I'm thinking about buying one, would it work? If not, I'll stick to 9 ball 10 ball rack.
If you're looking for a perfectly tight rack every time you'd be much better off with the Slug Doctor for straight pool. The dots are thinner and therefore less intrusive during play and they make a smaller foot print than the Magic Rack.
I agree with this -- the Slug Doctor is a much better "stay on table" racking device than the Magic Rack for non-blast-'em-open games like 14.1 or One Pocket. I have an SD, and those Avery labels are so thin, that I've only ever encountered a few roll-offs -- and those only occurred during One Pocket (not 14.1), when a very gently-struck/gently-bumped ball took its last roll, and "settled sideways" into one of the Avery labels on the table because it caught that label just right and at the right [dying] speed.
-Sean
Sean, there is no doubt that if you say those two rack devices are good, then I believe it to be true with the kind of respect that I have for you. I have never played with either. BUT... in my mind, if a ball rolls off one time, then it is too much.
I lost a really good high run one time b/c my cue ball was among a cluster of balls and an object ball was just about to stop in a position for my run to continue and it rolled off course b/c of the paper spot......
I draw my spot on my table with a felt pen now along with my rack out line. Anyways, I guess that I am too "Old School" and I still rack the balls with a good solid old fashion wood rack.
Also, I know that with those two devices at least the rack is always solid and there is no chance of balls separating as they some times do with old fashion wood racks. I guess what it comes down too is each player's preference, which is totally important when it comes to their own game rooms.
Wouldn't the Magic Rack or Slug Doctor be better for straight pool just because of the footprint? Then you could have your 15th ball closer to the rack and not have it get spotted. I don't play very much straight pool and I'm genuinely curious about people's opinions on this.
I think you are all right that it wouldn't work well. My initial thought was that the balls in the rack area would just be bumped around for the first part of the rack and then eventually I could just take it off once the rack clears away. But I can imagine softly nudging the balls and not much happening because a ball was stuck in the hole thingy, which I think is the biggest issue.
Still gonna get them though, I'm tired of fiddling with shitty warped racks at the pool halls.
Cameron:
How about a TrueRack (basically a "kind of Delta-13 that folds up") or even a Delta-13 itself?
For the latter, a MasterRack carrying case holds a Delta-13 conveniently for travel:
Just a thought,
-Sean
I think you are all right that it wouldn't work well. My initial thought was that the balls in the rack area would just be bumped around for the first part of the rack and then eventually I could just take it off once the rack clears away. But I can imagine softly nudging the balls and not much happening because a ball was stuck in the hole thingy, which I think is the biggest issue.
Still gonna get them though, I'm tired of fiddling with shitty warped racks at the pool halls.
The problem with the Delta-13 is it's so bloody expensive. I also have to buy a new case as mine is showing wear and tear.
My concern about buying my own rack is I don't want to get too used to it. Tournaments generally won't let a player bring in they're own rack, so I don't want to create a condition for myself wherein I can only approach my best under x conditions. Kinda why I refuse to buy my own cue ball. That said, my frustration outweighs my concern in so far as I don't want to be spending forever trying to get a good rack.
Siiigh decisions,decisions. I'm gonna go play snooker tomorrow lol.
I think you are all right that it wouldn't work well. My initial thought was that the balls in the rack area would just be bumped around for the first part of the rack and then eventually I could just take it off once the rack clears away. But I can imagine softly nudging the balls and not much happening because a ball was stuck in the hole thingy, which I think is the biggest issue.
Still gonna get them though, I'm tired of fiddling with shitty warped racks at the pool halls.
Quite simple for this situation. www.racktight.com.
Hi Cameron!
The problem is that the bolded statements in the two posts above are somewhat contradictory. If you purchase a Magic Rack or Slug Doctor, you are in essence "getting used to this type of rack" as well as "bringing your own rack with you." The cost difference between a "stay on table" rack versus a standard triangle doesn't change that circumstance. Correct me if I'm wrong?
Methinks you're between a rock and a hard place on this one. Personally, I'm glad I got used to using a good rack. It helps me to recognize what a good rack is all about, almost like second nature.
And you know the funny thing? It also helped my racking abilities with a standard junk rack. By recognizing how the balls fit so tightly in the Delta-13, it modified my racking technique when NOT using it!
I found out that much of the reason why the "junk" racks perform so poorly, is because of the inability to pinch the balls tightly towards the top/apex of the rack. (That is, a lot of racks "wear" in a way where the headball "jams" into a little chamfer on the inside surface of the rack, caused by that ball's wear and tear in the same spot, so that head ball will proceed no further past that point into the apex of the rack.) So what I do, in *any* game where I'm using a junk rack (8-ball, 10-ball, 14.1, 1P, it doesn't matter), is to rack the balls with the head ball missing, applying pressure with the fingers from the bottom of the rack to wedge the formation together tightly towards the apex. Obviously, while keeping them tight, I position the formation carefully where the missing head ball's location is right over the footspot. I then remove the junk rack from the balls, being careful not to disturb them, and then roll the head ball into place at the apex, being careful to slowly position it until it's touching both balls in that top row, and then move my hands away.
Obviously this technique isn't allowed in those tournaments where you're not allowed to "touch" the balls after the racking device is removed (e.g. SBE Open/Pro 10-ball). But the lion's share of most places won't mind, and you'll actually get a tighter rack this way out of a piece of junk rack. It's worth a shot!
Hope this is helpful!
-Sean