Ring Games - 9 Ball and 10 Ball

N

NeZ

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm going out to play pool with a few people on Friday and was thinking it might be fun to try a ring game as opposed to only two people playing at a time, partners, or cut-throat.

However, I'm not sure I understand exactly how they work. My only experience with them is the little bit I've seen on TV.

I know all the rules to 9 ball but can someone break down how a 9 ball ring game works?

I'm less familiar with 10 ball so in addition to the ring game aspect, I need to know if there are any rule differences from 9 ball.

Thanks!

NeZ
 
NeZ said:
I'm going out to play pool with a few people on Friday and was thinking it might be fun to try a ring game as opposed to only two people playing at a time, partners, or cut-throat.

However, I'm not sure I understand exactly how they work. My only experience with them is the little bit I've seen on TV.

I know all the rules to 9 ball but can someone break down how a 9 ball ring game works?

I'm less familiar with 10 ball so in addition to the ring game aspect, I need to know if there are any rule differences from 9 ball.

Thanks!

NeZ
Click to expand...

A ring game is just 9, or 10, ball played with 3 or more people. The rules are the same and if you are playing for money you can add money balls. For instance, a typical way to play a 9-ball ring game would be $1 on the 5 and $2 on the 9. You can play with the 9 as the only money ball or put any designation you want on any ball.

10 ball is just like 9 except you've got an extra ball before you win. A, possibly cheap, game for a group of people is 10 ball kelly. This is where you draw numbered pills from a bottle 1-10 and whatever you draw is your number. You make your ball and everyone pays you, someone else makes it and you pay them. The 10 always pays and costs, or pays, the owner of the pill double. If you have 5 or less players you can draw two pills or you can have up to 10 players.
 
Yeah we do the same thing. If there is 3 players we play a ring game of 9ball with $1 on the 5 and $2 on the 9. If there are 4 or more we play 10 ball, so the first three dont run out 5 racks before the 4th guy gets a chance to shoot. That extra ball makes for a tougher break and an extra cluster ball.
Comboing the 5 or 9 early results in a respot and an extra money ball unless it it one ball before the 5 (shoto the 4-5 combo and the 5 stays down)and two balls before the 9. Some people play these rules different. Like if the 5 gets combo'd in it stays down regardless of if its a 1-5 or 4-5. You just have to make sure everyone knows the rules up front.

No safeties allowed, you have to go for a shot.
Guy who missed last and lets the winner out has to rack. Usually we would make the people who won the money balls pay for the next rack so the winners arent getting an extra bonus for the win.
 
zeeder said:
A ring game is just 9, or 10, ball played with 3 or more people. The rules are the same and if you are playing for money you can add money balls. For instance, a typical way to play a 9-ball ring game would be $1 on the 5 and $2 on the 9. You can play with the 9 as the only money ball or put any designation you want on any ball.

10 ball is just like 9 except you've got an extra ball before you win. A, possibly cheap, game for a group of people is 10 ball kelly. This is where you draw numbered pills from a bottle 1-10 and whatever you draw is your number. You make your ball and everyone pays you, someone else makes it and you pay them. The 10 always pays and costs, or pays, the owner of the pill double. If you have 5 or less players you can draw two pills or you can have up to 10 players.
Click to expand...


Something that should be noted is that a ring game like above is "usually" All Offense....meaning no playing safe on purpose....

A couple "rules"
  • If you foul the CB stays where it is and the next shooter has the option of making you shoot again
  • If you foul three consecutive times the next shooter gets ball in hand in the kitchen
  • all balls pocketed on a foul are spotted
  • if you make the 9-ball or 10-ball before the other money (5-ball) the 9-ball or 10 gets spotted
  • if you make the 9-ball or the 10-ball before the money ball you get paid the designated amount for that ball

I have seen the 9-ball made as many as three times before the 5-ball was made...end result in that $5-$10 ring game rack was a $45.

A ring game can get expensive in a $5-$10 ring game, you can be stuck $100 before you get one open shot...
 
BRKNRUN said:
Something that should be noted is that a ring game like above is "usually" All Offense....meaning no playing safe on purpose....

A couple "rules"
  • If you foul the CB stays where it is and the next shooter has the option of making you shoot again
  • If you foul three consecutive times the next shooter gets ball in hand in the kitchen
  • all balls pocketed on a foul are spotted
  • if you make the 9-ball or 10-ball before the other money (5-ball) the 9-ball or 10 gets spotted
  • if you make the 9-ball or the 10-ball before the money ball you get paid the designated amount for that ball

I have seen the 9-ball made as many as three times before the 5-ball was made...end result in that $5-$10 ring game rack was a $45.

A ring game can get expensive in a $5-$10 ring game, you can be stuck $100 before you get one open shot...
Click to expand...

Just thought I'd add that if the cue ball is pocketed, the incoming player gets BIH in the kitchen, and if the lowest ball is in the kitchen, it gets spotted.
 
Ring games are fun as hell with the right group of people. all the rules so far are spot on. I used to get into a lot of ring games, but when you don't know everyone playing you can get stuck in the middle of 2 guys giving not so obvious shots to each other. I had to shoot like God to get even one time.

We used to play whoever gets the 9 breaks next game, and the guy who got the 5 goes second. If the same player gets both, or you are playing with more than 3 the rest of the players flip coins for shooting position(odd coin wins), and that in itself can be a hilarious event.....you'll see why:D

We also played if you scratch shooting a money ball you payed double, we also payed double on a full table, or break and runout.

The best 9ball ring game I ever played in was on a 6x12 snooker table using regular pool balls. Holy cow we had some great players playing and they couldn't get out. Luckily I used to plactice on that table with the pool balls a lot.;)

Gerry
 
BRKNRUN said:
Something that should be noted is that a ring game like above is "usually" All Offense....meaning no playing safe on purpose....

A couple "rules"
  • If you foul the CB stays where it is and the next shooter has the option of making you shoot again
  • If you foul three consecutive times the next shooter gets ball in hand in the kitchen
  • all balls pocketed on a foul are spotted
  • if you make the 9-ball or 10-ball before the other money (5-ball) the 9-ball or 10 gets spotted
  • if you make the 9-ball or the 10-ball before the money ball you get paid the designated amount for that ball

Oddly, I'm unfamiliar with some of these rules. We played 1 the same, never heard of 2, only spotted ball before the money ball or the money ball itself, did spot up the 9 if pocketed out of turn, did pay on the 9 if pocketed before the 5. I haven't played in ring game in YEARS, though. The few I've seen played in SC weren't really ring games, I guess. They let you have bih anywhere on the table on any foul. I shuddered watching them play, on a bar table, no less. I've personally never played a ring game with only one money ball, but that's the way they were playing.
A lot of the ring games I witnessed/played in before I left NY were races, with a point each for the 5 and 9. Races were to 10 for a set amount, ie: $5-$10 per man, usually 4 or 5 handed. 5 handed was usually 10 ball.
Click to expand...
 
We have a ring game the night before pool school starts, with all the instructors. Rules like mentioned earlier, except NO ball in hand. Exception is after two consecutive fouls by the same player. We play by the 'old' two-shot shoot-out rules, which are go for the shot, and everything spotted. Lots of run. If you want to play cheap, play on the 5 & 9, or 5 & 10, for fifty cents a point. First one to make 10 points wins the game, and everyone pays everyone, according to how many points they accrued before the game ended. Rare for anyone to lose more than a couple of dollars.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
Gerry said:
...you can get stuck in the middle of 2 guys giving not so obvious shots to each other. I had to shoot like God to get even one time...
Gerry
Click to expand...

But that 2/1 on the money is pretty good, right?;)
 
NeZ said:
I'm going out to play pool with a few people on Friday and was thinking it might be fun to try a ring game as opposed to only two people playing at a time, partners, or cut-throat.

However, I'm not sure I understand exactly how they work. My only experience with them is the little bit I've seen on TV.

I know all the rules to 9 ball but can someone break down how a 9 ball ring game works?

I'm less familiar with 10 ball so in addition to the ring game aspect, I need to know if there are any rule differences from 9 ball.

Thanks!

NeZ
Click to expand...
One word of warning about ring game! From your post it sounds like you know the people you will be playing with, but be VERY careful about playing in ring games with people you don't know. While playing with strangers is generally a risky proposition (unless you KNOW you're the favorite) it is doubly risky in ring games. If two or more of the opponents are working together you can easily find yourself in a situation where you are constantly facing testers and one of the other players always comes to the table with a gimme in front of him.

The ring game that I grew up with in St. Thomas was fifteen ball rotation, which we called "Juice". The money balls were the 5, 8, 11, 13, and 15, and the last money ball remaining on the table was worth double. Obviously, you got more chances at the table because it's so much tougher to run out from the break. However, once you get to to the seven ball the table layout is basically like nine ball, and you have a chance to pocket a lot of money balls. In this game, we were allowed to slug the rack by pulling the center ball (where the 8 would be in the 8-ball rack) back in order to minimize the possibility of money balls falling on the break. Therefore, in addition to the other skills that are called for in rotation games, "Juice" requires the ability to read the stack and find the dead balls. Try it at let me know how it works out!
 
Ring games

If anyone can shoot worth a hoot, you shouldn't be playing 9 ball for a ring game, it is too easy. 10 ball is the only way to go for a RING GAME ... period.
The break in 10 ball is harder than 9 ball, therefore you end up getting more shots than in 9 ball, and that 1 extra ball can make a difference.


I have frequently been down $60-80 BEFORE I got a shot in a ring game, and then the shot was a jump shot ... lol But the good thing is, if you can put 2-4 good racks together you can recoup pretty fast, but like everything else those IF's can get pretty big. I play with guys that just need 1 open shot to get out most of the time, and sometimes for multiple racks.
 
i hear in the bay area they're playing a cheaper version, called "liability ring game." Here, only the person who gave the winner his shot has to pay.

i haven't sat and watched this but i suspect the point is to save money and drag out the afternoons? Or perhaps they put much higher money values on the five and nine...
 
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