Racking and breaking for your opponent

[mattkenefick]

Has anyone ever thought / tried this?

You have players that spend excessive amounts of time on getting everything perfect.. meticulously tucking the balls in, reading them a bedtime story, waiting for Aramith to airdrop a new set each rack, pattern racking, soft breaking, etc...

No no no, I rack this rack and I break it for you.. then regardless of what goes down, it's your shot. Same rules for pushing apply though; if the breaker snookers you, it's the breaker's shot. You don't want to break too poorly because it'll affect your game too, but it would be an interesting way to prevent patterns and start strategically against your opponent.


Think about it. In football, the opposing team kicks it off. If you were doing your own kick off, you'd obviously put it at the 50 yard line.

 

[sbpoolleague]

Has anyone ever thought / tried this?

You have players that spend excessive amounts of time on getting everything perfect.. meticulously tucking the balls in, reading them a bedtime story, waiting for Aramith to airdrop a new set each rack, pattern racking, soft breaking, etc...

No no no, I rack this rack and I break it for you.. then regardless of what goes down, it's your shot. Same rules for pushing apply though; if the breaker snookers you, it's the breaker's shot. You don't want to break too poorly because it'll affect your game too, but it would be an interesting way to prevent patterns and start strategically against your opponent.


Think about it. In football, the opposing team kicks it off. If you were doing your own kick off, you'd obviously put it at the 50 yard line.

I fail to see how this will reduce the time spent racking. With this approach pros will try and drive 4 balls to a rail and bury the cue ball, so they will still want a perfect rack so they know which way the balls will go.

 

[Shooter08]

Buy the person at the nearest table to you who doesn't rack like a jackass a beer and ask him/her to rack for you. Bet it works.

 

[Black-Balled]

Dumbest thread of the week.

 

[acesinc1999]

Has anyone ever thought / tried this?

You have players that spend excessive amounts of time on getting everything perfect.. meticulously tucking the balls in, reading them a bedtime story, waiting for Aramith to airdrop a new set each rack, pattern racking, soft breaking, etc...

No no no, I rack this rack and I break it for you.. then regardless of what goes down, it's your shot. Same rules for pushing apply though; if the breaker snookers you, it's the breaker's shot. You don't want to break too poorly because it'll affect your game too, but it would be an interesting way to prevent patterns and start strategically against your opponent.


Think about it. In football, the opposing team kicks it off. If you were doing your own kick off, you'd obviously put it at the 50 yard line.

I like it. Personally, I have always thought the open break is one of the factors holding pool down. I greatly prefer a safety break of 14.1 or snooker over the smash 'em up, slop three or four balls in, and call 'em good attitude of any open break game. If you are a gorilla and can slop in 3 to 5 balls on every rack of Nine Ball including the NIne pretty frequently, then a six pack is not really all that impressive.

I think a well rounded player proficient in both offense and defense is much more interesting than one who either wins on the break or loses. Your solution forces both offense and defense. Alas, most players won't get that. Evidence, the response that said, "With this approach pros will try and drive 4 balls to a rail and bury the cue ball..." when clearly you indicated that the incoming player will have choice to put the breaker back in if he doesn't like what he is faced with.

Kudos.

 

[GB Basher]

IMO the break is far too big a shot in 9 ball.
It would be good to have a rule that made the break less important.
.....not sure if what you're suggesting would do it, but its worth further thought.
I also heard a suggestion that the 1st shot after the break should be a 'push out'.

 

[billiardthought]

If you're this worried about the rack and whether you should be breaking offensive or defensive, maybe choose a different game.