Best Way To Rack 9 Ball?

Fast Lenny

Faster Than You...
Silver Member
Can someone post the best way to rack 9 ball so the balls break and layout for an easy run?:D
 
I think if you are the one racking you want to do the opposite and make it a harder run out right?

I think there was a thread on this a couple months ago, possibly called pattern racking? And, I think this was brought up in that thread, maybe try a search for "pattern racking"?
 
despotic931 said:
I think if you are the one racking you want to do the opposite and make it a harder run out right?

I think there was a thread on this a couple months ago, possibly called pattern racking? And, I think this was brought up in that thread, maybe try a search for "pattern racking"?
I was thinking to make it easier to run out playing the ghost.:)
 
It's all based on knowing where the balls are most likely to end up on a solidly hit break. We know, for example, that the the one-ball is likely to bank cross-corner towards the side that the balls were broken from (if it doesn't go in the side), and we know that the back ball tends to bank up table. Thus, you would place the two in the back of the rack. Similarly, we know that the nine tends to remain downtable, and the balls in the row behind it tend to remain there as well. Therefore, the eight would be racked in the row behind the nine. Those, in my opinion, are the most important ones, and as is obvious, their placement would be the opposite if you were trying to make the rack more difficult to run.

My advice for playing the ghost would be to rack the balls to be difficult the majority of the time, and to mix in a few totally random racks so that you do not fall into the same patterns.

I cannot discuss the practice of pattern racking without addressing the moral implications that have been raised in this forum. The opinion has been expressed that the word 'random' in the rules for racking forbids the use of a pre-conceived pattern. I confess that I was in disagreement with this opinion, but in writing the previous two sentences I decided to look at past versions of the BCA Rulebook to investigate whether there had been a change in wording to support one side or the other. I discovered that while the 1992 rules stated that the other seven balls were to be racked in arbitrary order (which according to Webster, is "depending on individual discretion"), the current rules state that the other seven balls are to be racked in random order (defined by Webster as "lacking a definite plan, purpose or pattern").

As such, I am regretfully forced to conclude, and to inform you, that pattern racking is definitely in violation of the rules, and that from this moment, I ask you to use this knowledge only to defend yourself and to be aware when someone is is pattern racking against you.
 
I play in 2 to 3 9 ball tournaments a week. I also practice against the ghost while im at home. I have seen many players putting the 2 ball in the back. The tournaments i play in are rack your own. I have watched Ronnie Wiseman rack the balls in order to very good effect. I usually do this as well now. Experiment with break speed. I have a 9ft diamond home table with shimmed pockets and i find that a soft to medium break speed gives me the best results. Try racking them in numerical order and see what you think.
 
If I am racking my own; i will rack them in order and try to break keeping them near each other so i dont have to go up and down the table too much. If i am racking for someone, I will run them up and down in hopes that they will have to go from end to end to get out.
 
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