What's your favorite game and why?

Gregg

Gregg

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My favorite game to shoot against good local players seems to be 8 ball.

I love the level of strategy that comes with breaking out clusters, when to play safe, when to attempt your run out, and a great cat and mouse safety battle between two very good players.

Anybody else?
 
A duffer's view

9-ball

The game itself improves your other games, plus where I've played the better players prefer it, which means I also improve my game by playing better players....plus, it's fun, requires precise shooting and confidence because if you screw up you can be done, and get more satisfaction from running a rack than in 8-ball.

honorable mention: 1-pocket because I get to hang with geezers.
 
I have a few

My three favorite games are Straight Pool, Straight Pool, and Straight Pool, in THAT order! LOL!:rolleyes:

I also enjoy a good game of Chicago, (partners 1 & 5 is always fun), if you have four players of equal skill playing.;)

Oh, did I mention Straight Pool?:D
 
come on over to ga, clarkesville ,sticks billiards, and i will help you play one pocket, go dogs!!!!! STICK
 
I love 1-pocket but rarely get the chance to play it other than by/against myself. 9-ball comes in second, then 14.1 (isn't that the same as straight pool? not sure), then 8-ball. 8-ball is too boring now that I've discovered 1 pocket.
 
Gregg said:
My favorite game to shoot against good local players seems to be 8 ball.

I love the level of strategy that comes with breaking out clusters, when to play safe, when to attempt your run out, and a great cat and mouse safety battle between two very good players.

Anybody else?
Click to expand...

One Pocket...

Its the Thinking Mans game...one pocket can be slowed down to a pace I am comfortable with. The best player doesnt always win at one pocket..unless your playing Efren, which gives me hope!!!
 
Voodoo Daddy said:
One Pocket...

Its the Thinking Mans game...one pocket can be slowed down to a pace I am comfortable with. The best player doesnt always win at one pocket..unless your playing Efren, which gives me hope!!!
Click to expand...
Amen. One Pocket.
 
My three favorites are One Pocket, Straight Pool (14.1), and Rotation -in that order. :) I love strategy and thinking games.
 
I play and enjoy all games except 8 ball. I think it is a good starter game, but nothing that should be played on a professional level. When a person who has played for a month can break and run out a rack.....there is something not challenging enough about that game..but that is just my personal opinion. To each their own. And league.........I will never understand pool as a team sport, but it has been a lucrative business for many, so that is great.

9 ball. There is nothing more exciting, challenging, and rewarding to play at a high level. 9 ball will always be my first love in pool.

Now...I saw someone write about the benefits of playing various games and I'll give my two cents.

8 ball: "OK" entry level game. Teaches you some basic shotmaking and cue ball positioning. Yes, there is SOME defense (when the players have no ability to run out and have to resort to that), but once you learn to run out and make a ball...well...I'll quit spewing with my hatred for 8 ball..LOL. You 8 ball lovers, just disregard me. I have 8 ball issues..LOL.

9 Ball: Helps you develop a powerful stroke, improving your draw and follow capabilities as well as learning a good amount of cue ball position, and confident shot making. This game really teaches you confidence in your pool abilities which helps in all games.

Straight Pool: BEST game for learning the cue ball and how it moves, and how to manipulate it around the table, go into other balls, carom, seeing dead balls, learning to read stacks, and learning how the object balls react off of each other. GREAT STUFF! This is the game I would tell a person who has never played to start with..not 8 ball.

One Pocket: This game teaches you to make straight in shots under pressure of selling out. A GREAT skillset. This game also teaches you to become much more precise in short and long rail banks while also controlling the rock. Not so easy....This game teaches you the rails and how they work (two, three, four rail shots)......and teaches you kicks. Really a game of immense focus where cue ball control is PARAMOUNT.

Ok..sorry for rambling!
 
Favorite practice game: Straight followed by 9-ball
Favorite 1-on-1 game: 1P followed by Straight
Favorite 1-on-many game: 9-ball Ring

Nothing beats a good ring game. I end up playing lots of 9-ball because its hard to find eager 1P players...forget about finding straight pool players...in my area. I find 8-ball boring.
 
Being a Kentucky boy I love One Pocket and Banks.

One Pocket is my favorite game. I am in the opinion that this is one of if not the toughest of the major pocket billiards games. It combines many aspects of pool into one fascinating game. The game requires a high level of strategy and thinking. It reminds me of chess on a pool table. I love doing battle against a good one pocket player.

One pocket is a game that requires a ton of thought and a ton of skill to play.

My favorite one pocket story: Buddy Hall versuses Me in our pool room playing one pocket. We start out at 12-7 and I play great but he gets the best of it but not by much. I stay a game or two ahead for several hours. Next day we start out at 13-7...then 14-7....then 14-6....(not to toot my own horn, but I play pretty sporty but he just beat my brains out) it was the best ass kicking I have ever taken. I learned more about pool in those two days than I learned my whole life. During the 15-6 game...I broke...buddy escapes.....I play a good saftey...Buddy makes a ball after my safty and runs 14 and out. I folded up shop.
 
I have to agree with the other posters about one pocket. I don't get to play much right now but it seems as though I mostly play one pocket when I do play. I also really enjoy playing 9-ball, 14.1, and banks. I suck at all of them but I like to play them all the same.
 
I like to play snooker the most. The long shots and precision pocketing help all aspects of the other games I play. One pocket is second due to its mental challenge and strategy.
 
Down in these parts...

...the leagues usually are for 8-ball or 9-ball. You've gotta get out of the bars and go to a serious pool room to find a good game of 14.1 or one pocket. This being said AND the fact that I mostly play 8 or 9-ball, I would have to choose 9-ball as my favorite. I like the fact that you have to get shape on the next "required" ball or else you're pretty much screwed (hence, the safety comes into play). In 8-ball, you can screw up your intended shape and still get a decent shot on one of your other balls on the table (hence, this is where a little luck comes into play).

I also want to say that I think the game of 7-ball is about the biggest joke of a game ever invented (at least for players with any kind of decent skill level). Just my opinion, not wanting to start an argument.

Maniac
 
Nine Ball & Straights!

Straights is best for practice, and I'll be a nine ball player 'til I just can't see the balls well anymore! I think the common factor in both games is the way you can get in stroke and just run out, run out, run out. I think, for that reason, that both games demand such concentration because against good players the potential penalty for mistakes is just so high! In straights and nine ball a match is just never over 'til its over!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top