Nine ball racking

L.S. Dennis

L.S. Dennis

Well-known member
I was watching an Alcaide/Shaw game today from Jeddah and I happened to notice that every time the referee racked the balls the 2 ball was always a wing ball and the 8 ball was always in the back regardless of who was breaking. Does the WNT have a rule for this or is it solely up to the discretion of the referee on how the balls are racked?
 
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L.S. Dennis said:
I was watching an Alcaide/Shaw game today from Jeddah and I happened to notice that every time the referee racked the balls the 2 ball was always a wing ball and the 8 ball was always in the back regardless of who was breaking. Does the WNT have a rule for this or is it solely up to the discretion of the referee on how the balls are racked?
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Good observation. The 8 ball was racked in the back in 18 out of 19 racks.

The 2 ball was racked in the back once and on the wings all other racks.

I believe the WNT does not do any pattern on purpose

That ref also racked the 8 in back in the following match (Melling/Sanderson) with the 2 on the wing. The ref in the SVB/Kazakis match racked randomly.
 
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L.S. Dennis said:
As I recall, the 3 when racked on the wing was on the right side (as the breaker is looking at the rack) whereas the 2 was always on the left.
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Here's the premise. They put the two behind the wings so it stays in the bottom half of the table. This increases the chance of everything else being in the way. Even if the one is on the table you probably have obstructions to negotiate getting at the 2. It's not as critical with the template rack but still can cause difficulties if you always break for the one in the side. The fashion now seems to be running the rock back through the rack area where secondary contact will bang it back up table - maybe. I haven't done enough of that to have a feel for the outcomes. Anyway, if the two is on the wings, then the concern is dead side or not.
If it's on the dead side (depends entirely on which side you break from) then the concern is placement of the three. These aren't rules, just some principles to consider as you delve into the enigma of the break.
 
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straightline said:
I was wondering where the 3 went when the 2 was on the wing. Which wing by the way?
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Here's the video. In particular you may want to see what the ref does when he is asked to rerack the balls after the players take a break and he has racked the balls without them watching.

www.youtube.com

WATCH LIVE | 2024 World Pool Championship | Table One

Watch live coverage from table one at the 2024 World Pool Championship in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.To watch coverage of the tv table, head to Matchroompool.com f...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
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Bob Jewett said:
Here's the video. In particular you may want to see what the ref does when he is asked to rerack the balls after the players take a break and he has racked the balls without them watching.

www.youtube.com

WATCH LIVE | 2024 World Pool Championship | Table One

Watch live coverage from table one at the 2024 World Pool Championship in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.To watch coverage of the tv table, head to Matchroompool.com f...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Thanks. Gotta get through a couple other matches first.
 
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Bob Jewett said:
Good observation. The 8 ball was racked in the back in 18 out of 19 racks.

The 2 ball was racked in the back once and on the wings all other racks.

I believe the WNT does not do any pattern on purpose

That ref also racked the 8 in back in the following match (Melling/Sanderson) with the 2 on the wing. The ref in the SVB/Kazakis match racked randomly.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's the ref's way of keeping the pattern of the rack out of the equation in the match.
 
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Bob Jewett said:
Here's the video. In particular you may want to see what the ref does when he is asked to rerack the balls after the players take a break and he has racked the balls without them watching.

www.youtube.com

WATCH LIVE | 2024 World Pool Championship | Table One

Watch live coverage from table one at the 2024 World Pool Championship in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.To watch coverage of the tv table, head to Matchroompool.com f...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
Click to expand...
Got to that part and both racks had the 2,3,4 in front and 5,6,7 in the back. Winged 2 and assed 8.
Definitely looks like a method. Interesting though, the non-reaction of the players now looks like professional deadpan.
 
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Bob Jewett said:
Here's the video. In particular you may want to see what the ref does when he is asked to rerack the balls after the players take a break and he has racked the balls without them watching.

www.youtube.com

WATCH LIVE | 2024 World Pool Championship | Table One

Watch live coverage from table one at the 2024 World Pool Championship in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.To watch coverage of the tv table, head to Matchroompool.com f...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
Click to expand...
It's "supposed" to be random. Clearly it's pattern racking on the part of the ref. I say ref because I had another stream cued up and ripped through the Mickey/Dang match. The 2 did land on either side from time to time but it was not every rack and didn't appear to be determined by which said the breaker was shooting from.

Smells to me
 
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Vahmurka said:
OMG, how much more MR has to learn about the game in regard with rules and regulations...
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I'm blaming that specific ref for this one. Considering the other officials don't appear to be following the same method. It's really only 1 of 2 possibilities.
  1. MR has instructed Refs to pattern rack in an effort to create desirable outcomes for their production efforts and isn't enforcing their other Refs to follow the same methodology.
  2. This specific Ref is pattern racking on his own accord and MR hasn't either noticed or hasn't done anything about it quite yet.
Either way MR has to own it. However if possibility #2 is the case then we should allow them the opportunity to correct the issue.
 
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The_JV said:
I'm blaming that specific ref for this one. Considering the other officials don't appear to be following the same method. It's really only 1 of 2 possibilities.
  1. MR has instructed Refs to pattern rack in an effort to create desirable outcomes for their production efforts and isn't enforcing their other Refs to follow the same methodology.
  2. This specific Ref is pattern racking on his own accord and MR hasn't either noticed or hasn't done anything about it quite yet.
Either way MR has to own it. However if possibility #2 is the case then we should allow them the opportunity to correct the issue.
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It's the head referee's responsibility. I don't know whether it is Brandon Moore (who MR hired as such for their WNT) or Marcel Eckhardt in this instance, but whoever, it is his main job. To provide proper and consistent ref work throughout the whole event from day 1 regardless of the status (let alone the World Championship).

Long story short, another blooper from the organizers. Sad to see.
 
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Vahmurka said:
Long story short, another blooper from the organizers. Sad to see.
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While I won't down play the tarnish purposeful pattern racking puts on the game. I don't see it as a problem that diminishes the overall success of the event. If the players are either not picking up on it or don't consider it worth complaining, then who am I to raise a stink
 
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The_JV said:
While I won't down play the tarnish purposeful pattern racking puts on the game. I don't see it as a problem that diminishes the overall success of the event. If the players are either not picking up on it or don't consider it worth complaining, then who am I to raise a stink
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Patter racking is forbidden by the official 9-ball (not nineball) regulations. And there is a perfect solution for an experiencded referee, if one works at a certain match. One of the refs here at Jeddah does possess this useful knowledge btw, and it was nice to see (and no, it is not Marcel).
 
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