Playing the ghost?

Moon Cricket

Moon Cricket

Poolshark
Silver Member
Hi Friends,

I often see mentioned a one on one vs. yourself game called Playing the ghost on here. My questions are listed below. :confused:

1. How do you play this game?:confused:
2. Can you handicap and if so how?:confused:

Before I get burned alive at the steak:o ...YES I did do a search first! unfortunately, the results for "play the ghost" number in the millions...and include the word Play and Ghost, lolz... So, I repeat... Yes I did do a search first!


Basically, I want to test myself in the luxury of my own home. I'm also interested in learning about the "system" that dr. cue teaches. I saw that mentioned on another thread but didn't want to hijakc that one and figured I would just mention it on here.

Thanks for the time Friends. :)
 
You can play any number of balls.
Break and take ball in hand.
Try to run out.

Run out = 1 for you.
Anything else = 1 for the ghost.

Some spot balls made on the break, some don't.
Some count combinations on the 9 as a win, some don't.
You can also play it without ball in hand after the break.

Whatever rules you use, it is a good way to measure your game.
 
Example: 9 ball ghost.

Rack 9 ball. Break. Take BIH. Run out. You don't run out, ghost just won.

Handicap. Give yourself a couple on the wire in, say, a race to 7. Or, give yourself the called 7. Whatever.

Whole idea. Break, BIH, runout. You miss you lose because the Ghost ALWAYS runs out.
 
I wish I played like that darn Ghost guy.

I have been told that playing the ghost is often a very good way to test speed.

Like an A player should beat the 9-ball ghost, etc.
I have heard of pro's gambling the 11 and 12 ball ghost.

If anyone else has heard this please post you metric:
Pro,
Shortshop,
Open,
A,
B,
C,
D

Sorry Mooncricket, not to hijack your post. I though you may be interested as well.
 
Rack up 9-ball and break. Take BIH. If you run out you win, if not you lose. To handicap:
Start with fewer balls. (3 balls, 4 balls, 6 balls, 7 balls, 9 balls, and 10 balls all rack nicely)
Give yourself money balls.
Give yourself mulligans, missed shots, and extra ball in hands.

That's it.
 
No worries !

kryptonite9 said:
I wish I played like that darn Ghost guy.

I have been told that playing the ghost is often a very good way to test speed.

Like an A player should beat the 9-ball ghost, etc.
I have heard of pro's gambling the 11 and 12 ball ghost.

If anyone else has heard this please post you metric:
Pro,
Shortshop,
Open,
A,
B,
C,
D

Sorry Mooncricket, not to hijack your post. I though you may be interested as well.
Click to expand...

Thats good info my friend! No worries mate :)
 
You might wanna try the ghost out on a 9 ft before you hit the road. If you don't win. Play strip clubs and beer joints only. Thats the best thing to do anyway.
 
That would be a good universal way to rate players. One guy could say he can beat the 6ball ghost on a 9 footer and another guy might say that he can consistently beat the 4 ball ghost and thats it.

Then if some hack says he consistently beats the 7 ball ghost you could say, "Okay I'll bet $20 on the ghost in a race to 7 against you. Show me."
 
Luxury said:
That would be a good universal way to rate players. One guy could say he can beat the 6ball ghost on a 9 footer and another guy might say that he can consistently beat the 4 ball ghost and thats it.

Then if some hack says he consistently beats the 7 ball ghost you could say, "Okay I'll bet $20 on the ghost in a race to 7 against you. Show me."
Click to expand...

Sounds interesting! Pretty cool idea
 
Chuck Norris- 3000-ball ghost
Godzilla- 2000-ball ghost
Efren- 500-ball ghost
Shane- 499-ball ghost
That one Asian girl- 350-ball ghost
Minnesota Fats- 324-ball ghost
God- 296-ball ghost
Satan- 295.5-ball ghost
Super Pro- 15-ball ghost
Pro- 12-ball ghost
Shortstop- 10-ball ghost
A- 9-ball ghost
B- 7-ball ghost
C- 5-ball ghost
D- 3-ball ghost
Banger- 2-ball ghost (with 2:1 money)
Drew- 1-ball ghost

Hope this helps.
 
I like it

gpeezy said:
You might wanna try the ghost out on a 9 ft before you hit the road. If you don't win. Play strip clubs and beer joints only. Thats the best thing to do anyway.
Click to expand...


That is smart thinking sir! I like the way you think.
 
Luxury said:
That would be a good universal way to rate players. One guy could say he can beat the 6ball ghost on a 9 footer and another guy might say that he can consistently beat the 4 ball ghost and thats it.

Then if some hack says he consistently beats the 7 ball ghost you could say, "Okay I'll bet $20 on the ghost in a race to 7 against you. Show me."
Click to expand...
If you can't beat the 9 ball ghost ever on a 9 ft......to me......you haven't become close to a player yet.
 
BTW I think practicing against the ghost is excellent practice and I will tell you why.

I think the problem with a lot of practice sessions is that you don't give real match level focus on every shot when you are just pocketing balls in practice. When practicing against the ghost you really do focus hard on EVERY shot because you know that if you miss you just lost and you have to rack all the balls up again right now.

That is the other sweet thing. You end up practicing your break big time! For those that don't already know, the break is the most important shot in 9 ball or 10 ball if you are at a decent level.

Whenever I'm about to practice against the ghost I hit about 20 break shots in 3 minutes using my break rak device to warm up.
 
Drew said:
Pro- 12-ball ghost
Shortstop- 10-ball ghost
A- 9-ball ghost
B- 7-ball ghost
C- 5-ball ghost
D- 3-ball ghost
Banger- 2-ball ghost (with 2:1 money)

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Funny stuff...but to the extent that you were getting serious with the above, I think you have over-stated the rankings.

If, by "beating the ghost" you mean winning the majority of racks, your Banger, and D are probably OK but I would adjust the others as follows:

C=4
B=6
A=8
ST=9
Pro=10 MAYBE

And remember, winning a majority = 51 out of 100 which means that a 10 ahead set could take weeks! (-:

Jim
 
Moon Cricket said:
Hi Friends, ...before I get burned alive at the steak:o ...YES I did do a search first! unfortunately, the results for "play the ghost" number in the millions...and include the word Play and Ghost, lolz... So, I repeat... Yes I did do a search first!...
Thanks for the time Friends. :)
Click to expand...
Make it easdy on yourself...go to 'search, advanced search/ then search ghost in titles only, limiting search to main forum.
I get "Showing results 1 to 25 of 93 " like that....

Keep It Simple, Stupid (K.I.S.S.)!
 
the table makes a huge difference in playing the ghost. There are some triple tough Diamond tables that pro players cannot beat. Drew's ratings I think are pretty good guesstimates for 4.5 inch pockets. With 5 inch pockets I think you have to move it up a ball.

av84fun...sorry but I disagree, you put the ghost in the box against a pro player and you are gonna see that pro player stick it casper in a major way playing the 10ball ghost. I have seen many, many shortstops beat the 10 and 11 ball ghost. A touring pro is stealing on a regular table against the 10 and 11 ball ghost.
 
uwate said:
...

av84fun...sorry but I disagree, you put the ghost in the box against a pro player and you are gonna see that pro player stick it casper in a major way playing the 10ball ghost. I have seen many, many shortstops beat the 10 and 11 ball ghost. A touring pro is stealing on a regular table against the 10 and 11 ball ghost.
Click to expand...
Silence! Stop letting this out for free!
 
kryptonite9 said:
You can play any number of balls.
Break and take ball in hand.
Try to run out.

Run out = 1 for you.
Anything else = 1 for the ghost.

Some spot balls made on the break, some don't.
Some count combinations on the 9 as a win, some don't.
You can also play it without ball in hand after the break.

Whatever rules you use, it is a good way to measure your game.
Click to expand...


Other ways to handicap are to give the ghost 2 games each time you miss and/or not use BIH. Best to increase # of games unless making some in-depth rules (like some that I have seen Bob Jewitt post) and always use BIH. Always keep track of results to see how you progress, and save them along with notes. JMHO

td
 
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