this is why I hate 9 ball

beneath_the_sur said:
while all luck cannot be eliminated
straight pool is my favorite, now only pocket game i can still enjoy

has the least amount of luck

no quick possible way to win,
no unlucky lose ball, or win ball on the break

and its just far more interesting to me than any other pocket game
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It's all I really play if I have a choice. I find 9 ball and 8 ball a little boring, not because I'm stringing together 5 packs every night, but because there's not a lot of thought involved.

Since I started playing straight pool, I actually find 8 ball a little more interesting than 9 ball. Used to be the opposite. These days, 9 ball (and 10 ball) just bores me to tears and the only reason I play it is because other people want to. I still enjoy it, I guess, but it almost feels like a technical exercise. 8 ball and 14.1 is more like puzzle solving.

I don't think much luck factors into 9-ball at a high level. What I hate is when I play someone on a bar table, and they just start slamming balls around. Seems like ever other shot something falls in at random.
 
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john coloccia said:
It's all I really play if I have a choice. I find 9 ball and 8 ball a little boring, not because I'm stringing together 5 packs every night, but because there's not a lot of thought involved.

Since I started playing straight pool, I actually find 8 ball a little more interesting than 9 ball. Used to be the opposite. These days, 9 ball (and 10 ball) just bores me to tears and the only reason I play it is because other people want to. I still enjoy it, I guess, but it almost feels like a technical exercise. 8 ball and 14.1 is more like puzzle solving.

I don't think much luck factors into 9-ball at a high level. What I hate is when I play someone on a bar table, and they just start slamming balls around. Seems like ever other shot something falls in at random.
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I found the highlighted comment interesting.

Maybe that is why you aren't stringing packs together.

Are you saying it is "too simple" that you can't focus enough to string racks or "too technical" for you to handle skill wise? In order to run multiple racks, you have to be able to focus and handle all the technical aspects, as well.

It isn't boring if you can string racks. That is when I have the most fun.

I find 8-ball to be more boring than 9-ball or 10-ball. In 8-ball, there are too many "safety valves", should you screw up on position. In rotation pool, you only have one object ball and if you screw up, you are screwed.
 
HawaiianEye said:
Maybe that is why you aren't stringing packs together.

Are you saying it is "too simple" that you can't focus enough to string racks or "too technical" for you to handle skill wise? In order to run multiple racks, you have to be able to focus and handle all the technical aspects, as well.
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Lots of assumptions here. Like I said, to me it feels more like a technical exercise. Not sure I really need to justify my pool game preference more than that, if that.
 
I like 9 ball but sometimes I want to play a game where I have to earn the W. I have won short races against guys who choke on the 8 or 9 in every rack. When I was a beginner it was nice to win but it doesn't help you to win and pocket a handful of balls.

8 ball, straight pool, 1 hole and banks all require making balls.
 
Watching world 9b and seeing 2 balls going in the corner on almost every break gets old.

I had still enjoy watching b/c they're world class players
 
gxman said:
Watching world 9b and seeing 2 balls going in the corner on almost every break gets old. ...
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Hey, no exaggerating here. For the 6 streamed matches, the average number of balls made on the break was 1.4, and 0.3 of that was the 1-ball in the side. :wink:
 
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