8 ball is a love/hate relationship

[Blue Hog ridr]

Get out of here with that healthy attitude.....you just don't fit in.

Sorry about that, I have no idea what got into me.

 

[smoooothstroke]

Solid -stripe racking, while very common, does not conform to WPA or BCAPL rules, which state that the two back corner balls on the rack should be one solid and one stripe.

To my knowledge the BCAPL rule is alternate solid and stripe AND one solid one stripe in the back corners.Of course this means you cannot alternate solids and stripes all the way around.

 

[LAlouie]

Like most people its the first pocket billiards game I ever played, yet the rules are as broard and wide as my ex wifes backside.

Folks insisting on the One ball at the head of the rack...solid, stripe, solid stripe....pattern the rack. Behind the line on fouls?

I normally won't play 8-ball with anyone that asks. Unless I know them. Lets play ten ball, or 9 ball banks? ...

Then the same ole mantra "8-ball is the only game I know how to play".

Exactly. That's why I don't want to play pool with you.

Does your wife read this board

 

[Banks]

Does your wife read this board

Come on, be realistic. She's a model that doesn't have the time to read this board. Heck, she's already got a hard enough time telling everybody else how bad they look and why!

8 is an excellent game and I don't care if I play APA, BCA or bar rules.

 

[rrich1]

A large part of the reason for the various rules in pool is that the public have not been exposed to the professionals playing the game by the professional rules to learn any different. All they have ever seen is their bar rule 8-ball and this weird game called 9-ball on TV that they tend to ignore and have never played.

If 8-ball actually became the professional game of choice and had some TV exposure then it would start to show people the proper rule set for the game and that would slowly work to change the way the game is played in all those hole in the wall pubs. It would not take place overnight and you are going to get some stubborn people who want to stick to their old rules, but no longer is there an argument about what the "correct" rules actually are because alot of people will have been exposed to the actual professional rules, and amature players tend to largely play games by the legit professionally recognized rules if they know them.

8-ball is not going to take over in pool overnight and it is not going to be this instantaneous explosion of interest in the game when it starts being promoted and presented at the pro level. It will be a slow and steady increase in popularity that will be very noticable when looking at the sports growth on a decade or so scale. And that is fine by me because we can do that today and see a steady dropoff in popularity of pro pool over the last 3 decades or so and anything done differently in the last 30 years that could have changed that decline would have us discussing a very different pool scene today.

so you want pros (that nobody watches and ignore a game that they play) to change the way people will play in the bars?

 

[Pangit]

the worst rule in 8 ball is the one where you must call all the rails. Example: "I'm playing the 8ball in the corner, but the 8ball doesn't go clean but touches the rail before the pocket".
Have you ever played with this rule?

Oh Yes!!! You must be from Texas? Rank amateurs insisting on calling every single aspect of the shot? Calling the ball and pocket isn't good enough...???

I love 8 ball. it's a pattern game. It would be a great PRO game. where the TV pool Idol's show's what a complex game it can be. Don't miss with a single ball/eight left on the table. You'll get punished. It's amazing how many times I make 5 balls and then play safety. I've been on the receiving/giving end of that many times.