Official Rules for the Hopkins Q Skill Challenge

At risk of tearing people away from the endless soap opera that is the IPT; HERE ARE THE RULES, LETS PLAY SOME POOL!!!!!!!

We recommend that for each session, you play 1 rack to warm-up, then play 10 more racks for your official score. Cheater's will be scorned (or placed on breakup's official $hit List...and trust me, you do NOT want a place on this list).


1. Rack fifteen balls on the Foot Spot, in any order, and place the cue ball ON the Head Spot. Break the balls. If you miscue or miss the cue ball completely, it is a foul. Re-Rack, break again and subtract one from your score. If you miscue and contact the rack, you may choose to continue shooting, leaving the balls where they lie and not take a foul.

2. If you scratch on the break, it is a minus 1, unless the cue ball goes off the table, then it is a minus 2. After a scratch on the break, you may place the cue ball on either the Head Spot of Foot Spot and shoot any ball on the table, or place the cue ball anywhere behind the Head String and shoot any ball above the Head String. On the break, if you scratch or the cue ball goes off the table, all balls made on the break stay down but do not count as points. If you do not scratch on the break, then all balls made on the break count as one point each.

3. After the break, if you do not have a shot or do not like the shot you have, you may choose one of three options. (a) Place the cue ball anywhere behind the Head String and shoot any ball above the Head String. (b) Place the cue ball on either the Head Spot or the Foot Spot and shoot any ball.
(c) Place the rack over the cue ball (where it lies) and move the cue ball anywhere inside the rack and shoot any ball. All of the options noted above are a penalty and incur a minus 1.

4. After the break, whether you made a ball or not, proceed to shoot, calling each shot. Try to run the table, shoting the ball in any order UNTIL THERE ARE FIVE BALLS REMAINING. If you do pocket ten balls, then the last five balls must be shot IN ROTATION (in numerical order starting with the lowest number ball). If you MISS A SHOT, the rack is OVER. There are no second chances or mulligans! The first ten balls score 1 point each, and the last five balls score 2 points each. On each rack you can score a MAXIMUM of 20 points.

5. When there are six balls on the table and you pocket two or more balls in one shot, they all stay down and are each worth 1 point. Shoot the remaining balls in rotation, in which each ball is worth 2 points each.

6. Ten racks comprise a session. In one session you can score a maximum of 200 points. The score from FIVE SESSIONS (50 racks) determines your Official Rating. The highest possible Official Rating is a perfect score of 1000 points.

Here is the Rating System:

0-150 - Recreational Player
151-300 - Intermediate Player
301-450 - Advanced Player
451-600- Developing Pro
601-800 - Semi-Pro
801-900 - Pro
901-1000 - Touring Pro

chefjeff said:

I had this question last year on Rule #2...If you place the cb behind the headstring then that is the kitchen, right? So, wouldn't you then shoot a ball that is below the headstring, not above it? Below implies towards the foot of the table, right? Or am I missing something (as I sometimes do with balls!)?

Jeff Livingston

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Jeff,
Shoot at something outside the kitchen. Thanks for the semantic correction (remember, I did not make up these rules).

chefjeff said:

on the last 5 balls, there are no combinations, right?

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CJ,
Correct.

chefjeff said:

Another question...I thought that all balls made on the break don't count and had to be spotted before continuing? That's how I (we?) played it before.

What say ye?

Jeff Livingston

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CJ,
Balls made on the break count (unless you scratch on the break, then any balls pocketed stay down, but do not count). I'm not sure if that is officially the rule, but it is the way we played it at the DCC AZB room event - and it sounds good to me. We'll see what my Co-Director has to say.

steev said:

(c) Place the rack over the cue ball (where it lies) and move the cue ball anywhere inside the rack and shoot any ball.

--can another ball(s) be inside the rack during this as well?

-s

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Steev,
Yes.

Cameron Smith said:

Who came up with this rating system? It seems a bit off.

.

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Number Six,
Not me. It's a good bet that Allen Hopkins did; or perhaps Drivermaker. Not me. Heck, I'm not sure there are more than 3 different types of players.

Anyway, we are what we are. Just be glad we don't put you in one of those big transparent beach balls.