A Math based game for playing pool

[justnum]

Standard 8 ball rack and break

The objective of each inning is to pocket two balls with a sum of 16.
If you only pocket one of the balls, then its spotted.

If you pocket both of the balls, that counts as a point.

Only after all pairs are pocketed can the 8 ball be shot. Touching the 8 outside of the final shot is a foul.

The main concept is have a game where both players can "clear the table" and adding is required during the match.

I keep making games for the imaginary students I plan to teach pool.

 

[ChrisinNC]

Standard 8 ball rack and break

The objective of each inning is to pocket two balls with a sum of 16.
If you only pocket one of the balls, then its spotted.

If you pocket both of the balls, that counts as a point.

Only after all pairs are pocketed can the 8 ball be shot. Touching the 8 outside of the final shot is a foul.

The main concept is have a game where both players can "clear the table" and adding is required during the match.

I keep making games for the imaginary students I plan to teach pool.

How many points is pocketing the 8-ball worth? If you pocket 6 pairs and your opponent pockets 1 pair, can they still win if they pocket the 8-ball?

 

[justnum]

How many points is pocketing the 8-ball worth? If you pocket 6 pairs and your opponent pockets 1 pair, can they still win if they pocket the 8-ball?

Pocketing the 8ball decides the next break.
The primary purpose of the game is to see if the student players knows and checks to see what adds to 16.

Any experienced player will be able to look at the table.

A complete beginner might want a second to check and make sure. They might even ask for confirmation.

 

[jimmyco]

So you pocket two balls and your inning is over?

"The objective of each inning is to pocket two balls with a sum of 16."

 

[justnum]

So you pocket two balls and your inning is over?

"The objective of each inning is to pocket two balls with a sum of 16."

It is to give the shooting player the option of saying I want you to start the next inning or I will continue running.

More choices in the match for younger players to quickly assess their options.

The cue will be played where it was left last.

 

[David in FL]

The primary purpose of the game is to see if the student players knows and checks to see what adds to 16.

Any experienced player will be able to look at the table.

A complete beginner might want a second to check and make sure. They might even ask for confirmation.

Only experienced pool players can identify 2 numbers that add up to 16?

 

[justnum]

Only experienced pool players can identify 2 numbers that add up to 16?

the addition of the visual, math and cue based skills have never been tested on pro pool players.

its revolutionary, just take time to ask your questions. im not going anywhere.

that straight pool foul earl played on jayson calling the ten the two would never have happened. with 16 ball.

also considering 16 sum or sum 16

 

[Bob Jewett]

There is a pool game called "cribbage". The sum is 15. It's been around for decades.

 

[justnum]

There is a pool game called "cribbage". The sum is 15. It's been around for decades.

great idea for video about under played pool games. Thanks

 

[ghost ball]

I was a whiz at math in jr high. I could go pro with this shit, assuming pros will be doing quadratic equations.

 

[Rack’em]

There are some flaws in this game. There is no need to add or think about what balls to make together because there is only one option for each ball. 1&15 2&14 3&13 4&12 5&11 6&10 these are all the pairs. Also based on your rules the 7 ball is will always be out of play.

 

[justnum]

There are some flaws in this game. There is no need to add or think about what balls to make together because there is only one option for each ball. 1&15 2&14 3&13 4&12 5&11 6&10 these are all the pairs. Also based on your rules the 7 ball is will always be out of play.

Casinos Ban Card Counters
Even having the answers printed doesn't mean people will get it right on command.
Some skill and visual recognition is needed for knowing which pair to shoot and how to recognize it on the table.

 

[justnum]

I was a whiz at math in jr high. I could go pro with this shit, assuming pros will be doing quadratic equations.

I am not against having a written component before the shot.
It would feel like the trick shot competitions.

Instead of describing how the shot goes, players will write down a complete shot diagram for the following two shots and submit it to their opponent for verification.

 

[boogieman]

Pretty good idea to teach the young uns math. I'd say for the more experienced players rotation (61) is a great game with a similar concept. Balls are face value and have to be hit in numerical order, like 9B. If you get 61 points you win (out of 120 total sum). There's several games on youtube and it's a damn fine game. Leads to many combos/caroms/etc in order to get high balls to pad your score. Efren has some matches on there and also uses it as a warm up game.

Not to get off subject but rotation is a much more interesting (to watch and play) and challenging game than 9B.

 

[Fatboy]

Snooker is good for math

 

[pt109]

You’re reinventing the wheel.
i played a game called cribbage when I was a kid...but the total was 15...which makes a little more sense.

 

[cjr3559]

There are some flaws in this game. There is no need to add or think about what balls to make together because there is only one option for each ball. 1&15 2&14 3&13 4&12 5&11 6&10 these are all the pairs. Also based on your rules the 7 ball is will always be out of play.

7 & 9 are a pair

But yeah, this game is reinventing Cribbage. For more math based games try Forty One, Fifteen Ball, or Rotation which was already mentioned.

 

[Pin]

There's a purely math (not pool) game where you start from a particular number and players take turns to subtract a number between 1 and 9. The idea is to be the last person to subtract a number. (In the math game, the secret is to make the other guy go first and then pick your number based on what he picks, to make sure you eventually end up in a position to win.)

There are similar card games, but I can't remember the exact mechanism.

You could do one with pool, where there would be the added complication of whether you could pocket a ball for the number you wanted.

Would need some thought about exactly how you'd make it work.


In the UK there's a math and anagrams TV show called countdown (don't know if you have it / something similar in the US). In the numbers round, players get a random target number and six random numbers to use to get to it (adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing).

Maybe you could come up with something where players got a random target number and had to pocket numbers to be able to use them in their sum. [Edit to add: The winner could be the person who gets closest to the total, if they can't get there exactly, which is what they do on the TV show too.]
Perhaps if players were only allowed to pocket 6 balls total, and their skill level was such that they might take a few innings to get the balls they wanted (with the other guy also aiming for the useful numbers).

It might work better if the numbers for the math weren't 1-15 though (but maybe this depends on the target number). On the TV show, players get a certain quantity of small numbers (1-10 I think) and a few big numbers (25, 50, 75, or 100). In practice, using a normal set of balls would be necessary, but it's not ideal to have, say, 11-15 all represent different values.

It might be possible to do something similar with letters for anagrams, but the 15 balls / 26 letters presents a problem. So you might need another stage of random allocation...

 

[Pin]

Or you could just play darts.

Velcro darts so the kids don't take each others' eyes out.

 

[sjm]

Obviously, this game is just a slight variant of cribbage, which I first played about 50 years ago.

Calling it a math based game is a stretch, as even the math in straight pool is more difficult, and I've never heard anyone call straight pool math based. In straight pool, if you had 67 and run the rack, now you have 81. If you scratch on your next turn, subtract one and now you have 80. Scratch on the turn after that and you've got 80. Scratch a third consecutive time and you've got 64.

Only a person of single digit age would learn anything from the math found in cribbage or the variant of it introduced in this thread.