Why not switch the position of the 1 and 9 in 9-ball to make it more interesting?

Island Drive · 2026-09-19T11:25:46-0700

Then second shooter can shoot any ball first to get shape on the lowest ball.

skogstokig · 2026-09-19T11:32:04-0700

Island Drive said:
Then second shooter can shoot any ball first to get shape on the lowest ball.

that's not rotation

Bavafongoul · 2026-09-19T12:18:21-0700

Break with the 9 ball on the spot. We’ve tried it and it changes the pattern of the balls and less often is a OB pocketed.

Island Drive · 2026-09-19T14:40:50-0700

skogstokig said:
that's not rotation

That's why call it Anyone. When you come to the table your able to shoot any ball first to get shape on the lowest ball next.

InsertCleverNameHere · 2026-09-19T14:57:08-0700

I probably watch more pool matches than 90-95% of folks on here. Packages aren't the problem people make them out to be. It's pretty rare actualy that anyone and I mean anyone runs 4 racks. 2 does happen a lot but 3 is not something you should expect to see in any tournament match you watch in fact I'd lay odds against 3 consecutive break and runs anytime. Especially in tournament settings with all the starting and stopping. 9 ball is fine.

jasonlaus · 2026-09-19T15:03:09-0700

HawaiianEye said:
Why not leave the rules alone and let 9-ball be 9-ball?

Make the races longer if you are afraid someone will run out the match from the first break?

It is getting ridiculous watching the game rules change every other day.

Especially since the "broken, run out the set" just NEVER happens. Too many idiots are allowed to post

nine_ball6970 · 2026-09-19T16:02:48-0700

InsertCleverNameHere said:
I probably watch more pool matches than 90-95% of folks on here. Packages aren't the problem people make them out to be. It's pretty rare actualy that anyone and I mean anyone runs 4 racks. 2 does happen a lot but 3 is not something you should expect to see in any tournament match you watch in fact I'd lay odds against 3 consecutive break and runs anytime. Especially in tournament settings with all the starting and stopping. 9 ball is fine.

When the texas open was one on the spot with a magic rack(no 3 point), I saw bergman break and run 8 from the lag. 9th game he rattled the wing ball. He posted on fb that he had 23 break and runs over the course of 3 matches which were race to 9.

I also saw Shane McMinn with 7 break and runs in a row in same tournament.

sjm · 2026-09-19T16:06:04-0700

InsertCleverNameHere said:
I probably watch more pool matches than 90-95% of folks on here. Packages aren't the problem people make them out to be. It's pretty rare actualy that anyone and I mean anyone runs 4 racks. 2 does happen a lot but 3 is not something you should expect to see in any tournament match you watch in fact I'd lay odds against 3 consecutive break and runs anytime. Especially in tournament settings with all the starting and stopping. 9 ball is fine.

Exactly. The truth is that 9ball isn't broken, at least not in WNT competition.

Jaden · 2026-09-19T16:57:32-0700

InsertCleverNameHere said:
I probably watch more pool matches than 90-95% of folks on here. Packages aren't the problem people make them out to be. It's pretty rare actualy that anyone and I mean anyone runs 4 racks. 2 does happen a lot but 3 is not something you should expect to see in any tournament match you watch in fact I'd lay odds against 3 consecutive break and runs anytime. Especially in tournament settings with all the starting and stopping. 9 ball is fine.

Yeah, people have been doing statistics on that for years and BNR percentages with ANY rules vary between 30%-40%, but not over that especially when you're counting all the matches and not just the tv table.

HawaiianEye · 2026-09-19T17:40:05-0700

nine_ball6970 said:
When the texas open was one on the spot with a magic rack(no 3 point), I saw bergman break and run 8 from the lag. 9th game he rattled the wing ball. He posted on fb that he had 23 break and runs over the course of 3 matches which were race to 9.

I also saw Shane McMinn with 7 break and runs in a row in same tournament.

How often does this happen, statistically?

I'm older than dirt and I hadn't played for years and only spent a few hours playing on a weekend and I broke and ran 5 racks and made the 9 on the sixth break and scratched in the side to stop my streak at 5.

That doesn't mean I am doing every time I play.

nine_ball6970 · 2026-09-19T19:05:47-0700

HawaiianEye said:
How often does this happen, statistically?

I'm older than dirt and I hadn't played for years and only spent a few hours playing on a weekend and I broke and ran 5 racks and made the 9 on the sixth break and scratched in the side to stop my streak at 5.

That doesn't mean I am doing every time I play.

There is a video on youtube of bergman breaking and running 18 in a row on bar table with magic rack during an action match. I wouldnt bet against them putting up a 3 pack. If a ball is wired and they can play shape on the one, most top pros are going to break and run more often than not on a table with 4.5" pockets.

The Texas Open this year was one on spot with 3 point rule. I watched the match but not closely enough between Bader Al Awadhi and Brian Sanders. I heard Brian missed a ball in the first game and never stepped to table again losing 9-0. It was streamed on table 3. I tried to find it after the fact but could not.

GoldCrown · 2026-09-19T19:07:09-0700