I understand ten-ball is growing in popularity, especially among some professionals.
As far as I can see it is harder than 9-ball because:
- the greater number of balls to sink to win
- harder to pocket balls off the break (as in 8-ball)
- a 10-ball pocketed off the break does not win the game
- shots have to be called
Blackball75:
The following is also in the WPA 10-ball rules:
- a called safety that results in pocketing a ball, gives the option to the incoming player as to whether he/she will accept the table as-is, or force the previous player to shoot again.
As a player on the Tony Robles' Predator Open/Pro 10-ball tour, I can also attest to a rule in addition to the above WPA 10-ball rules, one added by Tony Robles:
- a called shot that is missed, gives the option to the incoming player as to whether he/she will accept the table as-is, or give the table back to the previous player to shoot again. (This is to minimize "lucky leaves" or "moral safeties.")
Perhaps because it is harder, I have never seen it played at a bar or a pool hall. And so far, never on TV. I'm guessing only the pros will be really good at this game?
I think that it will be a long time coming before you'll see 10-ball being played in a bar. You're more apt to see 9-ball being played, and even then, much rarer than the "accepted standard" of 8-ball, because the general impression is that folks want to "get their coin drop money's worth" by having all 15 balls on the table.
I also wonder if it will appeal to the TV companies that broadcast 9-ball. The disadvantages in this context that I can see are:
- games are generally a little longer
- there are two striped balls, but only one is a money-ball (in 9-ball it is obvious the 9 is a special ball), which may confuse spectators not familiar with the game
- no making the money-ball off the break = less drama and less chance
- less chance of making a ball on the break = more innings?
- accidental sinking of balls does not count (less drama)
- called shots make it seem more elite and less accessible to amateurs?
While the Texas Express advocates will tell you all these things, I can tell you as a player on the Tony Robles' Predator 10-ball tour, that this was not the case. The 10-ball matches, not the 9-ball matches, were the tables that had crowds around them, watching intently and participating with hoots and hollers.
Personally, I get the feeling that there's a perception that folks have had enough with slop 9-ball, and are looking for purer pool again. (At least from, yes, the player perspective.) Folks are getting tired of the "cookie cutter" 9-ball break and near-Cosmo-style runouts.
And, I've noticed that when I'm over other folks [non-pool players] houses for get-togethers and what-not, whenever a 9-ball match is on TV (e.g. ESPN) I would obviously get asked questions about the match in progress. When they innocently ask "how does the referee know what pocket the player is intending to pocket the ball in?" and I go on to explain that 9-ball isn't a call-pocket game; the player can miss his/her intended pocket while the ball goes around the table, slops into another pocket, and it still counts as a ball scored, I'm pleasantly surprised when -- and these are non-pool players remember -- wince with furrowed eyebrows and say "you're kidding? really? I thought at the level they [the pros] play at, that they have to call the pocket?" Obviously, these folks don't know 9-ball and Texas Express rules, but it's interesting hearing this observation from outside the pool-playing crowd I hang around with.
Does anyone think there will come a day when 10-ball is more popular than 9-ball among:
1) Professionals
2) Amateurs/casual players
Also, does anyone know if a "slop" version of ten-ball is played, i.e. having the same rules as nine-ball, the only difference being the extra ball?
Finally, anyone here play ten-ball?
Last question first, yes, I play 10-ball according to WPA rules.
And it's my preferred rotation game, if I can't get a game of straight pool, one pocket, or even 8-ball.
As for what I see for the future of 10-ball, I see its ramp-up as slow. Some of the 10-ball purists predicted that 10-ball would've overrun and replaced 9-ball by now, but I think that was an over-zealous and overly optimistic prediction. I think 10-ball's acceptance is a slow burner -- I think you'll see the pro tournaments embracing 10-ball in favor of 9-ball more and more as time goes by, and TV will slowly catch up. I think the last holdouts will be events like ESPN's Challenge of Champions, and perhaps the Mosconi Cup, but I do see other tours switching to 10-ball. The switch may be a gradual one -- perhaps even having both a 9-ball and 10-ball event run concurrently. But I do think the future rotation game is 10-ball. It will just take time, 's all.
As for 10-ball with Texas Express rules... <sigh> that's an example of the "you'll pry my Texas Express rules from my cold, dead fingers" 9-ball crowd, IMHO. A 9-ball player that recently "switched" to 10-ball believes the following:
* that Texas Express rules are "normal" in 10-ball, "because it's a rotation game" (for them, Texas Express rules seem to be bolted to the hip of *any* rotation game);
* they make a big deal about "how much difference that extra ball makes in the 'difficulty' of the game."
Oh my gosh, that one extra ball is "h-u-g-e!" to them!
Established 10-ball players -- and even Shane himself will tell you this -- that it's the shape of the rack, not the extra ball, that makes the difference. There are no "wired" breaks in 10-ball like exists in 9-ball. You ain't going to see that wing ball predictably flying into the corner pocket, and the 1-ball predictably heading towards (or pocketing) in the side pocket.
Soft-break a 10-ball rack at your own peril!
-Sean
