8 ball v. 9 ball on a bar table...

RoryHunt

RoryHunt

The King of "so close."
Silver Member
This talk of putting packs up made me ask this question. If I play 10 games of 9 ball I will run one or two out from the break. For me to break and run 8 ball a couple of times, I would probably have to play fifteen games.

Is 9 ball an easier game? Is 8 ball tougher on a bar box because of the clusters? Will we ever master cold fusion?

Is breaking and running even that important in 8 ball? I know if you can, you should, but if you can't, playing safe should be the way to go, right?

I also have trouble not making balls in 8 ball as a strategy. I always look at the table and think "I can run this out, watch this!" I feel I can get away with it because my competition, sadly, doesn't usually have the ability to me even if I take 4 of mine off the table.

Somebody fix me, I'm broken......
 
IMO 8 ball is a harder on the BB than 9 ball. Clusters are part of the problem, also, smaller shape windows that you are trying to hit.

B&R are important in 8 ball, but safety play is also equally important. Probably the most important thing for 8 ball is learning what tables you will get out a high percentage of the time, and what tables you need to play safe on. Yes, you can look at about any table and see a way to get out, but what percentage of the time would you actually get out?

Check out the book "The 8 ball bible", it's a good read and talks about safety play vs trying to run out all the time.

Also, watch some pro tournaments that are BB 8-ball. What is their percentage of B&R's? I think you would be surprised at the number of tables that whomever breaks doesn't win that game. Also, watching high level play you will see some matches that are filled with B&R's, but you will also see matches that nobody gets out. It's just the nature of the game.
 
I don't know if it's good advice or not but I play to run out in bbox 8 ball every time and then start looking for how to duck only if my breakout or tight position shot fails. I try not to back myself into a corner, but it can happen.

Overall if you are already someone who is capable of running out, and you play to do it more vs. ducking, you probably will win more games. You gotta have that "if I can see it I can make it" mentality because on a barbox that's often true. You can thin shots into those gigantic corners all day.

Meanwhile if you safe the guy, he has shorter distances to kick and is more likely to be successful and probably more likely to hook you in turn if you only have a couple of balls left.

Oh, none of that really had anything to do with your question.

Yeah, you're supposed to get out of bbox 9ball more even though 8ball is generally easier to run.
 
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