Pocket hanger rule question.

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brigeton

AzB Silver Member
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A shot came up last night when I was playing my wife 8 ball. I shot the 8 and it hung in the pocket but didn't drop. A minute later when she was getting ready to shoot it fell in. She had not touched the table.
To my understanding if the ball drops before the other player shoots it is considered that I made it. What happens if the 8 drops during or after her shot?
 
Z

Z-Nole

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
In that scenario I believe the ball would be placed back on the table and it is still her shot. But that might just be a local rule at my room. I don’t play any leagues or anything so I might be wrong. It will be interesting to hear the actual rule.
 
B

bbb

AzB Gold Member
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If it drops after 5 seconds it gets respotted
True for any ball
That’s how I understand the rule
 
F

fjk

AzB Silver Member
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I thought it had something to do with giving up the table to your opponent. If I hang one really deep in the jaws. I stay at the table for a bit. To my understanding, if I'm still at the table when it dropped, I continue to shoot. If I walk away and give up the table to my opponent, and the it drops, it gets replaced. I could be wrong, but that's what I always thought. I must have heard it somewhere.
 
Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
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fjk said:
I thought it had something to do with giving up the table to your opponent. If I hang one really deep in the jaws. I stay at the table for a bit. To my understanding, if I'm still at the table when it dropped, I continue to shoot. If I walk away and give up the table to my opponent, and the it drops, it gets replaced. I could be wrong, but that's what I always thought. I must have heard it somewhere.
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That would be a pretty silly rule.

It's 5 seconds.

pj
chgo
 
Poolplaya9

Poolplaya9

Tellin' it like it is...
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Patrick Johnson said:
That would be a pretty silly rule.

It's 5 seconds.

pj
chgo
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I've always thought that the 5 second rule was a bit silly as well in the sense of who determines the five seconds, and the expectations that it would end up causing lots of arguments and something more definitive, like the moment the incoming player strikes the cue ball on their turn, might be better. Funnily enough though, even considering the nature of pool players, I can't ever recall seeing an argument on whether or not it was over or under 5 seconds when the ball fell even though I have seen it be in that general time vicinity quite a number of times.
 
G

Geosnooker

AzB Silver Member
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We don’t have any rule.

It’s rarely happens but when it does we have have a good laugh.

It’s a game.


As for rules in general, we play that the shooter decides on a rule. If an issue we discuss it ‘after’ the game and apply any agreed changed to the ‘next game..

However, if playing with your wife?
Then one must defer to British Common Law. ‘Whatever keeps her happy’.
 
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jason

jason

Unprofessional everything
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brigeton said:
A shot came up last night when I was playing my wife 8 ball. I shot the 8 and it hung in the pocket but didn't drop. A minute later when she was getting ready to shoot it fell in. She had not touched the table.
To my understanding if the ball drops before the other player shoots it is considered that I made it. What happens if the 8 drops during or after her shot?
Click to expand...

The answer was in your question ;) ...but the the other rule is 5 seconds.
 
Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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brigeton said:
A shot came up last night when I was playing my wife 8 ball. I shot the 8 and it hung in the pocket but didn't drop. A minute later when she was getting ready to shoot it fell in. She had not touched the table.
To my understanding if the ball drops before the other player shoots it is considered that I made it. What happens if the 8 drops during or after her shot?
Click to expand...
Here's what the World Standardized Rules say about this (from Section 8):

If a ball stops near the edge of a pocket, and remains apparently motionless for five seconds, it is not considered pocketed if it later falls into the pocket by itself. See 1.7 Balls Settling for other details. During that five second period, the referee should ensure that no other shot is taken.
​

The rules are here for free: https://wpapool.com/rules-of-play/
 
Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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fjk said:
I thought it had something to do with giving up the table to your opponent. If I hang one really deep in the jaws. I stay at the table for a bit. To my understanding, if I'm still at the table when it dropped, I continue to shoot. If I walk away and give up the table to my opponent, and the it drops, it gets replaced. I could be wrong, but that's what I always thought. I must have heard it somewhere.
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So far as I know, there is no written set of pool rules that mentions where the players might be standing to determine "ownership" or some such of the table. There are rules that say the non-shooter must get away from the table and let the shooter shoot.

Of course, there might be a local rule, but it's better to keep those rules local and eventually kill them, especially if anyone in the room travels to play in a tournament where the official rules might be in use. For your particular local rule, there should also be a time limit on how long a player may linger at the table while praying for an earthquake to drop the 9 ball. Ten minutes seems reasonable to me.:D
 
Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
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Bob Jewett said:
...there should also be a time limit on how long a player may linger at the table while praying for an earthquake to drop the 9 ball. Ten minutes seems reasonable to me.:D
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And how close to the table must he/she be? And what if the other player steps up to "claim" the table meanwhile? If they're wrestling when the ball falls, is it whoever's on top? It's not without precedent.

So many questions...

pj
chgo
 
Z

Z-Nole

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Patrick Johnson said:
And how close to the table must he/she be? And what if the other player steps up to "claim" the table meanwhile? If they're wrestling when the ball falls, is it whoever's on top? It's not without precedent.

So many questions...

pj
chgo
Click to expand...

I hadn't seen that, it was hilarious. Thanks.
 
hang-the-9

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
brigeton said:
A shot came up last night when I was playing my wife 8 ball. I shot the 8 and it hung in the pocket but didn't drop. A minute later when she was getting ready to shoot it fell in. She had not touched the table.
To my understanding if the ball drops before the other player shoots it is considered that I made it. What happens if the 8 drops during or after her shot?
Click to expand...

That is not correct. The rule is if the ball does not drop within a few seconds of the shot, then falls in after it is spotted back to where it was. Settling of the table, vibrations on it, etc... do not count towards making the ball after it sits in the jaws for a few seconds.
 
hang-the-9

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
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Poolplaya9 said:
I've always thought that the 5 second rule was a bit silly as well in the sense of who determines the five seconds, and the expectations that it would end up causing lots of arguments and something more definitive, like the moment the incoming player strikes the cue ball on their turn, might be better. Funnily enough though, even considering the nature of pool players, I can't ever recall seeing an argument on whether or not it was over or under 5 seconds when the ball fell even though I have seen it be in that general time vicinity quite a number of times.
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The reason the rule is there so that the players walking around or touching the table causing vibrations does not count towards making the shot. Especially if you play on a lighter table on a less than solid floor. You miss, walk away, your weight vibrates the table, ball falls in. Should not count towards a made shot.
 
Poolplaya9

Poolplaya9

Tellin' it like it is...
Silver Member
hang-the-9 said:
The reason the rule is there so that the players walking around or touching the table causing vibrations does not count towards making the shot. Especially if you play on a lighter table on a less than solid floor. You miss, walk away, your weight vibrates the table, ball falls in. Should not count towards a made shot.
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Yeah it seems there are some pretty good drawbacks for whichever rule could be used for balls that have a delayed drop.

I mentioned earlier that I don't recall off hand any big arguments over whether a ball dropped under or over 5 seconds for some weird reason, which wouldn't be what you would expect because we all know plenty of the types of players that will argue over anything they can. Do other people have a similar experience, or do they see arguments over whether it was 5 seconds or not reasonably often?
 
F

fjk

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Poolplaya9 said:
Yeah it seems there are some pretty good drawbacks for whichever rule could be used for balls that have a delayed drop.

I mentioned earlier that I don't recall off hand any big arguments over whether a ball dropped under or over 5 seconds for some weird reason, which wouldn't be what you would expect because we all know plenty of the types of players that will argue over anything they can. Do other people have a similar experience, or do they see arguments over whether it was 5 seconds or not reasonably often?
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It did happen to me once. I was the shooter in a 9-ball tournament. I shot a ball down the rail softly and it hung on the lip. My opponent immediately jumped up and walked towards the table and I actually said "I'm gonna give that one some time". As I was saying it, the ball dropped in. I laughed, everyone watching laughed. I continued to shoot and ran out. I remember I won the match and I heard from some others that my opponent didn't like what transpired with that shot. I have no idea if it was over or under that five second rule...I'm guessing it was close either way.

From a real lot of years playing pool, it only happened to me once.
 
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