Banks 201

Willowbrook Wolfy

Willowbrook Wolfy

Going pro
Are kick banks and carom banks legal/legitimate if you call them? They’re legal when I play with friends. I watched a couple pro games and they were available, but no one attempted any. So I was just wondering.
 
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No kicks, caroms or combos in bank pool. All shots have to be "clean" with the cue ball driving a single object ball into a rail(s) and called pocket without any other contact allowed other than incidentally with an adjacent rail on the way into the pocket.

The second shot you mention actually came up in a game once when my opponent called it just as you described. There was a bit of discussion but ultimately agreement that the shot would be legal--which he then made to win the frame.
 
RabbiHippie said:
No kicks, caroms or combos in bank pool. All shots have to be "clean" with the cue ball driving a single object ball into a rail(s) and called pocket without any other contact allowed other than incidentally with an adjacent rail on the way into the pocket.

The second shot you mention actually came up in a game once when my opponent called it just as you described. There was a bit of discussion but ultimately agreement that the shot would be legal--which he then made to win the frame.
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The second one meaning off the left side nipple and into right same side corner? I deleted that one because I didn’t really know how to explain it. The no kicks rule kind of sucks. That is still a clean shot. And actually all those rules suck a bit. A bank is a bank if it banks after contacting another ball. 😂
Thank you for the help.
 
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Konrad5288 said:
The second one meaning off the left side nipple and into right same side corner? I deleted that one because I didn’t really know how to explain it. The no kicks rule kind of sucks. That is still a clean shot. And actually all those rules suck a bit. A bank is a bank if it banks after contacting another ball. 😂
Thank you for the help.
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Don't like 'em don't play. Bank rules have been the same way for YEARS.
 
Ah. It’s the only game I could probably give a pro a fit on. I’m not trying to brag. I’m not that good. But given a nine ball rack I can break and run on banks more often than I can break and run 9 ball. 5 banks for the win not 9. There are a few guys who can make some of your not so standard kick banks and carom banks as much as a hard back rail bank to the side. And then there’s the double kiss. Am I the only one who practices those? If it’s called, and you make it consistently, it’s not luck it’s skill.
 
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The long rail bank that hits off the side pocket point and slides down the rail and in, is a legal shot. It’s basically the only “lucky” shot in the game. It happens every now and again.
 
Konrad5288 said:
Ah. It’s the only game I could probably give a pro a fit on. I’m not trying to brag. I’m not that good. But given a nine ball rack I can break and run on banks more often than I can break and run 9 ball. 5 banks for the win not 9. There are a few guys who can make some of your not so standard kick banks and carom banks as much as a hard back rail bank to the side. And then there’s the double kiss. Am I the only one who practices those? If it’s called, and you make it consistently, it’s not luck it’s skill.
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Well... Obviously kicking & caroms are skillful shots. But it bugs me a bit when folks refer to kicks as banks... pedantic differentiation but managing OB behavior off the rails is a different animal than kicking the CB. I personally think the pure banks game is pretty cool. But Honolulu sounds fun also.
 
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Konrad5288 said:
Ah. It’s the only game I could probably give a pro a fit on. I’m not trying to brag. I’m not that good. But given a nine ball rack I can break and run on banks more often than I can break and run 9 ball. 5 banks for the win not 9. There are a few guys who can make some of your not so standard kick banks and carom banks as much as a hard back rail bank to the side. And then there’s the double kiss. Am I the only one who practices those? If it’s called, and you make it consistently, it’s not luck it’s skill.
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Carom, kiss and combo banks and kicks aren't legal in banks and as garczar pointed out, it's always been that way, even when full rack banks was played rather than the more common 9-ball banks today. That said, all these shots are legal in one pocket which can make them valuable skills to cultivate.

Probably my best one pocket runout ever came off a reverse combo bank I saw hidden in the stack. Virtually dead if you knew it and opened up the stack to run all the way out on my first turn at the table against a very good shortstop (just below pro caliber) who'd made a perfect break.
 
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I’ve seen one variation. Grady in the DCC ring game counted 3+ rail kicks as good. To speed up the game as I recall. I wasn’t a fan of that.

By the rail banks is cool in money games. 2 railers pay double, 3 pay triple etc.
 
And this is one of the problems for the next generation of aspiring pool players. Some of you are so out of touch with the younger crowd. Part of it is pros are so good and make shots look so easy. That makes pool look boring. And without a lot of money involved kids don’t care about it. We all know different about playing. It’s fun as hell. But some of you must get just a little bored when you never miss.

Plus the fact you don’t see people in street clothes at the pro tournaments. I’d say that’s like golf, except it’s not. A lot of golf courses have a collared shirt rule. Have you ever seen a pool hall requiring a collared shirt? I haven’t. What other “job” do you have to dress different than you would to play a tournament locally? Say what you want to about it. But the younger generation is more of a leisure generation. Suits and collared shirts are out.

And where are the true open tournaments anyway. All I see is by invite only to the big events. Am I missing something here? I’ve been out of the scene for a while now, but why aren’t there like state and then regional tournaments held for amateurs to get qualified for the big ones? Or are there and I don’t know it?
 
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1Rail4Rail said:
The long rail bank that hits off the side pocket point and slides down the rail and in, is a legal shot. It’s basically the only “lucky” shot in the game. It happens every now and again.
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It gave me a bit of a pause when my opponent called this shot because technically the object ball never touched a rail other than the same one as the called pocket, but I couldn't come up with a good reason for disallowing it at the time. Certainly not a lucky shot in this case as he pulled it off just as he called it even with the interruption to debate the legality of the shot. Later I recalled that Matlock might have played a shot like this at DCC which would seem to settle the matter if that actually happened.

I'd be interested to hear what someone like Bob Jewett who's been involved in rule-making has to say.
 
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Fatboy said:
I’ve seen one variation. Grady in the DCC ring game counted 3+ rail kicks as good. To speed up the game as I recall. I wasn’t a fan of that.

By the rail banks is cool in money games. 2 railers pay double, 3 pay triple etc.
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What he said...kicks were scoring shots in dcc 2004 or 2005, as I recall.
 
Bob Jewett said:
If you want a game with the other shots available, play Honolulu. It is basically "no standard shot". Kicks, banks, caroms, kisses are all OK. No simple straight-ins allowed. The rules are online.
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I also wasn't aware that had a name but I play it all the time when playing friends that don't play pool, it makes it more enjoyable for them ;)
 
Fatboy said:
I’ve seen one variation. Grady in the DCC ring game counted 3+ rail kicks as good. To speed up the game as I recall. I wasn’t a fan of that.

By the rail banks is cool in money games. 2 railers pay double, 3 pay triple etc.
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It's fairly common to allow 3-rail (or greater) kicks in a ring game where intentional safeties are prohibited because otherwise there aren't many good ways to clear out the hangers blocking a pocket. In some ring games I've played in, the kick was allowed but didn't count for scoring (i.e. getting paid) purposes--you got to continue shooting but didn't collect anything from the other players for the kick.
 
Man maybe I forgot to take my script today I’m really ranting here. I do hope to catch some of you someday. Always enjoyed playing and pissed off that I can touch it at times but can’t seem to get to that “pro” level. So Ill sometimes focus on those other, missing aspects that you don’t see often to try to gain an edge.
 
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