9-ball, 8-ball, 14.1, or 1p?

Which game most highlights true skill?

  • 9-ball

    Votes: 8 9.6%

  • 8-ball

    Votes: 8 9.6%

  • 14.1

    Votes: 40 48.2%

  • one-pocket

    Votes: 27 32.5%
  • Total voters
    83
Bob Callahan

Bob Callahan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've been reading Kevin Cook's biography of legendary gambler Titanic Thompson and came across these:

In short, straight pool is pocket billiards in its classsic form. Eight-ball and nine-ball are pool at its most popular. And in the words of one professional, "They're all for chumps."

As poker Hall of Famer Amarillo Slim Preston put it, "No real gambler plays eight ball. And straight pool, where you can hit any ball in any pocket? That's for people looking to get their picture in the paper. One-pocket's different."

...

Minnesota Fats called it "the most elaborate, scientific pool game in the world."
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And I really got a kick out of the pool movie Turn the River, when Famke Janssen's character "Kailey" tells the guy she is gambling with that switching from one-pocket to 9-ball would be beneath them.

Hence, a poll. *grin*
 
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I'm assuming you mean by a good player who is executing. Then for long runs it has to be 14.1.

I believe longer rotation games can show skill as well and prefer 10-ball in the current era. Full-rack rotation would be the ultimate game.
 
In my opinion, TV has popularized rotation 9 ball for our current generation. They have taken a payloader scoop of people who knew nothing about pool, infested them with 9 ball, and dumped the load smack dab into the middle of the pool world.

The infestation has taken over the game and shamefully so.

This mass of players exposed to only 9 ball (and of course some 8 ball) know nothing of the existence of either 14.1 or 1Pkt.

For all practical purposes creativity is stymied in these rotation games when compared to either 14.1 or 1pkt. Confined to the play governed by the numbers on the balls limits the greatness of the game itself.

Like having a beautiful chess board to play on and using the hand carved pieces to play checkers with.

Having never been exposed to the vastness of creative space 14.1 and 1pkt offer, the TV masses of 9 ball players are blissfully ignorant of the wonders they miss out on.

How can you ask someone which country is more beautiful, Italy or Spain for example if they have only experienced the USA. The masses know not of what they miss. :)
 
One pocket is by far the most challenging. It's a combonations of all of the other games in debate.
 
bbb said:
one pocket requires more different skills including using your brain
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I agree with this. 1P also requires other skills unique to 1P - like controlling the speed of CB and OB on every shot, and going for long periods without shooting at a pocket and then needing to turn it on when the opportunity presents itself.

Any other skills unique to 1P?

pj
chgo
 
Patrick Johnson said:
I agree with this. 1P also requires other skills unique to 1P - like controlling the speed of CB and OB on every shot, and going for long periods without shooting at a pocket and then needing to turn it on when the opportunity presents itself.

Any other skills unique to 1P?

pj
chgo
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I think the safety play in 1p is unique. like 14.1 you have to play safe against every ball on the table however the moves are by far more complicated.
 
Depends on the version of 1p u play... I see soooo many guys spouting off that they love 1p and the first thing they do is start pushing balls up table regardless of the score.... They don't use the stack and 1p played this way requires far less skill than any of the other games you mentioned...

Lets see who can make 8 stuuuurate backs or 2 railers first.... I see lots of old guys that started missing a bunch that switched to this bastardized form of 1p....
 
14.1 all the way!
It's a combination of chess and physics. Besides 14.1 focuses on finesse and does not require a slew of different cues like 9 and 10 ball.
It seems less proficient players love to break out the jump cue, cuz they don't know how to get position..
1 ball requires great skill too, but is even less tv friendly than 14.1
8-ball is just plain boring, but do require some finesse.
 
ANYONE can bang balls around in ANY of the games. So, for those that do that, none of the games highlight skills. I've said it before about golf....someone can play once a week, in a cart, with a 12 pack, take mulligans, have a pro leather staff bag with the latest and greatest clubs, never fix a divot or ballmark, never break 100, and call themselves golfers. They may not display a single decent skill in the game at all. So, I don't think the game being played highlights someone's skills, but it's HOW they play it. Schmidtty playing 14.1, Efren 1P, Earl 9 ball, Dave Matlock 8 ball....or whichever name you want to plug in for each game....the player displays the skills, not the game! And I believe someone being MUCH better in one discipline than another tells more about their preferences than their skill set. They choose what to work on more, but could have worked on something more suited towards another game. What makes you the most well rounded player in all games? EASY....Playing all of them :thumbup:

Which could I watch and play more than any? EASILY 1P, but that's me. I like the moving, trapping, etc. It's different than the other 3, but maybe I just suck at the other 3 more...lol :p
 
8 ball

the pool hall i played in when i was younger most everyone played 8 ball and some 9 ball but no one played 1p are 14.1 . i myself liked 8 ball better out of the 2 to me 9 ball is more of a game of chance you can run 8 of the 9 balls and miss the 9 and the other player can win by making 1 shot are just make a combo on the 9 and win to much luck in9 ball for me so i chose to play 8ball but i always thought 14.1 would be the better of the 3 but there was no 1 to play so i was pretty much left to play 8ball so now when i play that is what i rather play as that is what i learned now it seems like its all about 9ball out here :frown: i beat a guy yesterday that is alot better then me in 4 stright games of 9ball by dropping the 9 on combos and such now i know full well he is better then me but i was able to win because it is just a game of chance as i see it JMO any way i guess what im trying to say is its all about where you play and who you play with as to what game you will like are be better at
 
Sev said:
No 3 cushion.
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I've been hanging around a vietnamese pool hall just watching guys play that game. They do some remarkable things but then again they don't have to worry about hanging a ball in a pocket :grin:
 
9-ball for stroke skill.
14.1 for pattern skill.
One pocket for strategy skill.
8 ball for a combination of all the above.
 
3andstop said:
In my opinion, TV has popularized rotation 9 ball for our current generation. They have taken a payloader scoop of people who knew nothing about pool, infested them with 9 ball, and dumped the load smack dab into the middle of the pool world.
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Really? What channel are you watching? I can't remember the last time I saw pool on tv, 9 ball or anything else. Maybe some trick shots.

IMHO the current generation knows nothing about pool, hence it's demise in the good ol USA.

TV was the only exposure most of the public had to professional pool. Not anymore. Now there is no exposure.
 
gsm1sw said:
I've been hanging around a vietnamese pool hall just watching guys play that game. They do some remarkable things but then again they don't have to worry about hanging a ball in a pocket :grin:
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There is that.
However the geometric dynamic that the player needs to develop is at a different level than the other games of billiards. If requires a slightly different set of skill as does each game of billiards.
 
Baxter said:
9-ball for stroke skill.
14.1 for pattern skill.
One pocket for strategy skill.
8 ball for a combination of all the above.
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Mostly agree. Here's my take:

9-ball
- longer-distance pocketing/cue ball control

8-ball
- shorter-distance pocketing/cue ball control
- route (pattern) planning

14.1
- shorter-distance pocketing/cue ball control
- route (pattern) planning
- extended concentration

1 pocket
- shorter- and longer-distance pocketing/cue ball control
- route (pattern) planning
- CB and OB speed control
- banking/kicking
- safety play awareness
- shooting "cold"
- patience/restraint
- creativity

pj
chgo
 
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