Line-up Straight pool

mworkman

mworkman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Do any of you guys play line-up? There is a line-up straight league not too far from my place in the summer time.

Just wondering about how the high runs would compare? I tried it at home on my little 7' table, and haven't been able to get into the 3rd rack yet, maybe just because I haven't spent much time on it yet.

For those of you that have played both, what are your high runs in each?

Just curious, Thanks
 
It's different because after each players turn, all the balls are spotted. So, at the beginning of each players turn there are always all 15 balls on the table. Try to leave yourself close to the foot rail after you pocket the last ball so you will start out with an easy shot.
 
Line-up is from what I was told the first form of straight pool, place all fifteen balls in the middle in a straight line. It makes sense that the balls in the middle would be potted in the side more than in the corners, there is no particular order in which you pot (make) your shot. If however you do accomplish potting all fifteen then it would make sense to leave the cue ball near the bottom or short rail as when the balls are respotted this will give you a nice easy starting position. I am not sure how far apart the balls are to be spaced, one of my first sparring pardners showed me this practice drill.

The main idea to me on this wonderful drill is to stay above the ball - this keeps the cue ball from bumping other balls, if you do not know what I'm referring to by this Dave then you should definitely get with a solid instructor and have him show you about the above the ball theory. It's been a long time since I was properly introduced to this game but as I remember it really helped my ball running capability playing One Pocket. I would recommend this and most any other game to be practiced on a 9ft. table just so your not bombarded with clusterphobial congestion as when practiced on a tavern table (3 1/2x 7') or coin op. I don't want to sound like I have rage against the bar table machine, I realize that not everyone thinks like me thank God. I just wanted to let everyone know that when learning to handle the white your much better off on a ten' than even a 9' table not to mention a bar room sized table.
 
Last edited:
I learned to play lineup at the same time I played straight pool in the 60s. Lineup is easier, runs are higher because you always have a break ball, unless you really mess up. Once you learn the method of shooting the first 4 balls, the rest is easy. No end pattern problems really.

You always have a break ball because the ball closest to the end rail will always kiss in off the ball above it, rail first with the cb. Spreads the rack and keeps the cb in the area. great practice game.
 
Lineup pool is EXTREMELY useful for developing your finesse draw shots. Also, with a full 15-ball line, the bottom ball is a dead carom into either corner, so if your CB is anywhere but in the exact middle of the table, you'll have an unmissable kick. The fine Canadian player Pierre Morin knows more about this game than anyone else, including all its competition and records. GF
 
selftaut said:
ok, I am confused , LOL
Click to expand...

I'm inspired!

My first exposure to pool was in my hometown - a small rural village
with a two table room, where even boys of 10 or 11 could come in and
play Rotation for a nickel a game. Boy, those were the days.

There wern't any 'good' players in that town, but the better adults
would sometimes play Lineup.

The game starts with all balls racked in a pyramid - just like 14.1 or
8 Ball. Opening break is "safe". It is call shot like Straight Pool.

Unfortunately, all these years, I have been blissfully unaware
of the automatic breakshot.

Dale<who is sure that high runs are just around the corner>
 
Last edited:
pdcue

Man, you must be almost as old as me. I remember nickle a game pool. Not nickle per person, nickle per game and we didn't even rack our own balls. Finish a game and yell RACK and the rackman game, racked the balls collected a nickle and let you alone till the next rack. Mostly rotation until I discovered straight pool.

Dave Nelson
 
George Fels said:
Lineup pool is EXTREMELY useful for developing your finesse draw shots. Also, with a full 15-ball line, the bottom ball is a dead carom into either corner, so if your CB is anywhere but in the exact middle of the table, you'll have an unmissable kick. The fine Canadian player Pierre Morin knows more about this game than anyone else, including all its competition and records. GF
Click to expand...

George,

Any chance there is info online.

I Googled and only got hits about games mis-nammed Lineup.

Dale<who is hopefull
 
Just to clarify, when you rerack the 15 balls, they are all touching. Use your stick to line them up. There should be a ball on the footspot, then work your way back. There will be a small gap maybe a 1/4 inch or so between the last ball and the footrail. Then place the rest of the balls on top. It will be a solid line of balls all touching with the small gap by the rail.

At least that is what I've been told, and is how I've been practicing it. When I've been practicing, I just start out with it like this all in a line. It's harder then it looks, at least for me. :rolleyes:
 
The first place I saw it was in an old BCA rulebook I used to have. Seems like this was one of two precursors of straight pool. The other being where the 15 balls were just racked into a full rack every time, and the players typically played safe at the end of the rack to avoid hitting the next breakshot.
 
Last edited:
StraightPoolIU said:
The first place I saw it was in an old BCA rulebook I used to have. Seems like this was one of two precursors of straight pool. The other being where the 15 balls were just racked into a full rack every time, and the players typically played safe at the end of the rack to avoid hitting the next breakshot.
Click to expand...
LINE-UP POCKET BILLIARDS

THIS game is played with fifteen object balls, numbered from 1
to 15, and a cue ball. Object balls are racked on the foot spot,
as in 14.1 continuous pocket billiards. (See Diagram No. 11.)
Starting player has cue ball in hand. It is a call shot game,
players being required to call the ball and the pocket.
Each ball legally pocketed gives the scorer credit for one
point. All balls pocketed on a legally called shot count, the
player getting one point for each ball.
Game is an agreed upon number of points-it can be 25, 50,
100, or whatever score agreed upon.

Start of Play: Rotation of play can be determined by lag or lot.
Winner of lag has option of breaking or assigning break to his
opponent.
Starting player must pocket a called ball in the rack or drive
two object balls to a cushion. Failure to do so is a foul. Offending
player forfeits two points. Opponent can require that
offender break again until he complies with the break shot requirements.
Player loses two points for each successive failure.

Subsequent Play: After the legal break shot, if starting player
has not scored, incoming player accepts balls in position. He
must call his shots --ball and pocket -- on all strokes. Player continues
until he misses. At the conclusion of his inning, he
records his points, and all balls he scored are spotted on the
long string line. (See Diagram No. 9.)
If player scores all fifteen balls, they are spotted on the string
line and he continues play, shooting cue ball from where it
came to rest after preceding stroke.

Penalties: When a player fouls, he is penalized one point. Only
one penalty is imposed, however, if the player fouls more than
once on the same stroke.

General Rules: The rules for 14.1 continuous pocket billiards
apply to line-up pocket billiards. Balls scored on foul strokes do
not count. Penalties are paid out of the player's score. If he has
no points at time of foul, he owes a point, which is deducted
after he scores.
 
Danny Harriman said:
Line-up is from what I was told the first form of straight pool, place all fifteen balls in the middle in a straight line. It makes sense that the balls in the middle would be potted in the side more than in the corners, there is no particular order in which you pot (make) your shot. If however you do accomplish potting all fifteen then it would make sense to leave the cue ball near the bottom or short rail as when the balls are respotted this will give you a nice easy starting position. I am not sure how far apart the balls are to be spaced, one of my first sparring pardners showed me this practice drill.
Click to expand...

A few months ago a Finnish top player tried this just out of curiosity, he made 1050 consecutive balls before he had to go out for a dinner. I also heard Hungarian top player Vilmos Foldes have tried this and got bored after making 1000 balls but I can't confirm the Foldes part.

It's a good beginner and mediocre player drill, but definitely not for A+ and pro players.
 
If there is, Dale, I wouldn't be the one to know WHERE it is; I'm a technological Neanderthal. See if you can track down Pierre Morin in Canada. GF
 
mjantti said:
A few months ago a Finnish top player tried this just out of curiosity, he made 1050 consecutive balls before he had to go out for a dinner. I also heard Hungarian top player Vilmos Foldes have tried this and got bored after making 1000 balls but I can't confirm the Foldes part.

It's a good beginner and mediocre player drill, but definitely not for A+ and pro players.
Click to expand...


I find it hard to believe someone could run a 1000. I wonder if we are talking about the same thing here. With all the balls frozen, it seems harder then 14.1 to me because it takes several breakouts. In 14.1 you just need to set up one good breakshot and the balls will spread out all over. I have several runs in the 60's in 14.1, and I've yet to get into the 3rd rack in this lineup game. It may be because I haven't spent much time on it yet tho'.

Maybe someone could run a couple hundred for us and put it on veo so we can see how easy it is? :thumbup: Seriously tho' it would be nice to see a demonstration of it, so I could learn from it. There must be someone out there that still plays this game at a high level. Or maybe Long Prarie Mn, is the only place that still plays this crazy game. :confused:
 
mworkman said:
... Maybe someone could run a couple hundred for us and put it on veo so we can see how easy it is? ...
Click to expand...
I suspect that five or six "racks" would be enough to see the repetition. Bob Byrne has a chapter on line-up (in his "Advanced" book?).
 
mworkman said:
I find it hard to believe someone could run a 1000. I wonder if we are talking about the same thing here. With all the balls frozen, it seems harder then 14.1 to me because it takes several breakouts. In 14.1 you just need to set up one good breakshot and the balls will spread out all over. I have several runs in the 60's in 14.1, and I've yet to get into the 3rd rack in this lineup game. It may be because I haven't spent much time on it yet tho'.

Maybe someone could run a couple hundred for us and put it on veo so we can see how easy it is? :thumbup: Seriously tho' it would be nice to see a demonstration of it, so I could learn from it. There must be someone out there that still plays this game at a high level. Or maybe Long Prarie Mn, is the only place that still plays this crazy game. :confused:
Click to expand...

I was talking about the kind of a practice where you put all 15 balls in a line in the middle of the table from head to foot rail, no frozen balls, no breakshots, no particular shooting order. I think Danny was talking about that too. Basically you're shooting at an open table all the time.

Edit: the guy who ran the 1000 has a high run of 180ish in 14.1 so he's not just any ballbanger.
 
Last edited:
It has been so long since I played the game of line up I don't remember it so well. Thanks Bob for giving the info on one of Worlds oldest practice games. I think I will look the game up in Byrnes Advanced book. I don't think if the game is played correctly that any player will be running 1000 but again the game is before my time. The fellow that showed me this was a strong snooker player fronm my hometown and as I remember it did help my game.
 
Danny Harriman said:
It has been so long since I played the game of line up I don't remember it so well. Thanks Bob for giving the info on one of Worlds oldest practice games. I think I will look the game up in Byrnes Advanced book. I don't think if the game is played correctly that any player will be running 1000 but again the game is before my time. The fellow that showed me this was a strong snooker player fronm my hometown and as I remember it did help my game.
Click to expand...

Danny: your pm box is full. You sent me a pm but I can't reply until you delete some of your messages.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top