why do you prefer the game you do?

CueJunkiee

CueJunkiee

Shoot with the Best TOOLS
Silver Member
i play 8 ball... i think i like the strategy of it all-like chess... you choose your move and run out.. i think 9 ball is kinda blah-oh yeah, after you sink the one-then the two is next... <no offense to anyone please, i play it sometimes too>
but as i sit in my poolroom and watch, i see alot of guys playing 9 ball, a few 8 ball, not too many playing straight pool, one pocket or whatever..

so what do you play and why?
so if this is an old note-forgive me... i'm curious...
 
14.1

it requires the most thought, imo, because of the choices it provides. many people see the game as simply pocketing whatever you want. i think it's a game of planning, a puzzle waiting to be unlocked.

because of its many choices, 14.1 becomes a game of self discovery. you have to understand yourself and impose your will on the table,,,so that ultimately all the success and failure is yours and yours alone.

it is also a game that allows you to easily track your progress. it requires total focus and stamina. one day, long ago, i made it a point to play this A player, who i played often, as tough as i could. i trained on every shot, and evaluating all it's consuequences. at game's end i lost by only 14 points, my best effort ever, and i was TOTALLY exhausted from the effort.
 
CueJunkiee said:
i play 8 ball... i think i like the strategy of it all-like chess... you choose your move and run out.. i think 9 ball is kinda blah-oh yeah, after you sink the one-then the two is next... <no offense to anyone please, i play it sometimes too>
but as i sit in my poolroom and watch, i see alot of guys playing 9 ball, a few 8 ball, not too many playing straight pool, one pocket or whatever..

so what do you play and why?
so if this is an old note-forgive me... i'm curious...
Click to expand...

Eight Ball is my #1 favorite game and always has been. It has the best mix of strategy and shot making.

Nine Ball is my favorite practice game. It requires great shot making and lengthy position play as well as break outs if you plan to break and run.

One Pocket is alright. I've played it alot but I prefer runout games.

I just started playing 14.1 the other day for the very first time. I am addicted to it already. It is frustration, though... My high run is 61 :( and rarely get past 45. Can't tell you how many single digit runs I've had in the last three days... Its driving me crazy lol
 
CaptiveBred said:
EMy high run is 61 :( and rarely get past 45. Can't tell you how many single digit runs I've had in the last three days... Its driving me crazy lol
Click to expand...

14.1 is the ultimate "zen game". whereas other games are finite in nature(you break and run a rack of 9, you're satisfied,,,etc etc), you always walk away from a game of 14.1 feeling it should have been done better. it is a game that holds infinite self improvement.
 
14.1

I agree with bruin. 14.1 is the best measure of individual progress. 14.1 is also very abstract and forces you to create solutions. Another helpful feature is that the game forces you to gain very precise position, just being on the right side of the ball is not enough.

My high run is only 43 balls. However, my average is increasing. I expect a breakthrough soon with my high run.

Once you devote serious time to playing 14.1 you will see an immediate improvement in your 8ball and 9ball game.

I wish the IPT would offer a Mosconi record breaking challenge. A million dollars to the one who tops Mosconi's achievement of 526 balls.
 
mnorwood said:
I a

I wish the IPT would offer a Mosconi record breaking challenge. A million dollars to the one who tops Mosconi's achievement of 526 balls.
Click to expand...

that's a great idea!!!!!!!!
 
While I like to play all pool games really, my
favorite two are 9-ball and 1-pocket...but for two
very different reasons: I love 9-ball because I can
get into a nice shooting rythmn easily and really
let my stroke out, also unlike non-rotation games
9-ball forces you often to make something happen,
like your on the 2 ball but the 3 is in a tough
spot, you HAVE to find a way to get on it or at
least get on it in a good spot to play safe, unlike
other games where you play a different shot or just
play safe easily.
I love one-pocket because it has IMO the least
amount of luck of all pool games, and it takes more
knowledge than any other game. Wade Crane once said
in his column that he believed you could spend an
entire lifetime studying one pocket and you'd just
scratch the surface of learning what's possible in
that game. I tend to believe him.

Bobby
 
ok stupid question--- rules on 14.1?? hows it played... everyone i know plays 8 or 9.... few straight pool guys so i really don't know all those rules.... we play 3 ball for a dollar in per round per person after league sometimes and that's just fun ball bangin, so that's all i really know.... but never 14.1
enlighten me...
 
CueJunkiee said:
ok stupid question--- rules on 14.1?? hows it played... everyone i know plays 8 or 9.... few straight pool guys so i really don't know all those rules.... we play 3 ball for a dollar in per round per person after league sometimes and that's just fun ball bangin, so that's all i really know.... but never 14.1
enlighten me...
Click to expand...

So you start out with a rack of 15 balls like 8-ball. All balls are equal in this game, number totally doesn't matter. One person breaks, and then you take turns shooting balls in any order you want (but calling all shots), each ball is worth one point. When there's only one ball left on the table, the other 14 are re-racked (in a triangle shape missing the head ball), and the shooter keeps shooting. The idea is to leave yourself a shot on the last ball so that you can make the ball and go into the pack, spreading them enough to continue your run.

Fouls (failure to hit a ball, failure to hit a rail after contact, or a scratch) is -1 point. If it's a scratch, the incoming shooter shoots from the kitchen, otherwise play the bal where it lies.

It's simple in concept, but the planning involved to be able to run balls leaving yourself a good break shot on the next rack, opening little clusters all the while since there's never a big break shot to spread them, is very very complex. It's a good thinking game, but played at its best it doesn't involve difficult shot-making or position, only precise shot-making and position.

Hope that helps.

-Andrew
 
In 8-ball I like: usually easy shot after the break. Brainwork is somewhat different and I enjoy those tactical battles in which I need to figure out what if I leave this, he might take that shot etc. In 8-ball I don't like that many times you can pound the rack with a perfect break and still get nothing down. Oh how many matches I've lost at hill-hill with a perfect hit but unfortunately dry break. Practising 8-ball is a nightmare, for me it's just a tournament game.

In 9-ball I like the fact that you need to know all the shots, kicks, jumps, banks and many times you're able to pull the rabbit out of the hat by making a ridiculously difficult shot because it was your only option. In many other games like 14.1, you rarely are forced to take a really difficult shot. But, I don't particularly like 9-ball, with short races and no-call 9-ball, it's too much about luck sometimes.

In 14.1 I like the brainwork, the patterns, the safety play, everything. Being of a pedantic nature, I like to leave the cueball perfect for the second break shot or a difficult rack opening combo or whatever. Small motions rule in this game ! My favourite game.

In 1pocket I like the excessive brainwork, but also the fact that I cannot let the brainwork be the major factor in the game, I still need to make those balls and play those banks and kicks. Also, it's refreshing to be able to try those difficult caroms/kisses/multirail banks. Many of the good 1pocket shots are usually almost useless in other games. One of my newest interests and favourites.
 
mnorwood said:
I agree with bruin. 14.1 is the best measure of individual progress. 14.1 is also very abstract and forces you to create solutions. Another helpful feature is that the game forces you to gain very precise position, just being on the right side of the ball is not enough.

My high run is only 43 balls. However, my average is increasing. I expect a breakthrough soon with my high run.

Once you devote serious time to playing 14.1 you will see an immediate improvement in your 8ball and 9ball game.

I wish the IPT would offer a Mosconi record breaking challenge. A million dollars to the one who tops Mosconi's achievement of 526 balls.
Click to expand...

An AMEN to that, it would be great to see a new high run.

Pete
 
Rules for 14.1 (& more...)

CueJunkiee said:
ok stupid question--- rules on 14.1?? hows it played... everyone i know plays 8 or 9.... few straight pool guys so i really don't know all those rules.... we play 3 ball for a dollar in per round per person after league sometimes and that's just fun ball bangin, so that's all i really know.... but never 14.1
enlighten me...
Click to expand...

Not so stupid. Used to be that all poolrooms had a book at the counter with the rules (to settle disputes, resolve questions like what happens in 14.1 when the last OB and the CB are left in the rack, etc.). Some still do, but now you can also get 'em off the net, and print your own.

Try this link:
http://www.bca-pool.com/play/tournaments/rules/rls_gen.shtml
 
Without question I like 14.1 best. Not many people play it around here (D.C. area) and the pool halls aren't set up for it (no bead string counters to keep score). Also it's very hard for me to play a long game of straight pool with music and various sports events blaring all around me. I do play it a lot at home and it has helped my skill level with the ever popular 9 ball and 8 ball. My high run is 46 and I can usually run through the first rack and into the second.
 
14.1 - the ultimate game for me

I have just started playing again after a quarter century hiatus. I am playing in a bar eight ball league which is fun and the strategy is interesting.

However, 14.1 is my favorite game, although few people here play it. I am trying to get a few people intretested in starting a handucap playing group.

It will improve your skill in every other game, I think.
 
pawnmon said:
Without question I like 14.1 best. Not many people play it around here (D.C. area) and the pool halls aren't set up for it (no bead string counters to keep score). Also it's very hard for me to play a long game of straight pool with music and various sports events blaring all around me. I do play it a lot at home and it has helped my skill level with the ever popular 9 ball and 8 ball. My high run is 46 and I can usually run through the first rack and into the second.
Click to expand...

There are several guys that play it at the poolhall I go to, Fast Eddie's in Fairfax, VA. They also have the bead strings above the table lights. No triangle marked on the table for where the rack goes, though.

-Andrew
 
Nine Ball.....

While I enjoy many games, actually ALL games that have to do with pool. I have to say that my favorite is nineball and it's for a very simple reason. The game can be played perfectly.

In one pocket, golf, eightball, 14.1, there are always going to be unforeseen things that can happen, or you can't be expected to run out most of the times you come to the table.

In nineball, aside from some kick shots and jump shots. The game can be played perfectly.

Someone earlier in this thread stated that they liked 14.1 because it allowed for infinite improvement. I like nineball for the opposite reason. It allows for finite improvement. You get to where you can runout or runout leaving EXTREMELY difficult safeties intermixed every time you come to the table and you've reached the pinacle.
 
bruin70 said:
14.1 is the ultimate "zen game". whereas other games are finite in nature(you break and run a rack of 9, you're satisfied,,,etc etc), you always walk away from a game of 14.1 feeling it should have been done better. it is a game that holds infinite self improvement.
Click to expand...

That is a good way to describe it.

i'm new to it, but straight pool has quickly become my favorite game. I like the strategy and faster nature of 8 ball, because it makes it possible to be a team game, but what you describe is one of the many reasons straight pool would rank as my #1 game right now.

I lost a match a couple of weeks ago when I dogged my second to last ball, and my opponent ran out. I was pissed thinking "I should have won. If only..." Then I realized that the only reason *I* had a chance to run out is that he missed a shot he shouldn't have, and I won the ensuing safety battle. When I lose in 8 ball or 9 ball, I can usually find an excuse. But when I lose at straight pool, it's always because I failed to execute a shot properly, or I lost control of my emotions, or I failed to see a combo out of the rack. It's a game that forces you to know and face your shortcomings. Even Mike Zuglan, when Sigel ran 150 and out after the break, said "I need to practice my lag". Every game is a learning experience.

This true even when you win. If I had played better position on so and so shot, I would have extended that run. If I had focused better on that last shot and made it, I wouldn't have let my opponent back in, turning a blow out into a competive game.
 
I've played quite a lot of every game there is on every table (from bumper pool to 6X12 snooker) and I don't want to play anything but 1 pocket, IF I can find an opponent the same speed or a little better than me (this is from a game-enjoyment, recreational viewpoint, not to be confused with gambling issues). One pocket reminds me of tennis - it can be the most rewarding or the most frustrating experience, determined in large part by your opponent. The most enjoyable game I think I ever played was golf on a snooker table. The comaraderie, woofing and raw competition make it a game you can play for hours and never get bored (again, if you're with the right group). I have to disagree with one poster who made the comment that there is less luck in 1 pocket than 14.1 or 9Ball. That might make a good thread for discussion; personally, I think there's less luck in 14.1 but I can see where a case can be made either way. Where are all the 9Ball lovers, or are there any?
 
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