Slop 9 ball?

asmith74

asmith74

Where I pay homage
Silver Member
Is this good for the game? The nine ball on the break and slop shots that keep the player at the table?
I guess I've gotten used to playing and watching the game this way but is it really right? Should we be accepting slop? I don't know, but it sure does seem a little strange. This game is wonderfully intricate and demands precision but it still allows slop.
Slop isn't even allowed in a bar room banger 8 ball game (most of the time, aside from the 8 on the break). Kinda strange. :confused:

Andy
 
I think you just have you accept as part of 9 ball. I've been playing more 1 pocket lately. I still play in a 9 ball tourney every week. Nothing better than playing a 14 year old kid and he's trying to slam the 9 in the side and it goes cross corner. God I love that!
 
Slop is acceptable in the game of 9-ball. Its what keeps bangers in the game longer. In the long run sloppy play won't win. The better player will win.

Those who detest slop can go to straight pool or 8-ball.
 
There is only one thing worse than slop nine ball, and that's called shot nine ball. May it continue to rest in peace.
 
sjm said:
There is only one thing worse than slop nine ball, and that's called shot nine ball. May it continue to rest in peace.
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Here, here!! And the only thing no slop 8 ball did was make the game easier for the better players.
 
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I played some 9 ball with my friend the other night because I thought it might be more competitive for him. And when I explained the rules he couldn't belive it! "you mean I can just smash the balls and if something goes I can go again" We ended up playing a race to 30 and I won 30-18. I did leave a few hangers for him, and he sloped in 5 or 6 nine balls and 1 on the break. But over time... in long races the better player will win, luck goes both ways.:)
 
IMO, there is no justification for slop in any game played by adults.

I don't want to win that way, and I surely don't want to lose that way. :angry: Slop ruins the game either way.

Since I won't convince anyone to change the 9 ball rules, I boycott 9 ball and play 10 ball instead. Or, I "negotiate" calling ball and pocket in 9 ball.
 
sjm said:
There is only one thing worse than slop nine ball, and that's called shot nine ball. May it continue to rest in peace.
Click to expand...

And the only thing worse than called shot nine ball, is when you have to call your shot on ONLY the nine ball :rolleyes:
 
Pushout said:
Here, here!! And the only thing no slop 8 ball did was make the game easier for the better players.
Click to expand...

That's not true. I know a lot of folks who used to play slop that decided to get a strategy and more skill, when the slop stopped. (Sounds like a Dr. Seuss book.) If you were to compare the players who had a real game 20 years ago to the players who have a game now, you'd find out things have changed in a very extreme way!

Taking the slop out of 8 ball gave the better players more competition.
 
At the higher levels of play, and by higher I mean still within the amateur spectrum, if a player slops three balls in a match that usually pretty shocking.

Luck in 9 ball isn't derived fluking balls, it's from missing and accidentally leaving your opponent nothing. Or a player missing on the 6 or 7 balls and leaving a 3 or 4 ball out.

(going back to snooker and 14.1)
 
It's really a bummer when you play a nice safe, the object ball slops in and you leave yourself hooked :angry:
 
JesPiddlin said:
That's not true. I know a lot of folks who used to play slop that decided to get a strategy and more skill, when the slop stopped. (Sounds like a Dr. Seuss book.) If you were to compare the players who had a real game 20 years ago to the players who have a game now, you'd find out things have changed in a very extreme way!

Taking the slop out of 8 ball gave the better players more competition.
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Afraid I would have to disagree here. The people that I know that favored the no slop rules in the beginning couldn't run 3 balls if their lives depended on. The game has changed somewhat over the years, but it's still not a game I care to play and haven't {with the exception of when I moved to SC, I played more 8 ball in a year than I did in 25 years in NY} and have once again vowed not to play it at all. I don't see where it improved anyone's game, though it's possible. It's still a cheap game, no matter how you play it.
I guess I need to clarify a bit: where I played in the NE, the good players almost never, I'll say it again, almost never played 8 ball, and still don't. It may be different where you are but not where I was. The only people who played 8 ball were kids and raw beginners. Once people saw you could play Straight Pool a bit they wouldn't come near you for an 8 ball game. 8 ball was strictly a bar game and the players didn't play in the bars all that much, there was no future in it. 3 x 6 tables with a big cue ball and people who didn't know the rules of the games they played. Several guys almost got beat up more than once playing in bars because they could play. Again, the players just did not play 8 ball. Straight Pool, 9 Ball, One Pocket, Snooker, and a little Three Cushion.
 
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asmith74 said:
It's really a bummer when you play a nice safe, the object ball slops in and you leave yourself hooked :angry:
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This reminds me of that awesome shot by Efren Rayes, remember?

He played a great safety, but a ball fell and he left himself a 2-rail zig-zag kick to a ball frozen on the cushion. (Of course, Mr. Rayes made his 2-rail shot....)
 
Shaft said:
This reminds me of that awesome shot by Efren Rayes, remember?

He played a great safety, but a ball fell and he left himself a 2-rail zig-zag kick to a ball frozen on the cushion. (Of course, Mr. Rayes made his 2-rail shot....)
Click to expand...


Yeah, I think I remember checking that out on youtube. Of course he's pulled off so much amazing stuff I could be thinking of something else. Sounds like i'm youtube searching :D
 
Speaking of Efren, be careful what you wish for in regards to slop rules. Call shot 9-ball would eliminate some of the most interesting and creative shots from the game, such as the one discussed in this thread:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=50689

This shot could not have been played under call shot rules, since you have to pick only one ball to call.
 
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