I’ve probably said this a dozen times on here, but I will once more. Go to the “four ball” rule in One Pocket and that will be the end of three and four hour matches! I’m not sure what’s so hard to understand here. DCC had a problem that can be fixed, so why not try to do just that. This years new ruling on fouls and canceling them out did little to change anything.
The four ball would only affect the strategy players use when the possibility of a fourth ball inside the head string existed. I 100% guarantee you it wouldn’t affect the outcome of the match. The best players will still win and we will see the same names near the end.
Thank you Bob for offering a reasonable alternative to what that are doing now. It will probably fall on deaf ears, as has my solution to the scheduling issues at DCC.
We all know that the problem revolves around the One Pocket tournament and matches that last three, four hours or more. Canceling out the fouls did not make one iota difference in shortening the matches, but there is a way to do that which has been tested and proven.
I give credit to our old friend Grady for coming up with the “four ball” rule, when four or more balls are inside the head string you spot a ball or balls (the one(s) nearest the end rail first) until you have only three balls left inside. Yes the strategy of the game changes, but that will not affect the outcome of the matches. The best players will continue to win and we will see familiar names near the end.
Where this will make a huge difference is eliminating long drawn out matches between lesser players, and the use of the Wedge when two good players go at it.
No more long matches, maybe an average time of one to one and half hours per match, with two hours being a very long match. I can 100% guarantee you this will end the quagmire we see here every year.
Will it happen? Doubtful
P.S. you see two answers here because I thought my first reply got lost in the cloud, but here it is, two takes on the same issue.
