Sardo rack-your-own blues

T

Travis Bickle

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Although I saw lots of solid play last night in my first trip to the tourney, I noticed after about 10 mins that there was a sameness to all these tight runouts. With the breaker in most cases rolling the 7 and 8 in the rear of the sourdough by the 2 and the lower balls up front, and with the wing ball going EVERY TIME, most of the layouts required nothing but cleaning up a few routine shots at the head of the table, then rolling down for an easy 7, 8, 9 at the foot end. The height of this kind of thing may have come in the Saez-Putnam match. They showed fine control of the conditions, but it got kind of monotonous.

Zzzzz ... would way rather see opponents rack to get a little more variety and traveling, at least.
 
Deuel was the same. He made five straight break and runs with his soft break pocketing the wing ball. One goes over side pocket, two over top right, four over top left (sometimes went in). For the last three balls 7 was always near bottom rail and was sunk in bottom left off one rail for the 8 went in bottom right and the 9 bottom left. EVERY TIME. It was precision accuracy. But I heard lots of the players complaining about it.

Interestingly not every table/player was doing it. The One and Ralf made the wing ball 70% of the time but were using the sledgehammer break.
 
Yep. Noticed the same pattern. Overheard Robb say: "The Sardo Rack is not a help to the sport... at all!" I'd suggest neither is the alternate breaks, rack your own, stroke of genius.

It's also the first tournament I see where half of the matches are played on Brunswicks, and the other half on some other table I don't know the name of.
 
lewdo26 said:
It's also the first tournament I see where half of the matches are played on Brunswicks, and the other half on some other table I don't know the name of.
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That's because Slates isn't a pool hall, it's a social club. :rolleyes:
 
hobokenapa said:
Interestingly not every table/player was doing it. The One and Ralf made the wing ball 70% of the time but were using the sledgehammer break.
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Not sure about Craig or Ralf, but several players have tried to (unsuccessfully) mimick Corey's soft break.
 
Ahh ...

Sweet Marissa said:
Not sure about Craig or Ralf, but several players have tried to (unsuccessfully) mimick Corey's soft break.
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nothing is so satisfying as stealing another player's good break .... lol
 
Sweet Marissa said:
Not sure about Craig or Ralf, but several players have tried to (unsuccessfully) mimick Corey's soft break.
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Corey's soft break takes way more skill and knowleadge than it looks. The blend of speed, hit, and english isn't easy to figure out unless you really KNOW it. I don't think every pro knows how to soft break efficiently like Corey.
 
Sweet Marissa said:
That's because Slates isn't a pool hall, it's a social club. :rolleyes:
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No kidding. After sundown the place started changing in texture as the yuppies started coming in. The humongous, suit-and-tie-clad bouncers stalked the place, muttering something secretive in ear-pieces; the restroom all of sudden looks like a Broadway backstage, with cosmetics cluttering the sink, and a guy who opens the tap for you only to look at you with scorn for not tipping him afterwards; the music gets progressively louder; cocktail drinks now pepper the bar; shoes progressively shinnier; collars ever more rigidly starched ... All very weird. That's when I had to leave. Too bad I missed Corey and Tony.
 
This is a reason why I think breaking from the box is the way to go in pro tournaments.

As far as racking for yourself, that sounds just plain useless. Playing the same pattern over and over is not what people want to see (at least me and the guy sitting next to me...right guy?)

Guy: "Right!"
 
Interesting (and two of them quite shocking) comments arose on the final day of the Slate leg of the tournament. Unfortunately, I think two of them might be a little compromising, and I certainly do not whish to cause anyone top pro the slightest little bit of trouble, so I won't mention their names.

As the tournament drew to a close, and more players got eliminated, and booze and frustration flowed and reeked from every corner of the room, this is what I heard:

Top pro (whysky in hand; bloodshot eyes): "We can't use the Sardo rack because of HIM!" (points finger at Corey Deuel at the bar)

Top pro 2 (who's known for his cool demeanor): "One day I'm going to go to jail... Because I'm going to hit Corey Deuel in the head with the butt of my cue!"

Top pro 3 (on to the interesting comments): "The Sardo rack makes a mockery of the game. Essentially what you have is a dead combo on every break." Never thought of it that way...

Finally, a comment (not at all compromising) that I'm very happy about, especially coming from whom it came: Gabe Owen said he "CAN'T WAIT" for the IPT tour. Not simply because of the money or the wider audience, but because he thinks 8 ball on tight pockets and slow cloth will be a TOUGHER game than 9 ball the way it's currently played. This goes to the instant detractors.

He also mentioned that 10 ball would be a much better tournament game than 9 ball...

Personally, I don't understand this idea that you pin down Corey Deuel for the problems 9 ball and the Sardo rack created. It's not the guys fault that the balls break too easy! He's a pro, he is there to win, and that consideration will outweigh others. He's just making the most out of a flawed tournament format.
 
Funny you mention those gripes. I also heard some muttering last night about the same target. Another top player was grumbling: "Well, you don't ever have to worry about HIM winning a tournament where you've got to BREAK the balls. Just look what he does when he's got an open table (just after Corey got out of line, though he recovered and got out)."
 
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lewdo26 said:
Top pro (whysky in hand; bloodshot eyes): "We can't use the Sardo rack because of HIM!" (points finger at Corey Deuel at the bar)

Top pro 2 (who's known for his cool demeanor): "One day I'm going to go to jail... Because I'm going to hit Corey Deuel in the head with the butt of my cue!"
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lewdo26 said:
Personally, I don't understand this idea that you pin down Corey Deuel for the problems 9 ball and the Sardo rack created. It's not the guys fault that the balls break too easy! He's a pro, he is there to win, and that consideration will outweigh others. He's just making the most out of a flawed tournament format.
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If there is something wrong with Corey's break, then why, why do other pros try it??? It's only after they realise they don't get the same results does anyone argue against it.

And it has nothing to do with a Sardo; it has to do with breaking a perfect rack and running out.
 
I'm probably missing something obvious here, but why have Rack Your Own with a Sardo? Rack Your Own is usually applied when hand racks are used to prevent arguments over rack tightness, but with the Sardo this should not be the case. If so, the only element you can adjust is the layout of the balls within the rack, which should be as random as possible for fairness.

If players with reliable break technique always have the same tight rack AND the same ball layout of course repetitious pattern play will evolve. The break is intended to be a randomizer.
 
AuntyDan said:
I'm probably missing something obvious here, but why have Rack Your Own with a Sardo? Rack Your Own is usually applied when hand racks are used to prevent arguments over rack tightness, but with the Sardo this should not be the case.
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Just what I was thinkin'.

But I did see JJ give himself a slug rack against Salvas or Petroni ... and if you think he USUALLY looks annoyed with himself ... ? :D
 
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