"Clean" 8 Ball

H

heater451

Registered
Okay, please ignore any impulses to post, "That's why I don't play bar rules" replies. Also, I have apparently let this bother me, because my brain won't let it go. Also, I'm sure there's a thread somewhere on this, probably from the Bronze Age, but I could not find one....

I was recently playing a warm-up game in a local place, that runs a tournament with (their) "bar rules"--7 ft bar boxes. This post is about the "8 ball clean" rule, which is usually employed simply to prevent shooting a carom (kissing) off an opponents ball, but my issue concerns the cushion.

This is how I potted the 8, as the cloth, speed, and pocket width allowed it to go:

1720807445082.png



I have know people to say that the last 6 inches, or up to the last diamond "doesn't count", but I don't think I've seen anyone discuss/argue this since the 80s. (It may not show very well when this posts, but the 8 touched the cushion about a diamond and a 1/3 out.)

Nowadays, does *anyone* consider touching the cushion on the way to the pocket as NOT being clean?
 
I sometimes play in a weekly bar tourney that uses their own version of what they call, "straight 8" rules. Some of the things these people come up with are, in my opinion, fairly ridiculous. I play in another weekly where there are more than enough rules nits to go around.

That said, I have never seen anyone in either venue be quite that picky about the above shot.
 
Yeah if they call that “not clean” then every time the 8 ball hit the facing before falling you would have to call it just to be an ass. In your situation I would probably ask before shooting it in. Like I kind of inferred-it’s either going off the rail or off the pocket facing. So neither would be truly “clean”
 
Willowbrook Wolfy said:
Yeah if they call that “not clean” then every time the 8 ball hit the facing before falling you would have to call it just to be an ass. In your situation I would probably ask before shooting it in. Like I kind of inferred-it’s either going off the rail or off the pocket facing. So neither would be truly “clean”
Click to expand...
That's probably the diffrence between bangers and Pool Players. Ball in pocket is good enough for me.
 
You hit weird stuff traveling. I was making a loop that included Arkansas and Tennessee, the top part of Alabama, eventually cutting down to the gulf coast and back to big BR. The parts of Arkansas and Tennessee I believe it was, maybe even upper Alabama, I ran into the call everything thing. Your shot would be a foul coming off the rail without calling it everywhere I went even just touching the point going in! Some places I went, you would have to call the facing too!

I got into bank the eight pool too. I thought the guy I was playing with was trying to get over on me then I saw that every table was playing bank the eight.

One reason for betting small in strange places. Rules can be wildly different in places almost in sight of each other. Of course sometimes they are just making "screw the stranger" rules as they go. I let them do that then nailed them with their own fake rule later. The whole place, even their friends that had been cheering them on usually got a big horse laugh out of that!

Put Charlie Rich on the jukebox and go with the flow.

Hu
 
I don't have a clue which rules to go by so at my house my rules. All our friends are bangers and not pool oriented so we're gonna play BIH if they scratch or don't hit their ball and not worried if they don't get a rail. It's all funnsies here having a few drinks and a good time.
 
your brain will let it go soon

put that down in the extreme
nit of nittiness and forget it

it’s like when the weather people
say it’ll rain 100% and then when
it doesn’t rain at all they explain
that it rained at blahblah thousand
feet up but evaporated
 
geoff_182 said:
That is a clean shot. The incoming rail does not count as a rail. Same reason why it wouldn't count as a bank shot.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I tried explaining to the guy I was playing against (and a couple of others that didn't agree with me). I even tried to get them to understand that you can shoot a ball down the rail, and on some (bad enough) tables, will let the ball leave the cushion and maybe return and sort of lightly bump its way down--do you have to count out extra touches, and is someone going to watch for every one?

I actually thought there would be some reply about it being "technically" a rail/cushion, but so far it looks like everyone is in agreement.

A couple of the other regulars seem to be of the belief that it was *not* clean, but "nobody would call you on it"--which is in not helpful, because then it shouldn't be the rule, right?!?!
 
Sheldon said:
I've always wondered if the people who make this crap up think that making the game harder somehow makes them think they are better at it.
98% of those I've seen play this way wouldn't break 400 if they had a fargo rating.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's like they are trying to take the fun out of the game. Does a baseball player have to call the home run of the centerfielder's glove? Do they pay like this in Pittsburgh?

Immaculate Reception - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org

geoff_182 said:
That is a clean shot. The incoming rail does not count as a rail. Same reason why it wouldn't count as a bank shot.
Click to expand...
Yeah, bank pool is the strictest discipline and they don't complain.
heater451 said:
A couple of the other regulars seem to be of the belief that it was *not* clean, but "nobody would call you on it"--which is in not helpful, because then it shouldn't be the rule, right?!?!
Click to expand...
Yeah, some people don't seem to understand the purpose of rules. And amazingly some different people have developed a rule set that virtually eliminates the vague areas and closes loopholes, and doesn't give hacks a place to hide. Fortunately, more people are playing ball in hand these days.
 
Call shot versus call pocket. Call shot is for banger's, bank the eight is for banger's who want one last chance at the table. I have no issue playing bank the 8 as I will generally have the upper hand in most instances where someone wants to play that. I will NOT play call shot. I had a guy ask me to play a few months ago. We were discussing the game and he said "call shot", I replied with "call pocket", he countered "call shot" and I countered with "call pocket or I'm not playing". We played about 5 or 6 games and when I ran the last one he was done and said "And here I thought I was going to teach you a thing or two". LOL. He was your typical decent bar player, good shot maker but no sense of cue ball awareness or the ability to put it where it needed to go.
 
Analytical distillation I come up with is: the overwhelming - like almost all of the bar rulists - can't play any pool/have no game or any concept of such. They play one shot to the pocket by one shot to the pocket.
As such, the operative concerns surround <the shot> - especially the eight ball.

If they find themselves in the undesirable position of their opponent being on the 8 ball - a coin flip mostly, they want that situation to reflect all the stringency and difficulties of a proper coup d'etat. I think most of this "honor" is to avoid the burn of the opposition getting lucky.
 
Chili Palmer said:
Call shot versus call pocket. Call shot is for banger's, bank the eight is for banger's who want one last chance at the table. I have no issue playing bank the 8 as I will generally have the upper hand in most instances where someone wants to play that. I will NOT play call shot. I had a guy ask me to play a few months ago. We were discussing the game and he said "call shot", I replied with "call pocket", he countered "call shot" and I countered with "call pocket or I'm not playing". We played about 5 or 6 games and when I ran the last one he was done and said "And here I thought I was going to teach you a thing or two". LOL. He was your typical decent bar player, good shot maker but no sense of cue ball awareness or the ability to put it where it needed to go.
Click to expand...
Or that...
:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top