Rules for Texas Express,9-Ball?
- Thread starter YaktyYak
- Start date
Yes (after the break and once only)
Yes
Yes
No
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Yes
Yes
No
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It's now essentially the same as the World Standardized Rules, which are available on-line at www.wpa-pool.com or more specifically at http://www.wpa-pool.com/index.asp?content=rules_tournamentYaktyYak said:
Usually when people say "Texas Express" they mean "push after the break, all balls stay down, cue ball fouls only, ball-in-hand anywhere on fouls, slop counts, and three fouls for loss of game." Most TDs cover the other rules (like jump cues) on their own.
When did these rules become "standard"? Is it true that the rules changed to accomodate TV coverage or were there other reasons?
My best guess is that Texas Express became the norm in1983, although some things have changed even in Texas Express. Examples would include allowing jump sticks, the use of and length of the shot clock, and various rules pertaining to the break. In the earliest days of Texas Express, a player could only carry two cues, so the break cue and the primary cue were the ones.
Yes, the changes were for TV. The rollout version of nine ball was slow and almost unwatchable, and matches were of more variable length, which didn't work well for TV.
14 year old thread.
Yes, kind of a thread seance.
Even tho it’s a old thread and we still have no standardized rules. I’ll share my story
When I started playing pool at the pool room in 85 we didn’t play express. We played push after the break and if you fouled on the break all balls spot and BIH behind the line. Which never made sense to me-means the guy who didn’t foul on the break is penalized. If you scratched on the 9 if spotted and was BIH behind the line-spot shots were very important. That’s how I remember it being.
Express popped up in central ca around 87-88
Best
Fatboy
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Thanks for sharing. In the poolrooms of New York City, Texas Express (often referred to as "tournament rules" at the time) began to replace rollout by about 1984.
Makes sense, NYC is always ahead of the curve.
For TV it was a better game, push-out is just to technical. And requires way to much explanation to people who don’t know one ball from the next.
Short rack or 6B might be better for TV, who knows? Problem is no $ ball breaks in that game. 1 in 150 maybe?
I’ll be in NYC next week for a week or 2.
The Texas Express organization's tournaments ended around 2003. While people often refer to "Texas Express" rules, the last revision to those rules was about 20 years ago, and the rules in use today have many differences from what was used back then. John McChesney was the head of TE. Here is one of the last versions of the TE rules on the texasexpress.com website (thanks to archive.org) from 2005:
As for why the rules were developed, I don't think it was for TV. It was to make 9-ball tournaments manageable time-wise. Texas Express Promotions ran regional-level tournaments that were rarely televised, so far as I know.The old rules for 9-ball resulted in slower games.
I think McDermott was a major sponsor of the TE events for a while.
I think McDermott was a major sponsor of the TE events for a while.