2026 WPA Predator Men's World 10 Ball Saigon
- Thread starter jax_joe
- Start date
Yeah, I just haven't seen him jump often enough to have a strong opinion here. Happy to take your word for it.
I think that depends on both region and how you define “true players”.
In many places (almost everywhere out of the US and probably some places in the US) almost nobody plays banks or one pocket. In Toronto (where I am), the games are very rarely played, except of course by Morra and Pagulayan.
Almost nobody here plays 14.1, which I’m sure is true in most of Asia, large parts of the US, but not Europe.
I would say at least in my area many players in the 500 to 650 Fargo range play a decent amount of 8b. BB 8b is quite a common gambling game. If you define “true players”
as pro level players, then sure, it’s not that common to see them playing 8b unless it’s an 8b tournament.
You are definitely not from Minnesota!!
Absolutely right! BB 8b is such a great game. Almost every one of the players at the UP events loves playing it, but the big tournaments want 9b or 10b for one reason or another.
I'm surprised. I remember Shaw saying that the ten ball break is broken but your stats show otherwise. IS it due to the tables being as tight as they are?
I've not watched much of this event due to work, but do the PBS events have a break box rule? Or is it break from anywhere behind the line?
I think the main issue is hand racking by referees using the Predator rack with no inspection by the players.
I struggled to get a right 8b rack using that rack - maybe it’s just due to lack of practice with the rack but I found it harder than with a good traditional triangle rack. I can’t imagine it’s different with 10b.
Men's round of 16 matches look appetizing. The ones that jump off the page for me are:
Szewczyk vs Chua
Capito vs Shaw
Kledio Kaci vs Yapp
Filler vs Souto
No easy draws left, but someone will manage to win their next four matches and hoist the trophy. It will take some heavy lifting.
Szewczyk vs Chua
Capito vs Shaw
Kledio Kaci vs Yapp
Filler vs Souto
No easy draws left, but someone will manage to win their next four matches and hoist the trophy. It will take some heavy lifting.
I agree a bit as it was neglected by most pro events in the USA.
But for instance in Europe, it's one of the discipline played at the European championship so it is played and practiced, it also became a game that is played in Eurotour stops.
As Europe represent one of the strongest continent in pool, I would not say that 8ball is not so meaningless...
Since the PBS run 8balls events, pro events with good money, many players has started to put more effort and practice into it, especially in Asia were the game was hardly played.
Chinese Hey Ball is also bringing a lot of focus into the game.
Most amateurs play or start playing 8ball, it is the most known pool game in the world with all it's variations. I think that if the governing bodies of pool want to make pool bigger, they should put more focus on 8Ball as it's a game that the average people know and can relate to and it can grow bigger audience, the Ultimate Pool franchise proves it to be right.
Good post. 8ball does get some mileage in European pro pool. Perhaps the World 8ball will gradually gain some prominence, but for now, it is played by far too many who only play it a few times a year. For now, I'd still rate as the least significant of the four WPA sanctioned world championships in singles, behind each of the World Games, the World 10ball, and the World 9ball ... but time may change this.
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Cliq between the set scoress and a different windows pops up showing set and shootout scores.
Idk man. If Ultimate Pool went away, I don't think we'd ever see a 600+ player ever play 8 ball again, unless there was some special tournament with a lot of added money.
Edit to add, 8 ball was never played before the IPT by good players, and never played after it.... except for Darren's 1 year tour about 10 years ago, and now the Ultimate Pool tour.
but but.... the statistic shows over 50% dry breaks in pro 8 ball events.
I guess this is where @AtLarge jumps in with real facts and statistics...
Do you mean like all the PBS 8ball events?
Yes, that's how it works. It is often said here on the forum that eight ball is just a breaking contest rather than a comprehensive test of a player's skills. The runouts are so easy that even average pattern players rarely run into any trouble. It's equally true that after a dry break, the incoming player will run out off most lays of the table.
Awfully few racks have any back and forth, which makes 8ball on a nine-footer a far too one-dimensional game, even at Fargo 750 level, let alone top pro level. Of course, played on a barbox (7 x 3 1/2) or an English 8ball table (often 3 x 6), the game of 8ball is far more interesting, requiring breakouts and tactical exchanges.
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Yes but after the break something like 90% of games are 1 inning.
I think it's still worth watching to see elite pattern play, but it's definitely a breaking contest even more than template rack 9 ball is.
Yes, for the biggest breakers, the packages are longer, but the runouts require much more thought and imagination because there is so often traffic to negotiate. It makes for some interesting viewing. Hence, pattern play is far more critical even though the pocketing of the balls is easier. Buddy Hall, the best pattern player in his day and among the best ever, was almost unbeatable at barbox 8ball in a long session. Similarly, Darren Appleton, also one of the best pattern players our game has ever seen, shone in English 8ball on the 3 x 6 before switching to American pool.
Dave Matlock, one of the greatest ever barbox 8ball players, is reputed to have run a 28-pack on the barbox.
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