I had a goal of a 75 run by the end of the year.
I should probably start playing straight pool.
Really been trying to get the 5 pack I want.
But straight pool is a fun game. I need to start playing more....
Like a lot more. Like actually playing it.
Yes straight pool is a fun game. Here's my personal perception of 9 and 10 ball. It may be a bit of a rant, :smile: but I feel it's an accurate depiction. I think a lot of my frustration comes from my feeling it is a shame that such an amazing game as straight pool has been kicked to the curb for the likes of such a crap shoot as 9 ball.
I really believe that any string of 9 ball racks (like your mentioned 5 pack) is largely a product of ( naturally good ball pocketing ability) the lie of the balls after the break. IMO that makes any successful run of 5 racks or so in 9 ball dependent on primarily the luck of the break, which many times counts the lucking in of the 9 off the break and counts as one game toward the goal. How that particular win is gratifying, is beyond me even more so than how the lie of the balls is gratifying after smashing them to hell on the break.
Of course you have to get around the table and fix trouble clusters, but regardless, your options are so limited, that should you be successful, it doesn't mean you are going to do it again without the balls cooperation, and that cooperation initially comes from smashing a rack of balls to hell and back hoping for a favorable outcome.
In straight pool, while luck is always a factor, primarily getting through racks is a product of correct patterns, deep concentration, pin point accuracy, and delicate touch and prolonged ability to focus.
The shooter makes it happen more in straight pool, and the lie of the balls makes it happen more in 9 ball. That's why I find myself calling it a carnival game. It's like ... spin the wheel and if it lands on "good break" you get to proceed from there with a high percentage chance of getting all the way out and then you have to spin the wheel successfully 4 more times. If the wheel lands on "locked up behind a ball", or can't see the 1, or the 2 is buried and can't be hit from the current lie of the balls, then oh well, that's the end. It's so monotonous.
The successful running of 5 or so racks in 9 ball is much less fulfilling to me because of the randomness of smashing the opening break and the limitations of how to get out and the dependency of how the balls end up after smashing them than a 50 ball run is in straight pool where the player has to develop the pallet into patterns that lead to the next rack based primarily on his choices and maneuvering, bumping and ultimately placing balls in favorable positions and then working around them without disturbing them.
Not to mention, geez ... how many times can a person keep interest in racking and smashing a 9 ball game. God, for the life of me I don't understand how that holds anyone's interest for any length of time. But, everyone is different, everyone expects or desires different things from this game, but for me, I'll take the challenge of straight pool or 1 pocket any day over 9 ball.
