If you really want to beat the ghost in 9ball....

[Poolmanis]

Dunno If it counts.. I play against ghost without BIH normally when practice 10-ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6okbwLetu4
Played STRONG couple months ago. I´ve been taking a break for pool but I think I start drill Pro-ghost after new year.

IMO Glen is right and wrong. Playing against ghost without BIH is good practice. That is how I put some extra effort to my game. It is just so crazy hard that not many can win it.
But minewhile one will been trying, he will improve.

You have to be able to put super control on break if you wanna beat Ghost without BIH, That will improve your break.

 

[realkingcobra]

I haven't lived out of country, no. But I visited several places for one week or more, and always brought my cues with me. In the past 15 years, I've been to Shenzen, China about 6 times; Taipei, Taiwan 2 times; Athens, Greece 1 time; Munich, Germany 1 time; Paris, France 1 time.

In all of those places, I visited the local rooms one or more times. Trying to get a game (for free or money) with the locals. Always asking the houseman if there was anyone I could play. I didn't come across one single A player. I did come across one solid B in China, and one solid B+ in Taipei.

None of the rooms were packed. Most about 1/4 full.

Now, in contrast, in the 1990's, in Philly (where I'm from), the rooms had a waiting list 30 minutes long every weekend of the entire year. And in the summer time with no school, there was a waiting list every summer week night as well. So my experience with pool in the State's in the 1990's compared to Europe and Asia in the 2000 to 2010 timeframe, was no comparison. USA by a mile.

Today, those same rooms in Philly are either closed or barely still open. I can't comment on what is going on in Europe and Asia personally, as I have not been there since 2010.

When i lived in Germany i use to drive down to Frankfurt to gamble.playing the germans 8 ball last pocket. Back then the exchange rate was 2 marks to the dollar, we'd gamble all night long and all day at 500-1,000 marks a game. I couldn't just play rack after rack because i had to wait for the room owner to.collect his side bets, place new ones....and kick out anyone not betting. I use to do the samething up in Bremerhaven, where i beat a room owner out of 15,000 marks on a new years eve weekend, which would have been at the end of 1979, because i spent all the money i won buying McDermott cues, which i flipped within 99 days as no one played with a 2 piece cue back then, they all played with house cues. Pool has expanded 100x since then in Europe as that was 38 years ago, there was no Oliver Ortmann's back then playing pool in Germany. So maybe, you were just looking in the wrong places to play pool.

 

[realkingcobra]

Dunno If it counts.. I play against ghost without BIH normally when practice 10-ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6okbwLetu4
Played STRONG couple months ago. I´ve been taking a break for pool but I think I start drill Pro-ghost after new year.

IMO Glen is right and wrong. Playing against ghost without BIH is good practice. That is how I put some extra effort to my game. It is just so crazy hard that not many can win it.
But minewhile one will trying, he will improve.

You have to be able put super control on break if you wanna beat without BIH, That will improve your break.

While i agree it's hard as hell to stay focused all the time to play without bih with no real reward, but that's the point that I've been making for years....there needs to be some kind of reward for those that put in the hard hours of practice over and over, hour after hour. There needs to be a world Professional listing that once a player can make that list, they can start making money competing as a Pro guaranteed, as long as they can keep making the cut year after year.

 

[iusedtoberich]

When i lived in Germany i use to drive down to Frankfurt to gamble.playing the germans 8 ball last pocket. Back then the exchange rate was 2 marks to the dollar, we'd gamble all night long and all day at 500-1,000 marks a game. I couldn't just play rack after rack because i had to wait for the room owner to.collect his side bets, place new ones....and kick out anyone not betting. I use to do the samething up in Bremerhaven, where i beat a room owner out of 15,000 marks on a new years eve weekend, which would have been at the end of 1979, because i spent all the money i won buying McDermott cues, which i flipped within 99 days as no one played with a 2 piece cue back then, they all played with house cues. Pool has expanded 100x since then in Europe as that was 38 years ago, there was no Oliver Ortmann's back then playing pool in Germany. So maybe, you were just looking in the wrong places to play pool.

Wait, you were basing your experiences on 40 years ago!? ha ha ha. Nuff said.

Just like the USA, more distractions now. Both husband and wife work now. People bring their work home with them. Not as much cash based society (direct deposit, credit cards).

There is no way in hell what you saw is going on today. The same thing was happening in the USA in the 40 years ago. Now, you have to pull teeth to get someone to play 100 a set in the USA.

 

[realkingcobra]

Dunno If it counts.. I play against ghost without BIH normally when practice 10-ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6okbwLetu4
Played STRONG couple months ago. I´ve been taking a break for pool but I think I start drill Pro-ghost after new year.

IMO Glen is right and wrong. Playing against ghost without BIH is good practice. That is how I put some extra effort to my game. It is just so crazy hard that not many can win it.
But minewhile one will trying, he will improve.

You have to be able put super control on break if you wanna beat without BIH, That will improve your break.

Break and first shot after the break allows you to practice the break if you make a ball on the break, and the first shot after the break lets you continue to try and run out the rack as if you made a ball on the break. But don't just focuse on the runout alone. If you keep score of your run attempts, you'll have a new score after every 10 racks. 1 point per ball made, 1 point for each ball pocketed on the break as well as one point for each ball past the side.pockets for a total of up to 4 extra points per rack to go with the 10 points for the run out. As long as you don't scratch on the break, you're going to pick up some points on the break as is, just keep track of your scores. After every 10 racks, you can compare your scores from older sets to see how well you're improving. The maximum score is 140 for 10 racks. Also thought I'd mention making the 10 ball early counts as a win and the end of the rack for the full 10 points.

 

[Meucciplayer]

I can only talk about Germany nowadays and pool is not a mainstream sport in any way. Even the bars with pool tables slowly disappear.

There are a lot of places with shoddy pool tables here as well - the commercial places mostly. The pool clubs usually have better equipment but Diamonds and GCs are really hard to find. Mostly cheaper tables like Dynamic and so on. There are a few clubs across the country with some really good players but nowhere as many as some people in the States might think.

Gambling is almost non-existant nowadays compared to the US. Tournaments and league play do happen. But this is a relatively small crowd. Young people are into computer games, cell phones and whatever.

Many great hobbies of the past start to vanish - like model railroading, scale modelling, stamp collecting, bowling (or "Kegeln", the local variety) and so on. If you go to conventions of stamp collectors or model railroaders you will be one of the youngest attendees if you're 60 years of age.

Pool isn't quite at that stage but it is getting there slowly.

 

[ChrisinNC]

Back in the late 80's and early 90's i owned 3 pool rooms, and through all my research through the BCA and other pool rooms around the country, the average rental time in pool rooms is about 5.5 hours a day. Recently i found out that the average pool player in Jakarta Indonesia plays about 4 hours a day, and has to get on the waiting list in most pool rooms in order to get that time in.

If you owned 3 poolrooms yourself, and now you work on pool tables for a living, obviously you know well how hard it is to run a successful poolroom and make a profit, so you shouldn't be trashing them/us, as I'm a poolroom owner for the past 22 years.

Logistically these days, with what poolrooms have to pay for rental space per square foot, it is nearly impossible to be profitable, unless the owner owns the land and building and has a good food and beverage operation going - which is the major income producer for the business - not the pool table rental fees.

 

[peppersauce]

………...……………..

 

[realkingcobra]

If you owned 3 poolrooms yourself, and now you work on pool tables for a living, obviously you know well how hard it is to run a successful poolroom and make a profit, so you shouldn't be trashing them/us, as I'm a poolroom owner for the past 22 years.

Logistically these days, with what poolrooms have to pay for rental space per square foot, it is nearly impossible to be profitable, unless the owner owns the land and building and has a good food and beverage operation going - which is the major income producer for the business - not the pool table rental fees.

Would your restaurant and bar stay in business if you closed down the pool room?

 

[ChrisinNC]

Would your restaurant and bar stay in business if you closed down the pool room?

Yes, actually the F&B is 90+% of our business, and with no alcohol. Without the pool tables I'd actually be able to expand the seating and do even better. However, as a pool enthusiast, the poolroom is the only reason I want to have this business.

 

[realkingcobra]

Yes, actually the F&B is 90+% of our business, and with no alcohol. Without the pool tables I'd actually be able to expand the seating and do even better. However, as a pool enthusiast, the poolroom is the only reason I want to have this business.

Call me and I'll give you something to think about, something our pool rooms up here are changing over to. 702-927-5689

 

[decent dennis]

Who mentioned that?

Post 21..........

 

[realkingcobra]

Post 21..........

What does that have to do with bonus ball? It's simply a system to determine a players ability to pocmet balls playing 10ball. It's not tournament play, kind of like qualifying for nascar, Golf, Bowling or any other sport as a way of separating the wannabes from those qho play well enough to be included. So bonus ball....not hardly.

 

[decent dennis]

Did you not use the words "bonus ball points".

 

[Dave714]

Practice !!!

 

[realkingcobra]

Did you not use the words "bonus ball points".

The trouble with no BIH after the break, Glen....is you don’t get to work on the break.

I have shot this prop bet...you cream puff the break, play for the 1-ball in the side.

Anybody who breaks them hard on this bet is going broke....
...Ever had a day when you always seem to be pushing after a good break?
....those are the days the ghost devours you.

BIH after the break is a lot more skill.


pt....doesn’t use a Magic Rack

10 racks in a row, 10ball ghost, each rack is worth 10 points if you run out, miss the run out, you only count the balls made,

and to answer your question about the soft break, you'll miss out on the bonus ball points, ......one point extra for all balls pocketed on the break....or past the side pockets up to 4 points bonus per rack for a perfect score of 140 at the end of 10 racks....


soft breaks won't get you in the winners bracket!

 

[realkingcobra]

Did you not use the words "bonus ball points".

The "bonus ball point" are from pocketing balls on the break or making balls past the side pockets....which prevents soft breaking and just going after the 10 points per rack for a score of 100 at the end of 10 racks. If a player is hoping a 100 point score is going to help them make the cut.of score to be able to compete, they may be sadly mistaken....so, practice the hell out of your break and shoot for tbe 140 maximun score.