Straight pool scoring question.......

[dafatman]

We've begun running a "floating" Straight Pool league in our room and we have a couple of guys who played it a lot in NJ and NY that are saying that we aren't keeping score right in the first inning. Here's the scenario...

Player A has legally pocketed 4 balls and Player B has pocketed 5 balls. Player A scratches... remember it's only in the first inning, we're used to marking up a bead on the wire at the very end of the string signifying that the player owes a point at the end of the first inning. The "Yanks" say that they have always played that you remove a point from player A giving him a score of 3 and spot a ball on the foot spot or foot string. They say that this only happens in the first inning.
The rule book says that only illegally pocketed balls are spotted and that fouls are scored as deductions from the previous inning. So which way is right or is this another one of pool's lack of cohesive rules? It doesn't seem right to spot a legally pocketed ball up for the opponent to now score with a spread out table.
Anybody out there tonight for a quick answer from the Northern States?

 

[Tom In Cincy]

Mark all balls made legally for each opponent, subtract any fouls at the end of the rack.

Total balls made should equal 14 (there is an exception, if the 15th ball is made while pocketing the 14th ball.)

If the ball count after the first rack is 8-6 player A having 8 and a foul, the foul is subtracted from the total count leaving the score 7-6 Player A.

 

[cueball1950]

We've begun running a "floating" Straight Pool league in our room and we have a couple of guys who played it a lot in NJ and NY that are saying that we aren't keeping score right in the first inning. Here's the scenario...

Player A has legally pocketed 4 balls and Player B has pocketed 5 balls. Player A scratches... remember it's only in the first inning, we're used to marking up a bead on the wire at the very end of the string signifying that the player owes a point at the end of the first inning. The "Yanks" say that they have always played that you remove a point from player A giving him a score of 3 and spot a ball on the foot spot or foot string. They say that this only happens in the first inning.
The rule book says that only illegally pocketed balls are spotted and that fouls are scored as deductions from the previous inning. So which way is right or is this another one of pool's lack of cohesive rules? It doesn't seem right to spot a legally pocketed ball up for the opponent to now score with a spread out table.
Anybody out there tonight for a quick answer from the Northern States?

Very simple.. if player a runs 5 balls and scratches on the 6th ball. If the 6th ball is pocketed then it is respotted and you can either push a bead like you said or if there are counters on the end rail, on 1 side you mark up 5 balls and on the opposite side you mark it 99 and so on down the line depending on how many scratches. if he scratches again you would mark it as 98. Either way, you are doing it the right way in my opinion. and i have been playing 14.1 for about 40 years and this has always been done this way. Hope this helps with your problem. nd by the way, i live in upstate NY near Albany. As a matter of fact i will put this question to our resident 14.1 player Mike Zuglan and let you know his answer.......................mike

 

[bruin70]

the only time a ball gets respotted is when it is pocketed illegally(wrongly called), or when the cb scratches on the shot when balls are pocketed, in which case all said pocketed balls are respotted. any balls made on the same shot that a called ball is pocketed stays down and is counted.

if the "yanks" are saying that a ball is respotted simply to compensate for a loss of point on ANY scratch made later on, they are wrong. i think they are making this mistake because they are assuming the general rule of thumb(that the rack score must always add up to 14). this is not so in the first rack.

you are right, and how you mark any scratch in the first inning is up to you. i would just remember the scratches and subtract them from the first inning score.

 

[sjm]

Do not spot the ball in this situation. Only balls pocketed illegally or balls that fall on any shot in which a scratch occurs are spotted. If you score by inning, using either paper, the dials on the table, or beads, adjust the running score (not to be confused with the current rack score) at the end of the inning. After the first rack, or at the end of any rack in which a player with a running score less than zero, adjust the running score at the end of the rack in updating that player's score.

 

[greenkill]

If using the counters on a pool table, I always use the two left for player A, the two right for player B. The outer counters are the scores for the current inning. So left outer + right outer + # of balls on the table will always equal 15. The inner counters count total score. If a foul is made, the inner counter is subtracted. Using this method preserves keeping total score and accurate inning scoring.

Using beads, I just keep everything a total score, and subtract if fouled.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... Player A scratches... remember it's only in the first inning, we're used to marking up a bead on the wire at the very end of the string signifying that the player owes a point at the end of the first inning. ...

We usually do it the same way you do, but to be perfectly consistent, you should treat the first rack as if each player started with 50 (a full string of beads) and count scratches accordingly. So, if a player made five legally and then fouled, the apparent score would be 49 plus one bead "loose" at 50 and beads 1-4 "loose" on the low end.

Another way to do it for the first rack is to put coins on the cushion to remember the fouls.

When using score wheels, the "sum" scorewheel would go to 99 for a foul in the first rack.

Your visitors are wrong, but it would not be polite to tell them that too loudly.