Do you play all games?

C

Cameron Smith

is kind of hungry...
Silver Member
If not why? I'm just curious. There seems to be a lot people who stick to one game, be it 9 ball or 8 ball and sometimes one pocket or Straight Pool. Just wondering why one and not the other.

I personally think that every game teaches a skill that will be invaluable in every other game. It would do anyone wonders to play 14.1, one pocket, snooker, billiards, 9 ball, bank pool etc. But I find there quite a few who choose not to.
 
I'm with you. I love one pocket, bank, 14.1, 9 ball, 10 ball, and 8 ball. I try to practice every game. I usually spend some time everyday playing scratch pool and a carom practice I came up (probably not original) with that helps me come up with creative shots to use in other games.

Most people tend to stick with one game. I almost don't like going to the pool room because no one will play one pocket. It's always 9 ball which is fine, but there are so many other games to play.
 
I play pretty much all the rotation games fairly regularly - mostly 8 and 9 ball. 10 ball on occasion also. Every once in a while, I play straight pool for practice and I usually enjoy it. I'm endlessly frustrated with it, yet, I love the challenge so much I can't stop playing it.

Games I'm gaining an interest in are One Pocket and Snooker. Although, I'd have to drive almost 6 hours to find the closest Snooker table, I may look more into the rules of One Pocket and see how it tickles me.

I agree that playing a variety of games makes you a well-rounded player. Different games have different demands, be it shot making, position, break-outs, strategy, etc. Being comfortable with different games can only serve to make someone a better all-around player in my opinion.
 
Where I live it's all 8 ball and 9 ball. It gets a little tiresome. I'm a little envious people who live in areas where there is 14.1 tournaments and one pocket tournaments.

I love one pocket, mostly to play rather than watch. But no one plays it, and I have no idea how to practice it besides playing a game against myself which gets boring. That and I sometimes let the other me win.
 
Cameron Smith said:
Where I live it's all 8 ball and 9 ball. It gets a little tiresome. I'm a little envious people who live in areas where there is 14.1 tournaments and one pocket tournaments.

I love one pocket, mostly to play rather than watch. But no one plays it, and I have no idea how to practice it besides playing a game against myself which gets boring. That and I sometimes let the other me win.
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Show no mercy!
 
When my friends come over to play we play a nine ball race and the winner picks the next game and so on. We play 9ball, 8 ball, straight pool, one pocket, short rack banks and 3 ball. We play 9 ball with safeties half the time and 9 ball with ball in hand on all misses the other half.

My other friend has 5x10 snooker table and we play snooker and we also play 9 ball race to 50 points each ball pocketed is worth one point and the 9 ball is worth 2 points.

I play mostly 8 and 9 ball though because that is what our local tournaments are.
 
For me, I'm the only one shootin usually at our local Moose Lodge. I usually play 9 ball but when its an opponent I play 8. I do love bank pool and one pocket. The only guy who would play me in one pocket and 15 ball is an old timer who is good and he taught me a few things or two. Yes playing one type of game does get tiring. That when I love kicking shots so I work on some kick trick shots or just reg. kick shots.
 
plat them all and then some

I personally use to play 3,6,8,9, and 10 ball. But my 2 best games were 14.1 and 3 cushion billiards which i at 1 time use to play very proficiently. Now i am lucky if i hit a ball once a month....:(. Just life i guess...............mike
 
When I was a teenager my friends and I usually played 8-Ball although I did play some snooker in those days. I really liked snooker, but it was more expensive and we didn't have a lot of money to throw around.
Now that I'm older I've played some tournament 9-Ball on both big and small tables, but when all is said and done, my heart belongs to One Pocket. Usually one-on-one, but sometimes a three man game that we call break-the-breaker, and occasionally some scotch doubles OP. :)
 
I seem to play a lot of 9 ball. I am lucky because I have a regular 14.1 game with a player who has a lot of knowledge and a high run of 232 (which was more than 30 years ago but he went 55 and out on me a couple of weeks ago when I needed 3 to win) and in the best poolhall in charleston there is just as much 1p played as 9 ball. We also play a little keno and amos and andy.
 
Most of my time at the table is practice time not with other people, so my favorite games to practice are 9-ball and straight pool. Nine-ball against the ghost keeps the competitive quality to the game, while straight pool is a real good gauge of your progress. I also do the 15-balls-without-hitting-a-rail drill from time to time for about an hour or so to get myself back into stroke.

When I'm at leagues, though, of course 8-ball is the game to play, and I really do enjoy playing that on bar tables. One-pocket is sorta the game of the house around here, so I do have to play that as well. Banks is something that I'll practice for maybe an hour every other week. Three cushion is extremely fun to me, but there aren't any three cushion tables within a half hour of my house, so I don't get to play too often.
 
I play everything when I can. Finding people to play 3 cushion and snooker with can be hard but I love those games. I practice straight pool at home, but when im out most people only want to play 8 or 9 ball. so I play those the most.
 
I mostly play 8 ball due to the fact that nobody else wants to play 9 ball when it costs a dollar a game. Once in a while on free pool night I get lucky enough to play some 9 ball, but for the most part it's strictly 8.
 
I started to play at around 13 and got pretty good very fast. I also realized that there was money to be made playing pool. So I learned all games because I played what ever game someone was willing to gamble on. Some I played better then others but my first question always was "How Much" and "what do you want to play?"
 
In my area of Japan you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that plays anything other than 9-ball. I have a few friends that I play straight pool with and recently another one of my friends and I have played a little 10-ball. 8-ball and one pocket are non-existent here. I can't remember the last time I played one pocket. I'm totally open to playing anything though. For the past year or so I've been concentrating mainly on 3-cushion. I don't shoot much pocket pool anymore. Maybe once every 2 weeks or so.
MULLY
 
mullyman said:
In my area of Japan you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that plays anything other than 9-ball. I have a few friends that I play straight pool with and recently another one of my friends and I have played a little 10-ball. 8-ball and one pocket are non-existent here. I can't remember the last time I played one pocket. I'm totally open to playing anything though. For the past year or so I've been concentrating mainly on 3-cushion. I don't shoot much pocket pool anymore. Maybe once every 2 weeks or so.
MULLY
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That's my idea of hell, only 9 ball. It's an alright game, but my god it's just so one dimensional. At least you have 3 cushion I wish I could have access to a billiards table.

Bank pool is another one I wish people played around my area.

I guess I'll never understand why people don't branch out into other games. One of the reasons I can practice for hours is that I can change the game and keep it interesting. I also enjoy playing english billiards, but like the rest no one plays it.

Theres a lot of golf played where we have snooker tables, but everyone gambles at it and I don't know the rules. I'm not going to give money away to learn the rules.
 
I play primarily 9 ball and 14.1. I have played pretty much every game, but one pocket and bank pool.
 
If I'm out it is barbox 8 or 9. That's all anyone around here plays.
I only have a 7' diamond pro/am but we play 14:1, 15 ball rotation, short rack banks, one pocket (seldom) 8,9, and 10 ball. If there are 3 of us we'll play some cut throat, or a rotation ring game to 180. If I am hitting them solo, I generally do the Q Skills (my best is a 640)
My table gets daily play and I would imagine that if I were paying 25 cents a rack, it has paid for itself in the year that I have owned it. My only regret is that I do not have space for a 9' diamond. Maybe in the new house. I think the pool room is 16x24 which is plenty for my 7' pro/am and some bar furnature. With a 9' it might be too crowded.

:cool:
 
Cameron Smith said:
That's my idea of hell, only 9 ball. It's an alright game, but my god it's just so one dimensional. At least you have 3 cushion I wish I could have access to a billiards table.

Bank pool is another one I wish people played around my area.

I guess I'll never understand why people don't branch out into other games. One of the reasons I can practice for hours is that I can change the game and keep it interesting. I also enjoy playing english billiards, but like the rest no one plays it.

Theres a lot of golf played where we have snooker tables, but everyone gambles at it and I don't know the rules. I'm not going to give money away to learn the rules.
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Cameron:

If you're ever in the NY area (specifically somewhat close to NYC, like Dutchess/Putnam/Westchester counties), drop me a line. I play a lot at Iron Willie's Billiards in Yorktown Heights, NY (http://ironwilliesbilliards.com/).

I play *all* games -- no kidding. Yes, I play 3C, too. As the tagline in my screenname shows, my two favorite games are 14.1 and One Pocket. But I enjoy Bank pool (9-ball banks or full-rack banks), "61" (Filipino 15-ball rotation), 10-ball by WPA rules (if I had to play a rotation game, this is my favorite), 8-ball (call shot every shot, not just the 8-ball), etc.

My absolute favorite game is snooker, but one has to make the trek into NYC to find a snooker table (there are none in my immediate area). And I play snooker on a snooker table, not golf. Although ring games are fun, IMHO between two people on a snooker table, snooker itself is better -- it's not a "gaff" game adapted to a snooker table.

-Sean
 
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