7-ball?

Blackball75

Blackball75

Blackball75
Silver Member
Anyone here play 7-ball regularly? Has anyone played in a 7-ball tournament? Maybe even a 7-ball league?

Just curious. I've hardly ever seen the game played, and only once by top players - as a part of a series of matches between Billiards Hall of Famers in 1983, currently showing on ESPN Classic.

Why do you think 7-ball hasn't caught on? Because of the unusual racking? Is it too easy pocket many balls from the break? Is the game too short or too easy to present any real challenge for top players?

Is there a World 7-ball Championship?

Thanks.
 
No...to all of it.

Well, I have seen it on TV, the olde-timers' challenges.

For most tourney level players, 9b is too easy. 7b would just be silly.
 
ESPN hosted an annual ESPN Sudden Death 7-ball tournament for six years 2000-2005 that had a winner take all format and was televised. We have a weekly 7-ball tourney at my local room but we play with pool balls on a 5x10 snooker table which makes the game significantly harder.

todd
 
Blackball75 said:
Anyone here play 7-ball regularly? Has anyone played in a 7-ball tournament? Maybe even a 7-ball league?

Just curious. I've hardly ever seen the game played, and only once by top players - as a part of a series of matches between Billiards Hall of Famers in 1983, currently showing on ESPN Classic.

Why do you think 7-ball hasn't caught on? Because of the unusual racking? Is it too easy pocket many balls from the break? Is the game too short or too easy to present any real challenge for top players?

Is there a World 7-ball Championship?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I think 7-ball was made specifically for TV. It was patented. It has not been accepted by the WPA as an official discipline. I don't think there were ever any competitions in 7-ball, just exhibition/TV matches.


7ball 001.jpg
 
Tournament Payouts
Sudden Death 7-Ball
October 9, 2002
ESPN Zone
Baltimore, MD

Place

Playername

Prize Money
1st place

Francisco Bustamante

$25,000.00
2nd place

Mika Immonen

$5,000.00
3rd place

Luc Salvas

$2,000.00
3rd place

Earl Strickland

$2,000.00
5th place

Rodney Morris

$1,500.00
5th place

Michael Coltrain

$1,500.00
5th place

Corey Deuel

$1,500.00
5th place

Troy Frank

$1,500.00


These are more than exhibition/tv matches, no? I understand that it was a made for tv format but ESPN hosted actual tournaments that paid out $40,000 in prize money, hardly an exhibition.
 
7 ball was more popular in the bars back in the day..you could get
2 racks for the quarter the table took..some games..the table was
the only winner..you rack 6 balls in a triangle..like 8 ball..and then
the 7 was froze at the center diamond of the foot rail..very seldom
did you make the 7 on the break..it also left for one extra ball for
spotting if you scratched on the 7 ball..it was a great game on small
tables and a lot of bars had 3x6 tables back then as well..and then
you would play last pocket..which meant you had to make the 7 in
which ever pocket you shot the 6 into..or you and your oppenent
would pick either the top long rail or bottom long rail and you would
have to pott all the balls into your side of the table..made for some
great banks as well..and we usually always played shoot out and
call pockets..like bank pool..every ball had to go in clean..was a
very challenging game indeed..SA
 
somms69 said:
... These are more than exhibition/tv matches, no? I understand that it was a made for tv format but ESPN hosted actual tournaments that paid out $40,000 in prize money, hardly an exhibition.
Click to expand...
I guess it depends on your standards for something to be a "competition." When a TV company sets the rules and selects the players, I'd say it was an exhibition event. In the 1960s, ABC ran an 8-player tournament that ran as one match per week. As I vaguely recall Crane beat Mizerak in the finals. It was a nice event, but I think of it as an exhibition event.
 
I would guess its way to easy for top players. They make 9 ball look like a cake walk. It sure is fun for me though. I like 7 Ball.
 
I enjoy playing 7 Ball a lot on a bar table. As mentioned earlier, 2 for 1 in terms of $ put into the table.

The sudden death 7 Ball tourney that was mentioned earlier was very interesting. In that format, you are allowed only 1 safety. After exhausting that safety, you had to pocket a ball legally or your opponent would get ball in hand. Made for some very interesting situations. Nearly all offense. I don't play that way because I'm not a high level player.
 
Ironic

A friend or two of mine were talking about 7 ball last night at the 9 ball tournament. They have been playing it lately, and they think it is fun.
As was said, with 1 safety and the ball in hand if a player misses make ti almost all offense, but a speedy game.

I use to play 7 ball a long time ago, and it was pretty good for cheap action.
 
IIRC, the later ESPN tourney/exhibitions went to an opponent BIH on missed shots (unless a safety was previously called, and you only got one safety per rack). This was the only thing that even made watching it worthwhile as it was just too darn easy for the pros to run multiple racks. Of course, on the edited television coverage, we didn't get to see that many break-n-runs. I guess the producers thought it more interesting to the viewers (and rightly so imo) to air the sequences showing BOTH players getting to the table in each game. I never thought that the game of 7-ball was much of a challenge to players with any decent abilities.

Maniac
 
just a guess

Was this game invented because some1 playing 8Ball ran the stripes,pocketed the 8 and they wanted to play some more without dropping more quarters.

I remember when 7Ball was on TV and a few peeps were playing it locally.Sort of a quicker easier version of 9Ball.I recall people claiming that it was so exiting it would save pool.
 
Maniac said:
IIRC, the later ESPN tourney/exhibitions went to an opponent BIH on missed shots (unless a safety was previously called, and you only got one safety per rack). This was the only thing that even made watching it worthwhile as it was just too darn easy for the pros to run multiple racks. Of course, on the edited television coverage, we didn't get to see that many break-n-runs. I guess the producers thought it more interesting to the viewers (and rightly so imo) to air the sequences showing BOTH players getting to the table in each game. I never thought that the game of 7-ball was much of a challenge to players with any decent abilities.

Maniac
Click to expand...
The reason you saw players getting to the table each game is because the format was alternate break so they couldn't put up packages. With 7-ball and players of that level if one person missed they more than likely lost the set.
 
7 Ball is fast & exciting but, not much of a challange for top players that can sink em in & run out. IMO
 
All this time, I thought 7-ball was something I made up to poke fun at an AZB thread about 11 ball.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=142468



Somewhere on the floor of the BCA trade show in Las Vegas, this conversation may be occurring, If it catches on, forever changing the face of our sport...


New League Promoter: You heard of this thing, 9-Ball?

Poolhall Owner: Yeah, sure, 9-Ball. Yeah, APA, ACS, and BCA organize leagues around this sanctioned game. Its even shown on ESPN Classic, right before pro bowling.

New League Promoter: Yeah, this is going to blow that right out of the water. Listen to this: 7... balls.

Poolhall Owner: Right. Yes. OK, all right. I see where you're going.

New League Promoter: Think about it. You walk into a bar or poolhall, you see 9-Ball game sittin' there, there's 7-Ball game right beside it. Which one are you gonna pick, man?

Poolhall Owner: I would go for the 7.

New League Promoter: Bingo, man, bingo. 7-Ball. And we guarantee just as good a runout as the 9-ball folks.

Poolhall Owner: You guarantee it? That's - how do you do that?

New League Promoter: If you're not happy with playing the first 7 balls, we're gonna spot you the extra balls free. You see? That's it. That's our motto. That's where we're comin' from. That's from "A" to "D-".

Poolhall Owner: That's right. That's - that's good. That's good. Unless, of course, somebody comes up with 6-Ball. Then you're in trouble, huh?

[New League Promoter convulses]
New League Promoter: No! No, no, not 6! I said 7. Nobody's comin' up with 6. You won't even get your stroke goin. Its too easy to run out. You don't get your money's worth.
Poolhall Owner: That - good point.

New League Promoter: 7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my office.

Poolhall Owner: Why?

New League Promoter: 'Cause you're f*ckin' fired!

:-)
 
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