Texas One Shot

Moe Szyslak said:
I don't get it, do you have to sink all the other balls before the 9? As long as I hit the lowest ball first, can I pocket the 9 at any time? Your rules write up is the most confusing thing I've read in a long while.



Terrible idea. Just explain the rules. Saying it's based on 9 ball BUT is confusing. How much of it is based on 9-ball?



Why would you say, "legal shot" without defining what a "legal shot" is? Based on 9 ball rules? Or 9 ball rules with x exceptions? I have no idea if you're supposed to sink all the other balls first or what. "pocketing balls may or may not be to a players advantage" sounds like it doesn't.



This implies that at any time during the game a "legal shot" can be made on the 9. Now what a "legal shot" is I don't know.
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It is based on 9ball in that potting the the 9 wins the game and that the lowest ball on the table be hit first on each shot.

Besides the rack the biggest difference from 9ball is after the lowest ball on the table is struck a ball must touch a rail or be potted unless the 9 ball moves. If the 9 moves the player shoots again even if no rail is touched. and
A player is awarded another shot if the 9ball moves as a result of a legal shot.


Legal shots involves hitting the lowest ball on the table first and a ball contacting a rail or being potted (or) hitting the lowest ball on the table and moving the 9.

Only the 9 ball needs to be made a win. Any other ball potted stays in the pot without penalty or reward. If the 9 ball moves the player shoots again whether a ball is potted or not.

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Moe Szyslak said:
I don't get it, do you have to sink all the other balls before the 9? As long as I hit the lowest ball first, can I pocket the 9 at any time? Your rules write up is the most confusing thing I've read in a long while.



Terrible idea. Just explain the rules. Saying it's based on 9 ball BUT is confusing. How much of it is based on 9-ball?



Why would you say, "legal shot" without defining what a "legal shot" is? Based on 9 ball rules? Or 9 ball rules with x exceptions? I have no idea if you're supposed to sink all the other balls first or what. "pocketing balls may or may not be to a players advantage" sounds like it doesn't.



This implies that at any time during the game a "legal shot" can be made on the 9. Now what a "legal shot" is I don't know.
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Please see reply #21 in this thread.
 
i also think long stories about the rules with in game examples and possible scenarios to be less helpful than a written set of rules

isn’t there a rule expert that you were going to work with? a mister ‘Pops.’
 
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If pocketing balls other than the 9 has no advantage, I don't see why I would bother pocketing balls. If the focus is on "moving the 9", then I would just focus on that. It's free game billiards with more blocking balls. I would just play caroms until some easy combo on the 9 came up.

The problem with 9 ball, to me, is that I can run all the balls and miss the 9 and my opponent gets out of the chair and sinks one ball and that's all that counts. It seems like you've made this worse, if I understand the rules right.

If the last object ball is pocketed and the 9-ball is deemed to have moved a player is golden as they may make multiple shots as long as the 9-ball moves to pocket the 9-bal. If a player pockets the last object ball and fails to move the 9-ball the player's turn is over resulting in the opponent virtually being guarranteed a win.
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So, if I shoot at the 8 ball, pocket it, and miss hitting the 9, I lose my turn, my opponent can now just "move the 9" on each shot, they can keep shooting and missing the 9 ball for eternity until they finally make it? That's a ridiculous mechanic. Now I not only can't miss the shot, I can't miss the shot and I have to hit another ball on top of it or it's a complete sellout and pocketing the 8 ball means nothing at all? Who would be stupid enough to do this? It seems like it's going to be a long drawn out defensive game until somebody just gets a good combo on the 9. Why bother focusing on pocketing the 8 at all when all I have to do is drive it to a rail? I'll do that and move the 9 and keep doing this until I can put the 9 in . 9 ball is about making all the balls and occasionally you can short the game by comboing in the 9. This is only about comboing in the 9 and pocketing balls is a complete waste of time.

I think 9 ball players are the last people that will be interested. 9 ball is about shot making. You've taken that completely out of the game and made it into billiards on a pocket billiards table.
 
Moe Szyslak said:
If pocketing balls other than the 9 has no advantage, I don't see why I would bother pocketing balls. If the focus is on "moving the 9", then I would just focus on that. It's free game billiards with more blocking balls. I would just play caroms until some easy combo on the 9 came up.

The problem with 9 ball, to me, is that I can run all the balls and miss the 9 and my opponent gets out of the chair and sinks one ball and that's all that counts. It seems like you've made this worse, if I understand the rules right.



So, if I shoot at the 8 ball, pocket it, and miss hitting the 9, I lose my turn, my opponent can now just "move the 9" on each shot, they can keep shooting and missing the 9 ball for eternity until they finally make it? That's a ridiculous mechanic. Now I not only can't miss the shot, I can't miss the shot and I have to hit another ball on top of it or it's a complete sellout and pocketing the 8 ball means nothing at all? Who would be stupid enough to do this? It seems like it's going to be a long drawn out defensive game until somebody just gets a good combo on the 9. Why bother focusing on pocketing the 8 at all when all I have to do is drive it to a rail? I'll do that and move the 9 and keep doing this until I can put the 9 in . 9 ball is about making all the balls and occasionally you can short the game by comboing in the 9. This is only about comboing in the 9 and pocketing balls is a complete waste of time.

I think 9 ball players are the last people that will be interested. 9 ball is about shot making. You've taken that completely out of the game and made it into billiards on a pocket billiards table.
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Your spot on! Should the game get down to just the 8 and the 9 if you make the 8 and don't move the 9 you have lost unless your opponent finds a way to scratch. Of course if you make the 8 and touch the 9 you are sitting pretty for the win. That in fact is one of the biggest complaints of those new to the game but over time it becomes exciting because of the extra risk involved when the game gets down to the final balls. It seems as if it should be primarily a bangers problem as a player should of found a way to win much earlier in the game with a carom or a combo.

I really think 1pocket players who thrive on strategy are the players who will get the biggest kick out of the game. This is a thinking man's game. Players who want a reason to make showy shots will enjoy the game. Who does not want a chance to draw the cue back half the table for a win?
 
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The positive thing: the main rule "keep shooting if you move the 9" is a fun and simple mechanism.

But in my opinion the rest of the game needs *something*, because it is kind of broken.

Take the game played at 24:40

The players sometimes succesfully move the 9, but it does not reward them in any way. They are faced again with a tough shot. It's virtually impossible to make a couple shots in a row that help you win the game.

Also safeties are super easy to shoot, because even if you don't leave a snooker the opponent is by default faced with the tough challenge to move the 9 in the first place.

Potting balls doesn't reward the player either, because every next shot is again very difficult.
I would say that the best strategy early in the game is to hammer the cueball as hard as possible without any balls flying off the table. This might sink a ball, and it's quite likely to move the 9. There's no downside because the odds of leaving "an easy 9" are very small.

And when we get to the 8 its a risk to pot the 8, because it's very easy to miss the 9 and instantly lose. Because potting the 9 is childs play.

I do think the main rule is fun and has potential, but the game itself is in my opinion flawed.
 
TwistedTexasStyle said:
(...). It seems as if it should be primarily a bangers problem as a player should of found a way to win much earlier in the game with a carom or a combo.
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For an early winning shot one has to be either super elite or lucky. Moving the 9 is already challenging, controlling the 9 is usually almost impossible. So it's hardly feasable to execute something that has a bit of a plan, in the current ruleset.
 
DaWizard said:
The positive thing: the main rule "keep shooting if you move the 9" is a fun and simple mechanism.

But in my opinion the rest of the game needs *something*, because it is kind of broken.

Take the game played at 24:40

The players sometimes succesfully move the 9, but it does not reward them in any way. They are faced again with a tough shot. It's virtually impossible to make a couple shots in a row that help you win the game.

Also safeties are super easy to shoot, because even if you don't leave a snooker the opponent is by default faced with the tough challenge to move the 9 in the first place.

Potting balls doesn't reward the player either, because every next shot is again very difficult.
I would say that the best strategy early in the game is to hammer the cueball as hard as possible without any balls flying off the table. This might sink a ball, and it's quite likely to move the 9. There's no downside because the odds of leaving "an easy 9" are very small.

And when we get to the 8 its a risk to pot the 8, because it's very easy to miss the 9 and instantly lose. Because potting the 9 is childs play.

I do think the main rule is fun and has potential, but the game itself is in my opinion
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Thank you for your honest review of Texas One Shot. Changing the reward system definitely changes the strategy of the game. Some games can be over in just a few shots while others can work all the way down to the 9. The game can be more challenging than 9ball. There is only one 9, it moves around a lot and it is half the size of the 6 pockets so the 9 can be hard to touch. Having played thousands of games with hundreds of players over the last three years I believe there are some sound approaches to winning. Not shooting to hard is a big help. Some times two soft shots are more effective than one hard shot. It is good to keep the object ball, the 9 and the cue close to each other. Fun is the main driver of the game. It is easy to see what a player is thinking before their shot and cool to compare it to what you would do in the situation. I bet you tried shots you have not hit in years. I hope you play again soon. Thank you for giving the game a chance.

Special thanks mentioning the fun factor!
 
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I don't know how this change to the reward system could apply to other popular games but it works well with 9ball. I think having all the focus on a single ball and a quick win being the goal makes for a fun and unique game. The banger in me likes the hero shot opportunities and the player in me seeks to better learn how to control 3 balls at once.What I like most is having to think out the shot. It is more fun than just shooting balls straight into a pocket,
 
DaWizard said:
The positive thing: the main rule "keep shooting if you move the 9" is a fun and simple mechanism.
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then why not just add this carom continue feature to regular 9-ball for when you want to practice the carom aspect?

there's also cowboy pool which is a good simple game for this same thing. and one pocket of course. i definitely think an aspiring rotation player benefits from playing games with carom aspects. the taiwanese play the game 235
 
skogstokig said:
then why not just add this carom continue feature to regular 9-ball for when you want to practice the carom aspect?

there's also cowboy pool which is a good simple game for this same thing. and one pocket of course. i definitely think an aspiring rotation player benefits from playing games with carom aspects. the taiwanese play the game 235
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I did not know either game and there are similarities indeed. Adding the carom to continue might make 9-ball too easy?

Next time Ill try to shoot a video with us playing 9-Carom™.
 
DaWizard said:
I did not know either game and there are similarities indeed. Adding the carom to continue might make 9-ball too easy?

Next time Ill try to shoot a video with us playing 9-Carom™.
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it makes it easy but it would be a way to continue without playing safe, while still practicing the billiard aspect. here's cowboy:

Cowboy pool - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
 
I don't know how this change to the reward system could apply to other popular games but it works well with 9ball. I think having all the focus on a single ball and a quick win being the goal makes for a fun and unique game. The banger in me likes the hero shot opportunities and the player in me seeks to better learn how to control 3 balls at once.What I like most is having to think out the shot. It is more fun than just shooting balls straight into a pocket,
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I would just ditch the whole 9 ball angle and put the cue, 1 and 9 on the table and make it free game billiards on a pocket table. It's just harder than normal because the pockets basically block some shots that you could make on a billiards table. I guess the trade off is you can win on sinking one ball.

The people in the youtube video are making the mistake of still kind of playing 9 ball, but with this other mechanic added. It hasn't hit them yet. I think most people after playing a game or two are going to realize that pocketing balls is a complete waste of time, and counterproductive. That's the banger strategy. The game is focused completely on the 9, so the best strategy is to just focus on trying to set up an easy combo on it. Since you can pocket a ball or just knock it to a rail, it's better to focus on getting to the 9 since pocketing a ball means nothing anyway.

Like you said
It seems as if it should be primarily a bangers problem as a player should of found a way to win much earlier in the game with a carom or a combo.
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That's the whole game. The other 8 balls are completely superfluous. Anybody that bothers pocketing balls hasn't grasped how the game works.
 
Moe Szyslak said:
I would just ditch the whole 9 ball angle and put the cue, 1 and 9 on the table and make it free game billiards on a pocket table. It's just harder than normal because the pockets basically block some shots that you could make on a billiards table. I guess the trade off is you can win on sinking one ball.

The people in the youtube video are making the mistake of still kind of playing 9 ball, but with this other mechanic added. It hasn't hit them yet. I think most people after playing a game or two are going to realize that pocketing balls is a complete waste of time, and counterproductive. That's the banger strategy. The game is focused completely on the 9, so the best strategy is to just focus on trying to set up an easy combo on it. Since you can pocket a ball or just knock it to a rail, it's better to focus on getting to the 9 since pocketing a ball means nothing anyway.

Like you said

That's the whole game. The other 8 balls are completely superfluous. Anybody that bothers pocketing balls hasn't grasped how the game works.
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You get it. The object balls are just there to use and abuse. Hide behind them , carom off them, just use them to them to get what you want. They are in the way, a distraction. Making a ball can help, for example, if you make the 1 in a manner that snookers your opponent on the 2 leading to a ball in hand. Most of the time making a ball just opens up the table a little more to your opponents advantage. It is a strategy game.
 
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