You'd be surprised....

Scott Long

Scott Long

United States Air Force
How many people walk up to my friend and I when we go play and ask us what the hell we are playing. "Why are you racking when there is still a ball on the table?"

No one pays much attention to you when you shoot 8 or 9 ball (except when I dropped the 9 three times in a row and made a loud comment about taking on anyone in the joint".

But once they see you play a few racks of 14.1 the questions come. Is it that much of a lost art? I never see anyone else playing when we go out to the bars and pool halls.

Personally I like the game better than 8 or 9, and have been known to play for 8 hours straight until the count is way up into triple digits.
 
Scott Long said:
Personally I like the game better than 8 or 9, and have been known to play for 8 hours straight until the count is way up into triple digits.
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I'm like that too. It feels like I can go on forever with this game, as long as I'm not sitting in the chair watching an opponent run balls. When I practice by myself, it's like meditation and time disappears.

And I've gotten those questions too on occasion. They want to know what it is, but they don't seem interested enough to want to learn it.
 
Once I start telling them all the rules I get "that's too complicated".

I guess if you told them it was like 9 ball with 15 balls, you re-rack w/ one left, but you don't have to sink them in numerical order, have to call your shots, have to call safety, ah hell it's confusing if you don't actually play and learn it. :grin-square:
 
The hall I play at is in a collage town. When two of us are playing well we usually get some looks. I enjoy exposing people to the game; even if it is just watching. But, as you said, usually it is to difficult for people to want to learn.

The down side, is that on occasion you will have the idiot walk by and roll you the 15th ball while you are racking. We have gotten quick enough to watch for "him" now but it took me at least twice having it happen to wisen up.

Every once in a great while though you will have the college kid who takes the time to sit down and watch and even though he may never play it is nice to know that he is aware of more games than 9 ball and 8 ball.

On a side note, my favorite is when you are in a good one pocket match and have 6 or 7 balls uptable. Then you really get some odd looks from the uneducated.
 
I've had this happen on quite a few occasions from when a friend of mine and myself used to shoot ALOT of straight pool at the local pool hall.

Usually it would be people of different ages wondering what game it is we're playing, because of the fact that we're shooting any ball and leaving the last one standing and reracking, and of course, once I would explain it to them, they would wind up being a bit more curious and watching how the game is played and suprisingly, there were a handful of players who had started playing the game, although in saying that, they would all refuse to play me at straight pool because they had seen often my friend being given the chair on a regular basis :) lol

It's always a good feeling to be able to pass on a little knowledge to other players, whether it be showing them a new game or it taking the time to show them how to play a certain shot, etc, it's very much worth while because it helps others to enjoy the great time honoured sport that we all know and love :)

Willie
 
Scott Long said:
Once I start telling them all the rules I get "that's too complicated".

I guess if you told them it was like 9 ball with 15 balls, you re-rack w/ one left, but you don't have to sink them in numerical order, have to call your shots, have to call safety, ah hell it's confusing if you don't actually play and learn it. :grin-square:
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haha

I've always explained it... Any ball on the table, they could be all red, all yellow, all purple... doesn't matter, hit it in. Every ball that drops, you get a point. You keep going until you miss... then whichever player gets to 150 or whatever number first... they win.

If they ask about fouls and such I answer accordingly... but what I try not to do is when they ask "what game is that?" and then over load them with a ton of information.

That's like walking in on the superbowl and asking "who's up? who's winning?" and then the response is finding out all the rules of football. Somewhere in the mix is that Denver is winning by 7.
 
Yeah, we always get asked "What game is that?" We give them the basic idea of the game "Any ball in any pocket" and they immediately say "Oh, that should be pretty easy." HAHAHAHAHA!!!
MULLY
 
I ask if they've seen The Hustler or Baltimore Bullet and tell them that is what they played there.

Another comment I make is, "It's the game of champions." (and me, too :) )

Jeff Livingston
 
My second favorite game is rotation. It's the first game I played when I started in 1940. It was popular then but nobody plays it now. I got the owner at Break and Run to play it with me the other day. He had never heard of it. And you do get questions if anyone watches long enough to notice that you aren't playing 8 ball.

Dave Nelson
 
Alot of pool players nowadays are missing out on a great welath of knowledge from not playing games like STraight Pool, Full Rack Banks, etc, which is kinda saddening in a way, but I guess it's a case of different strokes for different folks :)

Willie
 
Dave Nelson said:
My second favorite game is rotation. It's the first game I played when I started in 1940. It was popular then but nobody plays it now. I got the owner at Break and Run to play it with me the other day. He had never heard of it. And you do get questions if anyone watches long enough to notice that you aren't playing 8 ball.

Dave Nelson
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I think I'd like rotation. I've practiced it by myself but never played anyone. I would think that bumping balls and planning ahead is a big part of that game. Less straightforward than 9 or 10-ball.
 
there is 1 problem with rotation that is a major pain in the ass, and that is when your opponent waits till you take off all the lower numbers whilst he makes all the higher numbers :) lol, at least that's what my friend had told me all too often :thumbup: lol

Rotation is great for good safety play though because at the start of each game, there can be as many as 14 balls to duck behind leaving only 1 ball to shoot at :D lol, but then again I've used this same tactic in straight pool by sticking a guy behind the stack in rare occasions that I have no break shot :D lol

Willie
 
there is 1 problem with rotation that is a major pain in the ass, and that is when your opponent waits till you take off all the lower numbers whilst he makes all the higher numbers lol, at least that's what my friend had told me all too often lol.

A common complaint, but that option is available to both players.

Dave Nelson
 
Yeas, and that's what makes Rotation such a nice game to shoot, but straight pool is undoubtedly the best game around and it's certainly the most demanding game around too :)

Willie
 
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