How strong is the 9 ball ghost a player?

Curiosity question....

KMRUNOUT said:
Curious...

What skill level would people rate the 9 ball ghost? In other words, what level player is expected to beat the ghost 50% of the time in a race to 9?

First off, to me the ghost works like this:

--regular rack, no special pattern
--break the balls, take ball in hand no matter what (scratch is ok)
--if you run out or make an early 9 ball, you win, otherwise you lose.
--race to 9
--9 foot table with average pockets

This is the easiest version of the ghost, but I think its how most play?

Anyway, so who should beat the ghost? I feel like a B player *may* beat the ghost on occassion, but very very rarely. Usually I think the B player will get out of line at least once per rack on average, and so won't run out consistently.

I must say even some of the A players might have some trouble. I would expect an "open" player to win almost every time, and an A player wins maybe 50% of the time. I would say someone who is the *favorite* against the ghost (wins more than 50%) is at least a solid A player.

This sound right to people? Thoughts?

KMRUNOUT
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Kerry,
Great thread concept, but I'm curious, how do you do against the ghost ? I know what your ranking is so .......is it accurate? Do you win 50% or more on average?
 
I would say a good B beats that ghost occasionally.
A weak A beats that ghost fairly regularly.
An average A beats that ghost more times than it beats him.
A shortstop beats that ghost pretty much every time.
 
shortstop wins more time than he loses

open level player robs the 9ball ghost and is more competitive with the 10/11/12 ball ghost

above the 12ball ghost and you are talking about touring pro level. The elite can be competitive with the 13/14/15ball ghost although alot depends on table conditions.
 
The ghost is terrified of me.
I offered him all the breaks.
I racked the balls and sat down for an hour and the little sissy never broke the balls !
 
cueman said:
My son was ranked as an A player on Shannon's tour and I was ranked B+. If we are both shooting average he will beat the ghost over 50% of the time and I won't. So I guess the A or B rating test holds true for us.
Click to expand...

I believe I played your son once! It was the Wednesday night warmup at the SBE a couple years back. I think I won. I must be an A haha! He was a very respectful opponent!

KMRUNOUT
 
David Marcus said:
Kerry,
Great thread concept, but I'm curious, how do you do against the ghost ? I know what your ranking is so .......is it accurate? Do you win 50% or more on average?
Click to expand...

David I'm not sure I'd have to record some data. I feel like if I'm bearing down I might be about even with the ghost...maybe I win a hair more than I lose. I certainly wouldn't bet on myself haha!

KMRUNOUT

Edit: I've played the 10 ball ghost once and lost 9-7...I felt I was playing very well that time.
 
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I think the ratings discussed are accurate. I think I would be considered a solid "A" player by most standards, and I beat the 9 ball ghost about 75% of the time. There can still be some sessions where racks are breaking funny or I'm playing bad. But on average I'm 2 to 1 against so typical scores are in the 9 to 4 range so a comfortable margin.

I don't practice much 10-ball ghost - need to do more - but of the couple dozen races I've kept track of or recorded I would say I'm less than 50%, I would win maybe 30% - 40% of the time race to 10. I have done quite a few 10-ball exercises where I play 10 games and keep track of balls made and total up the score, forget the name for that but Dr. Dave had that as a test. I will typically run between 4 and 6 racks out of 10 in this format, close but not consistently winning more than losing until you can get that to the 5-7 out of 10 range more consistently.

To increase that percentage and get to that next "AA" type level, IMO I think I would need to practice more (and perhaps more efficiently) and work on my mental focus and mental endurance. Little bit of work to do there...
Scott
 
I am ranked as.an A in all the tournaments I play in.... But I firmly believe I am a B player, strong B, bot not an A. I've recently gotten a level of comfort with inside english that makes me want to play the ghost in 15 ball rotation and more recently 9 ball.

I can get to about 8 of 10 in a race to 10 against the ghost. I have yet to beat the ghost. I have ran 4 racks in a row and can break and run 8 ball 3 times out of 10 typically. To me, this is q solid B. An A would be a couple games better than me... In BCA parlance.

Lesh
 
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