Checking the Rack

You know... it doesn't matter WHO racks, if there is a checking process there WILL be arguments. Even if you rack your own. Tournaments have gone on HOURS longer than they should because of the rack approval processes. I've said it before, making a ball on the break is RACK dependent, not Breaker dependent. To solve all of the issues surrounding the rack I think this guy is right about removing the requirment to make a ball on the break. It eliminates all of the arguments.

See the following link on his website for the full details...

No Conflict Rules
 
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I hear you man. I am meticulous about racking and everybody with a half decent break makes balls off my 9-ball rack. This I don't mind, but I find most people make a crappy rack, out of laziness or ignorance I like to think, and this gets under my skin. I wind up not making balls on the break. There is one person in particular whose first rack I almost always make balls off, subsequent racks I generally don't, coincidence?
Maybe I should start checking racks.
 
brandoncook26 said:
If you buy Charlie Bond's book on breaking, there is a reprint of Tucker's book inside. It's like a two for one.

His name is ceebee on here, or go to www.breakrak.com
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I just checked this out. Thirty bucks for a paper-bound book is a lot, but figuring he is self-published I can live with that, but another 7 bucks for shipping, handling, and insurance... come on now, it's just a book.
 
Racking rule changes

Our local tournament has recently gone to rack your own with alternating break. The 9 ball doesn't count in the bottom 2 corner pockets.

I understand the rack your own concept and appreciate the chance to rack my opponents spotted balls in locations where I frequently make them on the break or send them up table to avoid setting up combinations in the bottom 2 corner pockets. That provides me control over their money balls versus their having the ability to put them behind the 9 ball and have them setup for combos. I never purposely give back racks so letting me rack where I want on my break means more to me anyway.

I know why the 9 doesn't count on the break in the bottom 2, but that penalizes the player with the stronger break.

As far as alternating breaks, it's horrible. Nine ball was never intended to be played with alternating breaks. He who wins the game earns the break and should keep control of the table. Now nobody ever runs out more than 1 rack. Worst of all comebacks from 5-2 down in a race to 7 are almost unheard of. Winning 5 out of 6 games where your opponent breaks 3 of the games isn't likely, and there are no 5 pack comebacks anymore.

As far as the Joe Tucker video it's excellent and good knowledge. Much of the information can be replicated on a good table. However with the usual slow cloth, pitted footspot and dirty balls, it doesn't work so much.

I think it's much more valuable to have an understanding of where the balls travel and end up on your own break and your opponent's. Everybody in the know pattern racks for easy runouts for themselves or difficult oes for their opponents. Especially when there is a big disparity between the player's skill levels. Even more so when balls spots are given.
 
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catscradle said:
I just checked this out. Thirty bucks for a paper-bound book is a lot, but figuring he is self-published I can live with that, but another 7 bucks for shipping, handling, and insurance... come on now, it's just a book.
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Buy the CD... find someone to split the cost/CDs with you.
 
When I played league I would ask my opponent if I could rack for myself. Some didn't mind.

For the others, I would check their rack... and if they questioned why, I would simply say I'm looking to see where I want to break from as I have Joe's CDs... and if I found a bad rack, I would simply tell them that the ball(s) rolled off after they finished racking. It keeps the blame out of it.
 
Ceebee used to live around me and/or have relatives nearby. I've seen his book, but I never went through Joe Tucker's part at the end. I'll have to go find a copy now and get the DVD as well! :p
 
calcuttaman said:
I think this is why the BCAPL and other tours have gone to "Rack your own." I think it eliminates alot of the issues you brought up.
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I think I will try to move my match-ups to rack your own, with a few additions. Either no 9 on the break win, or at least no 9 in the lower 2 pockets. Same with 10 ball. No pattern racking. I'm pretty sure that the official BCA rules state that the rack is to be set randomly, outside of the few key balls (1,9,8,10, based on the game).

Although I do have to say where I play, I have seen several times where the guy racking offered a re-rack after a really bad result. You can really tell by the sound and how the cueball reacts if it was a bad hit or a bad rack.
 
master9baller said:
Our local tournament has recently gone to rack your own with alternating break. The 9 ball doesn't count in the bottom 2 corner pockets.

I understand the rack your own concept and appreciate the chance to rack my opponents spotted balls in locations where I frequently make them on the break or send them up table to avoid setting up combinations in the bottom 2 corner pockets. That provides me control over their money balls versus their having the ability to put them behind the 9 ball and have them setup for combos. I never purposely give back racks so letting me rack where I want on my break means more to me anyway.

I know why the 9 doesn't count on the break in the bottom 2, but that penalizes the player with the stronger break. -snip-
.
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I may have a thought about this, but it is a bit iffy as it relies on watching the break result. If the 9 ball moves naturally towards the pocket without getting knocked there, it should not count. If the 9 ball stays in the middle, or only moves on it's own within a one-diamond square, then gets kicked in by another ball in the corner 2 pockets, it counts as a win. That way you can be sure the rack was not set to make the 9, but a breaker can still win on "luck".
 
All of our leagues and tournaments in went to rack your own and I think it has eliminated most of the complaining. I personally like rack your own its funny to watch some of the players that were known for not tightening the rack react to their own bad racks now.
 
joe tuckers video racking secrets is awesome! I always wondered if there was a way to figure out the rack but i never could have had time or patients to do the research. But joe's video is all you need it has helped me win games no lie!
 
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