8 ball racking habits and don't use the 1 ball!

[hang-the-9]

Anyone have any set habbts when they rack 8 ball? For example placing a certain ball at the front? Or a pattern like solid, then stripe then solid row, or do you go solid then stripe and solid behind that on either side, and so on?

One thing I think that should be done is NOT to use the 1 ball in the front. I was using the 1 ball in the front often, but then I realized that the 1 ball gets all the abuse from breaking in 9 and 10 ball so when playing 8 ball we should use any other ball except the 1 in the front to maintain the shape of the balls closer to each other.

I do place a solid as the front ball though, pretty much all the time.

 

[Tony_in_MD]

Just the 8 ball in the middle. I also make sure that there is a stripe and solid in each of the corners.

Anyone have any set habbts when they rack 8 ball? For example placing a certain ball at the front? Or a pattern like solid, then stripe then solid row, or do you go solid then stripe and solid behind that on either side, and so on?

One thing I think that should be done is NOT to use the 1 ball in the front. I was using the 1 ball in the front often, but then I realized that the 1 ball gets all the abuse from breaking in 9 and 10 ball so when playing 8 ball we should use any other ball except the 1 in the front to maintain the shape of the balls closer to each other.

I do place a solid as the front ball though, pretty much all the time.

 

[KRJ]

Guilty as charged, I always put the 1 ball up front in 8ball. But also, I'm seem to have lots of problems getting good racks, and it seems to take me longer. Could that be the reason ? I dunno, but I'm going to try a few others now instead.

 

[JoseV]

I place the one ball as the apex ball on all games I play lol.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

 

[hang-the-9]

Guilty as charged, I always put the 1 ball up front in 8ball. But also, I'm seem to have lots of problems getting good racks, and it seems to take me longer. Could that be the reason ? I dunno, but I'm going to try a few others now instead.

I did to, usually, but if you think about it, the 1 is in front during the break in every 9 and 10 ball game, getting pounded by the cueball and being pushed back by the rest of them No other ball takes as much abuse and over time I bet the 1 ball is more deformed than any other ball in the set, aside from maybe the cueball. Since it does not matter in 8 ball what ball you hit first, we should try to rotate around the ball in that game at least.

 

[AtLarge]

Here's the required racking pattern for Appleton's World Pool Series:

.............1
.........Str Sol
.......Sol 8 Str
...Str Sol Str Sol
Sol Str Str Sol Str

 

[AuntyDan]

The World Pool Series (not sure about other tournaments) actually mandate the 1 on the spot, although I agree this can lead to higher wear and tear on the one:

https://www.worldpoolseries.com/wps/tournament-calendar/tournament-details-2/#rules

They also mandate the same standard racking pattern I have used for a long time, with one stripe in the second row and and a pair of stripes on the bottom row and the rest alternate like this (Note I only rack the balls in numeric order when I'm practicing and trying to track the ball movement):



However I was watching Shane Van Boening playing 8 ball and he was doing this pattern every time:



Other than in the WPS his rack pattern meets all the requirements and definitely leads to fairly consistent patterns with the solids spread mostly up-table and the stripes more clustered around the spot.

 

[mchnhed]

Just the 8 ball in the middle. I also make sure that there is a stripe and solid in each of the corners.

Them be the rules, people.

3.2 Eight Ball Rack
The fifteen object balls are racked as tightly as possible in a triangle, with the apex ball on the foot spot and the eight ball as the first ball that is directly below the apex ball. One from each group of seven will be on the two lower corners of the triangle. The other balls are placed in the triangle without purposeful or intentional pattern.

 

[hang-the-9]

Here's the required racking pattern for Appleton's World Pool Series:

.............1
.........Str Sol
.......Sol 8 Str
...Str Sol Str Sol
Sol Str Str Sol Str

That is not the standard rules though, but seems Appleton does not care about the poor little 1 ball :sorry:

I mean we do this to the 1 every time we break :bash: Why compound it by extra bashing when not needed?

Do it for the children, do we want our kids to play with undersized 1 balls because we were not caring enough?

 

[Black-Balled]

I never play 8b, but when i play rotation games with my balls

I use one of the unused high balls (15-11) as the 1 and then set the one on the mantle so he can watch. I usually wrap him in a paper towel so he doesnt get chilled

 

[mchnhed]

The World Pool Series (not sure about other tournaments) actually mandate the 1 on the spot, although I agree this can lead to higher wear and tear on the one:

https://www.worldpoolseries.com/wps/tournament-calendar/tournament-details-2/#rules

They also mandate the same standard racking pattern I have used for a long time, with one stripe in the second row and and a pair of stripes on the bottom row and the rest alternate like this (Note I only rack the balls in numeric order when I'm practicing and trying to track the ball movement):

View attachment 462033

However I was watching Shane Van Boening playing 8 ball and he was doing this pattern every time:

View attachment 462034

Other than in the WPS his rack pattern meets all the requirements and definitely leads to fairly consistent patterns with the solids spread mostly up-table and the stripes more clustered around the spot.

WPS: Must Be Racked in this Pattern.
Your image showed numbers. Not required to do it in a certain numerical placement. Except the one and eight.

 

[sbpoolleague]

Here's the required racking pattern for Appleton's World Pool Series:

.............1
.........Str Sol
.......Sol 8 Str
...Str Sol Str Sol
Sol Str Str Sol Str

This is exactly how I rack each time. In addition, if I am doing a second-ball break, I always choose a dark solid for the second row so that the contrast between it and the 1-ball is high and I can see it better.

 

[GideonF]

I almost always place the 1b on one of the back corners of the rack, not so much to avoid wear and tear on it but because I think it does wear out faster than the other balls and I think I have to fight less to get the front balls to touch when the 1 is not the head ball.

When on a 7' table, I almost always break 2nd ball and I usually put a stripe on the spot and a light coloured solid on the side I'm breaking from.

 

[Get_A_Grip]

Here's the required racking pattern for Appleton's World Pool Series:

.............1
.........Str Sol
.......Sol 8 Str
...Str Sol Str Sol
Sol Str Str Sol Str

That is the exact rack that I use. It's called the "J Rack", because there is a "J" of stripes starting from the stripe on the right side and the 3rd ball down.

 

[bazkook]

Has anyone ran into players who refused to break unless the rack was exactly how they wanted? I have heard of some APA league players insisting that the 1 ball always goes in the front but I guess it is due to the way they grew up playing. In the APA league I played in, we always racked for each other.

 

[hang-the-9]

Has anyone ran into players who refused to break unless the rack was exactly how they wanted? I have heard of some APA league players insisting that the 1 ball always goes in the front but I guess it is due to the way they grew up playing. In the APA league I played in, we always racked for each other.

I did run into this, but just a couple of times in all my years of playing. Usually they want a solid on the front if I happen to put a stripe there.

Actually, if I am playing someone I don't really like or annoyed me for some reason, I use a stripe for the head ball LOL, but sometimes it's just random, so if I happen to be playing you and you see a stripe as the head ball, it may or may not mean that I don't like you

 

[eastcoast_chris]

I have a pattern I use that I copied from Corey Duel ... he was using it in a bar box video I saw online;


____H
___H H
__H 8 L
_L L L L
H H L H L


Seems to create a table layout after the break with all lows in one area and all highs in another.

I know it isn't legal if I'm called on it, but I very seldom have been asked to change/stop doing it in a match.

 

[fastone371]

I have a pattern I use that I copied from Corey Duel ... he was using it in a bar box video I saw online;


____H
___H H
__H 8 L
_L L L L
H H L H L


Seems to create a table layout after the break with all lows in one area and all highs in another.

I know it isn't legal if I'm called on it, but I very seldom have been asked to change/stop doing it in a match.

I think you have to do a softish 2nd ball break to get that one to work out good.
_________________ L
________________H H
_______________ L 8 L
______________H H L H
_____________H L L H L
Thats ^^ usually what I do when competing with 1 at apex or another light colored solid. At home when practicing I throw the balls in with a dark solid at apex and leave the rest where they fall except a solid and stripe at corners. The thing I really check is matching size balls. We play on almost all Diamonds so when I push the balls forward in the rack I look for ball that rolls and move them around accordingly till none of the balls roll when pushing them forward in the rack. I put the small balls in the back row, corners first. At home I do not worry about this because my ball sets are relatively new and in very nice condition.

 

[ssbn610g]

That is not the standard rules though, but seems Appleton does not care about the poor little 1 ball :sorry:

I mean we do this to the 1 every time we break :bash: Why compound it by extra bashing when not needed?

Do it for the children, do we want our kids to play with undersized 1 balls because we were not caring enough?

Since you play at Billiards Cafe, you are. I measured a few and all the ones I measured were smaller. Cue balls also.

Al

 

[Tony_in_MD]

Ha, you must have seen me once 20 years ago. Was gambling with a person that refused to give me a good rack, every ball was loose, I am talking 1/8 to 1/4 inch gaps everywhere.

I created quite a ruckus.

I have mellowed out some since.

Has anyone ran into players who refused to break unless the rack was exactly how they wanted? I have heard of some APA league players insisting that the 1 ball always goes in the front but I guess it is due to the way they grew up playing. In the APA league I played in, we always racked for each other.