Goofy Bar Rules I Have Encountered

[Bowmer]

last year I ran into a south of the boarder gentleman that challenged my table that I had held for several hours. After running out my 7 and setting up on the eight he informed me it was now a last pocket game.... I told him in order to change the rules normally he must first win the table but that I would indulge him... I missed the short rail bank and left the 8 in the middle of the pocket... he slow rolls the cue ball behind one of his balls without touching his ball let alone a rail after.... So I tell him that would be ball in hand... oh no he says.... no ball in hand.... so I shoot his ball in. LOL next shot he does the same as before. So I shoot another of his balls in. He makes no attempt to hit a ball and does same cheater hook to me, but now when I line up to make his ball he says oh no you cant do that. I say no ball in hand lol, so whats the rule if I do make your ball. Last shot he has 3 balls on the table I decided I would wind up on them... made them all in separate pockets in one shot. I told him now he had no last pocket to shoot 8 into since he hadn't made any balls and his last 3 balls went in separate pockets. lol. This guy bugs me to play every time I see him. I just tell him once was enough.

 

[Black-Balled]

That is a whacky tale.

last year I ran into a south of the boarder gentleman that challenged my table that I had held for several hours. After running out my 7 and setting up on the eight he informed me it was now a last pocket game.... I told him in order to change the rules normally he must first win the table but that I would indulge him... I missed the short rail bank and left the 8 in the middle of the pocket... he slow rolls the cue ball behind one of his balls without touching his ball let alone a rail after.... So I tell him that would be ball in hand... oh no he says.... no ball in hand.... so I shoot his ball in. LOL next shot he does the same as before. So I shoot another of his balls in. He makes no attempt to hit a ball and does same cheater hook to me, but now when I line up to make his ball he says oh no you cant do that. I say no ball in hand lol, so whats the rule if I do make your ball. Last shot he has 3 balls on the table I decided I would wind up on them... made them all in separate pockets in one shot. I told him now he had no last pocket to shoot 8 into since he hadn't made any balls and his last 3 balls went in separate pockets. lol. This guy bugs me to play every time I see him. I just tell him once was enough.

 

[Mr Slate]

Team rule I made up years ago: If you have BIH and miss the shot,....you owe the team a round of beers. :thumbup:

 

[Black-Balled]

Team rule I made up years ago: If you have BIH and miss the shot,....you owe the team a round of beers. :thumbup:

I have prob missed w/bih about 5x, so I'd be caught out by that one.

 

[Bowmer]

That is a whacky tale.

Maybe I should play him again and on first shot bet him 20.00 that he won't get to shoot and then shoot the 8 ball straight down the throat on the first shot.... bet I will get to find out how good he is in the parking lot...

 

[Bowmer]

That is a whacky tale.

Remember Jackson Wyoming w/ Danny Medina years ago??? Im headed there tonight for the weekend. It's going to be a cold m'F er. But will be way fun anyways. Pretty sure there will be some new bar rules created in the Cowboy bar.

 

[TX Poolnut]

9. Each scatch shot costs a quarter in the jukebox.

I like that rule. :smile:

 

[CarlMPearson]

Two to add to the collection:

If Big AL is in the corner booth (about 3-feet from the table) don't even think about having your cue over his table. He'll slam the cue from behind. Knock over his beer and things get way worse.

I beat this guy every game. He says "I need bigger pockets!" So I tell him for $20, he gets the world's biggest pockets. Off on the break, but after that, all you have to do is roll your ball into any rail, and take it down. All rails are also pockets for you. Game on.

I strategically looked away as he bumped balls to the rail, and dropped them in a pocket. I waited until the table was clear of obstacles, and sprung my trap. "Hey! Wait! Didn't the cue ball just hit that rail? That's a scratch. I get BIH!"

Needless to say I never saw the $20.

 

[cueman]

If they play safe and dont hit a rail it's ok, if you do it right back it's time to go outside and fight, many times against more than one person.

Jason

This is the one I kept encountering when I first started playng tournaments in the 80s. Although threatened no one ever hit me thankfully. I tried my best to get them to switch to one foul ball in hand to no avail.

 

[cueman]

If you hook yourself on the 8 and don't hit it, you lose. If your opponent hooks you on the 8, then you can play safe.

This one makes sense with no ball in hand rules. It keeps people from just rolling you up behind some balls.

 

[Chicken Feather]

Having played exclusively in bars for over 50 years I have experienced almost all of these strange rules.
Now I've started playing bca it's hard for me to play defensively. As a result, after I lose it hits me, play defense DA.

One other bar rule is that you can play the object ball off of your own ball but not your opponent's ball..IF you callit first.

 

[Ak Guy]

Goffy rules

I play 8 Ball in a small bar "league". Every table in every bar is crappy and in need of attention, none of the owners invest any time or money in and attempt to improve the tables.

With the long Alaskan winters the only reason I play in the "league" is boredom. They have some sorry rules.

No masse shots, according to their rules that mean no cue can be at a 45 degree or more angle.

No safety play, that gets exploited by the same ones every year. A bunch of bar players drinking booze and their supposed to police themselves? Ain't happening.

You have to shoot the shot you are given, no one is required to hit a ball or hit a ball to a rail. That has cost me some games.

If some one bumps a ball or two or etc. the opponent can have them put back.

Most of them like the rules, especially the ones that know pool and can play defense on opponents who are clueless. Most of them are good folks out for an evening of fun and visiting and could care less if they win.

Oh well, can't expect much else from a hick town in Alaska with no pool hall.

 

[ctyhntr]

Raise your hand if you ever tried a safety and warn about playing dirty pool. Every shot has to be an honest attempt at making the ball.

 

[VAJimmy]

3. Eight on the break loses. (I think it should win.). Never heard this, BCA allows a spotting of the 8-ball and APA says you win, that's why different leagues practice different break shots.

5. Ball in hand only behind the head string. If all balls of your group are above the head string, the lowest one is spotted on the foot spot. That's clearly a local rule.

 

[jviss]

3. Eight on the break loses. (I think it should win.). Never heard this, BCA allows a spotting of the 8-ball and APA says you win, that's why different leagues practice different break shots.

I was thinking coin-op tables, where you can't spot object balls.

 

[Rickhem]

I am enjoying this thread. And through the years, have encountered most of these as well.
Often you get one guy telling you one set of rules, then the next game his buddy has a whole different set of rules, and you only hear from them when they have decided you are done shooting and they tell you "you can't do that here".

I love that one where they grab hold of a ball and make that a part of their bridge when shooting over it, cause "you can do that when they're close". And using the butt of the cue for a distance spacer when moving the cue out from a cushion, like miniature golf. Have experienced both of those myself.

 

[Meucciplayer]

The horrors of this thread have made me realize how great it is that I have a large choice of pool rooms and opponents. I would not play some of those rules and rather quit playing if they were my only choice to get a game.

But - this thread also brought out the great 8 ball on the chalk rule. Tried this in the last session with my buddies. It is a lot of fun and even the kamikaze shooters liked it. Yep, it is really easy to accidentally knock the 8 off the chalk on a small bar table. But it also disciplines people a great deal and together with the standard rule that a ball has to go to a rail it makes for some interesting play. Even more so when some people don't know how to break the balls well and a lot of them remain in the rack.

When I play my buddies it is not so much the winning (I win most of the time with any rule set anyway but I try to give them spots in one way or another) but I really hate undisciplined play. Like shooting balls all over that table and hoping for some ball to fall.

Kelly pool is also a favorite with those guys as their chances get a lot better when we play with 4 or more people.

But the chalked 8 really made my day. Not a stupid rule at all.

 

[spliced]

Take what you make on the break- but if a ball of each suit fell in, you are the suit that fell in FIRST

Lose your turn if you make both your ball and your opponents ball, but the opponents ball fell in first

Scoop jump shots allowed

Cue ball flying off the table onto the ground is a loss

Opponents ball or the 8 can be hit first to combo their ball in

Playing a safety is “b**ch pool” and basically the equivalent of murder

Bank shots can’t carom off of another ball on the way in or must call it

I must say one of the goofiest rules I’ve ever seen was the IPT’s lack of requiring “one foot on the floor” which allowed professional players to crawl up onto the playing surface of the table like children to play hard to reach shots. That blew my mind. They also called foul on players for positioning the cue ball with the side of their cue stick when they had ball in hand.