How to "Play the Ghost"

N

nzjase

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Really simple question for you guys, how do I "Play the ghost" in practice (8-ball)

This is what I am currently doing, I am setting up 3 solids and 3 stripes, plus the 8 ball, then breaking (chosen 3 balls as I am a real beginner and need to work on a number of areas)

I then take ball in hand and choose solids/stripes and try to run the table. If I miss/foul I lose and if I run out I will.

Is this how to do it? (sorry for such a newbie question)
 
Playing the ghost in 8 ball is full rack, bih, run either solids or stripes through the 8. If you want to give yourself a spot you can pull a ball or two after the break.
 
If you're a beginner, one way to practice is to rack only 3 balls and the 8-ball. Break and take ball-in-hand. If you run out then add another ball; if you fail to run out then remove a ball. Since it is progressive you can easily see where you are and if you're improving. If you run out with all 7 balls and the 8-ball, then start to add balls as blockers. Once you get better you can break the full rack and try to run out.
 
Here is how I play the 8 ball Ghost..

rack the balls.... break... if you make a ball you get to choose your group... if you did not you get solids..

remove all of the other group from the table... run out... if you get out follow the above instructions.. but leave the lowest numbered ball from the opposite group.. and try to run out again... if you get out leave the 2 lowest balls from the opposing group.. and so on.

until you earn the right to leave all the balls on the table after the break
 
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Freeshot, Softshot, cheers for those ideas. They both sound like good interesting ways to play it for someone at my level.

Thanks
 
There are a few ideas about how to play the ghost and I ask the "table run" people what the difference is between playing the ghost and trying to run the table and I rarely get an answer and have never gotten a straight one. Your way of 3 balls of each group is pretty good one.

I have not played the ghost in quite a while; but how I do it is with safeties (all you B&R people can have at me). I break 15 balls and give myself BIH, I play as if there is someone else there but if I ever miss and leave my opponent a look at any one of his balls he is out and wins (the ghost is really good). I can safe him by making legal contact and if he can't "see" any of his balls I get BIH again (the ghost is a terrible kicker, he fouls every time). As you are a beginner this is actually pretty tough a C or D player has no chance of beating the ghost in a race to 5.

Another 8ball practice method that is really good is spreading the 15 balls out at least 6in from any rail or any other ball, give yourself BIH, try to run the solids, if you miss give yourself BIH until you run the solids, sink the 8 and spot it, if the foot spot is occupied spot it on the head spot, if both the head & foot spot are occupied, spot it in the center, same goes with an early 8ball pot. After you sink the 8 try to run the stripes. What's great about this is the ease of which you can track your progress. You don't even have to mark down how many attempts it takes you to clear the table, after a few weeks of practice you will be able to remember.

Another good practice method for 8ball is Bowlliards & Fargo for the beginner I suggest you give yourself BIH twice in Bowlliards.
 
Thanks a lot =)

Short reply but I assure you I read and took in your post in full!

PGHteacher said:
There are a few ideas about how to play the ghost and I ask the "table run" people what the difference is between playing the ghost and trying to run the table and I rarely get an answer and have never gotten a straight one. Your way of 3 balls of each group is pretty good one.

I have not played the ghost in quite a while; but how I do it is with safeties (all you B&R people can have at me). I break 15 balls and give myself BIH, I play as if there is someone else there but if I ever miss and leave my opponent a look at any one of his balls he is out and wins (the ghost is really good). I can safe him by making legal contact and if he can't "see" any of his balls I get BIH again (the ghost is a terrible kicker, he fouls every time). As you are a beginner this is actually pretty tough a C or D player has no chance of beating the ghost in a race to 5.

Another 8ball practice method that is really good is spreading the 15 balls out at least 6in from any rail or any other ball, give yourself BIH, try to run the solids, if you miss give yourself BIH until you run the solids, sink the 8 and spot it, if the foot spot is occupied spot it on the head spot, if both the head & foot spot are occupied, spot it in the center, same goes with an early 8ball pot. After you sink the 8 try to run the stripes. What's great about this is the ease of which you can track your progress. You don't even have to mark down how many attempts it takes you to clear the table, after a few weeks of practice you will be able to remember.

Another good practice method for 8ball is Bowlliards & Fargo for the beginner I suggest you give yourself BIH twice in Bowlliards.
Click to expand...
 
I would recommend mixing in some cribbage as well, especially once you get to the point where you are getting out at 8-ball fairly regularly. I'm sure you can find cribbage rules out there somewhere, but here is a quick rundown:

- Open break (take bih after if you are playing the ghost)
- Pocket balls in pairs that total 15 (3/12, 2/13, etc.)
- Each pair pocketed nets 1 point
- If you pocket one ball and fail on the second, spot the first ball
- If you pocket multiple balls on one shot, you must make the companion balls on your next shots. So if you pocket the 4 and the 10 on the same stroke (on the break, for instance), your next two shots must be the 11 and the 5, but not necessarily in that order
- The 15 ball counts as 1 point, but must be played as the final shot of the rack

I think cribbage is a great game because it gets all 15 balls on the table and requires solid pattern management and cueball control. The trick is to plan 4 shots at a time - find a manageable pair of balls you can pocket and plan how the final ball leads you into the next pair, at the same time planning ways to deal with problems such as clusters that need to be separated.

I prefer it over 8-ball because it forces you to control whitey a little better once you commit to a pattern. I also like the fact that, as a two-player game, it offers more opportunities for strategy and defensive play, especially late in the game.


As far as the ghost is concerned, I think it is far more useful as a rotation game. You can rack 3-ball, 4-ball, 6-ball, 7-ball, etc., and how you perform up through the difficulty levels is a great yardstick to measure your offensive prowess. I guess you could play a short-rack 8-ball ghost game by using a 9-ball rack, though. Just use 4 stripes, 4 solids, and put the 8 in the middle.

Aaron
 
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I am a very long way off playing cribbage but hopefully a game for the future, thanks.

Aaron_S said:
I would recommend mixing in some cribbage as well, especially once you get to the point where you are getting out at 8-ball fairly regularly. I'm sure you can find cribbage rules out there somewhere, but here is a quick rundown:

- Open break (take bih after if you are playing the ghost)
- Pocket balls in pairs that total 15 (3/12, 2/13, etc.)
- Each pair pocketed nets 1 point
- If you pocket one ball and fail on the second, spot the first ball
- If you pocket multiple balls on one shot, you must make the companion balls on your next shots. So if you pocket the 4 and the 10 on the same stroke (on the break, for instance), your next two shots must be the 11 and the 5, but not necessarily in that order
- The 15 ball counts as 1 point, but must be played as the final shot of the rack

I think cribbage is a great game because it gets all 15 balls on the table and requires solid pattern management and cueball control. The trick is to plan 4 shots at a time - find a manageable pair of balls you can pocket and plan how the final ball leads you into the next pair, at the same time planning ways to deal with problems such as clusters that need to be separated.

I prefer it over 8-ball because it forces you to control whitey a little better once you commit to a pattern. I also like the fact that, as a two-player game, it offers more opportunities for strategy and defensive play, especially late in the game.


As far as the ghost is concerned, I think it is far more useful as a rotation game. You can rack 3-ball, 4-ball, 6-ball, 7-ball, etc., and how you perform up through the difficulty levels is a great yardstick to measure your offensive prowess. I guess you could play a short-rack 8-ball ghost game by using a 9-ball rack, though. Just use 4 stripes, 4 solids, and put the 8 in the middle.

Aaron
Click to expand...
 
nzjase said:
I am a very long way off playing cribbage but hopefully a game for the future, thanks.
Click to expand...

Maybe - you would just have to give it a shot and see. But even if you are only scoring 1 or 2 points a rack, that would give you a good baseline for measuring your progress. If after a year you are averaging 4 points a rack against the cribbage ghost, you will be assured that you have improved significantly, and you will definitely see that improvement in your 8-ball game.

Good luck,
Aaron
 
good run out practice

I like to rack like 9 ball to practice a break shot and then play 8 ball with me being solids (obviously!) If you miss the runout you have the chance to play safe on the striped 9ball
 
Playing the ghost is my main routine. Here is how I do it.

1.I start with 4 balls. (I started with 3 balls a year ago but have improved.) 3 solids or 3 stripes and the 8 ball. If I'm practicing playing the 9 ball ghost, I use the 6,7,8,9.

2.Break the balls, or spread them out on the table randomly.

3.Shoot them in order with the 8-ball last. So for example, 1,3,6,8. Obviously when you are playing 8-ball in a real game you don't have to shoot them in order, but when you step to the table, you should have a plan to run out. This exercise teaches you to develop that plan and tests the execution of that plan. For me, one of my weakest points in the game is 'seeing' the table. This really helps with that.

4.If I run out, I get a point. If I miss, the ghost gets a point. If I make it to 5 points (5 runs) before the ghost, I add another ball and run the drill again.

IMHO, it is one of the best drills you can run. Shout out to Raymar for teaching it to me.
 
PGHteacher said:
There are a few ideas about how to play the ghost and I ask the "table run" people what the difference is between playing the ghost and trying to run the table and I rarely get an answer and have never gotten a straight one. Your way of 3 balls of each group is pretty good one.

I have not played the ghost in quite a while; but how I do it is with safeties (all you B&R people can have at me). I break 15 balls and give myself BIH, I play as if there is someone else there but if I ever miss and leave my opponent a look at any one of his balls he is out and wins (the ghost is really good). I can safe him by making legal contact and if he can't "see" any of his balls I get BIH again (the ghost is a terrible kicker, he fouls every time). As you are a beginner this is actually pretty tough a C or D player has no chance of beating the ghost in a race to 5.

Another 8ball practice method that is really good is spreading the 15 balls out at least 6in from any rail or any other ball, give yourself BIH, try to run the solids, if you miss give yourself BIH until you run the solids, sink the 8 and spot it, if the foot spot is occupied spot it on the head spot, if both the head & foot spot are occupied, spot it in the center, same goes with an early 8ball pot. After you sink the 8 try to run the stripes. What's great about this is the ease of which you can track your progress. You don't even have to mark down how many attempts it takes you to clear the table, after a few weeks of practice you will be able to remember.

Another good practice method for 8ball is Bowlliards & Fargo for the beginner I suggest you give yourself BIH twice in Bowlliards.
Click to expand...

I knew about bowlliards, but I just looked at Fargo for the first time here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHj6KUw8xzE Looks pretty cool! I'm going to try it as soon as I can so I know where I stand now and can see my progress or lack thereof. :thumbup:
 
I'm not an 8 ball player so my suggestion probably wasn't the best. I just came up with an idea to play the 8 ball ghost using real conditions (full rack and removing balls after the break for a spot).

This is how I play the 9 ball ghost:

Regular 9 ball rack
Take the break, 9 ball on the break doesn't count. I don't spot it.
If I have a 50/50 shot on the first ball with at least a 50/50 line on the next ball I don't take BiH.
I do take combos/early 9s after the break.

My interest is in real break and runs first and beating the ghost second.
 
I've found doing drills to offer greater benefit than playing ghost. YMMV. While it may be little advanced for where you're at with your game right now, the 6 8 drill has helped my game tremendously for both 8 and 9 ball. By no means do I regularly run out on this drill but just making the attempts has improved my game in a number of key areas. You can also make your own rules. Instead of starting with 6 balls across the string, perhaps start with 3, 2 on each side and one in the middle. That would be quite a bit more forgiving to gain position. The other thing this drill teaches is getting accustomed to shooting the 8 ball.

Check out this thread where I saw it, you can follow the one link to see a pro do the drill and if you watch carefully, you can get some ideas of the cue tip positions and types of shots you may encounter. There is also reference to an L drill in that same thread that is a good one as well.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=282321&highlight=drill

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=282321&highlight=drill
 
nobcitypool said:
I've found doing drills to offer greater benefit than playing ghost. YMMV. While it may be little advanced for where you're at with your game right now, the 6 8 drill has helped my game tremendously for both 8 and 9 ball. By no means do I regularly run out on this drill but just making the attempts has improved my game in a number of key areas. You can also make your own rules. Instead of starting with 6 balls across the string, perhaps start with 3, 2 on each side and one in the middle. That would be quite a bit more forgiving to gain position. The other thing this drill teaches is getting accustomed to shooting the 8 ball.

Check out this thread where I saw it, you can follow the one link to see a pro do the drill and if you watch carefully, you can get some ideas of the cue tip positions and types of shots you may encounter. There is also reference to an L drill in that same thread that is a good one as well.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=282321&highlight=drill

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=282321&highlight=drill
Click to expand...

Thanks mate
 
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