Someone literally said to me.... in April of 2019..... I don't play that N***r pool.
Bar rules
- Thread starter strmanglr scott
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Someone literally said to me.... in April of 2019..... I don't play that N***r pool.
At least some rules have an explainable genesis behind them. As a youngster, all the tables around took a quarter (or 2 or 3) to get the balls out.
You couldn't spot balls..they were gone until the next game. You had no choice but to give a win to the breaker making the money ball...it was gone. I guess you could have called it a loss, but we didn't, unless of course you also scratched.
The house cues were garbage and nobody I knew had his own cue back then so a little cue ball relief from the rail made sense because you barely had a tip on the cue and there may or may not be any chalk in the place.
Accidentally bumping a ball just meant you moved it back where it was, you'd have to be a dick to expect more (we didn't yet know winning was so very very important).
And it was all 8 ball...we weren't paying 50 cents just to use half the balls.
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You couldn't spot balls..they were gone until the next game. You had no choice but to give a win to the breaker making the money ball...it was gone. I guess you could have called it a loss, but we didn't, unless of course you also scratched.
The house cues were garbage and nobody I knew had his own cue back then so a little cue ball relief from the rail made sense because you barely had a tip on the cue and there may or may not be any chalk in the place.
Accidentally bumping a ball just meant you moved it back where it was, you'd have to be a dick to expect more (we didn't yet know winning was so very very important).
And it was all 8 ball...we weren't paying 50 cents just to use half the balls.
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The first words out of my mouth when playing at any bar is, "you call the ball the call the pocket however it gets there its good", and by "call" I mean if its obvious its obvious. Banks, kicks, caroms, combos and the 8 ball must be called. If I intend to play for cash, I will have a goon friend with me, tends to make everybody more calm.
No, we don’t play points. Didn’t think that part needed mentioned. Sure would add a wild variable to bar pool though.
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Agree a bit with everybody!
Everybody has at least a good point or two, brought back memories too. I led a parade to my vehicle many a night always after playing for "chump change". You gotta realize most of these guys are working for minimum wage and your idea of chump change may burn through their paycheck after deductions pretty quickly! Fights or near fights, always over fairly small bets.
The easiest way to avoid confrontations or high blood pressure on your part is to just roll with whatever local rules are. Half of Texas came to Louisiana when times got tight in the oil patch many years ago. It was a rare night when I didn't hear somebody say "this isn't the way we do it in Texas" or "this isn't the way we do it in Houston. I took great pleasure in reminding them where they were at! I hit many odd rules in my travels, cost me one or two games to learn them and then I was good. Some were cheating and making up rules as they went along but mostly it was genuinely odd rules played in places.
About cut throat, I always thought it was fun. I could be sure the other two players would team up on me but it didn't help much. I had ten balls to shoot at, they only had five. A target rich environment and I didn't have to feel too bad about beating up on friends. I had a couple guys try something similar playing eight ball two shots to my one gambling one night. Told them it wasn't going to happen. When it did, a house cue accidentally broke and they had things explained to them. An ash european taper cue with about a foot missing, the end was as thick as my thumb and for a second or two I thought it wasn't going to accidentally break. Sounded like a pistol shot when it did and a piece hit a guy about to shoot. He scattered balls all over the table!
Bars, bar tables, bar pool, bar girls, loved them all! They are still playing for a drink, a beer, or three to five dollars a game most places so you can afford to lose a little learning the rules. Folks might want to read Smorg's old story about winning the Bob, and no he weren't in England!
Hu
Everybody has at least a good point or two, brought back memories too. I led a parade to my vehicle many a night always after playing for "chump change". You gotta realize most of these guys are working for minimum wage and your idea of chump change may burn through their paycheck after deductions pretty quickly! Fights or near fights, always over fairly small bets.
The easiest way to avoid confrontations or high blood pressure on your part is to just roll with whatever local rules are. Half of Texas came to Louisiana when times got tight in the oil patch many years ago. It was a rare night when I didn't hear somebody say "this isn't the way we do it in Texas" or "this isn't the way we do it in Houston. I took great pleasure in reminding them where they were at! I hit many odd rules in my travels, cost me one or two games to learn them and then I was good. Some were cheating and making up rules as they went along but mostly it was genuinely odd rules played in places.
About cut throat, I always thought it was fun. I could be sure the other two players would team up on me but it didn't help much. I had ten balls to shoot at, they only had five. A target rich environment and I didn't have to feel too bad about beating up on friends. I had a couple guys try something similar playing eight ball two shots to my one gambling one night. Told them it wasn't going to happen. When it did, a house cue accidentally broke and they had things explained to them. An ash european taper cue with about a foot missing, the end was as thick as my thumb and for a second or two I thought it wasn't going to accidentally break. Sounded like a pistol shot when it did and a piece hit a guy about to shoot. He scattered balls all over the table!
Bars, bar tables, bar pool, bar girls, loved them all! They are still playing for a drink, a beer, or three to five dollars a game most places so you can afford to lose a little learning the rules. Folks might want to read Smorg's old story about winning the Bob, and no he weren't in England!
Hu
I've played in bars all around the south, and south east. The strangest bar rule I've ever played by, "if you're on the 8 ball, and don't make a legal hit, (foul in the APA) you lose the game!" Talk about some fights. I had a friend that was an ex-marine playing a game and he missed the 8ball. So when the guy shot, he pushed the cue ball, behind one of his balls, and hooked him. Bad mistake, my friend grabbed the guy by the throat and lifted him off the floor, and was going to shove the money down his throat. I really thought he was going to choke the guy to death. We usually played, (what we called a gentleman's game) and he wasn't used to that kind of play.
Another time some guys were playing, a fight started, and pool balls were being thrown. An innocent guy, sitting at the bar, drinking his beer, and was hit in the temple with a ball, and it killed him instantly.
Another time some guys were playing, a fight started, and pool balls were being thrown. An innocent guy, sitting at the bar, drinking his beer, and was hit in the temple with a ball, and it killed him instantly.
Played in hundreds if not thousands of bar games- never bet more than a drink in a bar because every bar had different rules going back to the 70s - balls going in "clean" , calling rail hits as "banks" touching opposing ball with your pocketed ball, scratches on 8 ball consequences, etc. etc. - any and all of these would be "fighting words' if any significant amount of cash was on the line- never needing someone else's cash, or the need to provoke or be provoked; made it easy for me to not bet high in a bar - walked away from many drinks just to not argue over "bar rules" and a few times in my life probably walked away from a major fight or worse- because losing a drink was never worth it. Glad i did what I did back then- strange bars at 1 am can be a very lonely and dangerous place when drinks and money and macho all get mixed together!
Now, if I have the right guys with me, and the rules are very clear, I will bet anything you want if the game is right.
Now, if I have the right guys with me, and the rules are very clear, I will bet anything you want if the game is right.
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Bar Rules are a cluster f**k. I will not engage in a bar game unless opponent knows AND understands BCA ball in hand call pocket rules prior to break PERIOD.
Been in some ugly situations like probably many members when rules change and are made up as game/set plays on even when they are gone over and supposedly understood prior to flip.
Have a nice day
-Kat,
Been in some ugly situations like probably many members when rules change and are made up as game/set plays on even when they are gone over and supposedly understood prior to flip.
Have a nice day
-Kat,
At home I play by BCA rules; at my local bar we play local bar rules, sometimes with various "concessions" to weaker players.
Bar rules are "stupid" but when in Rome .....
I play by Bar rules at the local bar because that is the rules the Bar wants us to play by.
We play modified BCA/APA in bar tournaments. BCA mostly, but you are what you make on the break.
I like real BCA (all ball fouls,...) but few want this strict a game.
No smiley
Didn’t get the smiley in there, so my post made it seem like I was offended, I wasn’t. Every little spot around here has a Valley and sponsors at least one team. Only one vender and they are VNEA. Rules are posted on the wall. Never see what this place calls bar pool.
Didn’t get the smiley in there, so my post made it seem like I was offended, I wasn’t. Every little spot around here has a Valley and sponsors at least one team. Only one vender and they are VNEA. Rules are posted on the wall. Never see what this place calls bar pool.
Back when I used to play in bars a lot (30-40 years ago), if you played a safety, you better be packing iron. For sure there is going to be some trouble. 
Bar rules in Okla.-Kan(back when i bar-hopped): 1.You have to try to make a ball. 1A.NO safeties 2.Balls must go in "clean", can't touch another ball(unless called) or a rail(unless called). 3. If rule 1,1A, or 2 are violated: 1.Grab a cue(defensive weapon) 2.Produce a hidden pistol or 3.Run like hell out the door.
I've had many a discussion in bars concerning this. Pros play off the cushion down the long rail on tight diamonds almost as a rule. I have no problem calling it, as I will usually only hit the rail if I intend to hit he rail. I don't miss many on the under cut side.
I had one guy tell me that the pocket facing was part of the rail and had to be called. He said a good player should be able to play every shot cleanly into the pocket. I played every single shot off of the facing and called them all. After five racks and two turns at the table this guy had enough.
Nowadays I don't generally play strangers at bars. If I do, I ask them all the rules they play by before hand and use those rules no problem.
I don't have a table at home, yet. If I did I would use the bca rules I grew up playing, ball and pocket, bih, everything spots, eight on the break spots, no loss scratch on the eight, unless the eight is pocketed illegally. That last one is important. Someone with seven balls on the table can not win a game of eight ball.
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If only there was a website that one could go to, the pool world would be saved.
All one can do is dream though.
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IMHO, it is a detriment to the game of pool to allow someone to win a game without possibly ever taking a shot (with the exception of the aforementioned illegally pocketed 8-ball).
Maniac
Bar rules are too open to argument. Call a carom off of one ball. It hits another ball it was married to. Did you go off one ball in the pocket or two?
Did it hit a rail or go right in?
Which ball went in the pocket first?
Any rule that can lead to an argument works best drunk in a bar for $10.
My favorite is playing ball in hand up until the 8, which of course has found its way into the kitchen and oops scratch.. now shoot at it from behind the line.
If I'm playing bar rules its because I'm somewhere with a table and want to hit balls around and if the other player wants to make up, inform me of the rules along the way that's cool man. C you next time.
Did it hit a rail or go right in?
Which ball went in the pocket first?
Any rule that can lead to an argument works best drunk in a bar for $10.
My favorite is playing ball in hand up until the 8, which of course has found its way into the kitchen and oops scratch.. now shoot at it from behind the line.
If I'm playing bar rules its because I'm somewhere with a table and want to hit balls around and if the other player wants to make up, inform me of the rules along the way that's cool man. C you next time.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS BAR RULES.
There are the rules and there is some bullshit some half drunk non-playing loser nit made up to try and get another shot or avoid outright losing. It is also this same bunch of knuckle dragging mouth breathers that coined the term "slop" as in "oh you play slop do ya" when you point out that what they just said is not a rule and never has been. I used to carry a printout of the rules in my pocket back before we had phones to whip out and show these morons.
Case in point, I was in a bar tournament in Atlanta. I was winning easily. In the final match, I broke and ran 2 racks. At the end of the final rack, the 8 ball is frozen to my opponents ball at a perfect 45 degree angle 3 inches in front of the corner pocket. Perfect carom. No possible way to miss it from anywhere. If you touch it at all the ball goes. Cue ball is a foot away with a clear shot. I can cut it away from his ball and make it without moving his ball at all.
I call the 8 in the corner and the guy says you can't shoot that shot. 8 ball is touching my ball. 8 ball gots to go clean. The 8 ball is frozen to the ball from the break. I almost made it on the break.
I called tournament director over for a ruling. He scratched his head for a few minutes and said 8 balls got to go clean. I broke down my stick, told them I ain't doing this. There ain't no such rule. Well, nobody wanted to see me quit. There was a room full of people that wanted to see a legitimate end to the tournament. The director convinced me to stay and play it out. All I needed was the 8 ball to win the tournament.
What I did was a slow roll kick off the foot rail to the underside of the 8 ball. Froze to the 8 ball clicked his ball off the 8 to the rail. He is now frozen to back of the 8 ball in the jaws of the corner pocket. He made some ridiculous attempt at a kick that went no where. I shot the 8 ball off and collected my money.
Whenever I hear anyone use the term slop it raises a flag for me. Oh there you are. I know you.
There are the rules and there is some bullshit some half drunk non-playing loser nit made up to try and get another shot or avoid outright losing. It is also this same bunch of knuckle dragging mouth breathers that coined the term "slop" as in "oh you play slop do ya" when you point out that what they just said is not a rule and never has been. I used to carry a printout of the rules in my pocket back before we had phones to whip out and show these morons.
Case in point, I was in a bar tournament in Atlanta. I was winning easily. In the final match, I broke and ran 2 racks. At the end of the final rack, the 8 ball is frozen to my opponents ball at a perfect 45 degree angle 3 inches in front of the corner pocket. Perfect carom. No possible way to miss it from anywhere. If you touch it at all the ball goes. Cue ball is a foot away with a clear shot. I can cut it away from his ball and make it without moving his ball at all.
I call the 8 in the corner and the guy says you can't shoot that shot. 8 ball is touching my ball. 8 ball gots to go clean. The 8 ball is frozen to the ball from the break. I almost made it on the break.
I called tournament director over for a ruling. He scratched his head for a few minutes and said 8 balls got to go clean. I broke down my stick, told them I ain't doing this. There ain't no such rule. Well, nobody wanted to see me quit. There was a room full of people that wanted to see a legitimate end to the tournament. The director convinced me to stay and play it out. All I needed was the 8 ball to win the tournament.
What I did was a slow roll kick off the foot rail to the underside of the 8 ball. Froze to the 8 ball clicked his ball off the 8 to the rail. He is now frozen to back of the 8 ball in the jaws of the corner pocket. He made some ridiculous attempt at a kick that went no where. I shot the 8 ball off and collected my money.
Whenever I hear anyone use the term slop it raises a flag for me. Oh there you are. I know you.
GREAT post. Well put.
Once on the break cb double kissed a ball in somehow
Guy told me nope and rushed to the table
A family member of mine who is the king of all bar bangers
He needed an edge that day he was down 11 to 2
Guy told me nope and rushed to the table
A family member of mine who is the king of all bar bangers
He needed an edge that day he was down 11 to 2