Break question

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LiLStick

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When breaking, using a standard rack of 15 balls, which ball or balls are most likely to be pocketed by an average player? I need this info so I can determine the best way to position balls in the rack for a new pool game I am developing. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
LiL Stick
 
LiLStick said:
When breaking, using a standard rack of 15 balls, which ball or balls are most likely to be pocketed by an average player? I need this info so I can determine the best way to position balls in the rack for a new pool game I am developing. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
LiL Stick
Click to expand...
I am not sure but there is an easy way to find out. Rack them up in the same postion and break them 100 or 200 times. That should give you an answer.

BVal
 
My guess would be.....
There are too many variables to get a concise answer for all players.
Breaking from the right, left, straight on. As well as english at break and which ball is hit first etc.

Just my .02 guess.
 
I'm assuming you are only allowing people to break from the headspot, correct? If that is the case, there are still to many variables IE: English, size of table, how dirty are the balls? can you make them all touch the same point on eachother every time? is there a divot at the footspot from people tapping the head ball? etc. etc.

Sounds like a VERY daunting task.
 
That is sort of asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. It has an infinite amount of answers. How hard you break, and the others have stated, position of break, the english, tightness of the rack are all factors. I think even though people can get good at breaks, but to a beginner like myself, it is more like a flip of the coin :D

Chino
 
For me, sometimes when I make a ball, it's one of the two corner balls that goes 4 rails and back to the foot pocket that it was originally closest to in the rack. That's the only ball I have noticed a pattern to.

It's been a while since I looked at the 8-ball section of Racking Secrets, but perhaps there's something in there on it.
 
LiLStick said:
When breaking, using a standard rack of 15 balls, which ball or balls are most likely to be pocketed by an average player? I need this info so I can determine the best way to position balls in the rack for a new pool game I am developing. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
LiL Stick
Click to expand...

The 3 balls that are most likely to be pocketed on the break are the front ball and the 2 back corner balls. These 3 balls are not obstructed by any other balls, and are therefore going to get the most action on the break a lot of the time. That's why in 8-ball, where most people put the 1 in the front and rack solid, stripe all the way around the rack, you get all solids in all 3 positions, and if the breaker makes a ball, it's usually a solid.

The only ball I know of you can play on the break and be successful a high percentage of the time is the front ball. If you break from the extreme right, you you can play the head ball in the left side pocket, or vice versa from extreme left.
 
Cuebacca said:
For me, sometimes when I make a ball, it's one of the two corner balls that goes 4 rails and back to the foot pocket that it was originally closest to in the rack. That's the only ball I have noticed a pattern to.

It's been a while since I looked at the 8-ball section of Racking Secrets, but perhaps there's something in there on it.
Click to expand...

I get this result all the time in 8-ball. I break from the right and the left corner balls goes 4 rails back to the upper left corner pocket.
 
You're kidding, right??? Depends on how they are racked. Ok, I see now, it doesn't matter which numbers, just which balls out of the rack. A lot of that depends on where you break from, the amount of speed on the cue ball, where the rack is struck, my head is starting to hurt;(
 
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The first three balls tend to go towards the side pockets while the corner balls tend to go four rails if you're lucky. As everyone has pointed out though, depends on how and where someone is breaking and how well or not the balls are racked. Good luck!!
 
You should check out some of Phil Capelle's books, he's made some studies of exactly this question. His method is simply to watch hundreds of recorded matches and write down the results.

I don't know if he's updated it with results from the IPT tournaments in 2007, those would be a good source for 8 Ball stats as they are all documented. However they were playing with a fairly unorthodox setup compared to most other tournaments. As other posters have noted it is very dependent on the table setup, balls and racker.
 
I wanted to thank everyone for their replies. Your info was very helpful to me. As I always say, if you want to learn anything about pool, the AZBilliards Forum is the place to ask. Thanks again.

Sincerely,

LilStick
 
I love this question! Makes everyone think, a little!

A lot depends on how tightly the balls are racked, where they're placed and the angle of the rack (some people don't see very straight and the rack gets sorta cockeyed), from where you hit the cue ball, how hard you hit the cue ball, where the cue ball first makes contact... There are a LOT of variables on this one!

I would suggest that if you are wanting to do something in particular, pay close attention to what you do on every break. Write down all the variables and the results. When you find the break you want, work on repeating it. Most of us have a break that is common to us. If we want to change what results are normal for us, we have to change the approach.

Some folks set up the balls according to their break... Stripes here, solids there... Then, they break and run out on you, because all their balls are in the perfect locations for easy shots. (I'm assuming this might be what you're wanting to do?) If you watch them closely, you'll learn how NOT to rack the balls for them, if you ever get the chance to rack the balls.

Good luck finding the break you are looking for!
 
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