US Open 8-Ball
- Thread starter nb92
- Start date
Format --
Magic Rack / Rack you own
Open after the break / Alternate Break
Ball in hand anywhere on all fouls
9 ft tables / Race to 8
Very Exciting? or Boring beyond belief?
Thoughts?
I like it. It's a run out clinic mostly but the run outs are very educational.
Exciting maybe not the right word, but I enjoy watching it.
It's about being completely smart, cautious, and consistent rather than one guy
just owninating with packages until his opponent slips into a coma.
Every single game counts, you absolutely must get out on your break.
It's almost like playing the ghost on steroids -
like if you miss a ball,you automatically lose 2 racks.
So you better not miss more than once or twice a set.
The break becomes triple important, dry breaking is also like loss of 2 games.
The guys who have worked on it and practiced and studied...
they do it intelligently, make the 2nd row balls, and as long as they don't scratch
they should be out.
The guys who haven't figured out the break yet (like Earl) get punished for it.
I'll admit, just being 8-ball can make some racks a little dull. After a good break,
I can kind of lightly skim the layout and immediately see "ok, even a B player is out here."
Like with one of Shane's breaks vs. Corey, I didn't feel any need to watch.
The rack was basically won as soon as the break settled.
But bad breaks with clusters are pretty fun to watch.
It's about being completely smart, cautious, and consistent rather than one guy
just owninating with packages until his opponent slips into a coma.
Every single game counts, you absolutely must get out on your break.
It's almost like playing the ghost on steroids -
like if you miss a ball,you automatically lose 2 racks.
So you better not miss more than once or twice a set.
The break becomes triple important, dry breaking is also like loss of 2 games.
The guys who have worked on it and practiced and studied...
they do it intelligently, make the 2nd row balls, and as long as they don't scratch
they should be out.
The guys who haven't figured out the break yet (like Earl) get punished for it.
I'll admit, just being 8-ball can make some racks a little dull. After a good break,
I can kind of lightly skim the layout and immediately see "ok, even a B player is out here."
Like with one of Shane's breaks vs. Corey, I didn't feel any need to watch.
The rack was basically won as soon as the break settled.
But bad breaks with clusters are pretty fun to watch.
I don't follow any of these events, so I'm embarrassed to ask, is there a US Open 8 ball or are you asking a rhetorical question?
I'd watch this before 9 ball or 10 ball even though straight pool and 1 pkt are my first choices.
If this is a real event, is it on the internet, and when?
I'd consider this more exciting than 9 or 10 ball, which to me are boring.
Edit...... except for that magic rack, I don't have the patience for that. Why can't they place the magic rack on the table, then put a regular rack over it, throw the balls in and remove the regular rack? Seems easier than placing the balls one at a time.
Like those tapped tables, as ridiculous as that is, if they must do it, they can still throw the balls in a regular rack over the dents in the table instead rolling two or three balls up there at a time like regular racks weren't invented yet, no?
I'd watch this before 9 ball or 10 ball even though straight pool and 1 pkt are my first choices.
If this is a real event, is it on the internet, and when?
I'd consider this more exciting than 9 or 10 ball, which to me are boring.
Edit...... except for that magic rack, I don't have the patience for that. Why can't they place the magic rack on the table, then put a regular rack over it, throw the balls in and remove the regular rack? Seems easier than placing the balls one at a time.
Like those tapped tables, as ridiculous as that is, if they must do it, they can still throw the balls in a regular rack over the dents in the table instead rolling two or three balls up there at a time like regular racks weren't invented yet, no?
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Yes it is a real event. It's going on now. Started the 23rd. Going to the 27th I believe. Could be wrong about that. TAR has the stream. It's not free. Not sure how much the rest of the event is all together. I bought an earlier package.
I get your issue with the magic rack. They don't leave it on the table, I'm guessing so it doesn't interfere with a shot. However somehow its not suppose to mess with the balls when you break. I haven't really figured out this logic quite yet, but I'm sure someone more simple minded will come out and say it doesn't.
I believe the tables have new felt and new balls. Should be too tough to get a good rack. However I'm guessing their a sponsor or something.
Normally 9 ball and 10 ball racking times are not too long. It does seem like there's more trouble trying to rack 8 ball though. I'm not too sure what the trouble is since I haven't used an 8 ball rack before.
I do t get the new ball colors though. The blue felt was great with the old colors because the 6 didn't blend in so much. Now we got a 7 ball that's nearly the color of the cloth. Just a bit lighter. I could deal with the neon green but that baby blue needs to go.
Sorry, I should have also mentioned they're playing 8 ball race to 8. During the semis and finals you must win by 2.... Kind of. There is a cap on games. I believe the finals are a race to 12 and the cap is 15. So you have to win by 2 or get to 15 first, even if its by 1.
Someone correct those numbers if they're wrong please. I think it's 12 and 15, but might be off a game or 2.
Someone correct those numbers if they're wrong please. I think it's 12 and 15, but might be off a game or 2.
Thanks, I may watch some of that.
I wasn't suggesting leaving the template on the table, just speeding up the racking by placing a regular rack over it when they rack so they don't have to put the balls in place one at a time. After the break, just pick up the magic rack as usual.
I guess I'm just not patient enough,
I wasn't suggesting leaving the template on the table, just speeding up the racking by placing a regular rack over it when they rack so they don't have to put the balls in place one at a time. After the break, just pick up the magic rack as usual.
I guess I'm just not patient enough,
Exciting.
I love all rotation games but the strategy in 8 ball is very intriguing
I love all rotation games but the strategy in 8 ball is very intriguing
Thanks, I may watch some of that.
I wasn't suggesting leaving the template on the table, just speeding up the racking by placing a regular rack over it when they rack so they don't have to put the balls in place one at a time. After the break, just pick up the magic rack as usual.
I guess I'm just not patient enough,
Okay, got ya. I don't think that Useing another rack like that would really help. It takes a bit of effort to get the first 3 balls in the right position on the magic rack. You kind of need to be able to see the bottom of the balls to make sure they fall in place. I'm sure there's some kind of contraption someone will come up with to combine those 2 types of rack, but I think you would need one to work it that way. Maybe not though.
Try it sometime if you happen to use magic racks... one of the guys in my regular group suggested it,
we thought he was crazy. But you can just roll the whole group up past the spots, then slowly pull back
until the balls drop into their slots. The instant that happens, just lift it, and on new equipment you're done.
Top three balls and all the rest freeze up perfectly.
Older equipment you may have to massage 'em.
On the other hand, players still have to alternate balls which is kinda dumb, so it looks like
placing balls 1 by 1 is gonna happen anyway.
For being a "magic" rack, they sure do seem to have to spend an awful lot of time getting the balls tight when racking. If it is going to be rack your own, just use a regular damn rack.
They'll never do that. The magic rack is only leaving like one tiny gap but they will argue forever
over that one gap. If you had a regular rack, you'd get like a half dozen gaps, and then
they'd be fighting over the racks until our hair turned gray.
I still think it's better and faster but I will say this, if you get a defective magic rack that wants to
hold the corner ball a few millimeters off the rack, it's almost impossible to shove that corner ball
back into place. No balls behind it to push it in close.
Shane was having trouble getting the corner ball to stick and corey inspected and used his option
to demand a rerack because that corner ball was not touching. Shane was sort of flipping his hand like
"who cares" but corey was insistent "no. It matters." I don't think it was cuz corey's anal either.
I think he knows those corner balls can go in 8b, and maybe felt the gap would help shane.
I love the Magic Rack for 9 and 10 ball, but being the owner of one I would say in my opinion it's not the best for 8 ball or other full rack games. Maybe it wouldn't be bad if you're playing on perfect equipment, but otherwise racking the full rack is some what difficult and time consuming. Also, more balls have a tendency to be on top of the MR after a break which is a pain. One other quibble...I don't understand why it is BiH anywhere on the table after a scratch on the break. The WSR state that the cueball is in the kitchen after a scratch on the break unless it has been changed recently. I know with pros a scratch on the break is more or less and automatic loss regardless, but bih anywhere just seems excessive. Overall though I love that they are playing 8 ball. Whether it's defensive or a runout fest it's one of my favorite games to play and watch. Also, the stream is great as always when it's a TAR production.
He went to play in the World Games.
The 8 ball stream has been very enjoyable.
I really enjoyed the stream last night. Yes there were tons of runouts but they definitely weren't all cosmos. I was absolutely blown away by some of them. Ko made one that I would have given anybody only a 4 or 5 percent chance to get out. Also it's kind of an interesting dynamic. They know there is so much pressure to run out everything is heightened. There were times where a safe might have been beneficial but there was no way they were taking the chance of giving up the table. I'd like to see more 8 ball played especially on tough equipment. The stream table was playing a bit easy last night due to newer cloth and the lighting.