winners' break injudicious

  • Thread starter Thread starter Siarozha
  • Start date Start date
Gremlin said:
Craig,

If the break in 9-Ball is not luck what is it? The only time the 9-Ball is made on the break is when it is knocked in by another ball on the table. I have never seen an on the snap 9 go into the pocket without help form another ball in the rack.
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hmm..i've seen several breaks where the 9 went straight in..slowly but without help from any other ball..well..except the cue ball ofcourse on the break itself..

i wouldn't say breaking is all luck though..there are plenty of times were its the opposite...a scratch or a bad leave where you have to push-out...Just look at the recent game with Yang vs. Strickland..Yang undoubtly has the mose devastating break in the game, yet he scratched at the most critical moment leaving Strickland to win.
 
Ruthless said:
And the reason that the WPBA is on TV has nothing to do with not running racks! The reason they are on TV is because they go get the sponsors and the men believe the sponsors should chase them. Also the women tend to have better attitudes about not finishing first. They can accept a second place finish, where men just bitch about how they lost. That is the bottom line on that.
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Absolutely. Attitude has a lot to do with it.
Originally posted by pro-player
The losing player suddenly starts playing amazing, and runs 7 racks to win the match. That is great pool.
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I had the pleasure of watching Ewa Mataya Laurance do just that. It was at a 9-ball tournament in Tokyo a couple years ago, and she was several racks down. She got what looked like her last shot before being beaten, and she suddenly opened up and ran all the racks she needed to win -- but scratched on the final 9. Alison Fisher, Karen Corr, and Vivian Villarreal were there too and playing awesome pool, but Ewa's comeback was the match of the day.

I disagree about the break being completely luck. There's some luck there, but good players know how to break to increase their chances of sinking something. If it were completely luck, people like Shannon Daulton and Johnny Archer wouldn't have spent so much time developing it. In Playing off the Rail, Tony Annigoni has someone (was it Bucktooth?) helping him with his break, and it was obvious that they considered it a critical shot.
 
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Loser breaks sucks; if I win a game I want to keep my momentum going. The problems arise when you have a corner ball that's dead on the break or the table is too easy. The Sands tourney in Reno years back had buckets and many of the matches were blowouts when someone like Earl would break and run six racks and out. Put very tight pockets on the tables and it's amazing how much harder it is to run off racks- try playing on a double shimmed table and you'll see what I mean. Alternating break is for one-pocket, not nine ball. I do like the idea of switching to ten-ball though. The Sardo rack and big pockets makes watching the ladies on TV almost unbearable- any ball hit softly drips in even if it touched the rail two diamonds away. A friend analyzed a number of Accu-Stat tapes and said that contrary to common belief, the breaker actually lost more than he won when a corner ball wasn't dead. I've heard some of the filipino's will give up the break when gambling sometimes without too much argument.
 
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Ruthless said:
From the tour directors side: If you have 96 players and 10 tables then winner breaks is the only time compatable aternative to finish a tournament in 2 days.
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How many hours each day of play would this 2 day tournament require?
 
Re: Thanks to aeveryone

Siarozha said:
There is also a forum where you can correspond with Russian billiards fans.
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Has anyone seen Evgeny Stalev? Haven't heard his name on the tournament trail lately.

ManlyShot
 
Re: Re: Thanks to aeveryone

manlyshot said:
Has anyone seen Evgeny Stalev? Haven't heard his name on the tournament trail lately.

ManlyShot
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I suppose he will practice pyramid now to go to the European Championship in the Ukraine in about two months. After that we do not have any big events until April-May. So he may start playing pool again.
 
Re: Re: Re: Thanks to aeveryone

Siarozha said:
I suppose he will practice pyramid now to go to the European Championship in the Ukraine in about two months. After that we do not have any big events until April-May. So he may start playing pool again.
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He will be missed at the U.S. Open. Talk about a power break, this Russian kid's break is awesome. Last time I saw Santos break in PA, he was side by side with Evgeny, watching and imitating the Russian's break, even with the one leg flip up in the air with knee landing on corner pocket. What a break!

ManlyShot
 
it's all been said before but.....

alternate breaks makes EVERY game important. losing on your break would be tantamount to losing your serve in tennis.

i don't think it would "even things up" for the lesser player. it evens things up for the lesser BREAKER. still,,,, the same top players end up on top.

in fact, i think the break evens it up for the lesser player if he has a powerful break. the break also allows a lesser player to run a few racks if he's on. and pool is the only game where a player might never get a chance to come to the table. i hate this part of the game. in alternate breaks, each player gets a chance to break, and this lessens the impact of luck and streaks.

in the end i want to see the best because they are the best, and not because some middle-of-the-pack pro caught a streak. the game is just too easy for the pros as it is, so why make it so easier(winner's break) for a lesser player.
 
I disagree about the break shot being just a lucky shot. If you have been watching Karen Corr on TV when she's breaking when the Sardo Rack is used, you can always count on the 1 ball either going into the side pocket or awfully close. She puts the same ball in the lower left corner all the time too. If you were betting on the ball going into the corner, you'd win money. I'm pretty sure Vegas would back the action on the ball going into the corner. I think this may signal the beginning of the end of the Sardo Rack. Sorry Sardo.

My second point is, if breaking is not luck, then there is an advantage for one of the players to have the ability to break even after he/she loses.

I love to watch two good one pocket players play one pocket. However, not everyone does, even other pool players. Therefore, in order to entice the viewing public to watch this game, some things have to be changed. I would love to see this game get the recognition it sorely deserves so I don't mind seeing things change to increase the number of viewers. After all, we can always watch a good game played the way we like it played in a pool hall somewhere right?
 
so then say karen or any a+(it could happen)were to play strickland, she wins the toss, and proceeds to break and run 7 in a race to 9 that she eventually wins. a bad break by earl, or something quirky. there may be excitement in that " wow, this gal is running racks on earl and he might lose". i don't care for it, however deserved the underdog win.


underdog wins are great in other sports, because competitors are set as equals with an equal chance "at the plate". earl never REALLY gets a chance. imo, this is a flaw in pool. to watch a match and never see your fave get the chance.
 
I agree with you Bruin. It is exciting to see a player run 13 racks in a row like Johnny Archer evidently did against Busta, but that wasn't in a tournament and it wasn't televised. Other pool players can appreciate that run but I'll bet Busta's backers were not very appreciative of it.

If we want this sport to become popularized on TV, the game is going to have to be adapted so a fan base can be established and those fans can be entertained so they will continue to be fans. Who knows, maybe the game will be changed for the betterment of pool? It could happen!
 
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