One Pocket Break

[RabbiHippie]

Varner only got ball in hand behind the line when he scratched. Otherwise it was played from the leave. He played that the scratch did not end his turn, but did cost a ball.

Did you also record the results for each 5-rack set? If Varner was shooting for a total of 31, how many times did he actually "beat the ghost"?

You also mentioned that he scratched on the break about half the time. Were they intentional scratches? That was actually a smart strategy under the old terms of this proposition, taking a 1-ball penalty in exchange for ball in hand in the kitchen.

 

[Ratamon]

Correct. The record high run was 60 in five racks by Gabe Owen. I watched the whole thing from start to finish. Gabe got it wired and ran balls every rack. I know he had a 15 and a 14 and a couple others over 10. Maybe his worst rack was an 8 or a 9. You are correct though. The best players were occasionally running in the 40's for five racks and I have a few 50's on DVD. Of course they may have taken several turns at it to get that one good score. The average score overall during the course of three days may have been something like 15 or so. Even the top pros would bomb out with zeros and low scores and just quit after three racks and start again. I bet Alex that he couldn't run a 45 (we bet 500) and he had 30 after four racks. Lo and behold Alex broke and ran 15 for the cash! He made all kinds of crazy shots in that last rack, like only Alex can.

Jay did they get ball in hand after the break or did they play from the leave?
Did a scratch end the turn or was it BIH behind the line with a one ball penalty? Either of those changes the dynamics a lot.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Did you also record the results for each 5-rack set? If Varner was shooting for a total of 31, how many times did he actually "beat the ghost"?

You also mentioned that he scratched on the break about half the time. Were they intentional scratches? That was actually a smart strategy under the old terms of this proposition, taking a 1-ball penalty in exchange for ball in hand in the kitchen.

On that table he was about 50% at 31.

A good strategy is to scratch is if you can and if you are going to something like 30. Ball in hand, even behind the line, is huge.

 

[jay helfert]

Jay did they get ball in hand after the break or did they play from the leave?
Did a scratch end the turn or was it BIH behind the line with a one ball penalty? Either of those changes the dynamics a lot.

They did not get BIH after the break. You shot from where the cue ball stopped. If you scratched on the break you got BIH behind the line and owed one ball. Your best possible score was now 14.

 

[Tommy O]

Not possable to average 12 balls a rack. You must misunderstand what I was explaining.

I’ve seen several guys do it. I once bet Mizerak he couldn’t do 40 in 5 racks. He ran the first 2. I’ve seen Hopkins do it too.