Last Pocket 8 Ball

We play that at our community clubhouse.
What rules are you playing by. I realize everyone has different set.
Do you bring up a ball for any foul?
Ball in hand or behind the line?

If you make the 8 in the wrong pocket you lose. Behind the line and no ball brought up. No ball in hand any time at all.
 
If you make the 8 in the wrong pocket you lose. Behind the line and no ball brought up. No ball in hand any time at all.

Your opponent left you safe behind their ball. If the 8 is bare and missed.. Game over?
 
Last Pocket 8-ball was the game in South Omaha in the 70's and 80's when I was starting out. Mostly Czech, Poles, Germans and Irish...
 
La ultima buchaca. All the Spanish you need to know when you want to gamble in certain bars. Oh, uno, dos, etc., too!

Best,
Mike
 
I used to travel to NY and play at Amsterdam (infrequently) but mostly played at Master Billiards when I was in the area. There was a group of Haitians(i think) and I used to always play one of them 9 ball for fairly cheap sets. He always wanted to play last pocket, but I never would. Apparently its popular up that way with certain crowds?
 
Lots of good moves for the cash in this game. A lesser player who knows the game can win. Like one pocket, it's not always the straightest shooter who comes out on top.

I've had guys bet a lot more because they feel they have a better chance of winning. Running out is tougher, so they know they can grind out a win. When you're trying to make the 8 ball in your last pocket and they have a few balls on the table, a smart player can give you fits.

Best,
Mike
 
An older guy I played with turned me onto this game about 8 years ago. He was about 85 then and loved this game. Every time we would get together I was guaranteed to play last pocket for atleast 2 hours. Some of the younger people I play with have never heard of this game. I was wondering if it is popular anywhere else.

Thanks, Adam

I used to play it a lot in Germany. It was really popular with foreigners there and they used to play pretty high. I have played it for $200 a game for hours and broke even and I once played a five-ahead set, went 4-0 up and ran out the last rack to the eight missing an easy bank and lost the next nine games to lose $1000. The spot was that I had to bank the eight and my opponent could shoot it directly in.

At my very first trade show in Essen Germany one of the guys I played with all the time challenged Jim Rempe to make a really tough bank shot. Rempe tried it like ten times and gave up and my friend steps up and makes it on the first try. These guys could not run three balls but when it came to the 8 they could bank it in from anywhere.

I love last pocket 8 ball. When Jimmy Reid first got to Germany he played a German pro who thought he could trap Jimmy with this game. Jimmy ran out the first three games and the match was over.
 
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Like others, my experience has been... the mexican players love it (along with that game where you start out with every ball on the rail) and otherwise nobody plays it. Kind of dragged things out but it does add a little extra strategy.

I don't know what the mexicans call it but I call it Mexican Rotation. You discard the 1 and 2 and start with the 3 which is worth 6 points. The rest of the balls are worth what's on them. 61 points wins the game. I LOVE this game and have a huge winning record with it. In fact I have never had a losing session anywhere with this game. Then again I have also never played anyone my caliber or better at it.

Rafael Martinez showed me a shot that he plays where a ball is frozen to the middle diamond on the kitchen line and you have to play the cueball out of the kitchen to make it. He crosses the kitchen line and spins the ball in. With a little practice I could do it to. But I found out one time that if I did it in a money game then that was the end. It turns out that in Mexico ALL the good players know and do this shot regularly and it's a sign of a really good player if you show that shot. Now I wasn't out to hustle people but I did want to play so I stopped using that shot and kicked at it like everyone else. ;-)
 
At the Senior Center in Long Beach, Calif they play on a 5'x10' with snooker style pockets using regular cue balls. They play 1 & 15 balls in the side pockets and 8 ball in the last pocket. Only they also play ball in hand but it is still a brutal game and these old guys show no mercy and I have never heard or seen so much sharking at any place in my life!
 
Last pocket 8 ball rules question

At the Senior Center in Long Beach, Calif they play on a 5'x10' with snooker style pockets using regular cue balls. They play 1 & 15 balls in the side pockets and 8 ball in the last pocket. Only they also play ball in hand but it is still a brutal game and these old guys show no mercy and I have never heard or seen so much sharking at any place in my life!

Last pocket rules question. I am shooting at the 8 which is on the long rail, I don't have a good shot. My opponet has 1 ball left which is close to the side pocket. Instead of shooting my eight, I shoot his last ball in the side pocket, I know he gets ball in hand, however does he have to keep the side pocket as his last pocket. I ask around at the local pool hall, no one really knew the rule. Thanks for your help. Tom
 
Last pocket rules question. I am shooting at the 8 which is on the long rail, I don't have a good shot. My opponet has 1 ball left which is close to the side pocket. Instead of shooting my eight, I shoot his last ball in the side pocket, I know he gets ball in hand, however does he have to keep the side pocket as his last pocket. I ask around at the local pool hall, no one really knew the rule. Thanks for your help. Tom

I would make the rules before the game. Maybe the opponent can pick his pocket in that case.
Also I asked this before...if the 8 is missed or not a legal hit isn't the game over? Why should the shooter get rewarded for not making a good hit on the 8?
 
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Last pocket rules question. I am shooting at the 8 which is on the long rail, I don't have a good shot. My opponet has 1 ball left which is close to the side pocket. Instead of shooting my eight, I shoot his last ball in the side pocket, I know he gets ball in hand, however does he have to keep the side pocket as his last pocket. I ask around at the local pool hall, no one really knew the rule. Thanks for your help. Tom

Generally if you pocket the opponent's last ball then the opponent's pocket is the opposite of yours. But the rules vary from place to place, some places it's a loss to shoot his balls in deliberately.

There is no ball in hand in last pocket 8 ball generally. The shooter plays the cue ball where it lies except on a scratch then it's in the kitchen. Some people even play that you can't hit any ball that is above the side pockets after a scratch unless you kick at them.

It varies around the world how much dirty pool you can play in terms of shooting balls that aren't yours.
 
Generally if you pocket the opponent's last ball then the opponent's pocket is the opposite of yours. But the rules vary from place to place, some places it's a loss to shoot his balls in deliberately.

There is no ball in hand in last pocket 8 ball generally. The shooter plays the cue ball where it lies except on a scratch then it's in the kitchen. Some people even play that you can't hit any ball that is above the side pockets after a scratch unless you kick at them.

It varies around the world how much dirty pool you can play in terms of shooting balls that aren't yours.

I have not heard the word dirty pool in 20 years, now the politicly correct term is Saftey. Tom
 
I would make the rules before the game. Maybe the opponent can pick his pocket in that case.
Also I asked this before...if the 8 is missed or not a legal hit isn't the game over? Why should the shooter get rewarded for not making a good hit on the 8?

I see what you are saying about a legal hit and the game is over. Your opponent could simply shoot the cue up table just to try and leave you a long shot if he didn't like his shot. Since we played no ball in hand we never had that problem. I would kick 4 rails on some shots just to try and hit the 8. I would never play this game for money unless I went over all of the possibilities of what could happen and what should be done with the other player.

As far as a win if the other player doesn't make a good hit, no we didn't play that way.

Thanks, Adam
 
OK here you have it streight from a Mexican

This game is a 8ball haters worst nightmare. This game will make a grown man cry. There are so many rules variations your head will spin, but you can make a lot of money, drunk Mexicans wont quit . This is a bar game and here are a few curve balls you may run into
last pocket respect:
this means you cannot shot your last ball in his last pocket or 1 you loose or 2 he gets to pick your last pocket. they always pick the side but I always pick a corner in the kitchen so if need be you can scratch on purpose so he has to kick if the 8 is in the kitchen,
last pocket no slop:
this means everything has to go lean, but how clean is always the question, some of these games there no combinations or caroms even when called. other No slop games you have to call every rail even the point if you don't and it goes in off the point you give up the table.
then you can add in bank the eight or "3 or better Kick"
these guys WILL NOT QUIT. ive made a ton of money. and I mean a ton of money. oh ya I forgot to tell you Sharking is not just allowed it is expected.
brings back a ton of good memories.
 
Another variation of 8 Ball, that is great for gambling, is SHORT Rack 8-Ball.

There are 4 stripes, 4 solids & the 8-Ball, racked like 9-Ball. This is a quick paced game. A guy with a good break shot can run a few racks
 
My tues nite league is last pocket partners...6 games last about an hour and 1/2 alot of decent players play it to have a quick nite out. But....its very competitive legit attempt rule enforced. OT the one game I used to play was starts and stripes w/ friend now past was a steamfitter and could go most any where and get a game. It alot like one pocket only you use the side pockets.

Jim
 
I'm willing to bet that he prob only played 3 games in that 2 hrs, cause that game is a drag. Specially when you're playing with a regular banger, oh and by the way, it's popular with the "HISPANIC" community not mexicans.
 
My tues nite league is last pocket partners...6 games last about an hour and 1/2 alot of decent players play it to have a quick nite out. If you put it in for him intentionally it is loss/ball in hand or whatever local rule enforces this type of play, of game esp when you have clean contact to yours. If you make contact and as a result it goes in the side it is his pocket.But....its very competitive legit attempt rule enforced. OT the one game I used to play was starts and stripes w/ friend now past was a steamfitter and could go most any where and get a game. It alot like one pocket only you use the side pockets.

Jim
 
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