Chinese Billiard Game

Samiel

Samiel

Sea Player
Silver Member
I had the opportunity to play with some friends and Chen here in Dallas. Chen showed us a game he says they are playing (and gambling on) in Taiwan. It's played on a regular pool table and requires 3 object balls and the cueball.

The opening break is setup as follows with BIH in the kitchen...

CueTable Help



In order to score a point, you must do the following...

1. Strike a red and yellow ball first (any order) with the cueball in one shot
2. Strike both red balls (any order) with the cueball in one shot
3. Strike all three balls (any order) with the cueball in one shot

You do not need to hit any rails.

If a ball is pocketed, it is spotted in the order the ball went down and in the following spots...

1. Foot Spot
2. Head Spot (if the Foot Spot is blocked)
3. Center Spot (if the Foot Spot and Head Spot are blocked)

I played a bit on Tuesday night and never scored a point. I played about 4-5 hours on Wednesday night before I scored my first (and only) point (I had a bunch of close ones though).

Obviously the strategy is to be able to setup your next shot each time you shoot.

Chen would start the break by thinning the 3-ball with inside english and strike the 1-ball... hitting the 3-ball hard enough to bring it near the 11-ball.

In any case, this would be a good (but possibly frustrating) game to practice table speed and carom angles.

Let me know if any of you try it!
 
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This game has migrated from Taiwan to mainland China and I see it played often between higher level players. It's usually a gambling game here.

I played once and scored two points in about two hours.
 
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I play this all the time. The first time I played it I scored on all three shots and got paid by everyone. It's a cool game, definitely good for learning caroms and tangents. Billiards experience helps.

IF I ever heard of ANYONE actually betting a lot on this game I'd bring a billiard player and he'd rob the game. Seriously, the good three cushion players I know would make the good Taiwanese players look like little children in this game.

The good players in my town (with over 20 poolrooms with over 20 tables each) generally play for 10/30rmb which is a 10rmb penalty for making a foul and 30rmb payout to the player who makes the set of shots. The foul money goes to the table time. $1 = 7.6rmb. So you can see it's not really big action. I don't doubt that there have been some games happen with serious money involved but I think it's safe to say that these on the rare side. As far as I can see it's a good social way for the good players to practice and that's about it.

They also play another ring game version of nine ball where the person who sells out is the only one wha has to pay unless someone breaks and runs and then everyone has to pay. It's weird and heavily favors the best player. I won a little bit playing this way against two weaker players and then got the other end when I played it against two tough players.

It works like this - When a player gives up the table and the person who follows him runs out then the player who gave up the table pays the person who ran out. Now the player who ran out gets to break and the player who sold out follows him. With this system it's possible for the better players to trade racks where they stay even and to break and run where they get money from the other people without the other people ever getting a turn. It's a really flawed system as it gives the winner and the loser more opportunities than the other players.

The night I played with two good players I sat there for five racks while they essentially played each other. I had to pay out twice for two break and runs during those games. I quit and told them that they both have heads up action or we could play 5 and 9 American style. :-)

Also here they play a full rack game with cards that I really like. You have to shoot your balls in without revealing what they are and without making anyone else's. I like that game best of the three.

John
 
I was playing 9 ball in Shanghai tonight and on the table beside me there was a game of the Chinese billiards being played by four people from Taiwan. In the four were Chao Fong Pang and Zhen Zhong Hao ( Pan Xiao Ting's coach).

It was a small stakes game and they were just having fun. I got distracted several times watching.

One additional rule, here at least. On the first two shots, when you are trying to hit two balls, if you hit all three, it is a paying foul. No ball in hand or anything, just end of inning and money in the foul pot.
 
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It seems similar to balkline billiards.

We play a game from time to time with 2 OBs. Head spot and foot spot to start. The idea is to pocket one of them, and hit the other. Balls are respotted farthest from each other.
 
Yes, I forgot to mention that if you hit all 3 balls early (before you are supposed to), it's a foul (your turn ends).

John, I have also played the Chinese variant of 9-ball you mentioned as well as the full rack card game. The full rack card game is more fair though, since a good player running racks will get paid too often in the 9-ball ring game variant.
 
Samiel said:
John, I have also played the Chinese variant of 9-ball you mentioned as well as the full rack card game. The full rack card game is more fair though, since a good player running racks will get paid too often in the 9-ball ring game variant.
Click to expand...
What are the rules for the full rack card game?
 
penguin said:
What are the rules for the full rack card game?
Click to expand...

You have 15 cards and you deal them out in equal amounts to the players. Then each player tries to run out his balls without making an opponent's ball or scratching. A scratch is a loss of game.

Payout is dependent on the cards left in the opponent's hands. It's kind of like Kelly pool with more balls.

In a two player game each player gets 7 balls and the 8 ball is off limits - I think. I haven't played in months so I am not quite sure on this point. The two player version is like eight ball except that each game you have different balls so it's a memory test to remember your balls and not pocket the wrong ones.
 
We played the full rack card game a bit differently.

1. Have 15 cards
2. Each player draws one card and keeps it hidden
3. Each player gets one shot and then the next player shoots
4. Try play to keep your ball out of play
5. Luck is important up until the last 3 people or so
 
I haven't played that way but I have seen quite a lot of the card game being played so I guess that version is probably being played as well. That's more like Kelly pool.

John
 
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