Do You Have the Right to Inspect My Rack?

Jerry Forsyth

Jerry Forsyth

Well-known member
Folks,

I am at the US Open and do not have a rule book with me. But as I watch this rack-your-own event I watch as players inspect each others racks and make demands for changes.

I do not remember anything in the rules that gives an opponent the right to inspect or comment upon or make requests for changes in my racks.

If I am playing you, rack my own balls and you come up and inspect my rack and ask me to change it, is there anything in the rules that would prevent me from ignoring you and breaking the balls?

I know that I have to follow the rule of racking properly with the rack square and the one on the headstring and the nine in the middle, but do you have the right to require me to eliminate a crack somewhere in the rack? My memory says that you do not and that I can go ahead and break but my memory sometimes fails. Most of the time, actually.
 
Ever since Joe Tucker's book, "Racking Secrets," came out, every player I know has talked about racking, how to rig a rack, how to break a rigged rack, et cetera.

Because of this, every player is conscientious about the rack. I can't tell you how many argument's I've seen over the damn rack.

Keith is old school, and when we first went on the road together to tournaments, he never checked the rack. A few friends of ours pulled Keith aside and told him how important it was to check the rack. They showed him how cracks in the rack can affect the break. Keith looked at them like they were nuts and continued to not check the rack. I would implore him at every tournament to check the rack, but truth be told, to this day, I don't think Keith knows what to look for.

Two players at the Super Billiards Expo pro event, who shall remain nameless, argued over the rack with each other. One of them went outside with me to smoke a cigarette and said that he knew his opponent was rigging the rack, and so he was going to be rigging the other guy when it was his turn to rack.

Most of today's pool super stars know how to rig racks, break rigged racks, break good racks, and rack good racks. They recognize the difference. As the old saying goes, "You can't con a con," well, when it comes to rack riggers, it takes one to know one. :embarrassed2:

The pool tournament industry is financially strapped. In an ideal world, they would have neutral rackers, and neither player would be able to check the rack. In fact, at the Skins Billiard Championship players meeting, they informed the 16 players that nobody would be allowed to look at the rack. Every rack would be racked by the referee, and no one could dispute the rack. In a professional tournament, this is how it should be done, in my opinion.
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
Folks,

I am at the US Open and do not have a rule book with me. But as I watch this rack-your-own event I watch as players inspect each others racks and make demands for changes.

I do not remember anything in the rules that gives an opponent the right to inspect or comment upon or make requests for changes in my racks.

If I am playing you, rack my own balls and you come up and inspect my rack and ask me to change it, is there anything in the rules that would prevent me from ignoring you and breaking the balls?

I know that I have to follow the rule of racking properly with the rack square and the one on the headstring and the nine in the middle, but do you have the right to require me to eliminate a crack somewhere in the rack? My memory says that you do not and that I can go ahead and break but my memory sometimes fails. Most of the time, actually.
Click to expand...

I like the title "Do You Have the Right to Inspect My Rack?" :groucho:
 
I think paying a ref to rack balls at least on the TV table is far more important than to pay a singer to hold up the works. Johnnyt
 
If my opponent gets up from his chair and comes to the table to inspect the rack and while he is doing so I will put my hand across my nose, make a face and say in a theatrical manner,"eck, you have a bad breath,stay away from me".

Jerry, you know very well that it all depends upon the rules written by the dudes who can`t construct a sentence properly in English language. Even the current,very popular Tournament Director of Pro tournaments lack the ability to clearly articulate the rules.

When I have to write something important, I take the help of a person who has better writing skills in English language.

PS: Administrative Law teaches the Rules on how to make/frame the Rules/Laws
 
Last edited:
If the racker leaves gaps allowing the 9 to always go to the corner, what other options are there to the opponent, other than asking the breaker to tighten the rack? Opponent has to check to see if there is any problem that gives an unfair advantage to the breaker.
 
To follow this up, I wouldn't do this until the 2nd time that the 9 ball went right towards the corner. At that point, it is time to be proactive. If the racker disagrees with a rerack, then a referee must be brought in to decide.

beetle said:
If the racker leaves gaps allowing the 9 to always go to the corner, what other options are there to the opponent, other than asking the breaker to tighten the rack? Opponent has to check to see if there is any problem that gives an unfair advantage to the breaker.
Click to expand...
 
Bowlers don't rack their own pins. Pool players should *not* be allowed to rack their own balls in high-profile competitions, especially ones that are filmed.

Rack riggers rigging the rack is no different than playing poker with a marked deck of cards.
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
Folks,

I am at the US Open and do not have a rule book with me. But as I watch this rack-your-own event I watch as players inspect each others racks and make demands for changes.

I do not remember anything in the rules that gives an opponent the right to inspect or comment upon or make requests for changes in my racks.

If I am playing you, rack my own balls and you come up and inspect my rack and ask me to change it, is there anything in the rules that would prevent me from ignoring you and breaking the balls?

I know that I have to follow the rule of racking properly with the rack square and the one on the headstring and the nine in the middle, but do you have the right to require me to eliminate a crack somewhere in the rack? My memory says that you do not and that I can go ahead and break but my memory sometimes fails. Most of the time, actually.
Click to expand...

A fundamental problem with the game! Pool players being allowed to make their own demands whilst in competition is WRONG!
If you're opponent seeks to cheat, let them - this is why referees where born :thumbup:
 
Jerry, It just goes on and on and on and on. There is sure be a post to follow soon that will say "Just go to Ten-Ball"! (like that matters)
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
Folks,

I am at the US Open and do not have a rule book with me. But as I watch this rack-your-own event I watch as players inspect each others racks and make demands for changes.

I do not remember anything in the rules that gives an opponent the right to inspect or comment upon or make requests for changes in my racks.

If I am playing you, rack my own balls and you come up and inspect my rack and ask me to change it, is there anything in the rules that would prevent me from ignoring you and breaking the balls?

I know that I have to follow the rule of racking properly with the rack square and the one on the headstring and the nine in the middle, but do you have the right to require me to eliminate a crack somewhere in the rack? My memory says that you do not and that I can go ahead and break but my memory sometimes fails. Most of the time, actually.
Click to expand...

Great thread Jerry :thumbup:
Rules are rules - whether we like them or not!

If a player comes out of the bedroom and can make the 9 from anywhere on any table (not matter how hypothetical this is) SURELY this should be acknowledged as HIS / HER SKILL therefore becoming their advantage... SURELY?

1 BIG problem with pool players is they seek to undermine their opponent rather than excepting that their opponent may be better - at least for that one match.

It just makes me SICK when the game is struggling so badly, that any young person wanting to take up this game would have to keep up with SO MANY VARIABLES within it - rather than studying the official rule book (in this case the WPA) and mastering the rules at hand :thumbup:

If you don't like the rules then get the F@$K OUTA DODGE!
Leave the game to those who love the game :thumbup:

Vexation over :thumbup:
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
Folks,

I am at the US Open and do not have a rule book with me. But as I watch this rack-your-own event I watch as players inspect each others racks and make demands for changes.

I do not remember anything in the rules that gives an opponent the right to inspect or comment upon or make requests for changes in my racks.

If I am playing you, rack my own balls and you come up and inspect my rack and ask me to change it, is there anything in the rules that would prevent me from ignoring you and breaking the balls?

I know that I have to follow the rule of racking properly with the rack square and the one on the headstring and the nine in the middle, but do you have the right to require me to eliminate a crack somewhere in the rack? My memory says that you do not and that I can go ahead and break but my memory sometimes fails. Most of the time, actually.
Click to expand...

Jerry,
Perhaps this is the beginning of an argument that says the rack should be consistent so going to a particular kind of rack that racks the same is the key and manipulating the rules of the game to make it harder and thusly taking some of the power out of racking this way or that. Its a shame when the rack becomes the game but since making a ball on the break has become so important well it just sort of happened. No human can rack for another unless its a mechanical rack of a sort ...anything less....people will say he paid the rack guy! Geez.....when is it going to stop.
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
Folks,

I am at the US Open and do not have a rule book with me. But as I watch this rack-your-own event I watch as players inspect each others racks and make demands for changes.

I do not remember anything in the rules that gives an opponent the right to inspect or comment upon or make requests for changes in my racks.

If I am playing you, rack my own balls and you come up and inspect my rack and ask me to change it, is there anything in the rules that would prevent me from ignoring you and breaking the balls?

I know that I have to follow the rule of racking properly with the rack square and the one on the headstring and the nine in the middle, but do you have the right to require me to eliminate a crack somewhere in the rack? My memory says that you do not and that I can go ahead and break but my memory sometimes fails. Most of the time, actually.
Click to expand...

If you are there, could you go over and ask the tournament director for a clarification on what "rules" they are using for this tournament and let us know?
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
I do not remember anything in the rules that gives an opponent the right to inspect or comment upon or make requests for changes in my racks.
Click to expand...

The rules clearly state that the balls must be racked as tightly as possible. Any deviation from that is cheating. Are you telling me that you want players to be able to cheat and get away with it?
 
JAM said:
Bowlers don't rack their own pins. Pool players should *not* be allowed to rack their own balls in high-profile competitions, especially ones that are filmed.

Rack riggers rigging the rack is no different than playing poker with a marked deck of cards.
Click to expand...

:smile:


Bowlers are allowed to have the pins reset once per frame.


I like the idea where all nine balls are racked in the same order every time for every player, then put a handkerchief over the balls, then break them that way so no one can check a rack.

Or, do it like bowling...only one rerack.

With the balls being not perfectly the same diameter, sometimes you just can't get them all tight. If you could have the exact rack and break all the time, the game would be too repetitious. ;)
 
JAM said:
Every rack would be racked by the referee, and no one could dispute the rack. In a professional tournament, this is how it should be done, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Agree. The issue is finding the money to pay a lot of refs. I know the argument has been made before about volunteers, but I just don't think it's feasible. Otherwise, it would have been done already.

I would be disappointed, but not surprised, if there wasn't a neutral racker for today's matches.

The easiest solution, however, would be to pay one ref for the entire tournament to rack all of the TV table matches.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top