Our 8-ball bar table league started playing "rack your own" and we are now a few month into it. I was strictly against it because it concedes that there is poor sportsmanship in the game and I don't think it is fair to lose a game without ever getting out of your chair (at least you used to be able to commend yourself on the good rack you gave the guy).
I have seen the light now and I like "Rack your own" for a few reasons.
1. It eliminates the complaints.
2. It eliminates the bad racks. I didn't think that this was prevalent, but I was wrong. I talked to 5 or 6 quality people that admitted that they have to learn to re-rack so that they don't give themselves bad racks. Comments about making the back row loose (slug rack), making the middle back ball loose (supposedly difficult to make balls), putting a gap behind the second row, and racking way below the spot, were all "bad rack" secrets people admitted to or seen in many cases. Once you hear how some people are doing these things, you remember a lot more cases where you might have had a suspect rack. Of course, I always believed that you can't complain if you don't inspect the rack, but you can't have someone re-rack for every little issue.
3. It eliminates the "unintentional bad rack". I have talked to people that don't believe that you can rack to your opponent's disadvantage if he breaks or to their own advantage if they break. Also, I have seen a lot of people (good players) rack themselves a loose rack, or way behind the spot, etc. This is especially prevalent when playing in tournaments against weaker players, but more prevalent than I thought at my league level.
4. It speeds the game up. Not as many safety breaks or marathon ball-breakout attempt games.
5. It forces me to pay attention when I break. I like getting up and getting into my "mode" while racking so that I am ready to play when I break. Before, you got up after your opponent racked them, checked the rack, got to the table, and whack them. Now I pay attention to my break and calm myself down to get into playing mode.
While I still do not like the direction it takes the game, I'm a lot happier now.
I have seen the light now and I like "Rack your own" for a few reasons.
1. It eliminates the complaints.
2. It eliminates the bad racks. I didn't think that this was prevalent, but I was wrong. I talked to 5 or 6 quality people that admitted that they have to learn to re-rack so that they don't give themselves bad racks. Comments about making the back row loose (slug rack), making the middle back ball loose (supposedly difficult to make balls), putting a gap behind the second row, and racking way below the spot, were all "bad rack" secrets people admitted to or seen in many cases. Once you hear how some people are doing these things, you remember a lot more cases where you might have had a suspect rack. Of course, I always believed that you can't complain if you don't inspect the rack, but you can't have someone re-rack for every little issue.
3. It eliminates the "unintentional bad rack". I have talked to people that don't believe that you can rack to your opponent's disadvantage if he breaks or to their own advantage if they break. Also, I have seen a lot of people (good players) rack themselves a loose rack, or way behind the spot, etc. This is especially prevalent when playing in tournaments against weaker players, but more prevalent than I thought at my league level.
4. It speeds the game up. Not as many safety breaks or marathon ball-breakout attempt games.
5. It forces me to pay attention when I break. I like getting up and getting into my "mode" while racking so that I am ready to play when I break. Before, you got up after your opponent racked them, checked the rack, got to the table, and whack them. Now I pay attention to my break and calm myself down to get into playing mode.
While I still do not like the direction it takes the game, I'm a lot happier now.
