Ruling on Bad Racks

Inzombiac

Inzombiac

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Silver Member
I play in a small bar league where I'm from but we play BCA rules even though we aren't sanctioned or anything. I know most of the rules but something came up last night that I'm really unsure about and need a ruling on.

I played this woman the other night who I didn't like all that much to begin with. Well when she steps up to rack she says something about the racks being shitty or something to that nature. I wasn't really watching her with extreme scrutiny because I had just lost a game and I was pretty much staring "through" the balls waiting to crush them into dust. Well I go to shoot and sure enough, I get the loosest, most pathetic little break. it looked like a damn straight pool break. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know whether to call bullshit, ask for a rerack, or straight up get angry. Our guy who organizes the league was gone so i didn't know who to talk to. What would you do in this situation?

And in another game the guy obvisouly racked the balls off kilter... not parallel to the back rail at all. Is that even allowed? I broke them anyway and dropped 4, which surprised me more than anyone, so I guess it was their loss.

What's the general rules about bad racks?
 
The general rule about bad racks is to inspect the rack. I adhere the "fool me once..." policy.

If you feel bad about inspecting the rack, just place a piece of chalk at that end of the table before the person racks for you...then casually go down there to retrieve the chalk and look over the rack as you pass by.
 
when pissed at racks, tell opponent, you wanna rack your own rack,that was the rules on the ipt, you had choices, either,you racked your own rack, your opponent racked your rack, or the ref racked both your racks,either way is fine, however with all that being said, go out and buy a SARDO M-5000 rack device,and forget about everything!,this machine works!
 
8-ball bernie said:
when pissed at racks, tell opponent, you wanna rack your own rack,that was the rules on the ipt, you had choices, either,you racked your own rack, your opponent racked your rack, or the ref racked both your racks,either way is fine, however with all that being said, go out and buy a SARDO M-5000 rack device,and forget about everything!,this machine works!
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The Sardo only works on a "trained" table. If you've ever "trained" a table for the Sardo, you wouldn't recommend this rack to anyone. There's a trade-off - in order to get a good rack, you have to ruin the cloth. For professional tournament tables, that's not a bad thing because the cloth is replaced for every tournament. For recreational tables, whether in a public or private room, the Sardo is a waste of money.

I learned this the hard way, by using a Sardo in my home room and at a pool room. It works great for a few weeks, then you'll wish you'd never heard of the damn thing.

-djb
 
mosconiac said:
If you feel bad about inspecting the rack, just place a piece of chalk at that end of the table before the person racks for you...then casually go down there to retrieve the chalk and look over the rack as you pass by.
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Wow, what a great idea. I've always felt bad about inspecting racks but that will give me an excuse to go down table. Thanks man
 
im not sure i understand ..what do you mean by "trained table" I glad i read this post because i was about to buy a Sardo rack...how did it mess up your home table?
 
My home table is "trained" for a standard rack in that I've tapped the balls so they fall into place as long as the rack is even close to the right spot. This puts little dimples in the cloth but I've not seen any bad rolls because of it. The balls will literally fall into a perfect rack each time.
 
trained

quitecoolguy said:
im not sure i understand ..what do you mean by "trained table" I glad i read this post because i was about to buy a Sardo rack...how did it mess up your home table?
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"trained" means you have dimpled the cloth under each ball. After you use a sardo on a table for a little while, you can use your arms to rack a perfect rack every time.
 
Inzombiac said:
Well I go to shoot and sure enough, I get the loosest, most pathetic little break. it looked like a damn straight pool break. I didn't know what to say. . . .

What would you do in this situation?
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What would I do? I'd just chuckle, and say something like "Here we go!" grinning from ear to ear. Why? Because I love softbreaking 8 ball, messes with their mind, doesn't bother me at all. I might even say something like, 'Heeeeyyyyy, I like it!! Now this is MY kind of game!!"

After saying those things, just get ready to play a really good game, dissect the rack, break out the problem balls, and run 'em out...

Now THAT will really mess with 'em.

Flex
 
Flex said:
What would I do? I'd just chuckle, and say something like "Here we go!" grinning from ear to ear. Why? Because I love softbreaking 8 ball, messes with their mind, doesn't bother me at all. I might even say something like, 'Heeeeyyyyy, I like it!! Now this is MY kind of game!!"

After saying those things, just get ready to play a really good game, dissect the rack, break out the problem balls, and run 'em out...

Now THAT will really mess with 'em.

Flex
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You woulda been proud of the way I played it. I was popping it out and into the cluster giving her no shot at all for half the game. It was like a video I saw once of Efren and Grady playing straight pool where no one pockets a ball for 3 minutes. It was a boring game, but I learned a thing or two about defense.:D
 
My theory, especially on a bar table, is you gotta take the good with the bad. I've seen tremendous spreads come out of loose racks, but every now and then you get the "staright pool" break where the 8 ball didn't move an inch. The only nice part about that is that it's pretty obvious to everyone on both teams that your opponent gave you a crappy rack.
It's near impossible to get a perfect rack on most bar tables. Even racks that appear to be perfect usually have a small gap between the two balls in the second row, although both are still touching the front ball. This is due to oversized/stretched triangles.
Now, that being said, I would expect my opponent to at least TRY to get it as tight as possible. When someone just casually throws the triangle around the balls and lifts it off first try that's when I'll inspect and say something.

Oh, and as others have said, if you don't say something before you break you haven't got a leg to stand on.
 
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If the match is an important tournament match and I don't know my opponent, I will always check the rack. If you don't check the rack and you get a slug, it's your own fault, you should've checked it beforehand, no way to complain afterwards, not by reasoning nor by the rules. I couldn't care less what my opponent thinks of me checking the rack, because if I want to do it, I can do it. There's absolutely nothing unsportsmanlike in checking the rack. That's why I never complain if I get a slug, if I haven't checked it. I just inspect all racks from there on.

And in 8-ball, it's much easier to do rack-your-own, because you can't really benefit from making your own rack, unlike in 9-ball.

Oh, if my opponent is clearly a newbie who doesn't know how to rack 'em tight, I don't like being a jerk who refuses all his/her racks, instead I usually suggest rack-your-own from the beginning. They are usually happy that they don't have to go through with the racking, because against me they would do it all the time. :rolleyes: :)
 
Don't ever, ever get," straight up angry," about a rack. It's a shark job. Even checking the rack every time tells your opponent that the sharking is working.Watch them rack carefully from your end and be willing to move your break ball around to try and take advantage on the positions of balls in the rack, particularly the angle of the rack on the table. As has been said, manipulate the speed of the break ball to your advantage. If there is a ref ask quietly for him to watch for violations. Take what they give you, modify what you do to fit the circumstances and win. But be quiet.
 
Flex said:
What would I do? I'd just chuckle, and say something like "Here we go!" grinning from ear to ear. Why? Because I love softbreaking 8 ball, messes with their mind, doesn't bother me at all. I might even say something like, 'Heeeeyyyyy, I like it!! Now this is MY kind of game!!"

After saying those things, just get ready to play a really good game, dissect the rack, break out the problem balls, and run 'em out...

Now THAT will really mess with 'em.

Flex
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I'll agree with that. Back when I used to play league pool in England we had a few guys who would soft-break. I'd just think to myself "OK, we can do it that way, just makes the game a little slower." I used to play a lot of snooker at that time too so working around the pack & opening it up was not a problem. Ah, those were the days.
 
nerve

About 2 weeks ago I was playing a set and I broke the balls and the wing ball flew I mean FLEW off the table didn't even hit the rail so this guy gets up and tells me it's a foul and he gets BIH!I said the only way that ball cuold have jumped the table is it he slug racked me and he should rerack the balls.Then he pissed and moaned about it for ten minutes.I understand that it is my responsiblity to check the rack, sometimes you hit them hard and you don't get a very good spread but I don't think its possible to jump the wing ball off the table on a good rack maybe I'm wrong.
 
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