Harrigan

mreightball

mreightball

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Who Knows This Game? Harrigan and the Rules

Hello:
Has anyone heard of a game called Harrigan.
If so what are all the rules to this game.
Thanks
Ron
 
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that's the name we used for "pill pool" in the poolhall i frequented when growing up. basically you dish out two pills from the bottle to each player. they keep one pill which is their secret money ball. the other they hand in and is used to determine the break order. once someone makes their secret money ball, the game is over, they collect X dollars from each other participant and the balls are re-racked, the pills put back in the bottle, shook up, then redistributed and you do it all over again. and the ball that was the winning ball from the previous game is put in the middle and its now the bonus ball and worth 2X. so if you get that pill you want to keep it.

this has always been one of my favorite games to play because the money is thrown around at such a quick pace.

bottle_thumb.jpg
 
Njhustler1 said:
that's the name we used for "pill pool" in the poolhall i frequented when growing up. basically you dish out two pills from the bottle to each player. they keep one pill which is their secret money ball. the other they hand in and is used to determine the break order. once someone makes their secret money ball, the game is over, they collect X dollars from each other participant and the balls are re-racked, the pills put back in the bottle, shook up, then redistributed and you do it all over again. and the ball that was the winning ball from the previous game is put in the middle and its now the bonus ball and worth 2X. so if you get that pill you want to keep it.

this has always been one of my favorite games to play because the money is thrown around at such a quick pace.

bottle_thumb.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. When the balls are broke does the player goe right after his money ball? Are there any fouls that give you ball in hand? Can you just tap a ball or do a shot like a push out witout hitting anything? Are there anymore rules?
Ron
 
well if you dont have a direct shot at your secret money ball, you dont really want to reveal what it is to the guy who comes before you by taking an obvious whack at it. if i'm before you in the order and i dont have a shot at my ball, and i know what your ball is, i'm not going to leave you a shot because i'm dont want the game to end before i get another turn. so you try and do something incognito like moving a few balls around but making a point to move your secret money ball towards the mouth of a pocket so its freed up in case you get another turn.

all regular foul rules apply but it leads to ball in hand behind the line for the next guy up in the order. otherwise ball in hand would essentially mean game over. so that's why the behind the line rule is in effect.

and you have to make a regular hit where something contacts a cushion, otherwise it would be ball in hand behind the line.
 
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Is there no one else out there that knows about Harrigan?
I can't beleive it. Come on lets hear if you know the game and its rules.
Ron
 
Who Knows This Game? Harrigan and the Rules

No this Harrigan is not kelly pool or pill pool. In Harrigan you go right after you money ball and do not shoot the balls in rotation. The game lasts less than a minute, it could be over on the first shot.
Ron
 
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mreightball, where'd you first hear about the game? i see you're from the southeast PA area. the only place i've ever played this game was in the poolhall, i frequented growing up, in philly. perhaps its a game someone created in the philly area that never branched far out of the region??? it's too bad, cause this is my favorite game to play!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
There is a pool hall here in Lebanon Pa where they play the game. If you try to look it up on a search you don't find anything on it. I am even surprised someone here heard of the game. Thanks for replying. I just wanted to check and see what the rules were. They play any shot you could shoot like a push out and I thought that was wrong. It is a fast game and money exchanges hands quickly.
Ron
 
I think this was a game I played in a bar once. Very fast paced and had alot of fun. Been trying to figure out what it was since, that night was a little hazy. I think this is it.
Thanks.
 
Sounds like it may be a local variation of Kelly pool. The (feature??) about money changing hands quickly is certainly true about Kelly pool too. Read about the history of Kelly pool on the Wikipedia link in my earlier post and you will see that the game was condemned and banned in many places because of the gambling aspects.

Other than Kelly pool being rotation and Harrigan not, and based on the replys from others from PA, it sounds like Kelly pool with local changes.
 
Just imagine this game:
Each person takes 2 pills. Look at the rack and see the position of your balls> Choose which pill you want as your money pill and the other is your money ball that you keep> The balls are then broken> If the breaker makes a ball he goes again if not the next shooter shoots> If the next shooters ball is in the open then he justs shoots it in and the game is over and everyone pays him if not open then he can make an attempt at it somehow or pretend another ball is his and shoot at it so no one knows what his actual ball is and he is hoping to get to the table again> if you make an opponents ball he is the winner and everyone pays him, even though he didn't make his ball he is still the winner of the game> So the first ball that goes in that is a money ball that person is the winner if he made the ball or someone else made the ball. Oh by the way you only get one shot then the next shooter shoots, rotating shots until a money ball is made. Real quick game that can be won by not the best shooter in the house. You could be a 3 and still win in this game.
Ron
Ron
 
We play it all the time. (Philly area). Its a good game because luck is a huge factor in it, therefore you can have A players and C players in the game and it won't be a sure thing for the A players. We play you must rack the 13 as the head ball, and the 14 and 15 as the two back corner balls. If you pick pill 14 and 15, that is called Herrigan. You must say you have both pills, and show them. That means BOTH balls are your money balls, but you shoot last.

Each player has 1 cushion on the table (6 cushions). They hide their money pill under the nose of the cushion. They keep the same cushion throughout the game.

There is also a process for racking to keep the game moving along quickly. The winner of the game racks the balls, while the other players are returning their pills to the bottle, and putting their money on the table to pay the winner. The person to the left of the winner (who is racking the balls), is the first to pick 2 new pills. Then he passes the bottle clockwise to the other people. By the time the winner is done racking, the pill bottle arrives at his cushion location and he is the last to pick the pills for the next game. This is the most efficient use of time, cause you want to get as many games in as you can.

Another variation of the game has NO racking between games. All balls that were pocketed are spotted up on the footstring. The other balls keep their current positions. THe rest of the game is the same. This variation is even luckier. It is also faster, cause no reracking. I believe this is called the "Chicago rules" variation. But I could be wrong on the city.

Finally, we usually play it "honest john". Meaning you have to go for your ball. You don't have to reveal your ball, but you can't simply roll up to a ball and play a blatant safe like in 9 ball.

The game is usually played for a dollar a man. But depending on the crowd, it can go to 5 or 10 a man, or more. Its also traditional in my room when playing for 1 a man, to make the final game for 5 a man. I've played it for 100 a man heads up with another player. But usually its a multiperson game, for small stakes.
 
Wow some of that is really a variation to what they play here.
Do you agree with rules like something has to hit a cushion or go in a pocket or that is a foul.
Also that a foul is ball in hand behind the head string.
Is there any particular way to rack the balls or randomly rack the balls in any position.
Are there any other rules I might have missed?
Ron
 
Harrigan - pill pool

This is how I was taught to play Harrigan by my father I have attempted to compose these rules for the benefit of others

A cut throat rotation type game for 2 to 8 players. Typically, this game is a betting game to the value of 5 cents, but higher stakes have been known to occur. It is played with a standard rack of 15 balls, and a bottle of numbered pills 1 through 16. A black board is recommended to list the order and the pills used to determine the order and which balls are the money balls.

Each player blindly selects two pills from the bottle. One pill becomes the order pill and the other pill represents their money ball. Each player determines their strategy on which gives them the best chance to sink their money ball.

Each player places one of the pills on the table to determine the order in which the players shoot. The player who selects the number 16 pill gets to go first (break). The order is determined from lowest number to highest. The money ball is kept secret until it is pocketed

Once the break is accomplished, standard rotation rules apply. A good hit to the target ball must occur for any pocketed balls to remain pocketed.
(In coin tables, those mishits result in no payout or a payment from the shooter to the unintended victim)
Once the target ball is hit, any ball that is sunk counts and that player gets to shoot again. If an opposing player’s money ball is sunk, that player pays the player who sunk their money ball.
If your ball is sunk, you still remain in the rotation and keep your chance to collect from others, just cannot win.
(option, when you are sunk, you are out)
If a player sinks his/her own money ball, all players then pay the winner. The game is over

The money ball pill must be kept hidden. However, It is unwise to place the pill in your ear, as you might already be hard of hearing. It may get stuck and you would need emergency assistance. Most unfortunately, you would also then be the laughing stock of the club.
 
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