Why no called shots in 9 ball or 10 ball?

bagofpaper

bagofpaper

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Why are the rules this way?

So players have the option of trying to get lucky on kick shots? I think (perhaps naively) you should have to pick a pocket. That gives you a 1 in 6 chance even if you guess randomly..

Just curious over here. I'm sure there's some historical reason.
 
Why not call the reds in snooker, too? Because games in which multiple purpose offense and defense can be played simultaneously make for very interesting viewing, and eliminating these frequently occuring, fascinating, tactical shots from the game just to protect the players from occasional flukes is too big a price to pay. Call shot nine ball is much less interesting to watch than Texas Express.
 
What shots would you play differently or not play at all if you had to call the shot as opposed to not calling? If you kick with no hope of a safety, I can see how it's exciting as a spectator to see if the ball goes in some hole. But, that situation is rare and usually you are kicking the ball toward a specific pocket. i.e. you call that pocket.

All I am saying is without calling shots how many times do you see someone slop something random in with position on the next ball? This kind of thing can easily change the outcome of a match. Seems kind of ridiculous to choose the game for a sport which requires precision and brains to reward lucked in balls.

This is my long way of saying you didn't answer my question! :D
 
Call pocket for every shot, can have too many negative aspects on the game. But call pocket for the 9 ball only (excluding breaks of course), would be a welcome addition to the game.
 
I guess I'm not understanding what the difference in the game play would be. I would speculate that the game wouldn't look much different except no sloppin' in the balls. (I am a bit slow at this hour though!)
 
bagofpaper said:
What shots would you play differently or not play at all if you had to call the shot as opposed to not calling? If you kick with no hope of a safety, I can see how it's exciting as a spectator to see if the ball goes in some hole. But, that situation is rare and usually you are kicking the ball toward a specific pocket. i.e. you call that pocket.

All I am saying is without calling shots how many times do you see someone slop something random in with position on the next ball? This kind of thing can easily change the outcome of a match. Seems kind of ridiculous to choose the game for a sport which requires precision and brains to reward lucked in balls.

This is my long way of saying you didn't answer my question! :D
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Spend a full year in a pool room 6-7 days a week for atleast 6 hours and you'll be able to answere this question. you need a bit more experience and not so much reading and information to grow as a player, aint knocking you just giving you solid advice, get out there and play dont look for the answeres here, believe me i wouldnt waste my time here if my health permited me to play daily.
 
Fatboy said:
Spend a full year in a pool room 6-7 days a week for atleast 6 hours and you'll be able to answere this question. you need a bit more experience and not so much reading and information to grow as a player, aint knocking you just giving you solid advice, get out there and play dont look for the answeres here, believe me i wouldnt waste my time here if my health permited me to play daily.
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What the hell kind of response is that?! Even if I had the time to spend 6 hours a day in a pool room 6-7 days a week for a full year (I wish I had the time believe me), I still wouldn't get an answer to this question seeing as nobody plays the game with called shots. I figured it would a bit more efficient to ask people who do have enough time.. or did.

What you think that I want or expect to become a better player by asking this kind of question on an internet forum.. please you are insulting me with that crap.

Kinda funny though.. I half expected a response like this to a simple question. I'm not knocking you Fatboy and I'm not really offended.. But.. since you can't get out to the pool hall 6 hours a day everyday maybe you have time on your hands to give me an answer that addresses my original question.
 
What difference does it make either way? There are other "rolls" that occur other than just an occasional fluke. The game is the same for everyone.

I find that the only players that want balls to be called are those that feel that they are usually the victim and they NEVER luck a ball, or those that are considered the better players in their respective areas and feel that the lessor tournament players should have to call the money ball.

I say just play, have fun and try to win. The rolls are the rolls. They go both ways.

Gene
 
I see what youre getting at with your question.......
My best answert is that 9 ball was made/ grew to be to be a quick game mainly for gambles..... it wasnt meant to be a "skill" game like 14.1 or 1p.... the slop shots add to the gamble/luck factor....
 
It would certainly kill the game for TV as it would bump the safety factor- the time to finish a game would greatly increase, and it would become boring to watch.
 
I'll explain to you exactly why call-shot doesn't work in 9ball and 10ball. It's because it makes it extremely unfair to the player who gets hooked after a missed shot.

Think about it. Player 'A' misses a shot, and player 'B' is hooked. Player 'B' kicks at the shot and lucks it in, but it doesn't count. It makes the game WAY too rewarding for missing and hooking your opponent on accident. If you are going to implement call-shot, then you need to implement calling safeties to make it fair. The problem with doing that, is that when it's call-safeties, it totally eliminates two-way shots.
 
A few 9-ball tournaments around here have gone to calling all shots. The purpose, obviously, is to prevent lesser players from beating better players by slopping in the 9-ball. IMO, this diminishes the game - there are few feats as satisfying as sh_tting in the 9-ball! It's a much bigger rush than that caused by running a rack! :)
 
bagofpaper, i think you have a very good point! i think all shots should be called in 9ball, including safeties. why? because it will eliminate the weaker player winning on a fortunate roll instead of skill. i even think it would be more excitement in the game. why? because , think about it. if efren would have called his famous two railed shot, people would've though to themselves, "no way his going to make that shot". and if he still makes it, it would be even more amazing because he called it. i think all safeties, kicks, banks, and any other kind of shot should be called in 9 ball. this would even prompt the weaker player to practice and become more efficient at their game, which would make for better competition in the sport. no argument here, this is just my opinion.
 
I am no authority on various rules, but it seems to me that all games punish misses.

The games that can be won or lost on a single ball, such as 8-Ball or 9-Ball, don't have called shots and do not punish flukes (excepting the 8 in 8-Ball).

Games that are won or lost according to scores for potting balls, such as snooker and straight pool, punish flukes (snooker allows multiple reds to be pocketed on a shot on a red, but penalizes colours).
 
Alex Pagulayan was asked this exact question today at the tournament- he said he likes it the way it is and wouldn't want to take away the "luck factor" as it makes the game much more enjoyable to play.
 
flukes

I usually stay out of these arguments, but this one I can't stay away from. Why even play the game if your going to give the better player every advantage. You already give him an open after the break in eight ball. You give them the three foul rule so their run and hide defence can win. You give them long races so they can catch up after their crappy play gets them behind. You take away the eight ball on the break ( was actually in the eight ball rules for years) so no one can accidently catch them in the race or loose to a player that gets a break going his way. Now you want them to call all the balls in nine ball. Personally I think it adds to the spice of the game. That is why the best player in the house doesn't allways win. He can't have everything his way. Nine ball is what it is. They have screwed up pool enough with rules. Let people play and as terrable as it may seem maybe an underdog will win once in a while. Let the AA that should be playing pro go off in the corner and whine to his buddys that the guy got a lucky break. Well maybe you should have shot better in the early stages. Butterflycues
 
acedotcom said:
A few 9-ball tournaments around here have gone to calling all shots. The purpose, obviously, is to prevent lesser players from beating better players by slopping in the 9-ball. IMO, this diminishes the game - there are few feats as satisfying as sh_tting in the 9-ball! It's a much bigger rush than that caused by running a rack! :)
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No doubt about it, but the rush is really only complete when there is some skill involved in potting the 9. Just slamming the 9 ball and hoping it goes doesn't really compare, IMHO, with lining it up to goose it and have it go down more or less as you'd planned.

I've seen some spectacular caroms into the 9 ball which potted. When pulled off correctly, it can demoralize the other guy, who may start wondering, "Is this guy a hustler?"
 
So lucky shots only happen and are counted in 9 ball, huh?

Ever play one pocket??

Flex
 
I have an Accu-Stats tape from Grady Mathews' Back Pocket 9-ball tournament from a few years back. In it shots and safeties had to be called. If you missed a called shot and your opponent was hooked, you could be told to shoot again. I thought the rules were fantastic and they took nothing away from the game or made it any less interesting.
 
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