Break Stats -- 2018 International 9-Ball Open, Oct. 2018

Here are some aggregate break statistics from the 40 9-Ball matches streamed this past week by Accu-Stats from the 2018 International 9-Ball Open at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, VA. Chang Jung-Lin won the event.

All but 1 of these matches were streamed by Accu-Stats on a pay-per-view basis. The Woodward/Van Boening match on the last day was played at the same time as the hotseat match and was streamed free on Accu-Stats' Facebook page.

Conditions -- The conditions for these streamed matches included:

The 40 matches (707 games) streamed were as follows, shown in the order in which they were played. These 40 matches represented about 18% of the event's total of 224 matches played. The figures in parentheses for some of the matches are the Accu-Stats Total Performance Averages (TPA), as calculated by Accu-Stats and shown on the stream.

[Note: These stats exclude 8 games from these 40 matches -- 1 game in the in the Melling/Kudlik match when my internet service was down, the first 6 games of the Van Boening/Sanchez-Ruiz match (which was joined in progress on another table after a match on the main streaming table ended), and 1 game when the stream was down briefly in the Woodward/Van Boening match on an "outside" table . So the total number of games tracked was 699.]

Sun., Oct. 21, 2018

Mon., Oct. 22

Tues., Oct. 23

Wed., Oct. 24

Thurs., Oct. 25

Fri., Oct. 26

Sat., Oct. 27

Overall results

Here's a breakdown of the 699 breaks (for match winners and losers combined).


Break-and-run games -- The 154 break-and-run games represented 22% of all 699 games, 42% of the 363 games won by the breaker, and 35% of the 435 games in which the break was successful (made a ball, legal, no foul).

The 154 break-and-run games consisted of 1 5-pack (Woodward), 1 4-pack (Ko P-C), 20 2-packs, and 105 singles.

9-balls on the break -- The 154 break-and-run games included 8 9-balls on the break (1.1% of the 699 breaks). Two additional 9-balls were made on the break when the breaker scratched, so they were spotted. With the Accu-Rack, the 9-ball tends to remain close to its original position.

Miscellany from the data for the 2018 International 9-Ball Open
[This relates only to the 40 streamed matches, not to all matches in the event.]

• The most balls made on a single break was 4 -- once each by Styer (a B&R), Sanchez-Ruiz (he lost the game), and Ko P-C (including the 9-ball).

• The average number of balls made on all breaks was 1.2. On successful breaks (legal, made at least one ball, and did not foul), the average was 1.6.

• 48% (337 of 699) of the games ended in one inning – 22% (154) won by the breaker (B&R) and 26% (183) won by the non-breaker. 10% (70 of 699) of the games lasted more than 3 innings.

• 37% (257 of 699) of the games were run out by the player who was at the table following the break. These run-outs were:

• The player who made the first ball after the break:

• For the 39 races to 11 (i.e., excluding the Finals race to 13), the loser won an average of 6.5 games. Six matches went to hill/hill; the most lopsided match was one at 11-2.

• The longest race to 11 in elapsed time, at 150 minutes, was Styer d. Feijen 11-9. The shortest match in elapsed time, at 57 minutes, was Woodward d. Gorst 11-2. The elapsed time was measured from the lag until the winning ball was made, so it includes time for racking and timeouts.

• The average elapsed time for the races to 11 (excluding the Van Boening/Sanchez-Ruiz match, which was joined in progress rather than from the start) was 107 minutes.

• The average minutes per game for all 40 matches (includes the watched portion of the SVB/Sanchez-Ruiz match) was 6.2.

• The match highest in average minutes per game, at 9.4 min./game, was the SVB/Sanchez-Ruiz match (the watched portion only -- 11 of the 17 games). For a full match, the one highest in average minutes per game, at 8.4 min./game, was the Ko d. Chang 11-5 hotseat match. The match lowest in average minutes per game, at 4.3 min./game, was Shaw d. McMinn 11-7.

• Breaking fouls averaged 1 for every 12.7 games, other fouls 1 for every 4.9 games, and missed shots about 1 for every 2.1 games.

• About 41% of the games involved one or more safeties.

pt109 said:

AtLarge...do you know how long the final match was?

The reason I’m asking is that someone posted it was long....
..for me, I was so engrossed that it could’ve been 5 minutes or 5 hours....:scratchhead:

Usually, a long match will bore me a bit, but that match was tension-filled all the way.

Click to expand...

171 minutes from lag to last ball dropping.

9andout said:

Thanks!
What match had the lowest average minutes per game?

Click to expand...

The match lowest in average minutes per game, at 4.3 min./game, was Shaw d. McMinn 11-7. [from post #2 above]

And Woodward d. Gorst 11-2 was about the same, rounding to 4.4 min./game.

Even though the International 9-Ball Open was a new event, I think it is interesting to compare its stats with those of the similar US Open 9-Ball Championships of recent years. Here's that comparison for the streamed matches I watched 2018-2015.

Breaks on which at least one ball was pocketed (includes all wet breaks even if illegal or fouled)
2018 -- 77% (537 of 699)
2017 -- 71% (475 of 669)
2016 -- 73% (306 of 422)
2015 -- 68% (388 of 572)

Illegal breaks (whether wet, dry, or fouled)
2018 -- 14% (99 of 699)
2017 -- 10% (66 of 669)
2016 -- 20% (86 of 422)
2015 -- 4% (23 of 572)

Successful breaks (broke legally, made at least one ball, and did not foul):
2018 -- 62% (435 of 699)
2017 -- 62% (417 of 669)
2016 -- 57% (240 of 422)
2015 -- 62% (353 of 572)

Breaker won game -- on all breaks:
2018 -- 52% (363 of 699)
2017 -- 57% (380 of 669)
2016 -- 54% (227 of 422)
2015 -- 53% (302 of 572)

Breaker won game -- on legal breaks:
2018 -- 54% (326 of 600)
2017 -- 57% (345 of 603)
2016 -- 57% (191 of 336)
2015 -- 54% (294 of 549)

Breaker won game -- on illegal breaks:
2018 -- 37% (37 of 99)
2017 -- 53% (35 of 66)
2016 -- 42% (36 of 86)
2015 -- 35% (8 of 23)

Break-and-run games -- on all breaks:
2018 -- 22% (154 of 699)
2017 -- 26% (176 of 669)
2016 -- 23% (96 of 422)
2015 -- 23% (131 of 572)

Break-and-run games -- on successful breaks:
2018 -- 35% (154 of 435)
2017 -- 42% (176 of 417)
2016 -- 40% (96 of 240)
2015 -- 37% (131 of 353)

Average number of balls made on the break:
2018 -- 1.2 on all breaks, 1.4 on successful breaks
2017 -- 1.1 on all breaks, 1.5 on successful breaks
2016 -- 1.1 on all breaks, 1.6 on successful breaks
2015 -- 0.9 on all breaks, 1.4 on successful breaks

Games ending in one inning:
2018 -- 48% (337 of 699)
2017 -- 49% (329 of 669)
2016 -- 49% (205 of 422)
2015 -- 45% (258 of 572)

Run-outs from first shot after break:
2018 -- 37% (257 of 699)
2017 -- 40% (265 of 669)
2016 -- 40% (170 of 422)
2015 -- 36% (204 of 572)

Games won by player who made the first ball after the break:
2018 -- 78% (540 of 691)
2017 -- 77% (508 of 658)
2016 -- 76% (319 of 420)
2015 -- 75% (427 of 570)

Average minutes per game (includes time for racking and timeouts):
2018 -- 6.2
2017 -- 6.0
2016 -- 6.0
2015 -- 6.1

Total Performance Averages

Accu-Stats calculated and posted final TPAs for 26 of the streamed matches (see post #1 above). Some tidbits:

• The distribution of TPAs was

• So "900's" were posted in 15 of the 52 player appearances (29%). Fourteen of the 26 matches for which TPAs were calculated had at least one 900 score (54%).

• Tournament winner Chang J-L had scores in the 900's in 4 of his 6 appearances on stream, and the arithmetic mean of his 6 TPAs was .918.

• Runnerup Ko P-C appeared 4 times on stream. Three of his 4 TPAs were in the 900's, with a high of .933 and a mean of .917.

• Arithmetic means for the 26 matches -- .901 for match winners, .828 for match losers, .865 combined.

• Medians for the 26 matches -- .9045 for match winners, .8415 for match losers, and .878 combined.

The winner of the lag won the match in 22 of the 39 streamed matches for which I saw the lag (56%).

The winner of the first game of the match won the match in 24 of those 39 matches (62%).

The 40 streamed matches involved 50 different players. 34 of them appeared in streamed matches just once, 9 appeared twice, 3 appeared three times, 2 four times (Ko Ping-Chung and Shane Van Boening), 1 five times (Skyler Woodward), and 1 six times (Chang Jung-Lin). Here are some stats for each of the 4 players who appeared at least four times (they finished 1st through 4th in the event).

Successful breaks (broke legally, made at least one ball, and did not foul):
Chang J-L -- 73% (43 of 59)
Ko P-C -- 76% (34 of 45)
Woodward -- 88% (43 of 49)
Van Boening -- 71% (25 of 35)
4-player total -- 77% (145 of 188)
Other 46 players -- 57% (290 of 511)
All 50 players -- 62% (435 of 699)

Illegal breaks (whether wet, fouled, or dry):
Chang J-L -- 14% (8 of 59)
Ko P-C -- 18% (8 of 45)
Woodward -- 2% (1 of 49)
Van Boening -- 14% (5 of 35)
4-player total -- 12% (22 of 188)
Other 46 players -- 15% (77 of 511)
All 50 players -- 14% (99 of 699)

Breaker won the game:
Chang J-L -- 68% (40 of 59)
Ko P-C -- 67% (30 of 45)
Woodward -- 76% (37 of 49)
Van Boening -- 60% (21 of 35)
4-player total -- 68% (128 of 188)
Other 46 players -- 46% (235 of 511)
All 50 players -- 52% (363 of 699)

Break-and-run games, on all breaks:
Chang J-L -- 31% (18 of 59)
Ko P-C -- 36% (16 of 45)
Woodward -- 39% (19 of 49)
Van Boening -- 34% (12 of 35)
4-player total -- 35% (65 of 188)
Other 46 players -- 17% (89 of 511)
All 50 players -- 22% (154 of 699)

Break-and-run games, on successful breaks:
Chang J-L -- 42% (18 of 43)
Ko P-C -- 47% (16 of 34)
Woodward -- 44% (19 of 43)
Van Boening -- 48% (12 of 25)
4-player total -- 45% (65 of 145)
Other 46 players -- 31% (89 of 290)
All 50 players -- 35% (154 of 435)