Why 8 Ball ?

slide13

slide13

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've grown to appreciate 8 ball recently. Like straight pool there are so many ways to get through a rack with 8 ball. With 9/10 ball the moves from one ball to the next are usually pretty obvious because they have to be played in rotation. It's a game that relies on stroke and accuracy but 8 ball tends to involve a little creativity or problem solving. Not in every rack, but the opportunity certainly arises.
 
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Skippy27

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ak Guy said:
I'm not trying to bash 8 Ball or those that love it, as any pool is better then no pool.
It's not that I have mastered 8 Ball, I just don't get all excited about it like I do 9 or 10 Ball.

There are so many balls to choose from, it gets confusing trying to figure out the best path to the 8 ball. Do I take solids or do I take stripes? Your opponent has a bunch of balls to choose from for a shot.

Then there is the break. How the heck can a guy smack a 15 ball rack and not make a ball on the break? Then when I do and get a good spread and don't run out I feel like an idiot. Gets darn frustrating guys!

Also, 8 Ball is the only game I have ever won when I was sitting in a chair!
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Another one of those... "hey I dont want to sound like an arrogant ass, but let me sound like an arrogant ass and insult people while trying to make it appear as though I am not trying to insult people" post.
 
Island Drive

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
For all you 8 ball players....the best practice for this game is 14.1. Breakouts, being on the proper side, when to run/hide, nudging balls, looking at clusters, moving balls around, it's a very difficult game for a learning player. On a tight bar table, its the perfect game. With alternating breaks, it's the closest thing our sport has to the tennis format. It's one of the few games, where the greatest player in the world doesn't have to win against a GOOD bar table player.
 
galipeau

galipeau

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Try last pocket or bank the 8 if standard rules are too boring for you. Might help extend your games if you're frugal about your quarters too...
 
Texas Carom Club

Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
galipeau said:
Try last pocket or bank the 8 if standard rules are too boring for you. Might help extend your games if you're frugal about your quarters too...
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I've heard of this variant, can only painfully extend the game for the not so great players
 
dabarbr

dabarbr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Island Drive said:
For all you 8 ball players....the best practice for this game is 14.1. Breakouts, being on the proper side, when to run/hide, nudging balls, looking at clusters, moving balls around, it's a very difficult game for a learning player. On a tight bar table, its the perfect game. With alternating breaks, it's the closest thing our sport has to the tennis format. It's one of the few games, where the greatest player in the world doesn't have to win against a GOOD bar table player.
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Very true Bill, I beat SVB in eight ball at the Reno bar table championships. Where else would I have a chance to do that.
 
Island Drive

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
8ball

dabarbr said:
Very true Bill, I beat SVB in eight ball at the Reno bar table championships. Where else would I have a chance to do that.
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The weekend after thanksgiving, I knocked out Haddad and Vidal and lost on the hill in the Finals. Everyone there was 30 years or so younger than I. My back went out the following week and just two weeks ago I was able to play again for the first time, phew thought it was something more than musculature. Now my game is on the swing again, not sure which one ;).
 
CreeDo

CreeDo

Fargo Rating 597
Silver Member
So are you not excited by it because it frustrates you?
The break isn't as reliable (no argument there) and you have trouble figuring out the
patterns, and get mad when you dog an out that's supposed to be easy?

I guess to me what's fun about it is, you ARE supposed to run out and you're usually
dead meat if you miss. In 9 ball you can miss and often get away with it.

I feel 9b is more difficult to run out for sure, so I like 8b because I'm not at a level where
I run out all the time. So I like to play a game where I have at least a decent chance.
And I like that the better you are at planning, the better your chances get.
It really is a game that rewards smart choices.

Whereas 9b, it's mostly execution...the planning part is pretty obvious and routine.
Often the best plan in 9b is "don't risk getting hooked, settle for the tougher longer shot,
then shoot it and make it." which is not much fun if you aren't a great shotmaker :p
 
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sys_argv

Registered
DelawareDogs said:
In reference to breaking up clusters: Back when the SBE open amateur tournament was 8 ball, Shaun Wilkie and Shane Morrow had some very impressive break-outs and runs. If anyone needs the Youtube links I'll be glad to post. Wilkie is a good 14.1 player.
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Yes please. finding 8 ball videos on youtube can be frustrating with all those videos of people playing something called mini clip :grin:
 
philly

philly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
CreeDo said:
So are you not excited by it because it frustrates you?
The break isn't as reliable (no argument there) and you have trouble figuring out the
patterns, and get mad when you dog an out that's supposed to be easy?

I guess to me what's fun about it is, you ARE supposed to run out and you're usually
dead meat if you miss. In 9 ball you can miss and often get away with it.

I feel 9b is more difficult to run out for sure, so I like 8b because I'm not at a level where
I run out all the time. So I like to play a game where I have at least a decent chance.
And I like that the better you are at planning, the better your chances get.
It really is a game that rewards smart choices.

Whereas 9b, it's mostly execution...the planning part is pretty obvious and routine.
Often the best plan in 9b is "don't risk getting hooked, settle for the tougher longer shot,
then shoot it and make it." which is not much fun if you aren't a great shotmaker :p
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I respectfully disagree with a couple of the things you say about 9 ball Creedo. First, if you miss against a good player in 9 ball you probably won't get back to the table or if you do get back to the table you are up against an evil safety. Secondly at the better levels, 9 ball is all about execution in that you need to move whitey to a certain spot to get the angles that permit easy shot run outs. A good 9 ball player always has short easy shots but you can say that about all of the games when played correctly.
 
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pdcue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Jude Rosenstock said:
My reasons for why 8ball is popular:

Bars & Bangers
1. Rules work well with coin operated table
2. Utilizes all 15 balls (novices get their money's worth)
3. Has the perception of fairness (both players must pocket 8 balls to win)
4. Easy to understand

Competitions
5. Bar Boxes are easy to transport, easy to assemble and require minimum space
6. Bar Box 8ball creates more clusters and blocked paths, often forcing games to stretch multiple innings. By comparison, bar box 9ball is criticized as too easy.

I like how there can be multiple approaches to playing expert 8ball. For rotation, your options are often limited but pattern games such as 8ball require a much greater degree of evaluation and planning.
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Age 44...

So you are too young to remember that 8 Ball was popular long before the widespread availability of bar boxes.

And, FYI - many of the rules were changed to facilitate play on coin-ops, not the other way round.

As a young tyke in small town America - the local pool room, they all had one in those days,
was home to more games of rotation, and even Kelly(pill) pool, than 8 Ball. But that may well
have been because the customers favored games where several players could be active,
as opposed to the innate head-to-head competition of 8 Ball.

Dale
 
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philly

philly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
pdcue said:
Age 44...

So you are too young to remember that 8 Ball was popular long before the wide spread availability of bar boxes.

And, FYI - many of the rules were changed to facilitate play on coin-ops, not the other way round.

As a young tyke in small town America - the local pool room, they all had one in those days,
was home to more games of rotation, and even Kelly(pill) pool, than 8 Ball. But that may well
have been because the customers favored games where several players could be active,
as opposed to the innate head-to-head competition of 8 Ball.

Dale
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What about the proliferation of 14.1. I played in a room when I was younger in the late 60's where 9 ball was too slow so some hard core gamblers and would play 5, 6, and 7 ball. I remember pill pool too. I believe the older guys called it Harrigan.
 
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pdcue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
philly said:
Play 8 ball with a really good 14.1 player and you will see a completely different game than what is being mentioned in this thread. A really good 8 ball player does not just bust up a cluster but moves the cluster open with the knowledge of where the clustered balls will move to.
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+1

I am also not a particular fan of 8 Ball, but it is obvious that many of the posters
in this thread are way short of understanding how to play the game "right"

Dale
 
SJDinPHX

SJDinPHX

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
There is a reason 8ball has long been the most popular game..It is simple to understand, and it can be played by amateurs and pros alike!..Also, you do not need to be a seasoned player, to enjoy watching..It involves safety play, cue ball control, and pocketing skills.

Many of us have our favorite games, but with some very minor rule tweaking, 8ball could very well be the best test of skill on a pool table!..That is why Mike Seigel wisely convinced Trudeau to use it exclusively for his IPT format..For many other reasons, its too bad it didn't work out.

PS..Stop anyone on the street, young or old, male or female, and they will almost surely know how to play 8ball..You can not say that about any other game, ! ;)
 
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smashmouth

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
it's as good and/or better than any other game

it's the most popular recreational format of pool, and played in all manners of pro and amateur tourneys world wide

one thing I dislike...it does not lend itself well to tv compared to rotation games, just too hard to see and understand the ball layouts
 
KRJ

KRJ

Support UKRAINE
Silver Member
SJDinPHX said:
There is a reason 8ball has long been the most popular game..It is simple to understand, and it can be played by amateurs and pros alike!..Also, you do not need to be a seasoned player, to enjoy watching..It involves safety play, cue ball control, and pocketing skills.

Many of us have our favorite games, but with some very minor rule tweaking, 8ball could very well be the best test of skill on a pool table!..That is why Mike Seigel wisely convinced Trudeau to use it exclusively for his IPT format..For many other reasons, its too bad it didn't work out.

PS..Stop anyone on the street, young or old, male or female, and they will almost surely know how to play 8ball..You can not say that about any other game, ! ;)
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WOW. I was reading this without seeing the authors name. I increased the screen very large when I'm in reading mode and it blocks out the posters name.

So, this post was lucid, intelligent, and well thought-out ....(my cousin vinny)

Good post Dick.
 
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