Name any other sport or game...

[Tom In Cincy]

Another great reason for those that advocate 'alternate breaks'

 

[KRJ]

Even then- the batters had even theoretical opportunities to hit the ball, AND there were innings where Mr Perfect Pitcher's team was batting rather than pitching. It's not the same level of absolute total control in baseball, where there is flat out no opportunity to score, like it is when one player is stringing racks in pool.

Yep ! And also since we are talking sports, that is one reason why baseball has been rated one of the toughest sports to play (no arguing, go to SI and argue with them) But hitting a major league slider at 95 mph, was one of the most difficult things to do in all of sports, not to mention hitting a 120 mph tennis serve, and as was throwing a football with 300 puond guys trying to decapitate you,,,,etc.

But in baseball, it is the only sport I can think of that when you are on OFFENSE, you do NOT have the ball, puck, frisbee, shuttlecock, whatever.

Think about that..... when you are on offense, the other team has the ball, and is throwing at you at 90 plus MPH.... to be consistent with other sports, the batter should get to at least throw it up in the air and hit it.....

Thus why it is consdered excellence when a batter only succeeds 30% of the time.....40% only happened once in the modern era, and 20% gets you a quick hook to the minors...(unless you have a big contract and they let you play it out),, there is not much room for error in baseball for succeeding...

 

[Eric.]

Again, I disagree with these statements because they are being applied to pool generally. It depends on the game you are playing. There are numerous pool games where not only do all players have a chance but actually get an equal number of chances.

You do have a point.

I was referring to the "mainstream" Pool games; 8/9/10 ball, 1 hole, 14.1 and, even, 3 cushion billiards.


Eric

 

[Apocalypse2017]

I disagree with the baseball thing, all you have to do is make contact with the 95mph fast ball, just bunt if you have to hitting a stationary golf ball is harder.

I was thinking football with 7 successful onside kicks, but defense still plays.

how about beer pong, same cup and you get to shoot again?

Russian roulette, you could win without even playing

 

[Icon of Sin]

Beer Pong.. nevermind... its been said...

 

[AtLarge]

... But in baseball, it is the only sport I can think of that when you are on OFFENSE, you do NOT have the ball, puck, frisbee, shuttlecock, whatever. ...

Cricket, too.

 

[michael4]

Gin Rummy
First player draws a queen from the deck and lays down 4 queens & 3 jacks, you lose and never had a turn.


Horse racing
your horse gets tangled up in the gate, and never leaves the gate. You lose.

Boxing against Mike Tyson in his prime
he throws the first punch, you go down and dont get up. You lose

Paint ball.
you get hit from long distance before ever loading your gun, you lose

 

[OPQ]

The problem is easily countered by alternate breaks. Sure it's cool you can run multiple racks, but alternate breaks just makes for a better game I think.

Imagine a "winner's serve" rule in tennis. You could "run out" a game and that would be cool, but I think we can all agree that tennis is a much better game the way it is.

 

[jimmyg]

Originally Posted by jimmyg:
How about being dealt a Blackjack? (plus you get odds on your money) J]

The dealer can also pull a Black Jack,,,,,correct ??

Correct, but there is always "insurance". :smile: J

 

[blah blah]

"Solving" any problem here by having alternate breaks only creates yet another problem by taking away the whole thrills and beautiful displays of long term mental concentration involved in running multiple racks.

If there really is a problem (and I can still see that this could be an undocumented feature), allowing the seated player the opportunity to run the same number of racks afterwards fixes all that while still preserving the opportunities for pure excellence.

In fact, it would be pretty freaking cool if the seated player did manage to run x racks in response.

 

[nineballsafety8]

Not sure whether this has been mentioned... But Beer Pong definitely applies... i have "runout" 4 consecutive "racks" of pong, leaving my opponents TANKED, and my teammate and I bored, and hoping to get a chance to atleast get a drink LOL

 

[prad]

I like "looser break" format, in that way I can at least make sure I get a shot on table if the guy runs out on me.

 

[stouter2386]

Ive always looked at pool like shooting free throws in basketball-minus the crowd screaming at you to miss(damn sharks) say the game is tied 99-99 and im shooting free throws, short of the crowd screaming and waving there's nothing the other team can do but just stand and stare while praying that i miss.

 

[AtLarge]

The problem is easily countered by alternate breaks. Sure it's cool you can run multiple racks, but alternate breaks just makes for a better game I think. ...

And even with alternate breaks, you can still keep track of whether a player is running multiple racks on his own (alternating) breaks.

 

[Cornerman]

I named two legitimate games that have been legitimately runout without the other players having even a chance to play.

So, please, stop saying "pool is the only game."

Freddie <~~~ got runout on...

 

[Snapshot9]

i will give you some advice on the flip. when you win the flip and then win the money you ship a lil cheese

call tails all the time. the head side is heavier and more often than not the coin will land with the heavy side down resulting in tails facing up.

an old gambler told me that years ago. hellifi know its true or not but i always let the other person flip and i always call tails.

i win more flips than i lose, honest injun:thumbup:

try it . you cant lose more flips than you do now. right ?

I believe in this too. I think the heads side is .02 heavier. I have developed a theory about flipping over the 50 years I have been playing, and it is, I think on a normal night it will come up 'tails' about 72% of the time, except if it happens to be a heads night, then it comes up heads about 72% of the time. One indicator for a heads night, is if it comes up heads 2 times in row, it could be a heads night, so you might flip your call to heads for the night. I play by this rule, and win most of the flips I participate in.

 

[incognito]

It's possible that a coin might be biased because of the weight, but if you flipped it about a million times it would still come out to almost exactly 50/50. You would probably just get a fraction of a percent more heads than tails or vice versa.

I believe in this too. I think the heads side is .02 heavier. I have developed a theory about flipping over the 50 years I have been playing, and it is, I think on a normal night it will come up 'tails' about 72% of the time, except if it happens to be a heads night, then it comes up heads about 72% of the time. One indicator for a heads night, is if it comes up heads 2 times in row, it could be a heads night, so you might flip your call to heads for the night. I play by this rule, and win most of the flips I participate in.

 

[blah blah]

I named two legitimate games that have been legitimately runout without the other players having even a chance to play.

So, please, stop saying "pool is the only game."

Freddie <~~~ got runout on...

You're right- you said Trivial Pursuit and Quarters, both were right, and yet nobody gave you any props. Sorry.

So, so far we've got: Trivial Pursuit, Quarters, possibly croquet, and then beer pong as games/ sports that can be completely won without any active participation from one of the players/teams. I may have forgotten one of the early ones, too.

Cheeseroller's post #44 was pretty much what I was thinking and feeling when I started this.

 

[AtLarge]

I named two legitimate games that have been legitimately runout without the other players having even a chance to play.

So, please, stop saying "pool is the only game."

Freddie <~~~ got runout on...

OK; you said Trivial Pursuit and Quarters. So let's say "pool is the only sport ..." [Yeah, I'll call it a sport.]

 

[Drew]

Well, for one thing, the pool world is made of different games. To apply this concept to all the pool games does not make sense.

I have a feeling this is more related to 9 ball than any other pool game.

So, maybe the real problem is the pool game being played and not the whole world of pool games.

Short races and lack of multiple sets is another problem.

So format it like tennis? Race to 5. Best 2 out of 3 sets. Each player breaks the entire set. Alternate break in tiebreaker. Now each player gets a chance.