Freakin' 8 ball

W

wayne

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am having trouble with the idea that 8 ball is going to be the big professional tournament game of the future. It looks like this promoter is very serious and after the Battle of the Sexes is planning Million Dollar 8 ball events.

I always figured 8 ball was for drinkers and ball bangers but now it looks like it is going mainstream. I have been playing pool for just over 10 years and I have played thousands of games of nine ball and one-pocket, maybe 50 games of straight pool and on the snooker table some liability and golf but I've never played 8 ball.

In all these years in many different poolhalls where the players frequent I have seen about 10 games of 8 ball and only once did I see someone gambling on the game.

I entered a freakin' 8 ball tournament once about 7 years ago and it was double elimination and I still didn't play a game. The first guy James won the flip and broke and ran out both games in the race to 2. Now I was on the loser side and I lose the flip to Lester and he breaks and runs and breaks and runs. So I still never got to play a game. Someone asked me what happened and I said I dogged the 2 flips.

Now I am looking at the possibility that 8 ball is going to be the big money game of the future. Are we headed to pool HELL?

Wayne
 
wayne said:
I am having trouble with the idea that 8 ball is going to be the big professional tournament game of the future. <snip>

I entered a freakin' 8 ball tournament once about 7 years ago and it was double elimination and I still didn't play a game. The first guy James won the flip and broke and ran out both games in the race to 2. Now I was on the loser side and I lose the flip to Lester and he breaks and runs and breaks and runs. So I still never got to play a game. Someone asked me what happened and I said I dogged the 2 flips.

Now I am looking at the possibility that 8 ball is going to be the big money game of the future. Are we headed to pool HELL?

Wayne
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Wayne... could be that 8-Ball will make a comeback. Only thing I know to tell you is get a roll of quarters and practice flipping coins!!!!

Bob
 
Love that 8 ball

I had one of the biggest scores I ever had playing 8 ball on, get this, a snooker table. I mean a tight son of a bitch. The pockets were barely big enough to take a regular ball. I was busted save 50 bucks because I had backed a bad game earlier in the night and the friend of the guy that busted me wanted to play. He didn't know I was tapped but we started out playing for $5 a game to kill time and I end up 1100 winner after about 4 hours. I have loved 8 ball ever since.
 
8-ball is a fine game, lots of strategy & choices, defense & different ways to run out. I have seen some matches with Efren, and I find it just as good as 9-ball.

Today 9-ball is over played, especially by the beginner, or someone just learning. I have seen some sad 9-ball games by guys who watch TV and think thats the game to play. They can't play a lick of position, and are basically banging around balls hoping to be the one left to shoot at the 8 or 9, then they get frustrated and give up playing.

This is why I love the fact 8-ball is going to get some major air time, new players seeing 8-ball played by pros will now feel fine about playing it, and actually want to play it.

If I'm trying to bring the game to the masses, 8-ball is the game and even 14.1 is better for the average player to learn first. Remember 9-ball is not going anywhere and it's an awesome game, but 8-ball has not had the coverage it should have, I would even love to see more coverage of 14.1 straight pool too, maybe introduce a shot clock to speed it up for TV.

Oh and forget the coin flip, coin flip is all luck, you got to lag for the break and the lag should always be a crucial part of the game.
 
SlimShafty said:
...Today 9-ball is over played, especially by the beginner, or someone just learning...This is why I love the fact 8-ball is going to get some major air time, new players seeing 8-ball played by pros will now feel fine about playing it, and actually want to play it.
Click to expand...

In my younger years, 8-ball was the game at every place I frequented. Very rarely did I see a 9-ball game, unless it was a gambling match in a pool room. 8-ball was the mainstream in my neck of the woods.

SlimShafty said:
...Oh and forget the coin flip, coin flip is all luck, you got to lag for the break and the lag should always be a crucial part of the game.
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I agree 100 percent. Screw that coin flip, and do the lag. I don't know who you are SlimShafty, but I like the way you think! :p

Phil Capelle recently authored a very detail-oriented book about 8-ball. The game is a little more complex than one may think (IMO).

Here is the website for Capelle's "Play Your Best 8-Ball" book: https://billiardspress.com/booksordering.html

JAM
 
wayne said:
Now I am looking at the possibility that 8 ball is going to be the big money game of the future. Are we headed to pool HELL? Wayne
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8-Ball is a good game. The 8-Ball game can cause you to incorporate some strategy (not necessarily a hook). Position in 8-Ball is just as important for the last 3 balls as in 9-Ball.

If you add the last pocketed ball requirement or the 15 ball or 1 ball requirement, you've added some real position & strategy,
 
wayne said:
I am having trouble with the idea that 8 ball is going to be the big professional tournament game of the future. It looks like this promoter is very serious and after the Battle of the Sexes is planning Million Dollar 8 ball events.

I always figured 8 ball was for drinkers and ball bangers but now it looks like it is going mainstream. I have been playing pool for just over 10 years and I have played thousands of games of nine ball and one-pocket, maybe 50 games of straight pool and on the snooker table some liability and golf but I've never played 8 ball.

In all these years in many different poolhalls where the players frequent I have seen about 10 games of 8 ball and only once did I see someone gambling on the game.

I entered a freakin' 8 ball tournament once about 7 years ago and it was double elimination and I still didn't play a game. The first guy James won the flip and broke and ran out both games in the race to 2. Now I was on the loser side and I lose the flip to Lester and he breaks and runs and breaks and runs. So I still never got to play a game. Someone asked me what happened and I said I dogged the 2 flips.

Now I am looking at the possibility that 8 ball is going to be the big money game of the future. Are we headed to pool HELL?

Wayne
Click to expand...


I think you just better be quiet from here on out and listen to EVERYTHING cheffjeff has to tell you...you'll be a much better player in the long run. :p ;)
 
Seems to me that the "masses" prefer 8-ball. I mostly see people playing 8-ball in every single bar I go to.

Around here there are probably 75 bars to each pool hall. That's 75 bars filled with people playing 8-ball, to one pool hall with people mostly playing 9-ball.

I would assume that a TV show with 8-ball would therefor get high ratings.

Then think about the demographics of people watching 8-ball on TV... Wouldn't this be young males who drink beer? How much money is spent in bars nationwide on beer? What other products would this demographic of people potentially buy? Seems to me this would be a *very* attractive audience to many different advertisers.

This would equal *lots* of money from advertisers.

And would equal HIGH prize amounts.

This seems to be what everyone here is asking for - large amounts of cash to win...
 
And if they do have such tournaments, I think it would be a good opportunity to educate the "masses" that oversized cue balls have to go, and that BCA ball-in-hand rules are the best.

Who knows? Could be a good thing....
 
We're again confusing issues. One issue is whether 8 ball is a legitimate test in cuesmanship. The other, whether it will improve pool's ratings and overall popularity.

I've stated before that I don't think 8 ball inferior to 9 ball as a test of skills in any way, shape, or form (although I'd rank one pocket and straight pool more favorably).

Whether drinkers and bangers play 8 ball or not, they play the game backwards !!! Who cares what they do! 8 ball played by a knowledgeable player is a completely different animal, with different rules.

Like JAM, I'd recommend Phil Cappelle's book on 8 ball to every self-satisfied 9 baller. I wouldn't be surprised if a great many 9 ballers find out they didn't know the first about that complex game.

BTW, wayne, in a race to two, you could easily get shut out on the coin flip playing 9 ball as well. The 8 ball tournament you played doesn't appear to be a representative sample, to say the least.
 
Billy_Bob said:
And if they do have such tournaments, I think it would be a good opportunity to educate the "masses" that oversized cue balls have to go, and that BCA ball-in-hand rules are the best.

Who knows? Could be a good thing....
Click to expand...
tap, tap, tap. The other thing is, it might FORCE tournament promoters to tighten up the equipment, which is what pro pool sorely needs.
 
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wayne said:
I am having trouble with the idea that 8 ball is going to be the big professional tournament game of the future. It looks like this promoter is very serious and after the Battle of the Sexes is planning Million Dollar 8 ball events.

I always figured 8 ball was for drinkers and ball bangers but now it looks like it is going mainstream. I have been playing pool for just over 10 years and I have played thousands of games of nine ball and one-pocket, maybe 50 games of straight pool and on the snooker table some liability and golf but I've never played 8 ball.

In all these years in many different poolhalls where the players frequent I have seen about 10 games of 8 ball and only once did I see someone gambling on the game.

I entered a freakin' 8 ball tournament once about 7 years ago and it was double elimination and I still didn't play a game. The first guy James won the flip and broke and ran out both games in the race to 2. Now I was on the loser side and I lose the flip to Lester and he breaks and runs and breaks and runs. So I still never got to play a game. Someone asked me what happened and I said I dogged the 2 flips.

Now I am looking at the possibility that 8 ball is going to be the big money game of the future. Are we headed to pool HELL?

Wayne
Click to expand...

8-ball may be the most universally played game. Hard to believe you have in years of playing only seen ten games of it played. By the way, it's a great game. Players like Jimmy Reid have specialized in it for years and there is a lot to the game. The only real problem with it is, on a 9 foot table it can be a war of running out by top players, they can run 5 and 6 racks at a clip, more then they could run 9-ball racks. The best I ever saw play was Ralf Souquay (sp?) I watched him play a tournament in Germany and he would run out whole sets. After the break he would spend a few minutes surveying the table and when be began shooting, he almost always got all the way out.
 
8-ball is a great game to play if you like arguing with people.
It's the only pool game where people make rules as they go.
I used to play some barbox 8-ball local tourneys. It was fairly profitable.
I got on the money more than half the time.
But, I got sick of it. The punks and the bangers just wore me out.
I even brought a copy of BCA rules. Most wanted to play on "bar rules" yet the bar had no rulebook.
But, for the pros, it's a different game. They run most often. It's a slower game than 9-ball. Efren loves it b/c there are 15 balls on the table and he has won the world 8 three times. I saw Bustamante win his world 8 too. He missed two balls that Sunday running over Coltrain, Wetch and Archer.
 
8-ball for the masses

If pool is ever going to attain the popularity that is needed to make it a real sport which has money-making potential, it has to appeal to the masses. I have always preferred 9-ball, as do most serious pool players (aside from 1-pocket), but since the serious pool players numbers are few, compared to the masses of bangers and casual players out there, it seems logical that the promoting of 8-ball on TV would have more success for the advancement of pool..... wouldn't you agree?
 
Ktown D said:
I had one of the biggest scores I ever had playing 8 ball on, get this, a snooker table. I mean a tight son of a bitch. The pockets were barely big enough to take a regular ball.
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We used to play 9 ball tournaments on Snooker tables. Really changes the game.

As far as 8 ball goes, I think it's a great game. For one thing, it has much less of a luck factor than 9 ball. If I were playing someone for money, I would much rather play 8 ball than 9 ball.
 
drivermaker said:
I think you just better be quiet from here on out and listen to EVERYTHING cheffjeff has to tell you...you'll be a much better player in the long run. :p ;)
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LOL yeah Wayne you need to learn your "happy" shots. :D
 
LastTwo said:
LOL yeah Wayne you need to learn your "happy" shots. :D
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You are right, that's it, you and Drivermaker have convinced me that I have to turn to ChefJeff and learn 8 ball and HAPPYPOOL with Happy Shots. I am kissing good bye to serious pool, it is time to go out and get a few drinks and I have to remember the car keys so everyone knows I am shooting the 8 ball in the hole right in front of me. Let's see, I also need to practice my sharking and get better at arguing over nothing. Then I will get ChefJeff to constantly remind me no one can upset me I can only upset myself. MAN there is so much to learn.

Wayne
 
I think 8ball offers much more stratagy and the need to be able to read the right patterns. 9 ball is quickly becomming my least favorite game :D
 
woody_968 said:
I think 8ball offers much more stratagy and the need to be able to read the right patterns. 9 ball is quickly becomming my least favorite game :D
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Woody,
I hope this post doesn't get much attention (I'm sure that if I had any reputation, this would ruin it); but speaking as a vocal opponent of 9-ball as a championship game I DON'T LIKE 8-ball very much. The reason is that it comes as close as any game to being BORING.

Now, I have always said that I have enjoyed playing ALL pool games, and that is still true; but played at a certain level (B to A, but not pro) it can be extremely tedious if both players are a step or two below runout players because safeties are just too easy. I've played 8-ball games as long as an hour (a fairly deliberate opponent) where we reached a situation where neither player could run out, the safeties were fairly easy, and we just kept going back and forth; neither willing to break the last cluster - BORING, BORING, BORING (somewhat close to watching a 1 hour one-pocket game).

I've mentioned my buddy who retired to Florida; he used to come over every Sunday and play races of 8-ball, 7-ball, 9-ball, and then straight pool. After a while we limited the 8-ball as the least enjoyable of the games. Oddly enough, my first 5 years of pool as a banger was played almost exclusively at 8-ball. Of course, maybe its just me - if you ever get to Indy you can check out how boring it is to play me.
 
Williebetmore said:
Woody,
I hope this post doesn't get much attention (I'm sure that if I had any reputation, this would ruin it); but speaking as a vocal opponent of 9-ball as a championship game I DON'T LIKE 8-ball very much. The reason is that it comes as close as any game to being BORING.

Now, I have always said that I have enjoyed playing ALL pool games, and that is still true; but played at a certain level (B to A, but not pro) it can be extremely tedious if both players are a step or two below runout players because safeties are just too easy. I've played 8-ball games as long as an hour (a fairly deliberate opponent) where we reached a situation where neither player could run out, the safeties were fairly easy, and we just kept going back and forth; neither willing to break the last cluster - BORING, BORING, BORING (somewhat close to watching a 1 hour one-pocket game).

I've mentioned my buddy who retired to Florida; he used to come over every Sunday and play races of 8-ball, 7-ball, 9-ball, and then straight pool. After a while we limited the 8-ball as the least enjoyable of the games. Oddly enough, my first 5 years of pool as a banger was played almost exclusively at 8-ball. Of course, maybe its just me - if you ever get to Indy you can check out how boring it is to play me.
Click to expand...

I almost cry when I see 8-ball and that is before the game even begins. It is inevitable that if 2 ballbangers who couldn't run 3 balls in a row are playing, the one who is racking will be doing some kind of voodoo system of racking the balls (lets see 1 in front then a striped one then a solid one, then another striped one etc. etc. and then when they are all racked he has to change a few around) as if it freakin' matters. After 5 minutes getting all the balls just right the other guy will break and miss the rack completely. This is after they have spent 10 minutes getting just the right house cue as if they are going to play magically with one of those brooms.

I'm going to retire if all the real poolplayers start playing 8 ball.

Wayne
 
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