Tilting the Rack in One Pocket

Strange that they are playing rack your own. I thought one pocket was usually opponent rack.

Tilting the rack may help the corner ball go in but I think it's more important to get the corner ball frozen. When I second ball break in 8 ball the corner ball will go in with no tilt as long as it is frozen. But that's on my barbox and all the balls are completely frozen because the table is trained. With different gaps the corner ball may go low or high.

Many players will tilt the rack without knowing because it's hard to tell if the rack is tilted while racking. It's much easier to see from farther away behind the rack or from the side or from the overhead cam. So I don't know if this was intentional or not.

stuckart said:

I was just watching the 2000 World One Pocket Championship Match between Alex and Parica and noticed that both players were tilting the rack on each break.

Alex makes a ball pretty easy on his first few breaks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIItMPSuKU4&NR=1

I feel like I can see that the rack was tilted pretty clearly, but I was amazed to see that neither player looked at it or said anything.

How common is it for top players to pull this move? I know I've only been playing the game for a short time and have seen it in person numerous times already.

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Scott Frost mentions this in his power one pocket instructional dvd. Once you notice it you simply switch sides you're breaking from to take advantage of the tilt. Seems this is a common tactic for seasoned gamblers, It pays to pay attention!

Newsheriffintwn said:

Scott Frost mentions this in his power one pocket instructional dvd. Once you notice it you simply switch sides you're breaking from to take advantage of the tilt. Seems this is a common tactic for seasoned gamblers, It pays to pay attention!

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Great advice! I always prefer rack your own, with random "spot" checking along the way

stuckart said:

I was just watching the 2000 World One Pocket Championship Match between Alex and Parica and noticed that both players were tilting the rack on each break.

Alex makes a ball pretty easy on his first few breaks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIItMPSuKU4&NR=1

I feel like I can see that the rack was tilted pretty clearly, but I was amazed to see that neither player looked at it or said anything.

How common is it for top players to pull this move? I know I've only been playing the game for a short time and have seen it in person numerous times already.

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I played in this tournament back in 2000 and played one of my matches against Reggie Barksdale (IIRC?) and I made a ball twice on my break. I don't think Alex tilted the rack. The table played pretty slick under the Accu-Stats lights.

Unfortunately, my match was a morning match and Accu-Stats weren't recording.

Tilting the rack even if its slight can have an advantage, one point we did not put in Power One Pocket was also about racking the balls high, this will also help to make the corner ball. I like rack your own in one pocket, its how it should be because its very important that the rack is not tilted either way. Racking with a tilt toward your pocket will help make a ball, tilted towards your opponents pocket will help you scratch off the corner ball.

Also make sure all the balls are frozen on the side your breaking with the cue ball to. Just inspect your opponents rack before he breaks to make sure its straight and the head ball is on the spot, if its even a little high make the person re-rack until is dead center on the spot, lower on the spot is not so bad and does not give an advantage I think, make sure you do not rack lower on the spot either as I think it affects the break negatively.

Laying down a big break in one pocket can win the game just like other games where the break is so important, for your opponent, returning the break when you have hit it good can be a shot that determines the game. I have seen many times where a good break is made and the guy cannot get out of it and sells the farm but they say there is almost always a shot too, taking a foul is very underused in the game.

Unfortunately, in rack your own one pocket, some players tilt the rack on purpose, to their advantage. Sometimes, a person racking makes a mistake but seasoned players KNOW.

That being said, their opponent has the right to have the rack tilt corrected.

There should be a spot line marked on the cloth for championship one pocket anyway, and it would make it fairly easy to inspect the rack for straightness - the spot line should run through the center of the middle ball in the back row.

DogsPlayingPool said:

There should be a spot line marked on the cloth for championship one pocket anyway, and it would make it fairly easy to inspect the rack for straightness - the spot line should run through the center of the middle ball in the back row.

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GREAT POST sir,this should stop all the cheating!

yea! this is just another reason why the rack should be outlined for EVERY game, but mostly for racking issues. My table has the rack outlined and a line from the spot down to the foot rail for spotting. This just takes a bunch of bs out of the game.

Gerry said:

yea! this is just another reason why the rack should be outlined for EVERY game, but mostly for racking issues. My table has the rack outlined and a line from the spot down to the foot rail for spotting. This just takes a bunch of bs out of the game.

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Yes, it makes it easier to rack it straight, sometimes if your googly eyed you can give yourself a crooked rack, haha. It does make it easier to spot balls too.

Fast Lenny said:

Tilting the rack even if its slight can have an advantage, one point we did not put in Power One Pocket was also about racking the balls high, this will also help to make the corner ball. I like rack your own in one pocket, its how it should be because its very important that the rack is not tilted either way. Racking with a tilt toward your pocket will help make a ball, tilted towards your opponents pocket will help you scratch off the corner ball.

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Great info here. I think most that rack for themselves tilt the rack very, very slightly for nothing more but to avoid the scratch. But you're right, if your rack the balls slightly on top of the spot with a tilt in your favor, the corner ball can be made. Without a reference line from the footspot to the bottom rail, its not always easy to have a perfect square rack or to tell if you are given a perfect square rack.