maybe im trying to make much more of this, but I'll ask anyway

[Positively Ralf]

ive noticed that in one of the local tours, more A and B players come out to participate in the 9 ball stops witht he C and D players whereas when it comes to the 8 ball stops(which there aren't many of them as they just recently added some since last year) the players who mainly come out are D and lower C players.

is there a reason for this? and it's not as if the 8 ball stops lets lower players remove balls from the table, they just get spotted games. is there just something about 9 vs 8 ball that attracts different skill levels?

again, not trying to make a big deal out of this and it's more if anyone notices this in their local tours and in house tournaments.

 

[hang-the-9]

ive noticed that in one of the local tours, more A and B players come out to participate in the 9 ball stops witht he C and D players whereas when it comes to the 8 ball stops(which there aren't many of them as they just recently added some since last year) the players who mainly come out are D and lower C players.

is there a reason for this? and it's not as if the 8 ball stops lets lower players remove balls from the table, they just get spotted games. is there just something about 9 vs 8 ball that attracts different skill levels?

again, not trying to make a big deal out of this and it's more if anyone notices this in their local tours and in house tournaments.

Probably because the weaker players don't really play 9 ball and/or think of it as a harder game. One of my local tournaments plays both 9 and 8 ball, don't notice people not going to one or the other but we don't have many regular players that are Ds or Cs. It's pretty much all B players, or at least C+ players. We get a few players that are new to the tournament that are lower Cs and Ds but they pretty much never last past one week.

 

[btown]

I personally don't like travelling to 8 ball to tournaments.

Easier to lose to lesser skill levels in 8 ball. IMO

 

[Celophanewrap]

I personally don't like travelling to 8 ball to tournaments.

Easier to lose to lesser skill levels in 8 ball. IMO

Why is that? I think of 8 ball as more of a thinking strategy oriented game, so naturally
you'd think a huge advantage would go to the higher skill level, or at least I would anyway.
Where as in 9 ball you can miss at some point and leave a simple 3 or 4 ball run out to a
weaker player.

 

[hang-the-9]

I personally don't like travelling to 8 ball to tournaments.

Easier to lose to lesser skill levels in 8 ball. IMO

Really? I think the opposite is true, but depends on how "lesser" the skill is. In 9 ball you miss a 7,8,9, your opponent has easy run outs, especially if you just miss the 9 and leave it in the pocket (as in my user name ). In 8 ball if you miss, they still need to go through their balls. Issue you would have is with opponents close to the same level then you have players that know what they are doing and if you leave the table to them open in 8 ball, you are in trouble. A good/smart player is likely to either run out with an open 8 ball table with half the balls gone or will find good safes due to having a bunch of balls to hid behind. An A player leaving a B player an open 8 ball rack is in trouble, but not much more than if you leave that same B player the 7,8,9 in 9 ball.

When playing a person one level bellow me, I would much rather play 8 ball than 9 ball, when the player is close to even, does not much matter to me then.

 

[btown]

Well if you miss you deserve to lose..

 

[btown]

I just think if u get a good break in 8 ball vs good break in 9 ball. 8 ball is easier to run out.

Sometimes tho depending on how the balls break, it is easier to win in 8 ball..

Just depends on how the balls are breaking I guess, but harder to run out 9 ball.

IMO again

 

[btown]

And usually 8 ball is shorter races. I'd say that also is a factor.

 

[hang-the-9]

I just think if u get a good break in 8 ball vs good break in 9 ball. 8 ball is easier to run out.

Sometimes tho depending on how the balls break, it is easier to win in 8 ball..

Just depends on how the balls are breaking I guess, but harder to run out 9 ball.

IMO again

If you count "winning vs a weaker player" as breaking and running out after a good break when the layout is easy, then sure you can run out in 8 ball easier when there are no clusters and nothing is blocked. But usually winning in local tournaments is not about winning in one inning. When C and B, and often A players play, most games run more than one inning, in which case a lower player has a much smaller chance to win in 8 ball since they don't know the strategy and have to run out their balls before shooting the 8. I have won more league matches where the other player did not win a single game (but shot balls in) in 8 ball than 9 ball by a long shot. In 9 ball you miss the 8 or 9, or scratch late in the rack, even a C player will get out with 3 balls with ball in hand or if you give them ball in hand on the 9. If I miss an 8 ball after running out to that, and I am facing even a low B player, I am 80% certain I can still win. A B player or weaker can still miss or mess up position before they win, and a D and C player is almost guaranteed to make a mistake and leave me an open shot on the 8 again, or a few more tries. That is not happening nearly as often in 9 ball when you miss the last ball or last few balls.

 

[btown]

I am kinda talking about say. $100 entry fee tournaments.

You won't have a lot of C players in them. Most players can run out if the balls spread ok.

Just from my experience anyway.

 

[trob]

Probably because the weaker players don't really play 9 ball and/or think of it as a harder game. One of my local tournaments plays both 9 and 8 ball, don't notice people not going to one or the other but we don't have many regular players that are Ds or Cs. It's pretty much all B players, or at least C+ players. We get a few players that are new to the tournament that are lower Cs and Ds but they pretty much never last past one week.

Bingo.. There was a time when a pro player pointed something out to me when I said at the time I wasn’t fond of 9 ball (i only played 8 ball) he asked what happens when guys you play nothing but 9 ball show up for 8 ball tournament. My response... they play just as good and our in the money. Then he asked what happens when guys who play nothing but 8 ball show up for 9 ball.. my response they seem to be out early. He said yep.. think about that. I did and started working on playing better 9 ball and 8 ball came easier. Don’t get me wrong .. I enjoy playing 8 ball but 9 ball you just have to have more knowledge of position and the use of the rails then you do playing 8 ball.

 

[hang-the-9]

I am kinda talking about say. $100 entry fee tournaments.

You won't have a lot of C players in them. Most players can run out if the balls spread ok.

Just from my experience anyway.

Higher level player vs an even higher level player the results would be pretty different. If an A+ leaves an open 8 ball table after a late miss vs an A-, that is an almost guaranteed loss, but then again so it missing late in the rack in 9 ball on an unforced error.

I think of weaker players as C and D players that don't know much about patterns or good safety play. Against those I would much rather play 8 ball than 9 ball, especially if no spot or the spot is games only instead of points like in leagues.

In league play, I have lost in 8 ball when I won total games 5-1 but lost because the other player made some balls during my wins as well, same thing for 9 ball. Game spots are easier since then it does not matter how many balls you make, only if you win or not.

 

[tucson9ball]

ive noticed that in one of the local tours, more A and B players come out to participate in the 9 ball stops witht he C and D players whereas when it comes to the 8 ball stops(which there aren't many of them as they just recently added some since last year) the players who mainly come out are D and lower C players.

is there a reason for this? and it's not as if the 8 ball stops lets lower players remove balls from the table, they just get spotted games. is there just something about 9 vs 8 ball that attracts different skill levels?

again, not trying to make a big deal out of this and it's more if anyone notices this in their local tours and in house tournaments.

I think we need more details on your tournaments before giving an educated answer. What are the races to?
What are the handicaps?

Besides those two things....it is easier for lower skill level players to run out in 8ball. Reason for this; they don't have to play precise position on any ball..for example=.miss position on the 13 and you can shoot the 11.
Most good players don't mind giving 2/3 games on the wire going to 7 in 9 ball but in 8 ball it becomes a lil tougher.

 

[Bic D]

Only 8-ball tournaments around here. We get a wide range of players and that is b/c we really don't have any rules. There is no BIH for missing an object ball etc..so we will have players touch a cue ball or worse...scratch on purpose if his opponents last ball is behind the line. For those reasons, a C player will sneak in to the money every now and then.

As soon as the tournament is over, a group of us will play 9 ball and none of the 8 ball guys will play.

Like others have said, I just think 9 ball makes you get better position on your next ball, if not, you are likely going to lose. Obviously in 8 ball, if you get out of position, you might have 4, 5 or 6 other balls to shoot at.

 

[ShortBusRuss]

When C and B, and often A players play, most games run more than one inning

Not sure where you are playing, but in Colorado/Wyoming tourneys, I had multiple alternate break, race to 5, 8 ball matches where my opponent and I had 7+ break and runs between us.

Granted, I think I play decent at times, but I would not categorize myself as a world beater at this point.

 

[mvp]

I think it's all entry fee based! 100$ if you have zero chances of getting your money back vs 30$ and not getting your money back, most c-d players look at tournaments as a learning experience or just for fun. I think d players would fork out the money for say a d only tourney. Typicaly 8ball is cheaper than 9ball to enter and I think that's the answer. I know I personally play anyone in the world but I won't give money away to do it! But if it's cheap why not?

 

[lorider]

Here is my opinion being a low level player based on my experience.."fluctuate between apa 5/6 in both 8 and 9.

9 ball is more like checkers......or connect the dots as some allude to and 8 ball is more like chess. I dont have the knowledge to execute cue ball position that's required to get from object ball to object that's required to compete at a high level in 9 ball but I have some knowledge of what's required as far as pattern play in 8 ball and as tuscon alluded to in a post above if you get out of position in 8 ball you usually have an alternative shot.

I like having my opponents attempt runouts in 8 ball because if they fail I will attempt to safety the crap out of them.


Although I am only a 5 I play masters for the experience of playing better players. I have seen mention in this thread about missing a shot and a low level opponent should win with 3 balls left in 9 ball. Well I dont know about other areas but here in masters its rare when am able to get to the table with bih and 3 balls left. Most guys in masters around here that are capable of breaking and running 6 balls wind up running the table.

I always choose 8 ball first if I win the lag and can usually win 3-4 of those 5 games and if so hope I can win enough 9 ball games to win the match. When we switch to 9 bally opponents start running out from everywhere and when the dont I am usually locked up in a good safe.

It may seem odd to read it coming from a low level player but I out think most opponents when it comes to 8 ball . Even had one of the toughest 9's in town tell.me one time I was the smartest playing 5 he had ever seen. Execution of cue ball position is my Achilles heel in 9 ball and I believe the same could be said of all low level players.

I also have a crappy 9 ball.break..

 

[jrctherake]

ive noticed that in one of the local tours, more A and B players come out to participate in the 9 ball stops witht he C and D players whereas when it comes to the 8 ball stops(which there aren't many of them as they just recently added some since last year) the players who mainly come out are D and lower C players.

is there a reason for this? and it's not as if the 8 ball stops lets lower players remove balls from the table, they just get spotted games. is there just something about 9 vs 8 ball that attracts different skill levels?

again, not trying to make a big deal out of this and it's more if anyone notices this in their local tours and in house tournaments.

In my area players are probably 50/50 8 ball to 9 ball. At the same time, the average player in my area averages 6 to 8 balls a run so not a good population to gather info from. Statistically speaking, I feel my area is far below most areas in skill levels no matter the game.

Rake

 

[iusedtoberich]

ive noticed that in one of the local tours, more A and B players come out to participate in the 9 ball stops witht he C and D players whereas when it comes to the 8 ball stops(which there aren't many of them as they just recently added some since last year) the players who mainly come out are D and lower C players.

is there a reason for this? and it's not as if the 8 ball stops lets lower players remove balls from the table, they just get spotted games. is there just something about 9 vs 8 ball that attracts different skill levels?

again, not trying to make a big deal out of this and it's more if anyone notices this in their local tours and in house tournaments.

IMO its because 8 ball is considered a banger's game, and when someone becomes serious about pool, they switch to 9 ball. That is the perception anyway. That is how it happened in my local area (Philly) when I switched from banger to [still sucks but now serious] player in the 1990s.

 

[hang-the-9]

Not sure where you are playing, but in Colorado/Wyoming tourneys, I had multiple alternate break, race to 5, 8 ball matches where my opponent and I had 7+ break and runs between us.

Granted, I think I play decent at times, but I would not categorize myself as a world beater at this point.

Easy pocket 7 footers or 9 footers? I don't play on 7 footers, and even on 7 footers if a match of 9 games has 7 break and runs, those are at least B+ player having a very good day or A players. No C or B player will run out that many on any table.

I think most people overestimate what a B player can do on the table or their idea of a B player is really an A player. My son is a B+ player, he played an A+ player in a 10 ball event on Diamond 8 footers, the first 4 games where all break and runs alternate breaks, my son played some of his best pool ever that match and still lost, and only had those two break and runs. I am a B+ player (550ish Fargo), my record in both 8 and 9 ball is a 3 pack, with a 2 pack being rare and if I get a break and run in a race to 7, I am still happy. On easier equipment (over 4.5" pockets with normal rails and cloth) I can maybe get two break and runs out of 5 on a good match.

When the OP stated "weaker player", to me it does not sound like it's a Pro playing an A but an A playing a B or a B playing a C. When you get to A level and up, the games and how/when people win changes quite a bit.