Is it considered bad form to take a shot just to screw over your opponent?

[pocket]

If you mean poking the cueball into the opponent's ball, no it is not.

If you mean poking the opponent's ball intentionally, this is a sportsmanship violation

ding ding

 

[buckshotshoey]

The BCAPL allows the frozen ball to hit another ball and then return to the cushion. The WPA rules do not require another ball to be the reason for the return. Also, the BCAPL/CSI rules allow a frozen ball to rattle between the jaws of the side pocket and counts that as a rail even though the frozen ball did not contact some other ball (see page 88 in the CSI rules).

(The BCA is very different from the BCAPL. The BCA uses the WPA World Standardized Rules.)

Yes. That also includes the cue ball. If you strike a frozen (declaired) object ball with the cue ball, and then cue ball touches the same rail the OB was frozen to, it's a good hit. However you have to be careful the cue hits the object ball first.

 

[sixpack]

I think whoever put that rule in didn't understand that if the cue ball contacts a cushion after the object ball, the sequence is unlikely to go on for long. I can't think of a situation where it wouldn't end fairly quickly.

I agree. I think they misunderstood the rule in the first place and thought that it meant CB and/or OB had to be driven to a different rail. I argued with the TD about it but to no avail. I wish I could remember exactly where it was but it was 1995-2000-ish. So based on where I was living maybe in Kansas, Ohio, Denver, Atlanta, San Francisco or Chicago. Hopefully that narrows it down. lol.

 

[Bob Jewett]

I agree. I think they misunderstood the rule in the first place and thought that it meant CB and/or OB had to be driven to a different rail. I argued with the TD about it but to no avail. I wish I could remember exactly where it was but it was 1995-2000-ish. So based on where I was living maybe in Kansas, Ohio, Denver, Atlanta, San Francisco or Chicago. Hopefully that narrows it down. lol.

Related to which, I think there's a video of Efren playing one pocket. The cue ball is frozen to the foot rail and also frozen to an object ball on the rail and they are pointed at his opponent's pocket. He shoots a masse shot, moving the OB a little and the cue ball goes around and freezes on the other side of the object ball. It would be a crime for that shot to be ruled a foul.

 

[buckshotshoey]

Related to which, I think there's a video of Efren playing one pocket. The cue ball is frozen to the foot rail and also frozen to an object ball on the rail and they are pointed at his opponent's pocket. He shoots a masse shot, moving the OB a little and the cue ball goes around and freezes on the other side of the object ball. It would be a crime for that shot to be ruled a foul.

I would like to see a video clip of that!

 

[Protractor]

That depends on the location and the opponent. In some bars you don't want to start that stuff. I used to play in a bar league where there was a rule: No Safes! Really. And that's the way we played.

But yes, if you play by the official rules or in any of the main leagues, safety play is allowed and sometimes cheered. There is the ball-in-hand issue which the OP seemed to be unaware of.

I
When I was sharking in bars (no money, just to kick butt) I did not know any of the guys I was playing and back in the '70s playing a safety was called dirty pool, or worse. So I would game it by deliberately missing shot, act butt hurt as I was walking away but silently chuckling about the load of crap I had just left on the table for the other guy. No one ever called me on it.

 

[Jack Fate]

There was a small time tournament a group of us friends used to frequent. They played honest effort & it was a case of horrible acting by good players missing shots. After a while they they went to vnea rules.
I haven’t heard of the “ honest effort “ in a long time now .

 

[Quesports]

Hey folks,

So you're playing a game and you've got no shot. Nothing. But you could tap the ball a few inches forward, maybe leaving it in the center of a cluster of balls, for no other purpose other than to ruin any potential shot that your opponent may have. Is this considered bad form/cheap or is it part of the game?

Thanks

As long as it is a legal shot there is no problem.

 

[DJKeys]

It depends. In BCAPL, safes are a legal shot. But.... intentionally fouling, as in shooting directly at your opponents ball to tie it up, is considered a sportsmanship violation.

Sometimes if there is a cluster, I won't break it up and just pocket the closest opponents ball so he has a harder time when given BIH. It is not bad sportsmanship at all, but a strategy to win the game.

-dj

 

[Korsakoff]

In line with Bob’s comment, I usually won’t play a safety when playing in a bar, unless I can make it look like a “lucky leave” or if the opponent happens to be a league player (rare).

 

[Bob Jewett]

In line with Bob’s comment, I usually won’t play a safety when playing in a bar, unless I can make it look like a “lucky leave” or if the opponent happens to be a league player (rare).

In the bar league I mentioned above where there was a "No Safes!" rule, all of the top players played by the rule. Occasionally there was a clever, old codger who would pull the "Oops, I missed" trick. They didn't play well enough to win, so no one said anything. No handicaps.

 

[iusedtoberich]

Hey folks,

So you're playing a game and you've got no shot. Nothing. But you could tap the ball a few inches forward, maybe leaving it in the center of a cluster of balls, for no other purpose other than to ruin any potential shot that your opponent may have. Is this considered bad form/cheap or is it part of the game?

Thanks

Yes, that’s considered “cheating pool” in a bar situation or in a social game with beginners.

For advanced players it’s considered a smart shot and is applauded. (Must hit a rail afterwards as PJ mentioned or it’s a foul).

 

[garczar]

In line with Bob’s comment, I usually won’t play a safety when playing in a bar, unless I can make it look like a “lucky leave” or if the opponent happens to be a league player (rare).

Unlike days past most bar players today are hip to the rules due to league play and the concept of playing safe. When i first started what you said is dead on, it better look like luck or you may be in a fight.

 

[buckshotshoey]

Unlike days past most bar players today are hip to the rules due to league play and the concept of playing safe. When i first started what you said is dead on, it better look like luck or you may be in a fight.

Or Watching YouTube

 

[telinoz]

Safety is part of the game, simple as that.
You need to master it as much as potting balls.
If you have any aspirations for being a top player.

 

[hang-the-9]

It depends. In BCAPL, safes are a legal shot. But.... intentionally fouling, as in shooting directly at your opponents ball to tie it up, is considered a sportsmanship violation.

Are you sure about that? I don't know of any league or official rule where an intentional foul, done with a proper cue stroke and hitting the cueball first, is an unsportsmanlike foul. Now if you actually strike an object ball directly, I can see that, but not if you hit a cueball. Especially in BCA which is one of leagues the better players play in.

 

[tomatoshooter]

(The BCA is very different from the BCAPL. The BCA uses the WPA World Standardized Rules.)

This is very confusing

 

[buckshotshoey]

Are you sure about that? I don't know of any league or official rule where an intentional foul, done with a proper cue stroke and hitting the cueball first, is an unsportsmanlike foul. Now if you actually strike an object ball directly, I can see that, but not if you hit a cueball. Especially in BCA which is one of leagues the better players play in.

I believe I clarified that In post 19

 

[Bob Jewett]

This is very confusing (BCA vs. BCAPL)

Sure it is. More pool politics.

BCA = trade organization and North American member of the WPA
BCAPL = one part of CSI, a league organization headquartered in Henderson, NV, and formerly the league system run by the BCA until about 2004

The BCA in BCAPL officially does not stand for anything. It's just letters.

 

[Zerksies]

It's called a safety, and is a normal part of pool. But you have to hit a legal object ball and get a ball to a rail or it's a foul.

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pj
chgo

Some unintelligent people think three fouling people is cheating at pool. I would suspect the same people would frown upon this too