Little question about playing the ghost.

Jimbojim

Jimbojim

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If you get a dry break, do you still take ball in hand and attempt to run out or is it the ghost's turn?

Because if its ball in hand with balls down on the break or none...I have beaten the ghost 9-6 even.

I don't think I'm gonna be able to do that again for a while.

On the other hand, if I only get to attempt a run out when I make a ball...I would have needed a handicap to win this. I must have had 2 or 3 dry breaks.
 
BIH after the break. Regardless of dry or not. At least that is the way I play! :thumbup:
 
X2. BIH regardless of balls down on the break. Spot the 9 if you snap it.
I used to kill the ghost on my old 8 footer but my 4 1/8" pocket GC beats me up pretty badly. I only get out maybe 30% of the time.
Nice win btw!
 
What about scratch on the snap?

Is that still BIH for you? I play it that way... and still dont like my side of it LOL :)
 
Yeah, still ball in hand. I don't penalize myself for scratching and I don't claim a win when I snap or combo the 9. It's a wash.
 
I take BIH regardless if I make a ball or not and spot the 9 if I combo it early and keep shooting. If I scratch though, I call it a loss of game. It really makes me focus more on the break (which is a good thing).
 
Yeah, I've always played that scratch on the break is a loss of game. The old-timers were more hardcore and played the ghost without BIH! :p
 
Yeah well the old timers didn't win very often if they were playing on reasonable equipment. My old 8 footer would be even money without bih but my GC will beat everyone on earth without bih.
 
I play it ball in hand even if no balls go in.
You can make a lot of modifications to the basic rules of playing the ghost.
 
In my experience, Jimbo, you need to exercise a wee bit of caution when playing the ghost.
If you're not careful he'll sheet all over you. :smile:
 
Hahaha good one Tramp.

Thanks for the link Dave, I appreciate it.

I didn't scratch on the breaks but I did take ball in hand after everyone balls down or not. I haven't made the 9 on the snap but I would have respotted it if I did.
 
dr_dave said:
FYI, here's a one-page summary of all of the "playing the ghost" rules, along with scoring and rating information:

Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...

I won 9-6 so that's 15 racks, I get 100 points for my 9 run outs and I remember the balls I have missed but I don't really remember how many balls I made on the break on the racks that I did miss. Some I made a ball or two and others were dry so I make an average of about 23-27 balls made in those 6 racks according to my memory. That gives me a total of ~123-27. If I divide it by 3 it makes 41-42 and in your score sheet that would make me an A player....which is most likely not the case. I'm pretty sure I'm not an A and it was one miracle session.

2 months ago, I was practicing alternate shots with a friend for a team tournament we were playing in and we beat the ghost 9-7 and 9-5.....but we also lost 9-3 and 9-4 in another session. I guess its a lot harder to judge in that situation (my partner is a better player than I am)
 
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Jimbojim said:
I won 9-6 so that's 15 racks, I get 100 points for my 9 run outs and I remember the balls I have missed but I don't really remember how many balls I made on the break on the racks that I did miss. Some I made a ball or two and others were dry so I make an average of about 23-27 balls made in those 6 racks according to my memory. That gives me a total of ~123-27. If I divide it by 3 it makes 41-42 and in your score sheet that would make me an A player....which is most likely not the case. I'm pretty sure I'm not an A and it was one miracle session.

2 months ago, I was practicing alternate shots with a friend for a team tournament we were playing in and we beat the ghost 9-7 and 9-5.....but we also lost 9-3 and 9-4 in another session. I guess its a lot harder to judge in that situation (my partner is a better player than I am)
Click to expand...
The problem with A-D type scales is that the meanings of the different letters are very qualitative, and people interpret them differently. The 9-ball "playing the ghost" scale is roughly based on the most basic definitions here:

You might be looking for something more like the Joe Tucker 10-ball scale defined here:

Regards,
Dave
 
I'm gonna try that 10 racks of 10 ball instead of playing a race to X against the ghost. Thanks again Dave
 
BiH after break. I've stepped it up to not taking BiH if I have a decent look at the first ball. I'm more interested in BnR than beating the ghost
 
5 A Head

I always played the Ghost 5 ahead... I first started with 6 balls in the very beginning of my career. And I struggled we went back and forth, I was in action for a long time. The Ghost helped my focus for a longer period of time.
Once I beat the Ghost with 6 ball regulary I stepped it up, finally to 9 balls.
By then I was a pretty strong player...the Ghost trained me to stay mentally tough.

BIH if I scratched
BIH in nothing went in on the break

When you miss..the rerack helped with my break....I focused on each break shot too.

Its a Great Game to practice.
 
I disagree with one of the suggested rules Dr Dave linked. This IS 9 ball after all. The nine ball early should count for something. On my table the nine often squirts toward the corner pocket and blocks the pocket for at least one ball before it. Now I am playing for only five pockets unless I can play a combo AND get shape on the ball which is something I don't have to worry about in regular 9 ball. Since making the combo results in a win everywhere else in the world, I have started shooting the combo, spotting the nine, and taking ball in hand on the next ball. I'm actually running ten balls in those racks so it seems fair to me. What say the masses?
Kind of like when I'm practicing agiant someone and I snap the 9. I don't make them rerack; I spot the nine and take bih.
 
Spimp13 said:
I take BIH regardless if I make a ball or not and spot the 9 if I combo it early and keep shooting. If I scratch though, I call it a loss of game. It really makes me focus more on the break (which is a good thing).
Click to expand...

Same this is how I play it.
 
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