What I believe is the most pure form of pool

Kentucky Rack Man

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Agreed that 15 ball banks is a very pure game as the ball color does not matter. I love bank pool and have played with people that were so picky that on long rail banks the object ball could not touch the rail and had to be clean as he said. During this covid crap I have invented my own competition of full rack bank ghost. Break and take ball in hand and shoot til you miss. Spot balls made on break. Anyone that can post a score of 75 to 100 balls I will not mess with. Lol. my high is 10 balls in a rack of 15 although that was lucky
 

Z-Nole

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Agreed that 15 ball banks is a very pure game as the ball color does not matter. I love bank pool and have played with people that were so picky that on long rail banks the object ball could not touch the rail and had to be clean as he said. During this covid crap I have invented my own competition of full rack bank ghost. Break and take ball in hand and shoot til you miss. Spot balls made on break. Anyone that can post a score of 75 to 100 balls I will not mess with. Lol. my high is 10 balls in a rack of 15 although that was lucky
Do you mean take ball in hand after every shot, or just after the break? If it’s just after the break I’m not messing with you let alone someone who can consecutively run 75-100 balls! Damn.
 

chitownnorth

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Do you mean take ball in hand after every shot, or just after the break? If it’s just after the break I’m not messing with you let alone someone who can consecutively run 75-100 balls! Damn.
Yeah, I'm a little confused by his post as well. I'm thinking the most he ever ran in a rack was 10 in a row, but I don't know what he means 75 to 100. No one has ever banked that many in a row to my knowledge. I think it's 20 something by Ed Taylor.
 

Z-Nole

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yeah, I'm a little confused by his post as well. I'm thinking the most he ever ran in a rack was 10 in a row, but I don't know what he means 75 to 100. No one has ever banked that many in a row to my knowledge. I think it's 20 something by Ed Taylor.
I banked five and out in a game of one pocket, but I’m sure if there were another 60-70 still on the table I would’ve run them.
 

Kentucky Rack Man

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Sorry for confusion as I am old and dumb and from Kentucky. I meant to also add you have 10 attempts or 10 innings or whatever is the proper way to say. Keep track of all balls made in the 10 attempts and at the end of the 10 attempts you add all balls together to get to total balls made.
 

azhousepro

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Agreed, what I am referring to DaveK is that in bank there are no combo's either. In snooker it is not so rare to play a combo with the red or cherry balls (in the stack), in banks there are no kisses or combination shots - period. The only scoring ball or bank - has to be clean, this DOES separate bank pool from any other Pocket billiard discipline. I am not saying snooker or any other discipline is 'a lesser game' than that of bank, I am stating a fact that in bank - all banks must go completely clean. This does make it one of the purest - if not the most pure form of pocket Billiards, even in 3 cushion billiards it is legal to get a kiss and still fluke in the billiard, bank pool not so - the bank must be pocketed clean and again there are no combo banks allowed. Also alpha jack ass is wrong in that the rack is even a slight factor in full rack bank - it is not - in comparison to other games i.e One Pocket (rack a huge factor) 14.1(factor only once), nine ball (huge factor). Bank Pool is the most pure discipline of all Pocket Billiard games imho, this is just my opinion if anyone chooses to disagree with me - that is fine - those who disagree would not want to try there luck with me in bank pool - they would be a huge underdog - also they would feel uh less alpha after the beating was over.
Danny, while we appreciate your uncensored opinions here on the site, can you rein in the attacks against other users.

There is no question that you are highly qualified in the subjects that you post about here, you are still over the line sometimes in this and other threads.

Thanks for understanding.

Mike
 

jviss

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Danny, while we appreciate your uncensored opinions here on the site, can you rein in the attacks against other users.

There is no question that you are highly qualified in the subjects that you post about here, you are still over the line sometimes in this and other threads.

Thanks for understanding.

Mike
That is the nicest moderator "ding" I have ever read. Well done!
 

jviss

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Snooker is too limited as a billiards game. No rail shots. Playable shots drop to unacceptable percentages if they're slightly off angle or involve too much distance. The finer points of play are in short, remedial. I think the only reason it's popular is the empire, and because it is an empire, can easily feed the aristocratic vibe to the populace.
That's funny, I completely disagree with you! I understand it may be personal preference, but I think a couple the things you say are not factually so. Yes, there are rail shots: see Barry Stark tutorial on rail shots in snooker. For "playable shots," most high level players seem to prefer off-angle, as it allows for more options for cue ball control; straight-in shots simply do not. And, I've seen many, many successful shots at even 60°. I've seen many times a player breaking a safety duel by potting a ball from the baulk line.

It's a fascinating game, and great for spectators. I mean,do you ever watch it? They have overnight lines of folk waiting to buy tickets for the worlds a year in advance! They sell out. Purses are in the millions. And, they players are, for the most part, good sportsman and gentlemen.

Snooker far outstrips any other billiard sport worldwide in prize money, spectators, and TV time. So, yea, too limited as a billiards game, a big failure. :)

Snooker’s 2020 Betfred World Championship achieved record viewing figures.

"The semi-final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby on the evening of Friday August 14th was broadcast on BBC Four and peaked at 2.27 million viewers with an average audience of 1.7 million, the highest ever recorded for the channel.

Earlier in the same day, a 2.98 million peak audience watched the other amazing semi-final between Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill on BBC Two, the highest achieved during the 17 day event."


On the other hand, I've seen the TOP pool players in the world playing to an audience of a couple of dozen for $10k or so, with nobodies playing on adjacent tables, and many at the venue not even paying attention, chatting and eating and drinking.
 

alphadog

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Danny, while we appreciate your uncensored opinions here on the site, can you rein in the attacks against other users.

There is no question that you are highly qualified in the subjects that you post about here, you are still over the line sometimes in this and other threads.

Thanks for understanding.

Mike
Mike this is a valiant effort but about the only thing DH has got correct in this whole thread is...I am a jackass😉
 

Dan Harriman

One of the best in 14.1
Silver Member
Also that bank is the purest form of pocket billiards - got that right too. Ok Mike, ya they make themselves look silly enough when debating or questioning top players - that speaks volumes for people like alphadogger.
 

Dan Harriman

One of the best in 14.1
Silver Member
Yeah, I'm a little confused by his post as well. I'm thinking the most he ever ran in a rack was 10 in a row, but I don't know what he means 75 to 100. No one has ever banked that many in a row to my knowledge. I think it's 20 something by Ed Taylor.
The record from 'The Knoxville Bear' equals 37 banks - with out a miss.
 

straightline

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That's funny, I completely disagree with you! I understand it may be personal preference, but I think a couple the things you say are not factually so. Yes, there are rail shots: see Barry Stark tutorial on rail shots in snooker. For "playable shots," most high level players seem to prefer off-angle, as it allows for more options for cue ball control; straight-in shots simply do not. And, I've seen many, many successful shots at even 60°. I've seen many times a player breaking a safety duel by potting a ball from the baulk line.

I didn't say anything with too much distance or an angle was passed. The point is, the smart money is on the kind of dull play being presented.

On the other hand, I've seen the TOP pool players in the world playing to an audience of a couple of dozen for $10k or so, with nobodies playing on adjacent tables, and many at the venue not even paying attention, chatting and eating and drinking.

This is poolroom etiquette. Nobodies especially, know to stay out of the action's way.
 

jviss

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This is poolroom etiquette. Nobodies especially, know to stay out of the action's way.
My point is that even top players playing pool often doesn't get much of an audience; no on cares, in relative terms, compared to snooker. No one is camping out overnight a year before a match to buy tickets to watch pool players in the U.S., as they do for snooker in the U.K. Pool has never had millions watching on TV in China as there were for when O'Sullivan played Ding in the 2021 snooker Masters.

I guess "dull" is in the eye of the beholder. I am bored with pool matches that are basically breaking contests, and games that require goofy rules changes to make the 'contests' - as with nine ball: nine on the spot, break box, four balls pocketed or past the head string, etc. Snooker has a complex rule set, that's so, but in its basic form it's a great contest, of difficult potting and safety battles.

I think there are many reasons for the huge, global appeal of snooker. One is certainly gambling. Gambling is legal in the U.K., and bookmakers are often (usually?) sponsors of tournaments, since tobacco companies were barred from advertising. While gambling is illegal in China, it is still wildly popular, and integral to many aspects of Asian culture and family life. Another aspect of snooker that I think is a factor in its global appeal is that the game is essentially the same everywhere you go. There's only one game: snooker! Pool, on the other hand, has innumerable games played on the same equipment: eight, nine, ten ball, 14.1, bank, one-hole, etcetera, etcetera. And, there is a single equipment standard, unlike pool's variable pocket specifications, from 'tournament cut' to 'buckets,' and the almost separate 'branches' of pool that are represented by 'standard' 9' tables and bar boxes. Pool is splintered. While people play snooker on tables smaller than 12', and with six or ten reds instead of fifteen, it is basically a scaled-down version of the same game.

Yes, there's English pool, blackball, etc., but those compare to U.S. pool games, while snooker stands alone and the most globally popular, most watch, and best financed billiard game.
 

Z-Nole

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Also that bank is the purest form of pocket billiards - got that right too. Ok Mike, ya they make themselves look silly enough when debating or questioning top players - that speaks volumes for people like alphadogger.
See, that wasn’t hard. That’s the kind of passive aggressiveness we can all appreciate.
 

straightline

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My point is that even top players playing pool often doesn't get much of an audience; no on cares, in relative terms, compared to snooker. No one is camping out overnight a year before a match to buy tickets to watch pool players in the U.S., as they do for snooker in the U.K. Pool has never had millions watching on TV in China as there were for when O'Sullivan played Ding in the 2021 snooker Masters.

You picked up my reply to this:

In my opinion the only truly marketable "pool" game is Snooker. It is so vastly above all other forms of pool style games for viewing and especially TV. It is super easy to follow on TV and simple to understand and blends elements of so many games into a cohesive hole better than others. I

What is your point? Anyway part of the appeal of snooker might be it's bigness. Kind of a metaphor for football and other big field team sports. It's still boring. I like the marksmanship challenge of the big table but to play/perform on I prefer 9" and smaller tables with tight pockets where ALL the pool is available in a very challenging form.
 

jviss

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You picked up my reply to this:
Nah, I think you are confused. I only replied to posts from you where you quoted me. But no matter. I think snooker is "the" world billiard game, and there is plenty of evidence to support that. Boring? Hardly.
 

straightline

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nah, I think you are confused. I only replied to posts from you where you quoted me. But no matter. I think snooker is "the" world billiard game, and there is plenty of evidence to support that. Boring? Hardly.
Check post #90.
 
Top