Until I joined this site, I had never heard of 10 ball....true story.
My pool days primarily took place when I was around 18-20, then picked up again briefly when I was around 25, then faded away again. I'm now 43 and am just now hearing about 10 ball. So is that something that has developed in the last 20 years or so?
Along with all the other information:
10-ball became my practice game in 1989.
Joe Tucker has been pushing for 10-ball for at least as long.
Somewhere along the line, professionals started playing 10-ball with original rules (same rules as 9-ball), and there were tournament tours popping up all over the place, some with the modification of "no 10-ball in the bottom two corners on the break." THat would include the Predator 10-ball Tour, which Shane won their World 10-ball Championship (for whatever that's worth)
TAR (The Action Report) started showcasing 10-ball Challenge Matches, also with modified old-school rules. Shane Van Boening was as instrumental as anyone in spreading the popularity of 10-ball as their main participant including the epic SVB vs Alex Pagulayan matches.
With its growing popularity, the WPA decided to visit and modify the official rules to add call shot as a norm, thus "creating" a World Standardized championship game that is wholly different than 9-ball.
I feel like the WPA totally bypassed asking guys like Joe Tucker for his input, considering his longtime promotion of the game long before the WPA revisited the rules. But, I don't rule the universe, so I can only complain. In the end, I'd rather play 10-ball by old school rules, but with no 10-ball on the break.
Freddie <~~~ not as disgruntled