Here are some aggregate break statistics from the Don Coates Memorial 9-Ball event played April 8-10, 2016 at the Brass Tap & Billiards in Raleigh, North Carolina, with pay-per-view streaming by PoolActionTV. This was a 128-player, double-elimination event won by Rodney Morris.
Conditions -- The conditions for this event included:
- Brunswick Gold Crown 9-foot table with approximately 5" corner pockets and green Andy Cloth;
- Aramith balls with the measles cue ball;
- triangle rack (wooden for most of the matches, then metal for the last few);
- rack your own with the 9-ball on the foot spot (2-ball need not be in the back);
- alternating breaks from anywhere behind the head string;
- illegal break unless at least 3 balls are pocketed or reach the side pockets;
- jump cues allowed;
- cue-ball fouls only; and
- all slop counts, except spot any 9-ball made on the break
The stats are for the following 18 matches, all of which were streamed from the same table. These matches totaled 247 games, but I missed or had streaming problems during 14 of the games, so the stats are for 233 games.
Overall results -- The breaker made at least one ball (and did not foul) 66% of the time (153 of 233), won 58% of the games (134 of 233), and broke and ran 30% of the games (71 of 233).
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the 233 games.
Breaker made at least one ball and did not foul:
Breaker fouled on the break:
Breaker broke dry (without fouling):
Therefore, whereas the breaker won 58% (134 of 233) of all games,
Break-and-run games: The 71 break-and-run games represented 30% of all 233 games, 53% of the 134 games won by the breaker, and 46% of the 153 games in which the break was successful (made a ball and didn't foul).
With alternating breaks, B&R "packages" of the normal type are not possible. But we can still look at the breaks of a given player and see how many he ran on his own successive breaks, and we can call these "alternate-break packages." The 71 break-and-run games consisted of 1 alternating-break 3-pack (by Morris), 15 alternating-break 2-packs, and 38 singles.
9-balls on the break: The 9-ball was made on the break 7 times (3.0% of the 233 breaks), but it did not count as a game win and was spotted.
Illegal Breaks: On an illegal but otherwise successful break, the play passed to the opponent. I saw that happen only once, so I counted it in the above stats as a dry break rather than creating a separate category. A few dry breaks were also illegal, but they had no effect.
Conditions -- The conditions for this event included:
- Brunswick Gold Crown 9-foot table with approximately 5" corner pockets and green Andy Cloth;
- Aramith balls with the measles cue ball;
- triangle rack (wooden for most of the matches, then metal for the last few);
- rack your own with the 9-ball on the foot spot (2-ball need not be in the back);
- alternating breaks from anywhere behind the head string;
- illegal break unless at least 3 balls are pocketed or reach the side pockets;
- jump cues allowed;
- cue-ball fouls only; and
- all slop counts, except spot any 9-ball made on the break
The stats are for the following 18 matches, all of which were streamed from the same table. These matches totaled 247 games, but I missed or had streaming problems during 14 of the games, so the stats are for 233 games.
Fri. April 8, 2016
• Rodney Morris defeated Zack Gurganus 9-0
• Vilmos Foldes d. Tony Chohan 9-5 (stats exclude 1 game)
• Mike Dechaine d. Jason Stewart 9-1
Sat., April 9
• Shane Van Boening d. Sean King 9-4
• John Morra d. Tommy Kennedy 9-5
• Alex Pagulayan d. Jeremy Sossei 9-3 (stats exclude 8 games)
• Justin Bergman d. Shaun Wilkie 9-6 (stats exclude 2 games)
• Johnny Archer d. Robb Saez 9-8 (stats exclude 1 game)
Sun., April 10
• Morris d. Van Boening 9-5
• Mike Davis d. Dan Heidrich 9-8
• Josh Roberts d. Keith Bennett 9-3
• Pagulayan d. Morra 9-1
• Morris d. Jason Klatt 9-5
• Shane McMinn d. Bergman 9-4
• Morris d. Dechaine 9-7 (stats exclude 2 games)
• Pagulayan d. McMinn 9-3
• Morris d. McMinn 9-2 (Semifinals)
• Morris d. Pagulayan 13-11 (Finals).
• Rodney Morris defeated Zack Gurganus 9-0
• Vilmos Foldes d. Tony Chohan 9-5 (stats exclude 1 game)
• Mike Dechaine d. Jason Stewart 9-1
Sat., April 9
• Shane Van Boening d. Sean King 9-4
• John Morra d. Tommy Kennedy 9-5
• Alex Pagulayan d. Jeremy Sossei 9-3 (stats exclude 8 games)
• Justin Bergman d. Shaun Wilkie 9-6 (stats exclude 2 games)
• Johnny Archer d. Robb Saez 9-8 (stats exclude 1 game)
Sun., April 10
• Morris d. Van Boening 9-5
• Mike Davis d. Dan Heidrich 9-8
• Josh Roberts d. Keith Bennett 9-3
• Pagulayan d. Morra 9-1
• Morris d. Jason Klatt 9-5
• Shane McMinn d. Bergman 9-4
• Morris d. Dechaine 9-7 (stats exclude 2 games)
• Pagulayan d. McMinn 9-3
• Morris d. McMinn 9-2 (Semifinals)
• Morris d. Pagulayan 13-11 (Finals).
Overall results -- The breaker made at least one ball (and did not foul) 66% of the time (153 of 233), won 58% of the games (134 of 233), and broke and ran 30% of the games (71 of 233).
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the 233 games.
Breaker made at least one ball and did not foul:
- Breaker won the game: 109 (47% of the 233 games)
- Breaker lost the game: 44 (19%)
Breaker fouled on the break:
- Breaker won the game: 4 (2%)
- Breaker lost the game: 15 (6%)
Breaker broke dry (without fouling):
- Breaker won the game: 21 (9%)
- Breaker lost the game: 40 (17%)
Therefore, whereas the breaker won 58% (134 of 233) of all games,
- He won 71% (109 of 153) of the games in which he made at least one ball on the break and did not foul.
- He won 21% (4 of 19) of the games in which he fouled on the break.
- He won 34% (21 of 61) of the games in which he broke dry but did not foul.
- He won 31% (25 of 80) of the games in which he either fouled on the break or broke dry without fouling.
Break-and-run games: The 71 break-and-run games represented 30% of all 233 games, 53% of the 134 games won by the breaker, and 46% of the 153 games in which the break was successful (made a ball and didn't foul).
With alternating breaks, B&R "packages" of the normal type are not possible. But we can still look at the breaks of a given player and see how many he ran on his own successive breaks, and we can call these "alternate-break packages." The 71 break-and-run games consisted of 1 alternating-break 3-pack (by Morris), 15 alternating-break 2-packs, and 38 singles.
9-balls on the break: The 9-ball was made on the break 7 times (3.0% of the 233 breaks), but it did not count as a game win and was spotted.
Illegal Breaks: On an illegal but otherwise successful break, the play passed to the opponent. I saw that happen only once, so I counted it in the above stats as a dry break rather than creating a separate category. A few dry breaks were also illegal, but they had no effect.