How to Eliminate Luck in Pool

Sometimes I hate the APA,.....butits the only league around here. "Luck",..... slop,...whatever you wanna call it counts in APA scoring so long as you hit your ball first. I can kind of understand that concept since it gives a degree of uncertainty to a match,...................... BUT

When a player (I'll insert me here), has an opponent in check by having control of the table in a match, and "Luck" comes into play(I'll insert my opponent here); well its not amusing at all. Itsa fluke if it happens once, but it happened 3 TIMES all 3 of them were drill shots that missed and went 3 rails to (you guessed it) an unintended pocket. helluva way to lose.
No, my opp is not a 3-cushion artist.

Ok. I'm done ! :embarrassed2: sorry for the rant,... (I feel better now) :)

This looks like an intelligent and thought out post. I'll get back to it later when i'm awake. :cool:

Love that avatar! :cool:

Luck does happen in pool, much like poker. In poker, the game does have a certain modicum of luck, and it's the same with pool. However, in both poker and pool, the skill factor does come into play. ;)

More luck in poker, I think, than pool, though. :o
 
I would make the argument that you can never eliminate luck simply because "luck" is a thing that a person attributes to a series of events. Usually those events are dependent on at least one non-deterministic (i.e., random) occurrence. However, randomness is not required for an event to be considered the result of "luck."

In other words, there's always going to be someone complaining that he lost because the other guy got lucky.

The only luck I can think of in Runout 8 Ball is breaking a cluster and getting bad shape. Then again, is that bad luck or poor planning/execution?

Also I suppose someone could miss a shot and have the ball go around the table and back into the called pocket. That is so uncommon at the pro level as to be a non-issue. But if it bothers you, you could make players call multi-rail shots.
 
I don't know that removing luck is a good thing. Look at other sports. There is always a little luck with a good bounce, a strange wind, bad/good roll, hit the flag pin, catching that Ace on the river, etc. I'm not sure if we would've had the Shand v. Alex rivalry if not for good/bad luck at the derby that year.

I do like your idea, but at the same time, I like a little luck every now and then...

best,

Justin
 
The only luck I can think of in Runout 8 Ball is breaking a cluster and getting bad shape. Then again, is that bad luck or poor planning/execution?

Also I suppose someone could miss a shot and have the ball go around the table and back into the called pocket. That is so uncommon at the pro level as to be a non-issue. But if it bothers you, you could make players call multi-rail shots.

It doesn't bother me. As I said, luck is a perception of events and I don't perceive events as lucky or unlucky...

I will now refer you to this thread for more information on creating new games: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=316614
 
Luck adds spice and fun to almost any game... in the right dose.
Yepp, I am all on-board with that. But 3 different times from 3 different angles was a statistical quirk! My opp was about 50/50 for a cross-table 1 rail shot, and maybe 1 in 4 for one long-table. I'm over it , nuff said

Love that avatar! :cool:
I offered you a Dog avatar in another thread, you never answered; so ......... its mine now ! :p

Seriously, Glad you like it Jam.
 
Some Good Ideas !

To the OP: my apologies for my rant in your thread,.... I seen the word "Luck" and that did it . Am coffee settled the beast in me. :)

I personally like your idea, however I do see a lot of issues (that you have already identified), and they may be hard to overcome.

on the plus side:
Love the idea of 8-ball as the format. Its not my favorite game,However; the player gets a few options for choice, and there is the other balls that are needed to navigate which would require good position play.

Call shot/call pocket ,..... has my vote ! (bye luck!)

Golf format : good & bad, I wonder how you are going to keep all those players entertained until it is "tee-off" time.

On the down side:

there are quite a few "if" things in here, I'll step by those.

A ref at each table ? hmmmmm. could it be likely the ref knows a few players better than others? Also an expense.

Golf format: some may like it , some not so much.

The game takes on an "individualistic" look now as it is primarily a shooters game. Defense is nil. no interaction with opponent.

I think since PRO's mostly shoot by themselves anyway, this might be nice to see in some PRO events & the top tournaments.

this would also eliminate sharking to a point too come to think of it.
Is that good ? or Bad ?
 
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