Three Ball

doitforthegame

doitforthegame

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So the old timers (like me) at my men's club have discovered three ball. Six, eight even ten guys play. The pots get rather large (at least for a bunch of old barstards) when it gets to the 3rd or 4th round. So anyway, I had never played this game before and my break shot absolutely was terrible. I think only one game a ball went in on my break. So, is there any secret to the break?
 
Don't crush it. Hit it medium to medium hard with a touch of draw, about half a diamond from the center line, dead into the front ball.
 
doitforthegame said:
So the old timers (like me) at my men's club have discovered three ball. Six, eight even ten guys play. The pots get rather large (at least for a bunch of old barstards) when it gets to the 3rd or 4th round. So anyway, I had never played this game before and my break shot absolutely was terrible. I think only one game a ball went in on my break. So, is there any secret to the break?
Click to expand...

It depends on the rules they play by for the break. If you can break from anywhere behind the line you can hit one of the second balls causing it to bank into one the corner pockets either one rail or two. It will go in like 1 out of 2 breaks and if you get a shot you can do it in 3 shots. If you have to break from the spot not a lot you can do other then try to luck in a ball. Although you can always soft break and guarantee you doing it in 4 shots. Also, do they spot a ball when you miss? In other words if you don't make a ball on the break you now have 4 balls on the table.
 
West Point has it about right the way I remember it. I used to break pretty well in the game similar to that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
 
Sounds intriguing.. The sort of thing 5 people could do with a rack of balls to decide how the next round is to be paid for.

Is there a set of rules anywhere please?
 
I learned the game last year, at our club.

We had a great time. Gotta see if we can get another game going there soon...
 
I haven't played in years, but I seem to remember a break where you can make the 4 railer dead?
One of the corner balls goes to the foot rail, then side rail, head rail, opposite side, and in the hole.
Sort of like what happens in 10 ball frequently. Is this possible in 3 ball?
 
One way to have a good chance to make a ball on the break is make sure the balls are tight and straight. CB in center behind line. Med-hard speed with a touch of draw...enough to bring CB to center of table. Really a fun game. Johnnyt
 
I think it is the best spectator/gambling game of all time. It's fast and loose, exciting with multi-shots made, etc and it is over quickly for each player, so he and his fans can go pee, etc.

It gets folks into it because a timid player can quit mid-game, and if he does, it gives an advantage to those left in the game as his monies are still in it but he's not. A guy can do money management when playing and not go home broke yet still give it a go. Kinda like playing the lottery...just a dollar but a chance to win a lot.

Plus any number of Persons can play so it's great for large parties, etc. It is learned in an instant, anyone can try it out and get lucky. It can be charted to include multiple rounds or just one round at a time or the progressive betting done or however you want to do it. It is also a nice for practicing your break.

I've never seen the rules in the bca rulebook.

Jeff Livingston
 
West Point and Mac Guy-- I'll try those. One of the guys was sinking (or just missing) the two back balls in the side pockets. I couldn't figure out what he was doing. I thought I did but it never worked out that way.

It was the great equalizer though. The two guys that were winning the most were, shall we say very colorful. One guy was so full of color he was doing that WC Fields bit with the cue stick but not on purpose.

Bob
 
Used to play a lot on the barbox. One guy would break soft with top.7/8 ball hit.he would make all 3 on the break at least 20%. low % but always got the cash!
Nobody could replicate his break.Hell yes we all tried!
Lots of fun.
 
It's fun to do when everyone gets a little tired of the other stuff. When we play, which is very seldom, we usually kick in a buck a game.
I believe the Palace (now closed), in Tulsa, used to have a Thursday night Three-Ball game with $1500 going to anyone who made three balls on the break. :)
 
Yep

West Point 1987 said:
Don't crush it. Hit it medium to medium hard with a touch of draw, about half a diamond from the center line, dead into the front ball.
Click to expand...
I start about 4" from the center line. Accuracy is more important than power. As West said, I hit it just low enough that the cue ball comes back to the middle of the table. The back two balls will bank around 3 rails and sometimes go into a side pocket. Sometimes one goes in the side and the other in the corner. Back when we played on a bar table with the oversize cue ball, this break would also send the head ball to the foot corner. On a few occasions I made all 3.

I often use 3 ball to practice my break.
 
This is a great after-league gambling game, and a great way for the whole team to warm up in the 30mins before league.

Justadub brought it up in a thread within the last year, or so. You might want to look there for some break tips.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=285726

There's also my story of being in a 5 or 7 man game that rolled over a few times, only to roll over again after TWO guys got ACEs in the same series!
 
Last edited:
gregcantrall said:
I start about 4" from the center line. Accuracy is more important than power. As West said, I hit it just low enough that the cue ball comes back to the middle of the table. The back two balls will bank around 3 rails and sometimes go into a side pocket. Sometimes one goes in the side and the other in the corner. Back when we played on a bar table with the oversize cue ball, this break would also send the head ball to the foot corner. On a few occasions I made all 3.

I often use 3 ball to practice my break.
Click to expand...

Precisely so!
 
alphadog said:
Used to play a lot on the barbox. One guy would break soft with top.7/8 ball hit.he would make all 3 on the break at least 20%. low % but always got the cash!
Nobody could replicate his break.Hell yes we all tried!
Lots of fun.
Click to expand...

I find that break story hard to believe.

I watched and/or shot at least 10,000 breaks in my time and I've never seen all three go on the break. Never.

I hear these stories all the time and no one can show me even one 3 balls made break.

Not saying he can't do it, but I'd like to see it myself.

Jeff Livingston
 
GeoEnvi said:
This is a great after-league gambling game, (snip)!
Click to expand...

Just last winter we played the other teams' guys after we killed them in league.

As we caught one of them shooting twice in the same round, we quit it but not before I almost whacked the guy with a cue. My captain stopped me in time. My front tire was flat when I finally got to the parking lot.:angry:


Just great...NOT.

Like any gambling, who you do it with is as important as how much they're carrying.:groucho:

Jeff Livingston
 
Its a fun game, like you said people can quit mid way if they run out of cash. I've seen some really good players have three or four bangers join the game and it's easy money for the better players...

Fun, approachable, and reading this makes me want to start up a game tomorrow!
Definitely rack your own!!!

The rules are each player gets four shots total (including the break) and a foul is a loss. Each round is X amount of money to play and it continues until someone can run out.

Please correct this if i'm wrong!
 
chefjeff said:
I find that break story hard to believe.

I watched and/or shot at least 10,000 breaks in my time and I've never seen all three go on the break. Never.

I hear these stories all the time and no one can show me even one 3 balls made break.

Not saying he can't do it, but I'd like to see it myself.

Jeff Livingston
Click to expand...

I made all three twice in a week about 10 years ago.
 
chefjeff said:
I find that break story hard to believe.

I watched and/or shot at least 10,000 breaks in my time and I've never seen all three go on the break. Never.

I hear these stories all the time and no one can show me even one 3 balls made break.

Not saying he can't do it, but I'd like to see it myself.

Jeff Livingston
Click to expand...

If your monet was in the game,like mine,no,you didn't want to see it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top