straight pool on 7 foot table

trob

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
23 years of playing pool and I never bothered to play straights on a small table. I just kind of assumed the small table would make the game to easy. Last night for the hell of it I decided to play a few racks..well that turned into playing for like 2 hours. It's not easy! Sure when the balls are open no problem....but getting them open is the tough part. It's one big cluster and even when you do break up a cluster of balls they go right back together. Definitly tests your knowledge of breaking up clusters.
 
I play a lot of 14.1 on a 7' table as it's the only table I have. I think it's a little easier for a good 14.1 player that has played a lot of 8, 9, and 10-ball on a 7' table. But it's not that much easier because of the reasons you gave above. I enjoy playing 14.1 on 7' as much as I do a 9'. Johnnyt
 
Schmidt has run in the 180's twice on a Diamond pro-cut 7 footer. Both runs were done at trade shows in the OB booth, both were done with a demo cue.

At first he thought it was easier than a nine foot table but now he is not so sure. He says some aspects are easier and others are harder.
 
easier

I believe that it is much easier on a 7 foot diamond.

Maybe that means that I am better at cueball and patterns than I am at shotmaking. If you never missed a ball, the 9 foot would be easier. Maybe that's why it is a wash for JS.
 
I'm far from a John Schmidt but if he said some things are easier and some harder on a 7' table I agreen and he would know. I have to play many more combo's, banks, and dead-ball banks on the 7' than on a 9'. If anything you need more QB control in your short game because of all the balls being very close together. Before people say a 7' is much easier to run racks on than a 9' I ask them to please try it first....don't take a guess or say it is because you don't like 7' tables or you can't play well on them. Johnnyt
 
I have been wanting to try this on a seven footer

I have been wanting to try 9.1 straight pool on a seven foot table. With only ten balls maximum on the table the traffic is easier to deal with, on the other hand the break shot comes up a lot more often.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
I have been wanting to try 9.1 straight pool on a seven foot table. With only ten balls maximum on the table the traffic is easier to deal with, on the other hand the break shot comes up a lot more often.

Hu
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9.1 on a bar box is a damned interesting idea. Might just have to try that sometime.
 
ShootingArts said:
I have been wanting to try 9.1 straight pool on a seven foot table. With only ten balls maximum on the table the traffic is easier to deal with, on the other hand the break shot comes up a lot more often.

Hu
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Hu, you might have something there. I'm going to have to try it. I never heard of it before.

For sure pocketing the break ball will easier, but like JS said I'm sure there will be a trade off on some things.

Can you imagine the APA introducing this into their format? A new dimension for the sandbaggers.
 
ShootingArts said:
I have been wanting to try 9.1 straight pool on a seven foot table. With only ten balls maximum on the table the traffic is easier to deal with, on the other hand the break shot comes up a lot more often.

Hu
Click to expand...

I used to practice this a lot.... generally when all of the 9 foots were busy. I found that it helped my bar box speed more than anything else. It also made me hunt up end patterns a lot sooner and work them cleaner then when I play on a nine foot. Glad you said something; I stopped playing it for some reason and kind of forgot about it. Thank you.
 
I would be interestd to know among the players on AZ that have played 14.1 and 9.1 on a 7' table which game they can run more balls on? I will let you know this evening how I do:grin:. I played 9.1 on a big table a dozen or so times back in the 1960's, but can't remember why. It might have been to speed the game up for gambling. Johnnyt
 
The only 9 foot tables I get to play on our the gold crowns at the local club with tight pockets and thats what I feel is the main difference. Once the balls are open the run out is simple on a 7ft. When you play on the gold crowns there are no such guarantees. You can hit a ball all but perfect and it won't drop on those tables.
 
I went out and played 9.1 on my 7' BB for 55 minutes just now. Although the humidity was in the 90's and I hadn't cleaned the balls yet. I think as of now I feel I can run more in 9.1 than 14.1 on a BB. (so many more break shots might become the stopper though)

I noticed on my break shots that I could get a good spread of ALL 9 balls and control them better with the right speed. I kept them all down table from a little above the side-pockets. Later with clean balls and the humidity below 60 I'll see how many I can run.

This would probably be a good game on 7', 8', and 9' tables. It might even get more players interested in 14.1…and that would be a good thing.

Looking forward for members on here to try it and give feedback. If it is indeed easier it could get people that don't often play straight pool to try it with 10 balls and then at some point jump up to 14.1. Johnnyt

PS: Thanks Hu for reminding me of this game.
 
I've never tried 14.1 on a 7' table, but I have tried it on an 8' table and it's much, much easier than the 9' table I usually play on. I'll have to give it a try. I guess it always matters how big the pockets are and how they are cut.

I will say that I am positive that making the break ball will be easier on the 7' table in general.
 
the difficulty playing 14.1 on a tiny table is that when you break the main cluster, you can be easily snookered because of the condensed playing surface. it might be better to just bust a few loose from the rack on your break shots. or "putter" the rack, -as jim rempe calls it-, to avoid this problem.
 
sausage said:
the difficulty playing 14.1 on a tiny table is that when you break the main cluster, you can be easily snookered because of the condensed playing surface. it might be better to just bust a few loose from the rack on your break shots. or "putter" the rack, -as jim rempe calls it-, to avoid this problem.
Click to expand...

We're talking playing 9.1 on a 7' in this thread, not 14.1 on a 7'. The 9 balls move away much better on a 7' than a 9' on the break shot. Johnnyt
 
9.1 racking warning

Myk said:
9.1 on a bar box is a damned interesting idea. Might just have to try that sometime.
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It actually is a very fun and interesting game. Just one word of caution to the uninitiated / those-prone-to-habits-from-9ball: when racking the 9 balls, rack them as a triangular 10-ball rack with the headball missing, not as a diamond 9-ball rack. :p :D

I had a fellow do this (rack the remaining 9 balls in a diamond after leaving himself a break shot with that 10th ball), and I about fell out of my chair laughing. :D

-Sean
 
sfleinen said:
It actually is a very fun and interesting game. Just one word of caution to the uninitiated / those-prone-to-habits-from-9ball: when racking the 9 balls, rack them as a triangular 10-ball rack with the headball missing, not as a diamond 9-ball rack. :p :D

I had a fellow do this (rack the remaining 9 balls in a diamond after leaving himself a break shot with that 10th ball), and I about fell out of my chair laughing. :D

-Sean
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I did that on one rack this morning before my mowi whowi coffee kick in. :embarrassed2:. Johnnyt
 
an accidental hijack

Johnnyt said:
We're talking playing 9.1 on a 7' in this thread, not 14.1 on a 7'. The 9 balls move away much better on a 7' than a 9' on the break shot. Johnnyt
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Johnny,

Actually I accidentally hijacked TRob's thread when I mentioned 9.1. It is great to see the level of interest though because the people in this thread seem to be instantly thinking the same things I was when I considered 9.1. It speeds up the game while I think the greater number of break balls makes it more challenging when played on the big tables. A big benefit is that it makes straight pool practical on seven footers. Once people are playing straight pool then they may well move to 14.1. I have long wanted to have a few 9.1 tournaments and see how people like it, on any size table.

One consideration for room owners with coin tables: You could have some tables for 9.1 or ten ball only. With less balls on the table the games would go faster and the table could be set up a quarter cheaper and the owner still make as much or more money.

I did laugh about racking the remaining balls in a nine ball rack. I briefly considered 8.1 played with a missing head ball nine ball rack. That would be a vicious little rack to try to break!

I'd like to see straight pool take off again. 9.1 might do it. The people playing on seven footers might play 9.1 and I think that 9.1 would be more acceptable for TV than 14.1.

Hu
 
The first time I saw this (9.1) was on "George Fel's Principles of Straight Pool Position Play"

I find it really helps my cue ball controll and end patterns.

The problem I see with this game is most barboxes where I live are coin-op tables. That gets expensive, in a hurry.

Andy
 
just played a little 9.1 on my 7 footer. Honestly I can see plus's and minus's. The plus is the balls break up a little easier. But it feels a little to easy. When you take a way the 5 balls you take a way all the extra clusters and to me that's the difficult part of playing 14.1 on a bar box.
 
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