Backpocket 9 ball ?

DEAD MONEY G

DEAD MONEY G

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I just played this game for the 1st time the other day and wanted to make sure we are playing it right.We played you can combo the 9 at any time and it gets spotted and you keep shooting.You can combo it in your pocket and you win.On the break do you win if it goes in your hole and lose if it goes in his? When the only ball left on the table is the 9 if its pocketed in a pocket other than yours or his is it a loss or does it spot and your opponent shoots from there? If there are any rules i didnt mention please let me know. We played for about 5-6 hours the other day and ended up even so we found a good game to match up .I want to play by the right rules.Any help you can give will be appreciated thanks
 
DEAD MONEY G said:
I just played this game for the 1st time the other day and wanted to make sure we are playing it right.We played you can combo the 9 at any time and it gets spotted and you keep shooting.You can combo it in your pocket and you win.On the break do you win if it goes in your hole and lose if it goes in his? When the only ball left on the table is the 9 if its pocketed in a pocket other than yours or his is it a loss or does it spot and your opponent shoots from there? If there are any rules i didnt mention please let me know. We played for about 5-6 hours the other day and ended up even so we found a good game to match up .I want to play by the right rules.Any help you can give will be appreciated thanks
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It is call shot, and if you miss your opponent has the right to pass the shot, kicking is the same rules, call shot. When the nine ball goes in your pocket the game is over and that pocket owner wins. When the 9 goes in another pocket it is spotted opposite from where you break, and the next shooter's shot if it is the only ball on the table. If you move the nine strategically without pocketing a ball the incoming player can move it back to it's original spot. These were the rules we played at the Back Pocket World Championship tournament in Hampton, Va. in 1995.
 
Black-Balled said:
Let us know who won, Mike!:wink:
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I won the Tournament defeating Grady Mathews 11 to 9 from a 5 -0 deficit.
It was one of my proudest moment in my career.
 
I'm from Philly where the game is played on a regular basis. The rules we play by are quite different from the World Championship that Mike won.

1. No shot is called.
2. If 9 goes in a player's pocket on break, the pocket owner wins, regardless of who broke. (If in a handicapped game, like 1 front to 1 back, the players may wish to spot the 9 if it goes in, since it is much more likely to go in a front pocket than a back pocket). If 9 goes in a neutral pocket on break, it spots, and breaker continues to shoot, even if another ball was not pocketed on the break.
3. If you pocket the 9 in a neutral pocket during the game AND on a good HIT, it spots up on the spot and it is the other player's shot. ONLY if you make another ball on the same stroke do you continue shooting. If you pocketed the 9 on a bad hit, (in a neutral pocket) it is up to the opponent to spot it or put it back where it was.
4. 3 fouls is a loss of game (this seems to happen much more often playing this than regular 9 ball)
5. If the 9 is pocketed in a players hole by opponent, the hole owner wins. PERIOD. Does not matter if it went in on a push, bad hit, or scratch. (some people play this part slightly diffenttly, and spot the 9 if it was a good HIT, but then a cue ball scratch).
6. Push out allowed immediatley after break.
7. If 9 is moved on pushout, opponent has option to leave it where it lay, or move it back to original position. Opponent also has option to accept or return shot, like regular 9 ball.
8. If 9 is moved on a BAD HIT, opponent has option to leave it or move it back to where it was. Note, bad hit is different than scratch. If you make a good hit, but then scratch with the cue ball or fail to hit a rail, the 9 stays where it is (of course its ball in hand for opponent though). Reread rule 5 regarding pocketing the 9 on a bad hit.
9. You can play any combo you want, including on the 9, as long as you hit the lowest ball on the table first.
10. Its good strategy in this game to try to move the 9 towards your hole any time that you can (on a legal hit of course). Unless you are a runout player and know you can get all the way out to your hole from where the 9 currently lays. For most of us that have many innings per game, having the 9 near your hole will be much more important than trying to run out early in the game. By the same token you want to remove the 9 near your opponents hole during the game, by combo, carom, etc. Don't leave it there and then try to run out, unless you KNOW you can get out and then bank the 9 in your hole or to an advantageous position.
11. Pay attention to the vocabulary I used regarding fouls. THere is bad hit, and scratch, and other fouls like not hitting a rail. In 9 ball they are the same penalty of BIH. But in this game, they are again all BIH, but what happens to the 9 ball is different. Reread the above with this vocabulary in mind.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I'm from Philly where the game is played on a regular basis. The rules we play by are quite different from the World Championship that Mike won.

1. No shot is called.
2. If 9 goes in a player's pocket on break, the pocket owner wins, regardless of who broke. (If in a handicapped game, like 1 front to 1 back, the players may wish to spot the 9 if it goes in, since it is much more likely to go in a front pocket than a back pocket). If 9 goes in a neutral pocket on break, it spots, and breaker continues to shoot, even if another ball was not pocketed on the break.
3. If you pocket the 9 in a neutral pocket during the game AND on a good HIT, it spots up on the spot and it is the other player's shot. ONLY if you make another ball on the same stroke do you continue shooting. If you pocketed the 9 on a bad hit, (in a neutral pocket) it is up to the opponent to spot it or put it back where it was.
4. 3 fouls is a loss of game (this seems to happen much more often playing this than regular 9 ball)
5. If the 9 is pocketed in a players hole by opponent, the hole owner wins. PERIOD. Does not matter if it went in on a push, bad hit, or scratch. (some people play this part slightly diffenttly, and spot the 9 if it was a good HIT, but then a cue ball scratch).
6. Push out allowed immediatley after break.
7. If 9 is moved on pushout, opponent has option to leave it where it lay, or move it back to original position. Opponent also has option to accept or return shot, like regular 9 ball.
8. If 9 is moved on a BAD HIT, opponent has option to leave it or move it back to where it was. Note, bad hit is different than scratch. If you make a good hit, but then scratch with the cue ball or fail to hit a rail, the 9 stays where it is (of course its ball in hand for opponent though). Reread rule 5 regarding pocketing the 9 on a bad hit.
9. You can play any combo you want, including on the 9, as long as you hit the lowest ball on the table first.
10. Its good strategy in this game to try to move the 9 towards your hole any time that you can (on a legal hit of course). Unless you are a runout player and know you can get all the way out to your hole from where the 9 currently lays. For most of us that have many innings per game, having the 9 near your hole will be much more important than trying to run out early in the game. By the same token you want to remove the 9 near your opponents hole during the game, by combo, carom, etc. Don't leave it there and then try to run out, unless you KNOW you can get out and then bank the 9 in your hole or to an advantageous position.
11. Pay attention to the vocabulary I used regarding fouls. THere is bad hit, and scratch, and other fouls like not hitting a rail. In 9 ball they are the same penalty of BIH. But in this game, they are again all BIH, but what happens to the 9 ball is different. Reread the above with this vocabulary in mind.
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Thanks alot we played that way except we let the 9 lay where it landed even on a bad hit.I would think there would be an occasional argument about exactly where the 9 was when putting it back to its original position
 
You have to change that. That rule is one of the most integral to the game. If you didn't have it, you could simply intentionally move the 9 towards your hole on a bad hit or a push. You could hang it up in your hole and then your opponent would be stuck. The rule is in place to prevent that from happening.

Backpocket is a game with lots of nuance rules, like bar room 8 ball. You WILL get into arguments if you play it enough times:)
 
Yeah, no one around the Philly area plays Grady's rules.

I think the tournament was around the time where he was trying to come up with a way to stop the luck, but it never became popular with the mainstream, but it was his tournament, so his rules were adopted.

Not that there is anything wrong with the rules, but if your gonna change a rotation game to get rid of the luck, bring back 2 foul ball in hand.
It's just a better way to play IMO.

As for the rules, make sure that you go over each and EVERY possible scenario before you start, cause otherwise, people have, and will use that discrepancy to try and cancel the game and walk away without paying saying that you were cheating.

I've seen it happen a ton of times.

And even if they know the rules from before, sometimes they will question a rule and change their position on it just to make it seem like they were misinformed so they can argue and walk away when losing.

Save yourself the hassle and go over them prior to starting play each and every time.
 
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