Old School 2 Pushout 9 Ball

In my scenario, the incoming player had the option of shooting the shot being able to hit a rail first since he opted to shoot. Then, if he hit the ball and made it or otherwise didn't make some other type of foul it was okay.

Only the pusher was forced to hit the ball without hitting a rail first.

This kept people from constantly pushing out to completely blocked shots.
I get it but i've never played it like that. You could push anywhere and incoming shooter made his choice what to do.
 
Was never designed to be 'watchable'; it was for action. WAAAY better game than TE. Once TE showed up in tournaments that's all people, especially the suckers, wanted to play. I never did like losing my cash watching the cheese get shit in or someone missing by a diamond and get a lucky hook. IMO one has to be a tad thick to bet anything other than super cheap playing TE rules. Glad you mentioned 'unwatchable' because that very accurately describes modern day, magic rack, TE 9ball. Rather watch paint dry than watch 9b today.
I agree.

I didn't play 9-ball for it to be watchable.

The only thing I was watching was how much I won.

TE ruined 9-ball in my opinion.
 
I agree.

I didn't play 9-ball for it to be watchable.

The only thing I was watching was how much I won.

TE ruined 9-ball in my opinion.
The ONLY reason TE was adopted was to speed-up tournaments. That's all. Pushout is a far better mix of shotmaking and strategy imo. I do have to admit i robbed a lot of suckers when TE got popular. It was pretty easy to play safe and make it look good to shitty players. Some of 'em wised up but most just donated. God bless 'em. ;)
 
Totally changed the game. Only folks watching were at the table, so take that out of the equation. (Well, if top players in the room, there were railbirds, but they didn’t give a crap about game speed, for the most part.)

The more I think about it, the more I’m missing it. Not all things evolve for the better….
 
Totally changed the game. Only folks watching were at the table, so take that out of the equation. (Well, if top players in the room, there were railbirds, but they didn’t give a crap about game speed, for the most part.)

The more I think about it, the more I’m missing it. Not all things evolve for the better….
I understand the speed up tournament deal but TE is such a watered down version of 9b. Watching a safety fest and players having to pull out jump cues to me is just not entertaining. If it wasn't for one-foul the jump cue business would have died pretty early. At least Derby still makes you jump with your player.
 
Totally changed the game. Only folks watching were at the table, so take that out of the equation. (Well, if top players in the room, there were railbirds, but they didn’t give a crap about game speed, for the most part.)

The more I think about it, the more I’m missing it. Not all things evolve for the better….
If there were people in the room when I was playing, there were always people watching.

Even people who didn't play pool.

I used to put on a show, like Keith, and interact with the crowd.

That used to make my opponent even more determined to beat me and they would bet more or continue to play longer than they normally would have. A lot of people don't like losing with a crowd of people watching.
 
Jump cue. The cuemakers I’ve always used said use their cues to break, jump, whatever. I can jump a ball or jump full table with my playing cue.

That’s not to say that the cuemakers I know don’t make some highly efficient, specialty cues to serve their current clientele, but their regular cues work just fine for anything, if you know how to use them.

Tips? Forget all that newer layered stuff. These are one solid piece, harder than I ever remember being.
 
Jump cue. The cuemakers I’ve always used said use their cues to break, jump, whatever. I can jump a ball or jump full table with my playing cue.

That’s not to say that the cuemakers I know don’t make some highly efficient, specialty cues to serve their current clientele, but their regular cues work just fine for anything, if you know how to use them.

Tips? Forget all that newer layered stuff. These are one solid piece, harder than I ever remember being.
I have playing cues that I have used for over 50 years and I have used them for everything...shooting, breaking, jumping, masse, etc.

I have broke thousands and thousand of racks with them and never have I popped a tip off or screwed up my tip.

I think pool should be "pool", not golf where there are cues for every type of circumstance.
 
As a teen on the rail, I watched the game, but what really got my attention was the action and the interaction between the players -- much BS and gibing over the quality of safes, etc. TE seems much more sterile. It was the first place I ever saw a $100 bill, and all of it made a tremendous impression on me. It kept me coming back and contributed significantly to my lifelong addiction to all things pool.
 
We always called it 'Pushout' pool. There were only two ways we played back then. Either Pushout or 'Try To Hit The Ball.' In Pushout you could push any time you were hooked or didn't like the shot. Your opponent had the option to shoot or give it back to you. If he made you shoot and you fouled it was BIH. If he took the shot and fouled (not scratched) he was now on one. In TTHTB you had to make an effort to hit the object ball no matter where the cue ball was. If you hit it then you were okay. If you missed it your opponent had the option to shoot or make you shoot again. If you missed it twice he had BIH. I liked both versions. I knew if I was the better player I would win either way.
 
No video of the game but here Bill Stroud talks about how well he thought Toby Sweet played roll out.

Love that story. Billy got it right too. Toby spotted the world back then at pushout 9-Ball. He used to spot a young Buddy Hall the eight ball and beat him as well. Guys like Kelly, Jersey Red and Johnny Ervolino had to play him even, but they couldn't get there. Some other name players of that era didn't even want to play him. Toby played his best for the cheese too. He had zero dog in him. The real killer instinct like Parica. I never to this day, saw anyone who could cut a ball thin down the rail any better than Toby. He never missed one! And I'm talking super thin cuts. I guess Louie could do it too, but Louie missed one once in a while. Modern day, Lee Vann at his peak made those super thin cuts the best.
 
No video of the game but here Bill Stroud talks about how well he thought Toby Sweet played roll out.
In ?1996? in Fort Lauderdale, I saw Toby Sweet beat Rempe 11-0, displaying some of the finest pool I have ever seen.
 
We always played where there could only be TWO consecutive pushes: say player A pushes. Player B could shoot, pass, or push. If they push back both are on one foul so the next shot, regardless of who shoots, has to be legal or a ball-in-hand happens. This situation didn't happen often but having this rule eliminates a 'push fest'. Playing push-out 9b is such a better game than TE. TE is fine for speeding up tournaments but that's about it.

Two different games -- way more strategy with push out -- similar to 1P -- lots of safety play. Ability to think was an essential skill, so was ability to play rails. Just another aspect of the game that commercialization/modernization of pool has stolen from us. Can't deeply miss what you don't deeply know. Too early in the morning for such ruminating . . .

Never heard of, or don't remember, "2 pushout".
My memory is not what it once was, However believe I played 1 Pushout, Two Fouls = Ball in Hand. TE came to be in order to speed up pool for TV and since Pool is never on TV anymore I wish they would go back to Pushout as Garczar has already stated the Game was much Better IMHO.
 
some places played differently like down south and mid west but for the most part it was simple.

any shot you could push out to wherever you wanted. and the incoming player could accept it as is or let you shoot it.
if either fouled on that next shot it was ball in hand for the other player.

same as the way they play it now on a push out on the break.

lots of strategy and a smarter player player could beat a slightly better shooter.

it also made great bankers favorites as they could push out to a tough bank they could make that the other player couldn't easily.
same with tough cut shots for some.

it made for more cash games as those that couldn't run out could at least pushout on shots they cant make. for something easier for them that the other guy might still miss if he shot it.

texas/ball in hand, is certainly better for tournaments that need speeding up. but not for pool room matching up and action games.

after texas came in 9 ball action dried up and one pocket became dominant.

as bad players get shots in one pocket rather than being constantly hooked and missing and giving ball in hand to a runout player.
 
toby was the best at it for sure.

but eddie taylor was the nuts as he made all banks, and no one could beat him at it. except for a few very top players that shot much better and they still didnt want any of his action.
 
Back
Top