9 ball! so why 10 ball?

[smashmouth]

it's only harder to run racks, i.e. playing the ghost

the difficulty level of most games is relative to the skill of your opponent

I still maintain that good tv viewing is crucial to the propelling the sport at the pro level and nine ball shows best, hands down

if I had my way, the game would be call shot with no slop, nine respotted on the break and must be potted last to win the game

turn matches into races to 30 and you can leave the game as is, crream will rise to the top

 

[Pushout]

Why don't we fix 9 Ball before abandoning it?

1. Spot the 9 on the Break.

2. Move the rack up to keep the wing ball from going.

3. Call all shots...ball and pocket.

Spotting the 9 and calling shots would only return the game to the way it was often played back in the day and would certainly reduce luck to a measurable extent.

I agree, to an extent, but look at Mike Gulyassy's "No Luck 10 Ball" thread and the hue and cry that arises whenever changing the rules is brought up. I think that the rank and file {not the pros} will have a very hard time changing/adapting to any kind of difference in style of play from what they are used to at present. I personally think it wouldn't be that hard to change. But, making the game more offensive versus defensive will not appeal to a lot of people. I'm still in favor of it, myself.

 

[Snapshot9]

10 ball

I would say, just my guesstimate, that 10 ball is like 16% percent harder than 9 ball overall.

Moving the 9 to the foot spot is like the inverse of moving the football goal up to the 0 line. Would you do that for football?

I can offer a simple solution, although many will probably balk at it.

you rack like normal, except the bottom 3 balls are put into a straight line
behind the 9, so you end up with an 'arrow' shaped rack.

It changes the hit for making the 1 in the side. No wing ball. Almost no making 9 on the break. Call the 9.

If you play 10 ball on a bad table with less than clean balls, it is like going to the dentist. The break doesn't work, lots of clusters, or you make one ball, and have a bad spread all the time.