Bonus Ball set review

Luxury

Luxury

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I got my bonus ball set the other day and after my BCA league tonight I talked one of the other BCA nines on my team team into coming over to play Bonus Ball with me.

We had an incredible time tonight.

First of all I'd like to say that I have gotten way too far in my 8 ball league without being a very good banker.

Bonus Ball makes you learn how to bank. We played Pro rules where you only have 3 pockets.

We used to have a running joke where we would say, "10 seconds" when someone was thinking long but back then there were no repercussions. Now when we say, "10 seconds" we know there is a timer that is going to buzz you for a foul.

The game is a blast! I do not know anyone personally that is affiliated with Bonus Ball but I call em like I see em.

So much strategy and learning to play under a shot clock is for real.

I just got my 9 foot Brunswick recovered with Simonis 860 and the table looks amazing with those purple and orange balls on them. Playing with solids and stripes would be rough. You have to look at the scoreboard and see if you are on orange or purple or black and to have to translate that to stripes or solids would be tough with the shot clock going.

I recommend getting the set and supporting a great game of pool and run with it. Thanks for all the fun guys!
 
Luxury

Luxury

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1353406841.481877.jpg

Great strategic game.
 
nathandumoulin

nathandumoulin

WPBL / RUNOUT MEDIA
Silver Member
In case you don't have the scoreboard, heres a neat little trick i came up with to know what colored ball you're on when you come to the table at the start of an inning.

If your score is divisible by 3, then you're on purple.

If not, then you're on orange.

That's it.
 
KoolKat9Lives

KoolKat9Lives

Taught 'em all I know
Silver Member
Lux - that's awesome. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm, investment and experience.

I'd love to play the game and hope to get others to play with me. :eek:

All of the different games we play - 1 hole, straight, rotation, banks, etc - ARE consolidated into this game! It is no longer as complicated as it was and as it appears at first glance.

Just wondering... You stated "playing with solids and stripes would be rough". If the game will not be played in most pool halls across the globe due to that - because not too many of us are personally going to spring the cash for a set of boner, errr bonus balls ;). That's an OBSTACLE that can be overcome in many places. We may need to campaign for owners of halls, players with generosity, sponsors looking to move the game forward, etc to avail bonus balls and SHOW the masses how great a game it is.

The money that is being put into this game is in the millions. Marketing on a grass roots level, getting the joe blows playing it and exposed to the excitement of watching the big boys playing it - is a key aspect of advancing this game on all levels. I am not sure what is being done to promote the general population to play.

???

Great post Lux!

Doubters that read this thread? With all due respect, feel free to step away from the keyboard and not dissuade open minds. Please. Change is difficult. Thank you.
 
Luxury

Luxury

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
KoolKat9Lives said:
Lux - that's awesome. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm, investment and experience.

I'd love to play the game and hope to get others to play with me. :eek:

All of the different games we play - 1 hole, straight, rotation, banks, etc - ARE consolidated into this game! It is no longer as complicated as it was and as it appears at first glance.

Just wondering... You stated "playing with solids and stripes would be rough". If the game will not be played in most pool halls across the globe due to that - because not too many of us are personally going to spring the cash for a set of boner, errr bonus balls ;). That's an OBSTACLE that can be overcome in many places. We may need to campaign for owners of halls, players with generosity, sponsors looking to move the game forward, etc to avail bonus balls and SHOW the masses how great a game it is.

The money that is being put into this game is in the millions. Marketing on a grass roots level, getting the joe blows playing it and exposed to the excitement of watching the big boys playing it - is a key aspect of advancing this game on all levels. I am not sure what is being done to promote the general population to play.

???

Great post Lux!

Doubters that read this thread? With all due respect, feel free to step away from the keyboard and not dissuade open minds. Please. Change is difficult. Thank you.
Click to expand...

As much as there was to think about strategic wise if you looked at the scoreboard and saw that you were on "orange" and had to figure out that "orange" meant "stripes" then what pockets were yours then it would get real challenging under the clock.

The scoreboard is mandatory imo. A lot of guys have laptops these days tho.
 
robsnotes4u

robsnotes4u

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
scoreboard

Need to get the scoreboard to be available on Mac, Ipads, and Android system tablets.
 
Mr Hoppe

Mr Hoppe

Sawdust maker
Silver Member
IMO, four of the balls should have been yellow, four should have been blue, and the bonus ball should have been red. At least then you would know what order to shoot the balls because it follows standard 9-ball convention: 1, 2, 3: yellow, blue, red. Another possibility would have been to put a 1 on the purples and a 2 on the oranges (IF that is indeed the order...) to help you know the order regardless of which color you are currently "on."

Now was that purple, orange, black or orange, purple, black, and which pockets are mine again? :scratchhead:
 
V

vpbb123

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Quote: IMO, four of the balls should have been yellow, four should have been blue, and the bonus ball should have been red. At least then you would know what order to shoot the balls because it follows standard 9-ball convention: 1, 2, 3: yellow, blue, red. Another possibility would have been to put a 1 on the purples and a 2 on the oranges (IF that is indeed the order...) to help you know the order regardless of which color you are currently "on."

Now was that purple, orange, black or orange, purple, black, and which pockets are mine again?

One of the last problems a person should have is remembering a simple sequence like purple, orange, black! Remembering which pockets to shoot can be a problem for players that simply are used of using all six pockets. We mark them so seldom does that become an issue. The game is really simple to play. Stop for five minutes and learn the rules and away you go. I teach 10 year olds in two matches of six pocket and then they want to play three pocket like the big boys! I appreciate your honesty about how much fun you guys have and I see it all the time. It's hard to play the game with 200 year old solid and stripes. It does not seem right. No different than playing Snooker with solid and stripes...makes no sense! Im not going to drive a new car with a 1920 model t body! No thank you!

Yes, you can play the game with yellow, blue or red. You can go to Walmart and buy four sets and away you go! Just do it and have some fun and find out why we love this game! It's simply that good!

Nine ball and Eight ball will be around forever so don't worry about that! There is a place for a well structured game that is tougher to play. My place is one of them!
 
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eastcoast_chris

eastcoast_chris

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
robsnotes4u said:
Need to get the scoreboard to be available on Mac, Ipads, and Android system tablets.
Click to expand...

I second this.... Would be very useful on an iPad. And myself, I have a Mac Book Pro which I'd bring out to the pool hall to play.

Is someone on this? I ask because this is the kind of thing I (and my company) do for a living and would be able to port the Windows version to Mac/iPad/Android very easily. Feel free to PM me!
 
Roger Long

Roger Long

Sonoran Cue Creations
Silver Member
I played Bonus Ball in Vegas with Barry Bremner, Tommy Kennedy, and my friend John D., and I can tell you that it is an addictive game. We had a blast!

Tommy Kennedy will be living with my wife and I here in Phoenix during the Bonus Ball season, and will be commuting to Vegas for his BB matches. He will be arriving here tomorrow, and he should have his Bonus Ball set with him. If he somehow forgets to bring the set with him, I will buy my own. Either way, I'm very eager to play the game again.

I'm also eager to take another shot at you, Mr. Bremner! :D

Roger
 
T

TheBook

Ret Professional Goof Off
Silver Member
Without investing money in the balls a easy way is use a standard set of balls. 4 solids and 4 stripes plus the eight. Then it is easy to remember that solids are 1 being low and stripes are 2 being high. Easy way to score and to remember what ball you are on is similar to straight pool, move one marker to the center of the string and then two and 3. When that set is completed move the 6 points to the end of the string, and start the sequence again until you get to the count needed to win.
 
Luxury

Luxury

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Mr Hoppe said:
IMO, four of the balls should have been yellow, four should have been blue, and the bonus ball should have been red. At least then you would know what order to shoot the balls because it follows standard 9-ball convention: 1, 2, 3: yellow, blue, red. Another possibility would have been to put a 1 on the purples and a 2 on the oranges (IF that is indeed the order...) to help you know the order regardless of which color you are currently "on."

Now was that purple, orange, black or orange, purple, black, and which pockets are mine again? :scratchhead:
Click to expand...

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1353461034.261830.jpg

Your idea reminds me too much of wonder bread. :)

The 4 ball is purple, the 5 ball is orange and the 8 ball is black. Shoot the smaller numerical ball first. Same thing.
 
Luxury

Luxury

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
TheBook said:
Without investing money in the balls a easy way is use a standard set of balls. 4 solids and 4 stripes plus the eight. Then it is easy to remember that solids are 1 being low and stripes are 2 being high. Easy way to score and to remember what ball you are on is similar to straight pool, move one marker to the center of the string and then two and 3. When that set is completed move the 6 points to the end of the string, and start the sequence again until you get to the count needed to win.
Click to expand...

This is good stuff. Any tips for noting that you are still on the orange when or stripe the next time you come to the table?
 
nathandumoulin

nathandumoulin

WPBL / RUNOUT MEDIA
Silver Member
Mr Hoppe said:
Now was that purple, orange, black or orange, purple, black, and which pockets are mine again? :scratchhead:
Click to expand...

9 ball was the game for decades, and to understand it on TV or while playing, you had to remember 9 colors in order. Nobody actually can see the numbers on TV or in a game, and hell, after 15 years of watching it on TV, I still can't tell the 3 ball from the 5 ball most of the time.

Now we can't remember only 3 colors that are blatantly different shades? I seriously fear for the pool world sometimes. If this is indeed "too complicated" then we're in serious trouble.
 
V

vpbb123

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I also wonder how anyone can publicly claim that this game is too complicated. Sequence...purple, orange and then go for the black, 1 pt, 2pts and then 3 pts for the black. You get three pockets, I get three pockets. Holy!

Another way to score without a computer system, which works well in any pool hall, is using the diamonds on the table. Each diamond is worth 3 points. If you just pocket the purple on your visit. Move a penny, nickle or dime to the middle of the two diamonds. That indicates to you and the other player you are now shooting orange. When you pocket the black ball or miss the black ball you move the penny up to the correct diamond. Viola! Your marking score. If your playing to 21, it ends at the end of the table! Real simple. Easy to glace over to see which color your opponent is shooting next. Very important.

Yes, it may look complicated at first glance when you see the different colored balls, a computer system and a timer and shot clock but I can walk into any pool hall and pull out my pennies and throw down my game set and start firing away. I did this at Duckies in St.Cloud, Minnesota a few weeks ago and it didn't take long before I caught the attention of an old Snooker player! He absolutely was loving the game. He got the scoring and he got the spotting of balls immediately. He couldn't wait to show his buddies.

The game is an absolute blast to play and you actually get a lot of back and forth visits when playing at any level. That is the first thing I missed as I got better playing eight ball in league. The higher I rose in ranking, the less fun the game became as most games are now one or two visits each! I like inter-action in a game and you most certainly get that in Bonus Ball. One of the only times I see the crowd get excited in the last Mosconi Cup I attended, is when someone banks a shot, which is rare I might add. Ya, they go crazy and start singing and dancing to script when the nine ball is potted. During a match if you even move you get shown a stern look by the ref's! In Bonus Ball, you will have to make many banks, rail shots and combinations in ONE Bonus Ball game! If you want to know what a great player can play like, just watch them play Bonus Ball! You will be entertained big time. www.wpbl.tv

Once we start producing our live Bonus Ball matches in Las Vegas, we encourage the crowd to enjoy, clap and even cheer! Yes, Cheer for the players and their favorite teams. If professionals can't stay focused during a bit of noise, god help this sport! I grew up playing pool in bars and I certainly didn't lose focus when I heard loud noises or a loud band playing in the background! It is all about fun to me and Bonus Ball is fun!


Roger, I can't wait to play you again! We had two matches that went 21-18 both times! Talk about inter-action! It was so much fun!
 
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Cory in DC

Cory in DC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Luxury said:
View attachment 248951

Great strategic game.
Click to expand...

I dropped a hint re: XMAS present with my wife, so maybe I'll have a set too, soon.

But I'd love to get a set without the logo on the balls--it's too large and will probably annoy me. I'm sure I could get used to it. It reminds me of the old elephant marbled balls, though it's not quite that bad.
 
V

vpbb123

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That would be a great Christmas gift for someone you love! Many could now also enjoy playing with their loved ones. If they are not near the same level, they play six pocket and the better player plays Advanced Three Pocket Bonus Ball, like the professional players. This is a great way to actually really enjoy playing together. If your opponent is not a bad eight ball player and keeps the balls away from your three pockets, not only does it make them feel competitive, it forces you to really improve your banking, caroms and combinations!

I actually enjoy playing six pocket players because it really is hard to beat them if they are even a low level Eight Ball player. It makes it way more fun for both of you! My APA 3 buddy comes over a lot and loves it when he can beat me, and he can! We both are still playing to 21 so it does not feel like a handi-cap to him! He also enjoys that when he does lose, he makes points. It feels good!

When we play eight ball, it is not even entertaining unless I just fool around with him (I was an APA 7). Players enjoy it more when you try hard! Trust me, I have to really try hard to beat him when he plays six pocket Bonus Ball! So there you go, want to play more with your players that aren't at your level, Bonus Ball has a built in handi-cap! It is fun too!

You can also play to different scores. Keep track of your games and establish a handi-cap system like golf. Say you play to 21 and I play to 15. That is also going to make it more fun. You just can't do that with games that end with ball elimination. It's just not near as much fun!
 
4

44Runner

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am about to order a bonus ball set but the store no longer mentions the set coming with the scoring software. Can anyone confirm that the game set still includes the software?
 
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