Etiquette Opinion

A

axejunkie

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Playing weekly 9 ball league, friendly setting, but still fairly serious. My opponent misses the 8, I am faced with a fairly tough shot and elect to play safe. I get the cue ball behind the 9. My opponent goes for a jump shot, but contacts the 9 and does not contact the 8. The 9 moves about 3 feet closer to the 8. As I take BIH, my opponent asks, "I'm assuming you don't me to move the 9 back to where it was?". I am confused and ask, "the cue ball didn't contact the 9?" Opponent replies, "no, my tip hit the 9." I ponder it briefly and ask to keep the 9 where it is, now in a much easier position to run out (9 landed a few inches directly in front of side pocket).

League rules officially say if a tip hits another object ball, it should be moved back to its original spot. I trust my opponent and is not one to pull moves or twist rules.

Was that a cheap move on my part?
 
Since you have BIH and on the 8ball, and there was no further discussion, I don't think its possible to make a cheap move.
 
per wpa https://wpapool.com/rule-regulations/

21. CUE BALL FOULS ONLY​

If there is no referee presiding over a match, it may be played using cue ball fouls only. That is, touching or moving any ball other than the cue ball would not be a foul unless it changes the outcome of the shot by either touching another ball or having any ball, including the cue ball, going through the area originally occupied by the moved ball. If this does not happen, then the opposing player must be given the option of either leaving the ball where it lies or replacing the ball as near as possible to its original position to the agreement of both players. If a player shoots without giving his opponent the option to replace, it will be a foul resulting in cue ball in hand for the opponent.
 
in snooker any touch is a 4 point foul, weather the ball moves or not, and it's not your shot anymore. since there is no ref or record of original placement we don't usually try to move it back.

in 9 ball I figured it would be a ball in hand if you bumped a ball, and the next players shot. I'm surprised that accidentally bumping a ball would have no repercussions, but I think that's what the WPA is saying here right?

I found a sort of similar puzzle in Snooker. If I was shooting black and bumped a ball with my shirt sleeve, even not moving it, then I think that's a 7 point foul. If I were shooting the yellow then it's a 4 point foul. We don't normally call balls unless they are close to one another and it is not obvious.

So what when you are approaching the table and bump a ball? It seems impossible to determine what choice a player would be making before he aims. the shooter could bump a ball before he is even decided, or he may even take aim and then change his mind on the color he is shooting, before he takes his shot.

I could be wrong and it may be that before the shot the ball bump is only 4 points, but if you misssed the black or hit a different ball or sunk the CB then it would be 7

maybe that's one reason serious rules may want every colored ball called out. I'm thinking that once a 5 ( blue), or more, is called then the bumping fault may increase accordingly to that choice, but I'm not sure.

a lot of what we do is just basically an homor system, it happens often a player will call his own fault and walk away, awarding points to the opponent, and often the shooter is the only one who actually noticed the fault.

What if i am aiming and the hair on my hand touches a ball, but not my skin, so I can feel it's there. I guess that's also a fault but there is perhaps a line where it becomes a bit rediculous. some may call that upon themselves while others may think its just going to a rediculous extent. then it becomes open to interpretation or confusion.

Maybe its a question that should be in the snooker section.

I accept that is' fine to modify house rules if all agree, to try to eliminate the fine details that spark controversy. Some rules only really work with a judge, like putting a ball back in place after a snooker and a miss. Putting balls back without any accurate record of where they started becomes confusing quickly. usually we just call it a friendly game and move past these things, Involve money , it can get different I guess .
I was visiting a local community center and lots are elderly, saw a guy bump a ball and just continue. I figured maybe their house rule is to not call such things. it might vary on venue. If it's a fairly new player then maybe it's ok just to note a fault and not mark it just so they know what the rule actually is. The more experienced may know what to do already.
In 9 ball I like the rule that you mucked up , you moved a ball, bumped something so you give the other player ball in hand and miss your turn if you have not shot yet, That may not be "correct"
 
It's a BCA league. I thought as mentioned here the incoming player has choice in this instance.

Now that I think on it, my opponent might have been joking, with a dry tone. She did foul previously on a jump and was frustrated with her playing.
 
axejunkie said:
It's a BCA league. I thought as mentioned here the incoming player has choice in this instance.

Now that I think on it, my opponent might have been joking, with a dry tone. She did foul previously on a jump and was frustrated with her playing.
Click to expand...
Sometimes people have to die.

(I agree it is your option. As the non shooter, it may be very hard/ impossible to determine what the cause of the moves ball was. Therefore, that speedbump is eliminated. Ball gets moved, incoming player makes determination to leave/ replace. It really is the simplest way to respond to the error.)

And....I was once playing a really good player and moved an OB that had me jacked up. He jumped up and said he was replacing it. He positioned it perfectly in line with the shot I was about to take and about 1mm from frozen.

LessonS learned!
 
In Fremont County CO, their league had rules BUT, one of the bars created different rules than the rest. Never seen that before, but with Super Max and many other prisons in the area, the guard mentality does permeate the social structure.
 
I was watching a guy shoot over a ball last week, the ball moved and two of us saw the fault but the player said it wasn't a fault. At first it didn't appear so, but he was actually correct.
We all then realized the table had those stick down spots recently added.. he perhaps disturbed the felt slightly, and the ball rolled about 1/2 inch and off the sticker just as he was lining up for his shot. the moved ball was not touched and it was not involved. It would have been wrong for him to get called on it. The sticker was the cause, not the player, and the realization of what actually happened took a moment to become clear.
 
Bob Jewett said:
The rules of carom specifically forbid the use of such stickers on the table for exactly that kind of problem.
Click to expand...
Felt is expensive and some have a bad habit of dropping a ball onto a spot , causing damage over time. Good etiquette to Place the ball beside the spot and roll it in place. it's not my table with the spots, but I did recently stop a new player who was a bit intoxicated and started slamming balls down on the spots on my table. I let it go once, the second time I said please never do that again and explained why it was not cool.
In a perfect world the cloth is always brand new and little elves come and replace it at night for free ;-)

​

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top