cigardave said:Tom... your question was "In 9 Ball, when does the game start?".
I guess that I don't see the significance of when. Is there any?
The significance is WHEN the rules take effect.
Once the starting player is determined, the game starts with cue ball in hand behind the head string. All the General Rules and 9 Ball specific rules start.
Being a Tournament Director and Referee isn't as easy as most players think it is. I know I was surprized about how difficult it was when I started running tournaments. But, I was motivated by poorly run tournaments that had TDs that showed preference, called fouls because they just thought it was a foul and didn't know the rules