Thank you Justin.
đź’ˇ 8-ball should be the game. POINT, BLANK, PERIOD!!
- Thread starter Bigkat
- Start date
Thank you Justin.
Of course you can make an object ball(2.25") into a 4" pocket.
I've played on plenty of shimmed tables with 3 5/8" pockets, its tough but very doable for good players.
Hell! I think Chinese eight ball is 4" snooker pockets.
It's not the game, it's the attitudes of pro level players that need to change.
The toughest tables at Hard Times in Bellflower and House of Billiards in Santa Monica are under 4 inches and the top pros still runout- but they certainly have to concentrate
I never could get used to the tables at HardTimes when I lived in L.A., but the Gold Crowns at House of Billiards played great. Table 1 has 3 7/8" pockets, but the balls will go if you hit 'em good. The last time I ran 6 racks of 9-ball was on that table against a guy who came up from San Diego for the Swanee tourney.
I like Darren's rules for pros, but not for amateurs. And I'm not sure what level I mean for "amateurs," because even for a pretty good amateur (and maybe I mean strong APA SL-7 and above?), the WPA rules as written today are too easy (e.g., open after the break).
Someone posted Darren's rules for his upcoming World Pool Series 8-ball (WPA rules with some modifications to make the first shot after the break not so gimme easy for professionals).
Freddie
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8 ball is a great game
Eight Ball is a great game between two good players. The run outs are subject to decision making with no map like in rotation and it incorporates the breaking of clusters like in 14.1. I remember when 8 ball was the game and Jimmy Reid gave some advanced lessons in it and he stayed busy.
Eight Ball is a great game between two good players. The run outs are subject to decision making with no map like in rotation and it incorporates the breaking of clusters like in 14.1. I remember when 8 ball was the game and Jimmy Reid gave some advanced lessons in it and he stayed busy.
Cold hard reality is that Snooker is BY FAR the best game for a TV environment. Not even close
Pro 8 ball on 4.5x9 tables would be boring.Popular or not, it's just not a very compelling game to watch.
One pocket only appeals to hard core pool fans. As one of those even I find one pocket insufferably dull.
10 ball is likely the best alternative for TV, unless someone wants to start a US Snooker tour
Pro 8 ball on 4.5x9 tables would be boring.Popular or not, it's just not a very compelling game to watch.
One pocket only appeals to hard core pool fans. As one of those even I find one pocket insufferably dull.
10 ball is likely the best alternative for TV, unless someone wants to start a US Snooker tour
I have a co worker that is not a pool player.
He has only played 8 ball and knows nothing about other games.
I tried to explain 9 ball and he sort of got it.
I tried to explain straight pool and he had no clue as to what I was saying.
So maybe 8 ball would be the best game for T.V.
He has only played 8 ball and knows nothing about other games.
I tried to explain 9 ball and he sort of got it.
I tried to explain straight pool and he had no clue as to what I was saying.
So maybe 8 ball would be the best game for T.V.
The problem here is..... If you leave yourself a tough shot and your opponent has 1 or more balls behind the head string and none in front of head string, you can simply, on purpose, foul. Then your opponent is kicking. If they foul, then you get ball in hand behind head string for possible run out. So I have never been a fan of "behind the line" unless it was a scratch on the break. Because usuall there are many options to shoot.
I think Chinese 8-Ball pockets may even tighter than that! Pro snooker pockets are (roughly) 3.25 inches, a club table is often 3.5 inches...3.625 and 3.875 inches are often described as buckets by club players (not that it actually makes much difference in break building for club players anyway).
I think for tv the pool world is best sticking to 9-Ball, as you say snooker is very popular and I would guess that 9-Ball is the next most popular globally in terms of TV/streaming (actually it could even be more popular, just not profitable, i.e. more amateur streams etc.).
9-Ball is fast paced and simple to follow, I think it works well on TV personally, the problem is monetising that somehow.
I remember randomly finding a 14.1 stream earlier this year and watched Neils Fjien make a 304 (I think) run in straight pool....that was pretty cool, but probably wouldn't appeal to many casual watchers!
Take easy on me. I just got here.
You got the last 2.
I think that is what Darren is trying to achieve with his new tournament series.
Although 8-ball is not the game of my (or many players') preference, it is the most recognizable of all the pool games. Watch a crowd of teenagers playing at the room on a Friday night, they play 8 ball. The casual player at the bar picks up a cue and the game he knows is solids and stripes.
For pool to be successful on a mass level it has has to stop appeasing the pros and the diehard players. We can always play the games we love, but most people who represent this forum would be characterized as pool outliers.
A wise "guru" told me that the game has to be in the best interest of the fans, not the players. And Joe Sixpack, who represents potential outside sponsorship and $$$ that this game desperately needs, intuitively understands 8 Ball, not our beloved rotation, 14.1, 1hole, banks, etc... What we have here, is a failure to communicate...I don't like it anymore than you boys do...
I truly hope that Darren has success with his plans. He has good ideas to make the game exciting again and may be able to draw the casual fan, which could in turn grow the game.
The IPT was a brilliant model. It just lacked the financial legs to get past the initial stages. Oh, and it was helmed by a real crook, but beyond that it could have been big.
NOBODY want's to watch pool, it will NEVER be on TV. Even when the Pro's are playing next to the huge league events none of them walk 50 feet to watch.
There are probably more people playing now than ever in history but none of them want to watch. Doesn't matter what game it is.
Most people think that "black spider lady" is the best player on the planet LOL. She hasn't been relative in competitive pool since A Fisher showed up like 20 years ago
Jason
There are probably more people playing now than ever in history but none of them want to watch. Doesn't matter what game it is.
Most people think that "black spider lady" is the best player on the planet LOL. She hasn't been relative in competitive pool since A Fisher showed up like 20 years ago
Jason
I've posted that eight ball should be the pro game for a decade.
It's the game that amateurs play. For all his faults and mistakes, Kevin Trudeau understood this, too. The IPT was an eight ball tour with big purses and TV coverage, but it couldn't make financial ends meet.
Anyone who ever went to the BCA National Championships knows that there were 10,000 amateurs playing eight ball and that extremely few of them ever attended any sessions of the pro events which were just a couple of hundred feet away. That's, to a point, because the pro events were usually 9/10 ball. If you don't play the game that the amateurs know, the won't pay much attention, something the Bonus Ball guys clearly failed to understand.
The disconnect between the pros and amateurs in America has never been greater and it's disturbing. In part, it's because the pros are not often playing the game the amateurs know.
It's the game that amateurs play. For all his faults and mistakes, Kevin Trudeau understood this, too. The IPT was an eight ball tour with big purses and TV coverage, but it couldn't make financial ends meet.
Anyone who ever went to the BCA National Championships knows that there were 10,000 amateurs playing eight ball and that extremely few of them ever attended any sessions of the pro events which were just a couple of hundred feet away. That's, to a point, because the pro events were usually 9/10 ball. If you don't play the game that the amateurs know, the won't pay much attention, something the Bonus Ball guys clearly failed to understand.
The disconnect between the pros and amateurs in America has never been greater and it's disturbing. In part, it's because the pros are not often playing the game the amateurs know.
Its all about marketing though, in the age of internet streaming, presumably production costs are lower, it could work for someone. Kazoom are still around, so presumably they have enough subscribers for a viable pool streaming business!
The fact that everyone plays 8-Ball however is part of the issue...everyone who's ever picked up a cue thinks to themselves...if I was a pro I'd never miss (I exaggerate slightly to illustrate the point). Its a fundamentally easy game and its difficult for people to feel inspired by watching people play shots that they feel (rightly or wrongly) they could play themselves.
Snooker appeals (I think) because people accept there is absolutely no way they could play like that.
Chinese 8-Ball seemed to turn a few heads as once we saw the pro's missing we realised there must be something a bit different about this game...personally I like it and if 8-Ball is the game of choice thats the only format I'd (personally) bother watching.
9-Ball also works to an extent because the club player finds it hard. In 8-Ball you can win by being good enough to pot 2 balls here, 3 there...that doesn't work in 9-Ball, its a harder game fundamentally as you only ever have 1 ball on.
I'm not suggesting of course pro level 8-Ball is easy, or easier than any other game. Any game involving 2 top level players is always tough, I'm merely saying its a very difficult sell to viewers as there is a perception the game is easy.