14.1 rules for racking: corner/wing balls

sfleinen

sfleinen

14.1 & One Pocket Addict
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Folks:

I came across an interesting issue. While reviewing the 14.1 rules, I stumbled across the fact that two sanctioning committees, the BCA and the WPA, disagree on the placement of the balls in the opening rack:

WPA rules:
http://wpa-pool.com/index.asp?content=rules_141
4.2 The 14.1 Rack
For an opening break shot, the fifteen balls are racked in a triangle with the apex ball on the foot spot. When the balls are re-racked, the apex ball is omitted if only fourteen balls are being racked. The marked outline of the triangle will be used to determine whether an intended break ball is in the rack area.​

BCA rules:
http://www.bca-pool.com/play/tournaments/rules/rls_141.shtml
6.4 THE RACK
Standard triangle rack with the apex ball on the foot spot, 1-ball on the racker’s right corner, 5-ball on left corner. Other balls are placed at random and must touch their neighbors.​

Last I checked, wasn't the BCA some kind of foundational reference for the WPA rules, and aren't BCA rules/regulations/statistics/tournaments recognized by the WPA?

If so, why the obvious disagreement on the rack?

-Sean

P.S.: I like the BCA version, which is also the traditional version. The 1-ball and the 5-ball are the two brightest balls in the pack, and having them at the corners makes it easier for the breaker to aim at, as well as for the referee to watch these two balls to make sure they each touch a rail cushion (to comply with the "cue ball and two object balls must touch a rail" requirement). In fact, when I play One Pocket, I "borrowed" this concept from straight pool, and I place the 1-ball and the 5-ball in the second row of balls, with a dark ball as the head ball for contrast -- makes the opening One Pocket break a lot easier to be precise.
 
Vahmurka

Vahmurka

...and I get all da rolls
Silver Member
I hope Bob Jewett could give us a hint here. I too like bright 1 and 5 in the corners, though if my opposing partner doesn't want to stick to that I do no insist (since we are playing WPA rules). Maybe BCA is just behind with updates?
 
DogsPlayingPool

DogsPlayingPool

"What's in your wallet?"
Silver Member
As far as I know, the 1 & 5 in the back corners is a tradition thing. Obviously it has no real significance to the play of the game.

I suppose it is somewhat similar to the tradition of spotting a striped ball with the stripe aligned on the horizontal axis. Not really in the rules anywhere (that I know of).
 
mosconiac

mosconiac

Job+Wife+Child=No Stroke
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It's really an error of ommission on behalf of the WPA, right? The BCA rules are simply more specific on the placement of the 1B & 5B with the others randomly placed where the WPA says nothing...nothing about order nor randomness.
 
sfleinen

sfleinen

14.1 & One Pocket Addict
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mosconiac said:
It's really an error of ommission on behalf of the WPA, right? The BCA rules are simply more specific on the placement of the 1B & 5B with the others randomly placed where the WPA says nothing...nothing about order nor randomness.
Click to expand...

mosconiac:

If you're asking if that's the point of my question, you are 100% correct. It's the WPA's omission of the key placement of the 1-ball and the 5-ball in the match-opening rack that I'm questioning. And I noticed during this most recent 14.1 World Championship in NJ that the players weren't following this BCA rule, either (in other words, all balls randomly distributed in the rack). I didn't say anything then, because I wanted to do my research, first. Well, got busy with work and what-not, and I promptly forgot. I'd only recently remembered to post this question.

Can anyone clarify if this is an oversight, or if I missed something?

-Sean
 
14oneman

14oneman

Straight, no chaser!
Silver Member
I presume you are referring to the opening rack/opening break?

In the 47+ years I've been around 14.1, the 5b and 1b were always placed in the corners on the opening rack only, since it was almost always a safe shot being played. Any subsequent racks were totally random.
 
sfleinen

sfleinen

14.1 & One Pocket Addict
Gold Member
Silver Member
14oneman said:
I presume you are referring to the opening rack/opening break?

In the 47+ years I've been around 14.1, the 5b and 1b were always placed in the corners on the opening rack only, since it was almost always a safe shot being played. Any subsequent racks were totally random.
Click to expand...

Yup, and that's the way I've always racked for the opening break as well. But the recent WPA-sanctioned championships seem to have dispensed with this traditional rule, and the balls are placed in the opening rack "just any old way" with no attention paid to the corner balls.

Interesting that few folks have noticed this.

-Sean
 
Ron F

Ron F

Ron F
Silver Member
Cloth Color Matters

I've always believed the balls with the sharpest contrast to the cloth should be used on the corners for every rack. Makes it easier to discern whether a legal safe was made when thinning one of them. It's helpful for both players.

But a lot of rooms in this area use gold-colored cloth making the 1-ball the absolute worst ball to use. I generally use any solid ball except the 1 on the corners when racking.

Ron F
 
Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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The quoted "BCA" rule above is from an old set. The current BCA rule is identical to the WPA rule. There is still an old web page on the BCA site with the old version of the rule.

Originally -- which is to say about 100 years ago -- the positions for all 15 balls were specified for the opening break shot at 14.1. The 15 went in front, and the rest were in numerical order ending with the 5-4-3-2-1 in the back row. Along the way that was simplified to the 1 and 5 and said to be for visibility.

The WPA rules committee, which met in 2006 for the January 2008 revision, decided that the rule served no useful purpose any more, and it was deleted.

If anyone feels so strongly about the omission that they want to take action, they should start by contacting the person in their national federation who is in charge of rules changes. The next revision should be official in January, 2013.
 
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