Rotation game scoring for weak players

B

bdorman

Dead money
Silver Member
The group I play with are all relatively weak players, but we're good friends and enjoy the game and little friendly competition.

We usually default to playing 8-ball because it seems more "fair," meaning that in 9- or 10-ball you can play the rack-of-your-life and sink the first seven balls...but if you miss the next ball your opponent comes to the table for a couple of easy shots and wins the rack. Kind of takes the fun out of the game.

I'm thinking about scoring 9-ball (or 10-ball) like you score straight pool. Pocket a ball and you get one point and keep shooting. Pocket the nine and you get your choice of whether to break or not. First one to 50 points wins. Not sure how to handle scratchs/fouls.

It seems like it would have the additional benefit of accommodating more than two players in a game. In other words we could have five players and as long as we shoot in order, everyone has the same chance of pocketing 50 balls, right?

Does anyone have experience with this kind of scoring, or advice to offer?

Many thanks.
 
The APA does their 9-ball scoring like that - it's how they handle the handicapping. As far as handicaps go, I really like it. Making the 9 doesn't mean anything other than 2 points - 1 point for every other ball. Racks doesn't mean anything. First player to get to their designated number of points win.

There's a "how to" video for keeping score in the APA on youtube, should be easy enough to find if you want the full details (most of it you can ignore, since there's no need to track defensive shots or dead balls)
 
Easier?

Well it's interesting that you say 8-ball seems to be a more fair game for your friends and you. Do you all play ball in hand rules? If you guys think running to the 7 or 8 and then missing in 9-ball takes the fun out of the game, then what happens if you run 5 or 6 in 8-ball and then get safetied to death? It's not really fun when you can't exactly shoot at your group and then give up ball in hand to the other player over and over again.

Other than that your scoring system is exactly similar to APA league scoring. Be careful though with getting into that mentality of just scoring points. Normal rules in 9-ball have just one ball that counts. I can't tell you how many times I go play in league and then go play a normal game with my friends and end up not fully focusing on the entire run out. Thinking the whole time "at least I got more points" but actually losing. That kind of thinking is bad for normal play.
 
50 Point Rotation

A friend and I play 50 point rotation. He does not like all the complexities of the usual 61 point rotation so we came up with another way.

Rack all 15 balls with the one in front, the two and the three at the corners and the four in the middle (like 8-Ball). We rack this way because if you have a “good” break you can get position on the one and have a fair shot at positioning on the two and three. By the time you get to the four ball you have to play your position pretty well.

We count one point per ball. First person to 50 wins.

Any foul or scratch is ball in hand to the opponent. This is a tough penalty and usually allows the opponent to have a chance at running several balls.

There is no penalty for a scratch or foul (just ball in hand).

In this way it is very easy to keep score on the table counters and to determine how many balls you just made. The number of balls on the table plus your opponent's balls subtracted from 15 is your total ball count at the end off your turn.

While we usually play with two people the game is easily expanded to three or more.

We have been playing every night for over a year now and have not lost interest. A great game if you like rotation and using every skill you possess. My buddy did not play safes very often but has learned they are required if you want to win.
 
Hey guys, many thanks for the ideas. It might take a little experimentation but I think I'll be able to come up with a good game.

STLJohnny - I thought APA rules might be something along the lines of what I was thinking. I'll have to investigate it further.

LPH5 -- Yeah, getting safetied to death can be frustrating but at least I'm shooting at my balls and you're shooting at yours. Plus the game gets harder for the opponent every time he gets BIH and pretty soon we're close to even. Remember, we're not talking about folks who run the table.

Joe@ - That sounds like an interesting take on the game. But it really seems like an early shooter (we often have 3-5 players sharing one table) would be at a real disadvantage. Maybe not.

Thanks again!
 
Ralph Kramden said:
Here is a fun game to try with simple scoring rules.
4 can play as 2 man teams.

1 point for any higher number ball than the last ball...
http://sites.google.com/site/poolandbilliard/Home/1-up
Click to expand...

Sounds like fun, but maybe a bit too much thinking.

Maybe we're weak players because we're weak-minded :grin: Of course, any game is simple once you get the hang of it. But with this group (as with many casual players) they have to understand it quickly or they get frustrated. (I've taught 14.1 to three of them; one got it immediately and the other two just couldn't handle the idea of setting up for the break).
 
I always liked the KISS theory. If you are just playing with friends for fun then worrying about what the score is takes the fun out of it.

How about just simply playing a ring game - no safeties allowed. Seeing as you are a better player than your friends then you could just take only
1 shot when it's your turn - try to ride the $$$ ball & explain to your friends how you are trying to accomplish that. Let them ask for your advice on their shots then everyone gets to learn something.

With lower skilled players they will all get plenty of table time per game even with up to 6 players.

I used to run a ring game tournament with 6 players per table and the best player on each table did not necessarily run out every time they had a turn - generally because they were starting from someone else's leave :)
Everyone had a great time.
 
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