Fixing the game of 9 ball.

realkingcobra

realkingcobra

Well-known member
Silver Member
Question answered, how do you fix the break and runs in 9 ball.

Add a ghost cue ball to the rack of 9 balls. Rack the balls exactly the same as you would 10 ball, only make sure the ghost cue ball is on the spot, and the 1 ball is at the back of the rack behind the 9 ball either to the left or right of center. Use a magic rack to make sure the balls are racked tight.

After the break, the ghost cue ball is removed and play continues. No help making it on the break either, it don't count! good luck running a rack on those breaks!! Its harder than running a rack after a 10B break!!!
 
so your making new house rules, sounds good

how about eliminating diamonds, and forcing pros to memorize the angles

I regularly cover my diamonds to enhance the mental challenge of pool

or all pocketed balls are spotted on break
 
Texas Carom Club said:
whats your fargo justin?
how much has angle memorizing has improved you by? 2 lithium batteries?
7 slug coins?
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Before everything shutdown I was track to be the league champ. NAPL formerly run by Tony Robles before he left.
I was looking forward to defending my title and getting the invite to the larger inter league competition.

C- never had access to a fargo based league
didnt have enough time for tournaments, but i attended and traveled for a few

angle memorizing has helped for controlled strokes on the cue
as for kicking and banking, I havent tested against real competition in awhile.
but I would know it to use it defensively not offensively

I prefer to trap a player on the 3 foul rule, for me its an accomplishment

this thread is getting me nostalgic
 
justnum said:
Before everything shutdown I was track to be the league champ. NAPL formerly run by Tony Robles before he left.
I was looking forward to defending my title and getting the invite to the larger inter league competition.

C- never had access to a fargo based league
didnt have enough time for tournaments, but i attended and traveled for a few

angle memorizing has helped for controlled strokes on the cue
as for kicking and banking, I havent tested against real competition in awhile.
but I would know it to use it defensively not offensively

I prefer to trap a player on the 3 foul rule, for me its an accomplishment

this thread is getting me nostalgic
Click to expand...

May I suggest you continue to use the diamonds when needed, no sense in making that part of your game more complicated when you have many other things to work on ;)
 
Chili Palmer said:
May I suggest you continue to use the diamonds when needed, no sense in making that part of your game more complicated when you have many other things to work on ;)
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I was trying to come up with an alternative to the diamond method.
 
As we saw at the Mosconi and again at the Predator Championship league event, when the equipment is set up tough, nine ball is plenty challenging enough for even the world's most elite players. As for the break, I agree with Chris Melling, who once offered that the ten ball break is just as broken as the nine ball break, as there are five different balls that can be legitimately attempted (the one, the two balls behind it and the two corner balls).

What's broken beyond repair, however, is the nine ball ghost, which, sadly but understandably, dominated the pool scene since the pandemic. It would be OK by me if the nine ball ghost were never streamed again from now to eternity.
 
justnum said:
I was trying to come up with an alternative to the diamond method.
Click to expand...

I can appreciate going outside the box but you'll just have to trust me when I say you have other things to work on and you should be using the diamonds to their full advantage so you don't pull time away from the other stuff.
 
sjm said:
As we saw at the Mosconi and again at the Predator Championship league event, when the equipment is set up tough, nine ball is plenty challenging enough for even the world's most elite players. As for the break, I agree with Chris Melling, who once offered that the ten ball break is just as broken as the nine ball break, as there are five different balls that can be legitimately attempted (the one, the two balls behind it and the two corner balls).

What's broken beyond repair, however, is the nine ball ghost, which, sadly but understandably, dominated the pool scene since the pandemic. It would be OK by me if the nine ball ghost were never streamed again from now to eternity.
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I don’t know man. I agree I never want to watch any streams of someone playing the ghost, so I don’t, but I do enjoy trying to beat that dirty bastard from time to time. My old crappy table had a few dead rails, 5” pockets and played slow as hell so playing the ghost was fun. I could beat it almost at will, unless a rum front came through earlier that day. But once I had my table recovered, the rails fixed and the pockets tightened to under 4 1/2” the game changed. So I agree with you that we just need to tighten up the tables. Eventually these superstars will figure out the new tables and we will be forced to have this conversation again, but screwy ideas like the Cobra has here should only be considered by the guys trying to hustle each other with stupid crazy bets, not for serious competition.
 
Z-Nole said:
I don’t know man. I agree I never want to watch any streams of someone playing the ghost, so I don’t, but I do enjoy trying to beat that dirty bastard from time to time. My old crappy table had a few dead rails, 5” pockets and played slow as hell so playing the ghost was fun. I could beat it almost at will, unless a rum front came through earlier that day. But once I had my table recovered, the rails fixed and the pockets tightened to under 4 1/2” the game changed. So I agree with you that we just need to tighten up the tables. Eventually these superstars will figure out the new tables and we will be forced to have this conversation again, but screwy ideas like the Cobra has here should only be considered by the guys trying to hustle each other with stupid crazy bets, not for serious competition.
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Well said.

PS I didn't say you can't have fun playing the ghost. I'm just saying I find watching someone play the ghost unbearable.
 
sjm said:
Well said.

PS I didn't say you can't have fun playing the ghost. I'm just saying I find watching someone play the ghost unbearable.
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I’m with you there. But I’m colorblind so watching any rotation on a stream is really hard for me and I get frustrated I can’t say I’ve ever watched someone play the ghost, except for the thread here on AZB. But I think I did that mostly to see what level some of the usual posters play. But then I just got disappointed that most everyone is better than me. Lol
 
sjm said:
Well said.

PS I didn't say you can't have fun playing the ghost. I'm just saying I find watching someone play the ghost unbearable.
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Instead of competing against the ghost

How about right arm vs left arm?
Then add another handicapp cover one eye and see how that impacts your shooting?
If that gets too easy try playing every shot behind the back.

Challenging the ghost was never as exciting as learning a new physical skill.
For me that kept me motivated for almost two decades.

How can people keep the game interesting for future generations?
I plan to be around watching this for a while.
 
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realkingcobra said:
Question answered, how do you fix the break and runs in 9 ball.

Add a ghost cue ball to the rack of 9 balls. Rack the balls exactly the same as you would 10 ball, only make sure the ghost cue ball is on the spot, and the 1 ball is at the back of the rack behind the 9 ball either to the left or right of center. Use a magic rack to make sure the balls are racked tight.

After the break, the ghost cue ball is removed and play continues. No help making it on the break either, it don't count! good luck running a rack on those breaks!! Its harder than running a rack after a 10B break!!!
Click to expand...

Suggestion: Take a match book cover (both sides but no matches)
Flip a coin:: heads = match book goes between the left wing and its support balls, tails = match book goes through right wing ball and its support balls.
No-one gets a tight rack, 9-ball is now a game of luck (if that is what you are looking for.)

{Coin lands on its edge:: breaker gets a tight rack, or you could slug the 1-ball}
 
sjm said:
As we saw at the Mosconi and again at the Predator Championship league event, when the equipment is set up tough, nine ball is plenty challenging enough for even the world's most elite players. As for the break, I agree with Chris Melling, who once offered that the ten ball break is just as broken as the nine ball break, as there are five different balls that can be legitimately attempted (the one, the two balls behind it and the two corner balls).

What's broken beyond repair, however, is the nine ball ghost, which, sadly but understandably, dominated the pool scene since the pandemic. It would be OK by me if the nine ball ghost were never streamed again from now to eternity.
Click to expand...
Good stuff always, sjm.

Even when you are spotting cranky venom! Hahbahah
 
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