9 ball
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Excuse me there, partner, but I *am* one of the "older guys". And when I was a teenager, the majority of those who played 1hole most of the time were older guys. Now that I AM an older guy, trust me on this, the majority of people who play 1hole are, surprise! older guys... does that mean you have to be over 50 to play 1hole? Nope. But it helps...
 
ChrisinNC said:
It would be real hard for me to pick between 9-ball and 14.1 - the two main games I've played over the past nearly 50 years. Straight pool was my first love when I first got really addicted to pool in my mid teens back in the early 1970s when straight pool was still the main game for the pros. However, most of my playing in the past 40 years, and all my tournament play has been 9-ball, so I'm certainly a better 9-ball player than I am a 14.1 player.

I really like that there is not much of a luck factor that comes in to play in 14.1 as opposed to 9-ball. However, something about 14.1 I find as extremely frustrating - a game you can certainly never master. I have broke and run 4-5 consecutive racks in 9-ball a number of times - that is running 40+ consecutive balls in rotation. So you would think running 100 balls in straight pool - a game you can shoot at any ball on the table, should be easy. It just never has worked that way for me - something always goes wrong!

That is why I'm currently obsessed with 14.1 and trying to achieve my personal high run, at least while I'm practicing. Yet at the same time, I still have a strong incentive to keep up my 9-ball game, as those are the only tournaments I play in. Yeah I know, I still haven't answered your question as to which of the two I prefer.
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Many many moons ago, when I worked at the pool room, the owner ( who played/plays pretty sporty 14.1 ) and I would lock the doors @ 3 and play 14.1 for several hours. He ran 100s frequently so I really had no out, but I did run 68 one night, by far my high run. But then, I never really played it after age 14 or so. It was all 9ball for me after that. I always liked 14.1 and, moreover, I respected it, a lot.
 
8 ball. By far the best game to test myself against a player much better than me. By far the best game to test myself against a player much worse than me (but still able to put a game together). By far the best game to play against someone of a comparable level. A game that is very underrated by pool players who view it as being a game for bar bangers.

All the other games are good too and I will play any of them and enjoy them all.
 
14.1 is the only game that really interests me. felt like that as a kid, even when i gambled 9-ball in the 60's, and still feel that way now.

i love to watch big 9-ball events like the Mosconi Cup, but how people can even Stand to practice 9-ball i do not understand. cannot imagine anything more boring.

1-hole is sorta interesting, but it easily gets tedious.

if i had it to do over again, i'd grow up in England playing snooker, which combines the best aspects of rotation and straight pool.
 
Michael Andros said:
Something about 14.1 a lot of people don't know. But first, in 14.1, a 200 ball run is pretty sensational. 300 balls is world class. Some of the greatest, stone-cold world champion 14.1 players' high runs were in the 300s. Very, very few people, and that includes all of those who spent their entire lives playing 14.1, ever ran 400+ balls. Now, that which most people don't know: Earl Strickland's high run in 14.1? 408 balls. And he spent his entire life playing 9ball. Steve Mizerak won 4 consecutive 14.1 US Open titles. His high run? 321. Mike Sigel, who won numerous 14.1 titles? 319. Erving Crane, one of the all time greatest 14.1 players, winner of multiple world titles? 309. And the list goes on. Only 9 people have runs in the 400s. Earl's one of them. God only know what his high run would be if he'd been playing 14.1 all those years instead of 9ball.
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I've heard that these days, when Earl practices by himself, it is always 14.1. If he sticks with it, with his shot making accuracy and cue ball control, it wouldn't surprise me if he can snap off a win in a big 14.1 event in the near future.

Earl's biggest enemy is himself and keeping his composure throughout an entire 14.1 match and tournament - a game that takes an incredible amount of discipline and patience - particularly when your opponent is at the table for long periods of time. He also must maintain focus enough to remember to call the correct ball on every shot!
 
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Michael Andros said:
Something about 14.1 a lot of people don't know. But first, in 14.1, a 200 ball run is pretty sensational. 300 balls is world class. Some of the greatest, stone-cold world champion 14.1 players' high runs were in the 300s. Very, very few people, and that includes all of those who spent their entire lives playing 14.1, ever ran 400+ balls. Now, that which most people don't know: Earl Strickland's high run in 14.1? 408 balls. And he spent his entire life playing 9ball. Steve Mizerak won 4 consecutive 14.1 US Open titles. His high run? 321. Mike Sigel, who won numerous 14.1 titles? 319. Erving Crane, one of the all time greatest 14.1 players, winner of multiple world titles? 309. And the list goes on. Only 9 people have runs in the 400s. Earl's one of them. God only know what his high run would be if he'd been playing 14.1 all those years instead of 9ball.
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Michael, not to get off subject, but I'd be curious if you know, that complete list of 9 players who have run 400+ balls in straight pool, in order of highest run. - Thanks
 
4Ball, not the old version that I've seen a little bit written about, but the new'r one that has boundaries, :wink:.
 
i havent read thru the threead yet but my favorite game is............................
one pocket.....(dont hold it against me michael ...:D )
you have to be good at all types of shots/kicks/banks/combos/caroms /tight cue ball control
and OMG you have to think...:eek:...:)
 
Mike, i too was weaned on the 9b tit but i have been seduced by that evil biach 1pocket. Its one addictive, frustrating s.o.b but when you play a game correctly its awesome. So, for now one-wicket is the ticket for me. Hey. Sounds like a t-shirt: "One wicket is the ticket".
 
Michael Andros said:
Excuse me there, partner, but I *am* one of the "older guys". And when I was a teenager, the majority of those who played 1hole most of the time were older guys. Now that I AM an older guy, trust me on this, the majority of people who play 1hole are, surprise! older guys... does that mean you have to be over 50 to play 1hole? Nope. But it helps...
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if you look nowadays there are alot of top onepocket players in their 20's and 30's
i also think its becoming a game the younger better players are starting to try and learn at an earlier age
not waiting until they cant see the edges of the balls anymore and getting the ball close to your hole is a good shot.....:D
 
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