10 ball ghost

Hal

Daaang!
Gold Member
Silver Member
I played the 10 ball ghost tonight for a while. I broke, took ball in hand, and tried to run the rack. I must say it is much much harder than 9 ball. I only ran about one rack out of every 10. The balls do not break as well, and I rarely made a ball on the break.

The balls seems to scatter nicely on the break, but several ended up back at the foot of the table. The back two middle balls don't do much. The corner balls go 4 rails and end up back at the foot.
 
Hal said:
I played the 10 ball ghost tonight for a while. I broke, took ball in hand, and tried to run the rack. I must say it is much much harder than 9 ball. I only ran about one rack out of every 10. The balls do not break as well, and I rarely made a ball on the break.

The balls seems to scatter nicely on the break, but several ended up back at the foot of the table. The back two middle balls don't do much. The corner balls go 4 rails and end up back at the foot.

I agree. The difference is IMHO in the break. In 9-ball, it's not rare to make 2-4 balls from the break. In 10-ball, making 2 balls is rare. Many times I get dry break no matter how hard and perfect I break in 10-ball. We started practising more 10-ball with my friend. It gives more challenge in run-outs and also makes the table a little bit more congested, cueball has to do more "slaloming" between the balls.

EDIT: Also, in 10-ball, you'll realize more often that it's not a bad idea to play a safety and leave your opponent hooked.
 
That's true. I never made more than one ball on the break.
 
Agreed, Hal. In my view, only a player having pro level skills can expect to beat the ten ball ghost more than half the time.
 
sjm said:
Agreed, Hal. In my view, only a player having pro level skills can expect to beat the ten ball ghost more than half the time.

Wow! I really need to start practicing this because I would not have imagined that one extra ball would add such a high level of difficulty.

It's probably been covered and I apologize if it has but, is there a brief explanation as to why you believe the 10 ball ghost is much harder than the 9 ball ghost.

Respectfully,
Koop
 
Koop said:
It's probably been covered and I apologize if it has but, is there a brief explanation as to why you believe the 10 ball ghost is much harder than the 9 ball ghost.

Respectfully,
Koop

Coz of the extra ball, and difficulty making a ball on the break.
That said, my table at home breaks 10B better than 9B and I fften make 3 balls on the break. Over time, I think I have probably beat the 10B ghost more than the 9 on my table.
 
I did a drill for years with 10 ball break ball in hand and score 1 point for for each ball pocketed for 10 racks. The rating method I use for myself and my students is slightly higher than it use to be, players are getting better;
75+ Pro
65+ SS
55+ A
45+ B
35+ C
20+ D
Under 20 beginner or social player.

It helps to keep practice interesting for all levels and is nice to watch your average go up over the years. When I first started I was in the 40's.
Highest I've seen was a 98. Steve Tavenier actually sank 100 balls in a competition we ran here in Providence but he scratched in the 10th rack and that was -2!
 
Tell you a secret ...

Considering that I am old school, back in Houston,
32-33 years ago, when they used to play 3 ball down
there rack in triangle shape for money. (now, it is played
racked vertically), the same breaks you used to use
for 3 ball in a triangle will work for 10 ball for making a
ball on the break.
 
12ballghost1128692198.JPG
 
Joe T said:
I did a drill for years with 10 ball break ball in hand and score 1 point for for each ball pocketed for 10 racks. The rating method I use for myself and my students is slightly higher than it use to be, players are getting better;
75+ Pro
65+ SS
55+ A
45+ B
35+ C
20+ D
Under 20 beginner or social player.

It helps to keep practice interesting for all levels and is nice to watch your average go up over the years. When I first started I was in the 40's.
Highest I've seen was a 98. Steve Tavenier actually sank 100 balls in a competition we ran here in Providence but he scratched in the 10th rack and that was -2!

Hi Joe
How do you keep score if you make the 10-ball on a combination shot? Do you make the other balls as well in numerical order or do you count it as a 100% score with 10 points when the 10-ball is pocketed legally?
 
pooladdict said:
Hi Joe
How do you keep score if you make the 10-ball on a combination shot? Do you make the other balls as well in numerical order or do you count it as a 100% score with 10 points when the 10-ball is pocketed legally?

10 ball out of turn doesn't matter, the only way to score 10 is to run all ten balls.
 
Joe T said:
10 ball out of turn doesn't matter, the only way to score 10 is to run all ten balls.

Thanks Joe, I'll give it a try. BTW, I read the "new racking secrets" in Charley Bonds book - great stuff!
 
Black-Balled said:
Coz of the extra ball, and difficulty making a ball on the break.
That said, my table at home breaks 10B better than 9B and I fften make 3 balls on the break. Over time, I think I have probably beat the 10B ghost more than the 9 on my table.

Thanks man. I just didn't realize that one ball would make such a difference.
 
Joe T said:
I did a drill for years with 10 ball break ball in hand and score 1 point for for each ball pocketed for 10 racks. The rating method I use for myself and my students is slightly higher than it use to be, players are getting better;
75+ Pro
65+ SS
55+ A
45+ B
35+ C
20+ D
Under 20 beginner or social player.

It helps to keep practice interesting for all levels and is nice to watch your average go up over the years. When I first started I was in the 40's.
Highest I've seen was a 98. Steve Tavenier actually sank 100 balls in a competition we ran here in Providence but he scratched in the 10th rack and that was -2!
My first attempt at this was a 56. I'll take that (for now)
1. 10
2. 3
3. 4
4. 6
5. 8
6. 2
7. 5
8. 7
9. 4
10. 7
More than anything, I noticed that this drill keeps you from "screwing around" at the table. It's do or die.
 
Hi,

I watched Gabe Owen play the 12 ball ghost at the Derby City Classic a few years ago. I believe that the wager was for $250 a game and after several hours they broke even. Gabe, I believe, was up most of the time.

How strong is that!??

I have a hard enough time playing the 9-ball ghost, and can't imagine playing 10, much less the 12 ball ghost.

Regards,

Doug
 
after break

Joe T said:
I did a drill for years with 10 ball break ball in hand and score 1 point for for each ball pocketed for 10 racks. The rating method I use for myself and my students is slightly higher than it use to be, players are getting better;
75+ Pro
65+ SS
55+ A
45+ B
35+ C
20+ D
Under 20 beginner or social player.

It helps to keep practice interesting for all levels and is nice to watch your average go up over the years. When I first started I was in the 40's.
Highest I've seen was a 98. Steve Tavenier actually sank 100 balls in a competition we ran here in Providence but he scratched in the 10th rack and that was -2!



do you take ball in hand after break?
 
Salamander said:
Hi,

I watched Gabe Owen play the 12 ball ghost at the Derby City Classic a few years ago. I believe that the wager was for $250 a game and after several hours they broke even. Gabe, I believe, was up most of the time.

How strong is that!??

I have a hard enough time playing the 9-ball ghost, and can't imagine playing 10, much less the 12 ball ghost.

Regards,

Doug

It's pretty strong and seems to be the new standard for top players whereas only about 5-10 yrs ago the standard for a top player was playing the 10 ball ghost.
Anyone heard of any 13, 14 or 15 ball ghost competitors? I recall reading somewhere that Efren use to (long time ago) play the ghost 15 ball AND start off with ball in hand behind the line!
 
i seen a guy play the ghost nine ball...spot the ghost 6 in a race to 8; and win 3 sets....first set he got to push out after the break; second set he got 4 push outs for the whole set.....he won 8-6, 8-7, 8-6.....
 
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