English Blackpool video

Colin Colenso

Colin Colenso

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
For those of you that have heard about English 8-ball, 2-shot rules or Blackball as it is now called, here is a short video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd0x1ZCNRPM

The tables are 7 foot by 3 foot 6 inches.

This game is the standard 8-ball game in Britain, Australia and some other Commonwealth and European countries.

The world champs just finished a few days ago with Mark Selby (Snooker Pro) beating Chris Melling (IPT Qualifier entrant) in the final. Around a dozen of the IPT members have their background in this version of 8-ball.

Note: The cue ball is 1 15/16" and the OBs are 2 inch. Instead of spots and solids, we use reds and yellows and a black ball. Makes it easier to distinguish the sets.

Colin
 
The sides look very big. Hard to tell about the corners but they dont appear much different than an american bar table.

I watched Melling here in LA and thought the guy was one of the better players here. He appeared to be believe that himself.

He was using a snooker cue and it seemed a bit odd to me to use it
with the bigger balls. I think it cost him a couple shots with miscues or near miscues. Those shots just sounded funny. He also was 95% offense.
I think once he settles in on the IPT 8 ball he will do well. I hope he continues to try for his IPT card.
 
Thanks Colin, watching that brings back some memories of my (mis-spent) youth.

Frank, you can't really tell from this video but the pocket jaws are curved like those on a Snooker table. This makes the side (center) pockets look rather more generous that they actually are. Note also it makes the tables very sensitive, slight changes in the rail rubber setup can make it impossible to make a ball on the rail into a corner pocket. When the major bar table manufacturers have made changes it has frequently created lots of controversy.
 
It's not clear from the video, but generally speaking, due to the rounded pockets, making a ball down the rails is much more difficult on these tables than on US square cut pocket tables.

Colin
 
frankncali said:
The sides look very big. Hard to tell about the corners but they dont appear much different than an american bar table.

I watched Melling here in LA and thought the guy was one of the better players here. He appeared to be believe that himself.

He was using a snooker cue and it seemed a bit odd to me to use it
with the bigger balls. I think it cost him a couple shots with miscues or near miscues. Those shots just sounded funny. He also was 95% offense.
I think once he settles in on the IPT 8 ball he will do well. I hope he continues to try for his IPT card.
Click to expand...
LOL those lil tables play alot tougher than an american barbox. I was over in Milton Keyenes and thats what i played on in their pubs. It cost me a few pounds at first but then i figured out how to play on them and i got my money and then some back. Even on those lil tables the accuracy is needed , its not like playing on a valley table. Thats when i first learned that alot of european players dont 'spin" the ball everywhere. It really is amazing what you can do with center ball and a tangent line..........lol
 
Colin Colenso said:
For those of you that have heard about English 8-ball, 2-shot rules or Blackball as it is now called, here is a short video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd0x1ZCNRPM

The tables are 7 foot by 3 foot 6 inches.

This game is the standard 8-ball game in Britain, Australia and some other Commonwealth and European countries.

The world champs just finished a few days ago with Mark Selby (Snooker Pro) beating Chris Melling (IPT Qualifier entrant) in the final. Around a dozen of the IPT members have their background in this version of 8-ball.

Note: The cue ball is 1 15/16" and the OBs are 2 inch. Instead of spots and solids, we use reds and yellows and a black ball. Makes it easier to distinguish the sets.

Colin
Click to expand...


The IPT should have special '8 Ball' ball sets manufactured for them in the 'English Style' Yellow, Red, Black- use them and market them. They would have a real chance of catching on though i guess room owners would resist for a while.
 
Nostroke said:
The IPT should have special '8 Ball' ball sets manufactured for them in the 'English Style' Yellow, Red, Black- use them and market them. They would have a real chance of catching on though i guess room owners would resist for a while.
Click to expand...

Whilst it would probably make the game easier to follow on TV this would be detrimental for the IPT as UK-style balls have no numbers on them (Except the 8 usually) which makes playing Call-Pocket 8 Ball tough. (Traditional UK rules don't require calling anything except the Black)

Anyhow the IPT have already gone ahead and designed a variation on standard US Pool balls with their own graphics and logo on the cue ball.
 
Nostroke said:
The IPT should have special '8 Ball' ball sets manufactured for them in the 'English Style' Yellow, Red, Black- use them and market them. They would have a real chance of catching on though i guess room owners would resist for a while.
Click to expand...

I have suggested this on a number of occassions but sadly as mentioned I think the IPT haven't grasped this excellent opportunity to simplify the game the joe public. Personally I would love to have seen a hybrid set of red and yellow balls with large visible numbers on them, not only much easier for the viewers but also much quicker for the players to scan the table after a break.
 
AuntyDan said:
Whilst it would probably make the game easier to follow on TV this would be detrimental for the IPT as UK-style balls have no numbers on them (Except the 8 usually) which makes playing Call-Pocket 8 Ball tough. (Traditional UK rules don't require calling anything except the Black)

Anyhow the IPT have already gone ahead and designed a variation on standard US Pool balls with their own graphics and logo on the cue ball.
Click to expand...


Well i think that was a poor decision- Now they are trying to challenge leaders when they could have created a practical product and been the leader. JMHO of course.
 
Nostroke said:
Well i think that was a poor decision- Now they are trying to challenge leaders when they could have created a practical product and been the leader. JMHO of course.
Click to expand...

Have to agree, I like what they have done with the numbers but if you had taken the red and yellow balls and the 8 ball you would have had a perfect set. Oh and they certainly could have come up with an excellent measle cueball, they simply could have used red water marked IPT to mimic the current measle ball which I think is very popular. Still not the end of the world and they look ok.
 
TheOne said:
Have to agree, I like what they have done with the numbers but if you had taken the red and yellow balls and the 8 ball you would have had a perfect set. Oh and they certainly could have come up with an excellent measle cueball, they simply could have used red water marked IPT to mimic the current measle ball which I think is very popular. Still not the end of the world and they look ok.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing the IPT are looking to keep these fairly traditional in order to try and get a decent amount of sales across the entire Pool market. The tooling/setup costs must be high on something like this and volume sales will be required to justify this.

However this is just their first season, they can always come out with a "TV" set variant in a year or so if things go well like Saluc have done for both the Aramith Super Pros and the Centennials with more radical design/colouration.
 
TheOne said:
I have suggested this on a number of occassions but sadly as mentioned I think the IPT haven't grasped this excellent opportunity to simplify the game the joe public. Personally I would love to have seen a hybrid set of red and yellow balls with large visible numbers on them, not only much easier for the viewers but also much quicker for the players to scan the table after a break.
Click to expand...
I agree with you and nostroke.

In Australia the red and yellow (cherries and lemons) came into the game in around 1991 as I recall. I was surprised at how rapidly they became the standard set throughout the bars around the country.

For the player and the viewer, it really makes the table easier to read.

Colin
 
Since someone mentioned the 'measle cue ball'....thought I'd mention just for your interest....the organisers of the Blackpool event in question introduced a 'measle cue ball' into this event for the first time at very short notice to the players.

The new spotted ball is on average 2 grams heavier than the plain white ball which players were accustomed to and there were claims that it was unfair to introduce this ball with virtually no prior warning.The differences in cue ball behaviour caused by a mere 2 grams may seem likely to be negligible but they are accentuated by the fact that in uk pool the cue ball is already smaller than the object ball and there is a greater tendency to play draw or screw back shots as opposed to topspin or running side shots.The effects of the differences in cue ball behaviour in respect of cue ball positioning errors are possibly a little more crucial than on USA tables due to the smaller playing surface area and the consequent lower margin of error.

On the other hand it was the same for all players and we all know how pool players love to whinge.

Ps...forgot to mention....haven't seen this video myself yet but am pretty sure that in keeping with annual tradition the televised stages of this event were played on an 8 foot table and not the normal 7 foot table that is used in earlier rounds of the event.
 
Last edited:
Hi all just to clarify for you, Mark Selby did indeed win the world champs but it was Darren Appleton he beat in the final, Daz is a IPT tour card holder and one to watch out for as he has already proved he can play the big ball game by reaching a Eurotour 9ball final.
 
memikey said:
......

Ps...forgot to mention....haven't seen this video myself yet but am pretty sure that in keeping with annual tradition the televised stages of this event were played on an 8 foot table and not the normal 7 foot table that is used in earlier rounds of the event.
Click to expand...

THe 8ft table is now standard in the Australian Eight Ball Association competitions, and we seem to be following the UK, so I think thats what they used. I'll ask a couple of the Australian players (Jake McCartney (U18) and Paul Clack(Open)) what the go was when I see them tomorrow night,as it's our local Premier division final. Both of them also got ranked equal 2nd at the Tournament, so for a little town of 85000, Ballarat hasn't done too bad. As a side note, a semi local called Ben Nunan put Pat Holtz(IPT member), out if the tournament

Daniel:D
 
UK 8 baller coming to USA

Colin Colenso said:
For those of you that have heard about English 8-ball, 2-shot rules or Blackball as it is now called, here is a short video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd0x1ZCNRPM

The tables are 7 foot by 3 foot 6 inches.

This game is the standard 8-ball game in Britain, Australia and some other Commonwealth and European countries.

Note: The cue ball is 1 15/16" and the OBs are 2 inch. Instead of spots and solids, we use reds and yellows and a black ball. Makes it easier to distinguish the sets.

Colin
Click to expand...

Colin,
I just wanted to mention that a top rated UK 8 ball player who is in the IPT is coming to the US to stay with me for a while and asked me to help him with his conversion to American 8 ball as played by the IPT. He wants me to help him get ready for the upcoming IPT tourneys this year. For now, I wont say who it is. He will be wearing my T-shirts in and around the IPT tournaments, so you will find out soon enough. He has a fabulous attitude about learning and competing, and I am very excited to work with someone who starts out with championship skills.

the Beard
 
Captain Dan said:
THe 8ft table is now standard in the Australian Eight Ball Association competitions, and we seem to be following the UK, so I think thats what they used. I'll ask a couple of the Australian players (Jake McCartney (U18) and Paul Clack(Open)) what the go was when I see them tomorrow night,as it's our local Premier division final. Both of them also got ranked equal 2nd at the Tournament, so for a little town of 85000, Ballarat hasn't done too bad. As a side note, a semi local called Ben Nunan put Pat Holtz(IPT member), out if the tournament

Daniel:D
Click to expand...

No need to check Daniel,it certainly was the 8 ft table used in the televised stages of this years event.

You are of course also correct that Ben Nunan had a great run in the event this year,following the fine showing of the other Oz man Evrianides last year.;)
 
freddy the beard said:
Colin,
I just wanted to mention that a top rated UK 8 ball player who is in the IPT is coming to the US to stay with me for a while and asked me to help him with his conversion to American 8 ball as played by the IPT. He wants me to help him get ready for the upcoming IPT tourneys this year. For now, I wont say who it is. He will be wearing my T-shirts in and around the IPT tournaments, so you will find out soon enough. He has a fabulous attitude about learning and competing, and I am very excited to work with someone who starts out with championship skills.

the Beard
Click to expand...
That's great Freddy,
I'll keep an eye out for your protege.

If he's got a snooker background the transition shouldn't be too hard. But if he's mainly played with the small CB, he'll likely benefit from a lot of work on working the rails with follow and OE and IE. Also, takes a while to get used to controlling the draw length with the bigger heavier CB.

I'm sure he's in good hands!

Colin
 
Colin Colenso said:
Here's Ben Nunan from an event I covered a couple of years ago:
http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storyb.cfm?storynum=1724
Click to expand...

My first ever 9 ball compe was a big comp in Australai a couple of years ago, over 100 runners of Australias finest. I somehow managed to beat some of the better players (very lucky) and then I had to play Ben in the final. Sadly the tip fell off my cue in the semi final so I had to borrow my friends cue but I recall him saying something like "you got a goose in the final" :rolleyes:

I lost by a couple of frames despite us both playing poorly, since then I know Ben has had some good results since so I know he's a good player now!

TOURNEY WRITE UP
 
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