How Hard Is Bonus Ball... Really?

Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
I'm still not so sure Bonus Ball is all that hard a game. I think we will see the answer when/if a lot of solid "B" players take the game up and we see how they do. I only have A BB and no one is firing back at me...so it's hard to tell how hard it really is for me. Have any solid "B" players on here that have played it much? Have you run a game out? Johnnyt
 
Johnnyt said:
I'm still not so sure Bonus Ball is all that hard a game. I think we will see the answer when/if a lot of solid "B" players take the game up and we see how they do. I only have A BB and no one is firing back at me...so it's hard to tell how hard it really is for me. Have any solid "B" players on here that have played it much? Have you run a game out? Johnnyt
Click to expand...

The way the Pros play it's very tough game. That TV table is super fast, 3 7/8" pockets, each team only has 3 pockets to shoot in, and they are working with a 25 second shot clock.

The amateur version of the game is much different.
Amateur league players will be able to shoot into any pocket, most table will have 4 1/2" pockets or bigger, no shot clock, etc...............
 
jmurphy said:
The way the Pros play it's very tough game. That TV table is super fast, 3 7/8" pockets, each team only has 3 pockets to shoot in, and they are working with a 25 second shot clock.

The amateur version of the game is much different.
Amateur league players will be able to shoot into any pocket, most table will have 4 1/2" pockets or bigger, no shot clock, etc...............
Click to expand...

I think ur over rating the game yes the pockets are tight but their cut to accept balls hit down the rail the clock really has little affect and that's just because their not use to it it will have no affect soon


1
 
jmurphy said:
The way the Pros play it's very tough game. That TV table is super fast, 3 7/8" pockets, each team only has 3 pockets to shoot in, and they are working with a 25 second shot clock.

The amateur version of the game is much different.
Amateur league players will be able to shoot into any pocket, most table will have 4 1/2" pockets or bigger, no shot clock, etc...............
Click to expand...

I would hope a solid "B" would be playing the "PRO" version. Johnnyt
 
Will definitely only play the pro version.. All 6 pockets might as well play 8ball since many of the nuances of the other games are lost... No Banks No 1hole type strategy.....

I have enjoyed the stream this weekend more than I expected... I am still reserving final judgement until a few more weeks in but they have a toehold... Can only hope they get a foothold and move forward....

Will say if it was any harder I think it would not be watchable... Bad pool is never watchable but so far the only brutal match was LA vs ATL for me at least....

I still don't agree with the way they are scheduling and not working with other promoters but this is season 1 and it has been a nightmare for them to get rolling... I hope that if they succeed that they will be a little more willing to allow the players opportunities to attend any of the major events here in the states....

Chris
 
Some friends and I played a bit this weekend and I thought it was kind of hard. There was occasion when the balls broke and there was a clear advantage for one pocket set.
 
Bb

It's interesting to see these guys forced into a decision, shot vs safety, sometimes a hard bank that will sellout if missed, plus the shot clock. They also have trouble getting into stroke, shooting in the team format seems worse. I have seen them dog some pretty routine shots because of it. Sometimes the table layout is pretty easy, other times impossible.
 
Johnnyt said:
I'm still not so sure Bonus Ball is all that hard a game. I think we will see the answer when/if a lot of solid "B" players take the game up and we see how they do. I only have A BB and no one is firing back at me...so it's hard to tell how hard it really is for me. Have any solid "B" players on here that have played it much? Have you run a game out? Johnnyt
Click to expand...

The six pocket version is kind of easy in my opinion, I ran out the rack several times on that one. The three pocket version gets harder for sure and you will find yourself taking a lot of banks and flyers trying to run out that one.

I played it for about two hours one night.
 
JB Cases said:
The six pocket version is kind of easy in my opinion, I ran out the rack several times on that one. The three pocket version gets harder for sure and you will find yourself taking a lot of banks and flyers trying to run out that one.

I played it for about two hours one night.
Click to expand...

Thanks JB.
 
where can I find the rules for bb I wouldn't mind giving it a try always looking for something to better my game
 
A buddy of mine has a BB set, but we still haven't played. After this weekend, I'm interested. Will probably play some later this week.

Only thing is , my pockets are only 4 1/8 instead of 3 7/8. :D
 
It's not a hard game, but I can;t see it going mainstream!
Too much scoring to think about, also I can see arguments
about what ball you shot last or next for that matter, and
thirdly just too many quirky rules for the average player
to think about!! For the most part the average player
loves 8 Ball, simple and easy, no matter what rules you
play by!!
 
Black-Balled said:
Some friends and I played a bit this weekend and I thought it was kind of hard. There was occasion when the balls broke and there was a clear advantage for one pocket set.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that was my impression too... luck of the break has a huge effect. The balls can favor one set of pockets and make one team have an easy run of 6 balls while the other team needs three innings just to get on the board.

I'm wondering if the players eventually figure out the game, if the wrong layout might lead to impossible situations or month-long defensive battles.

Going over the rulebook I finally see what you're supposed to do when the only realistic shot on your color is hanging in the opponent's hole: if you kick it 2+ rails you can shoot it into the opponent's hole and it's not a foul... you get credited with points and keep shooting.

Oh, to answer your question johnny: I'd say even with solid B players, a run of 6 balls (2 sequences) is pretty good unless the balls are just laying pretty nice. It seems like you're gonna be forced to shoot down the rail into distant pockets or play banks in a typical rack. If the balls are laying tough, the B players may not score at all, they're forced to take 1 and 2 rail flyers that the other team just knocks away if their shots are less than 100%.
 
Last edited:
I think the three pocket version of bonus ball is very difficult, and players who play below "A" speed will, I believe, be overmatched by the game.
 
pablocruz said:
It's not a hard game, but I can;t see it going mainstream!
Too much scoring to think about, also I can see arguments
about what ball you shot last or next for that matter, and
thirdly just too many quirky rules for the average player
to think about!! For the most part the average player
loves 8 Ball, simple and easy, no matter what rules you
play by!!
Click to expand...
One thing makes it easier to keep track of scoring, if the score is divisible by 3 then you are on purple, and, you never come to the table on black

When you step up, if score is divisible by 3, shoot purple
If not, shoot orange
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top