If I hear "pro rules" one more time...
- Thread starter cubswin
- Start date
junior718 said:
Junior, That's not what I said. What I said was that 8 Ball was a more strategic game, requiring more thought than 9 Ball. I love to play both games, and many other pocket billiards games, BUT, the pattern in 9-Ball is always the same... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.... 9. In 8-Ball, position play is more crucial. Speed control is more crucial. Strategy is more crucial. In 9-Ball, shotmaking is the #1 priority. Position is "get on the correct side of the next ball" most of the time.
As for difficulty, I can break and run between 20 and 30%, depending on the day and how my back is feeling, at 9-Ball. In 8-Ball, even PRO 8-Ball, break and run is less common. I'll look this up later if you want me to, but I believe that a statistic from Accu-Stats says that the non-Breaker is a 60% winner in Pro 8-Ball. Not the case in 9-Ball. So, if that's the case in the professional ranks, then IMO a Break and Run in 9-Ball is easier. Personally, I find for me that it is. Playing safe in 9-Ball is easier (hell, you only have to hide the CB from one ball), therefore the breaker in 9-Ball is a higher percentage winner. Playing safe in 8-Ball is a LOT tougher. You have to hide the CB from several balls.
In any case, I'm not saying that 9-Ball players can't play good 8-Ball, but I know many top level 8-Ball players that play GREAT 8-Ball.
That being said, I'll play a good 9-Ball player a little 14.1 anytime... THAT'S A REAL GAME! Although we'll never see it on TV or in big tourneys again... just not exciting to watch. The public wants fast and furious and games like 7-Ball and 9-Ball fit the bill. As much as I love 8-Ball and 14.1, I don't think they'll ever appeal to the public like 9-Ball does.
But, if you wanna bet, hell, I'm game, but not in 9-Ball... lets make it a little more challenging... 15 ball rotation? Short Rack Banks?
Later,
Bob
PS: I really do suck... you have to give me the break and the last two!
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junior718 said:
Didn't someone just win both the 9 ball world championships and the 8 ball world championships (the real one) in the same year?
Cane said:
The positional routes are never the same, and you're forced to shoot them in sequence, repeat, in sequence. That forces a higher level of execution, and drastically shrinks the margin of error.
First of all, the breaker's % of running out a rack pertains to 9-ball. Second, you've never seen the pros play 8-ball if you think it's actually difficult for them to run out an 8-ball rack, on a big table, with the option to choose their ball.
-Roger
I was probably more annoyed because I play a bunch of bar 8 ball tournaments in a year. All of them are ball in hand 8, almost everyone that plays in them can run a open table with ball in hand. A lot of the players are the average guys that play pool.
Slightly different set of guys than what you run into in bars at night usually, but there is always one or two bar regulars there. It sounded patronizing to me.
I like the idea they are going with for the ipt, think it has a decent chance to be a good thing. Just didn't like how KT was acting like only "pro's" play these rules, and no one else could run a rack.
Slightly different set of guys than what you run into in bars at night usually, but there is always one or two bar regulars there. It sounded patronizing to me.
I like the idea they are going with for the ipt, think it has a decent chance to be a good thing. Just didn't like how KT was acting like only "pro's" play these rules, and no one else could run a rack.
buddha162 said:
I'm not so sure who it is here who's "never seen the pros play 8-ball".
Johnny Archer and Efren Reyes are certainly pros, and I have a tape of them playing 8-ball at the accu-stats invitational, on a big table, open after the break. Race to 8, Reyes wins it, hill-hill. That's 15 racks total. Care to venture a guess as to how many were break-and-runs?
If you say it's not difficult, you'd think they would have done it more than three or four (I don't remember which it was, can anyone who's seen that match help me out on this one?) times out of 15. But you'd be wrong.
-Andrew
-Andrew
Andrew Manning said:
I never mentioned break-and-runs as a criteria for difficulty. Tell me, how often was the table run by the breaker when he made a ball on the break? Tables run by the non-breaker when a ball wasn't made on a break?
6-7 years ago the Taiwanese pool association tentatively gave 8-ball a trial run, and subsequently dropped it after one season because the game was too easy for the pros. 90% of the time whoever made the first ball runs the rack out. The results were a virtual coin toss amongst even the 3rd tier pros.
FYI Taiwan has zero 8-ball tradition; the vast majority of its (extremely pool-savvy) population has never even heard of the game.
-Roger