Most commone 9-ball racking patterns (rack your own)

9-ball on the wing, but my opponent keeps blabbering on about that being illegal. Spoil sport!

1
45
297
68
3
 
1
3. 2
5 9 6
7 8
4

1234 go up table. 78 stay down with 9. This is when I break from right side on side 5 is because the 2 comes up to opposite corner like 1 if I'm not making it in side. This rack ups my runout by another 15 to 20%.
 
The pattern I tend to use is:

1
36
598
24
7


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Breaking from right 2" off rail on a Valley. Medium-soft break low left, square on 1 ball.

1
63
294
78
5 Johnnyt
 
Why? The back ball will kick up table anyway most of the time. What does the 2 in the back really do?
For a while in some tournaments, the position of the 2 was specified by the rules. I guess the thought was that if you couldn't specify all of the locations just the 2 would be easy.

But technically pattern racking is illegal. It has become the most common game-losing violation that is ignored.
 
But technically pattern racking is illegal. It has become the most common game-losing violation that is ignored.


And the solution is so simple:

Breaker racks the balls in any pattern he wants. Opponent has the option to require the breaker to exchange the position any two balls (except the one and nine, of course).

After the position exchange the breaker racks the balls tight and breaks. Optional: No touching the balls after you've lifted the triangle.

This solution is based on the theory that you can destroy any pattern by exchanging the position of just two balls. Try it; you'll see that it works.

No software, no sheets with pre-determined racks, no nothing -- just ten seconds to exchange the position of two balls.
 
And the solution is so simple:

Breaker racks the balls in any pattern he wants. Opponent has the option to require the breaker to exchange the position any two balls (except the one and nine, of course).

After the position exchange the breaker racks the balls tight and breaks. Optional: No touching the balls after you've lifted the triangle.

This solution is based on the theory that you can destroy any pattern by exchanging the position of just two balls. Try it; you'll see that it works.

No software, no sheets with pre-determined racks, no nothing -- just ten seconds to exchange the position of two balls.

This is a great solution.

So many guys don't even recognize my pattern racking.

When racking for your opponent the 2 goes in the row of 2 balls behind the 9 because it tends to stay downtable and rests in traffic The 1 goes uptable. This initial traveling from a unpredictable 1 ball shot to the 2 makes it tough to runout. You would never rack the 2 there on yourself.

There's pattern racking for spotted balls to avoid easy combos. To make weaker players go up and down table on their last 3 balls. There is a lot to know. So....if a guy wants to play rack your own and he's a good player...say no.
 
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Cue Sports Nova Scotia tournaments have the 2 ball at bottom and no soft breaks. Two balls have to cross head string....

My rack,

1
3 5
4 9 6
7 8
2
 
What are some of the most common 9-ball racking patterns when you're racking your own? What do you prefer?


I make sure I don't start developing any preference.
There is no rule to this other than 1 at the top and 9 in the middle.
Same with 8-ball.
I can't stand it when people are racking 8-ball for 5 minutes just to come up with some b.s. distribution of the balls that ultimately doesn't matter as they are all knocking into each other.
No rule for that either other than 8 in the middle and solid on one end, stripe on the other.
I can see selecting something on the wings of the 9 ball rack but ultimately it doesn't matter because the rest of the rack is all over the place.
 
I can see selecting something on the wings of the 9 ball rack but ultimately it doesn't matter because the rest of the rack is all over the place.

You need to break your own 9 ball rack for about 4 hours to know where the balls go. It's anything but random.
 
Any top player that has good control of his/her CB will runout a rack of 9 ball if he makes one ball and has a shot at the lowest ball, and there is no clusters. That is why Reyes runs a lot of racks even with his weak break. All he wants is the 1 ball in the side and a shot on the 2 ball, more than likely he will runout because of his pin point control of the CB. Also with a lot of BB altanate break tournaments, the lag has become even more important.

9 ball IMO should be played only up to regional tournaments. Any open and/or pros should be playing 10 ball or 15. Johnnyt
 
When Corey and Shane played on TAR back in November 2013 Shane used only one pattern and Corey switched it up with two patterns. FYI, they were both soft breaking and making the 2 in the side with a cosmo out just about every time. The way they got there was different but both players were successful at coming up with easy outs. It was the most boring match I ever watched.

Shane:
1
62
897
54
3

Corey #1:
1
23
798
54
6

Corey #2:
1
23
598
76
4
 
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