Bar tables vs. non-Bar tables

Bar tables are probably some of the most common pool tables you will find.  Obviously, because of the smaller size, establishments like to use them for several reasons.  They can fit more in the area, they can be cheaper than a larger table, replacement cloth is cheaper, most use coins to operate, and the list goes on.

I personally don't like playing on bar tables for a few reasons.  First, I learned to play on an 8 foot table and don't like the smaller bar tables.  Bar tables come in many sizes, but are most commonly 7 foot tables, which means less room on the playing surface.  Secondly, you have to be very precise with your cue ball control and placement to give yourself a good shot on the next ball.  In my experience, most establishments don't put good cloth on the bar tables.  Unless the establishment hosts regular league or other tournaments, there is no reason to put tournament grade cloth on bar tables for the ABC factor...Amateurs, Beer, and Cigarettes!  This low grade cloth doesn't play consistent and makes cue ball control much harder.  A third reason I don't like playing on bar tables is the play is different than the larger 8 and 9 foot tables.  Usually the larger tables have Simonis cloth or something similar.  This tournament grade cloth is made to play very consistent.  The rails also play different.  Due to the construction of the smaller bar tables, to me the rails play very stiff.  A bank or kick shot will act a little differently than on a nice larger table.

Another thing to watch out for on the bar tables is the cue ball.  Some bar tables will use a magnetic cue ball to direct it to the proper ball return for the cue ball.  Other bar tables will use a slightly larger cue ball.  Those are the ones you really need to be aware of.  Even though the cue ball is just fractions of an inch larger than the normal 2 1/4" regulation balls, it always seems to me that the over-sized cue ball is like hitting a big ole rock.

This video will give you an idea of the construction of a coin operated bar table.

On this particular video example of a bar table, the slate is a one piece.  It's hard to tell how the rails are constructed and I've never seen the rails off a coin-op table to know, but it appears that the side rails are one piece, but probably individual pieces on either side of the side pockets and attached somehow.

Here is another video showing how the ball return works.  You can also see the side rails are one piece.  The rubber cushions must attach separately somehow.  (I recommend muting the sound on this video.  Don't say I didn't warn you!)

Allen Hopkins Q-Skill Rating

Allen Hopkins, a professional pool player and BCA Hall of Famer, came up with a rating system to determine your level of playing ability.

Allen has a website, Allen Hopkins Productions, which I'm guessing has the official rules, however, I just clicked on the Q Skill link on the front page and the link appears to be down (8/5/2013).

The official rules can be seen here:  http://infohost.nmt.edu/~billiard/qskills_scorecard.html  **Edit.  This link lists the number of racks to be played at 100.  This information is not correct.  The correct number of racks to be played is 50.

Basically, the rules are these:

1.  Rack the balls as you would for 8-ball (order of balls doesn't matter) and place the cue ball on the head spot.

2.  Break the balls, if you scratch that's -1, if you knock the cue ball off the table, that's -2.

3.  Shoot the balls in any order.  Each pocketed ball is 1 point until you get to the last 5.

4.  The last 5 balls must be shot in order, starting with the lowest numbered ball.  Those are worth 2 points each for a total possible score of 20 points a rack.

Play 50 racks and add up your totals.  A perfect score is 1,000 (good luck with that).

Here are the break downs:

0-150 - Recreational Player
151-300 - Intermediate Player
301-450 - Advanced Player
451-600 - Developing Pro
601-800 - Semi-Pro
801-900 - Pro
901-1000 - Touring Pro

**Note**  I did this challenge on the false information that 100 racks were to be played.

I hadn't done this challenge in a while, a couple of years at least, so I decided to shoot all 100 racks and see what I could do.  I did this challenge over 2 days and I'm pretty pleased with my score given the pockets on my home table are pretty tight.  Here is my score sheet.

Click to expand

I should have had a higher score.  There were a few racks where I missed the first shot.  After a couple of those I decided instead of a risky first shot, it was better to take a 1 point foul and shoot a better shot.  I also had a few racks where I missed some easy shots.  The rack also is a factor.  If you don't get a good break and really spread the balls, you will have to find ways to break open the clusters, which adds to the complexity of the rack.

I hope to do this challenge once a month and see if I get better.

9-Ball the movie review

9-Ball the movie starring Jennifer Barretta.

I had forgotten that Professional pool player, Jennifer Barretta, was involved in making a movie about pool.  I was checking out her webpage yesterday and saw the movie was available for purchase on DVD or BluRay and also available to rent on several different media outlets online.  So I rented the movie and just finished watching it.  Read on for my review of the movie.

**Spoiler Alert**  Stop reading now if you don't want me to ruin the movie for you!

So the premise of the movie is that Gail, Jennifer Baretta, is a pool hustler and wants to leave that life to become a professional pool player like her idols Allison Fisher and Jeanette Lee, who both have roles in the movie.  Gail's father, Luke, plays pool and teaches her how to play.  He also likes to run around with married women.  He is murdered, apparently leaving Gail's Uncle, Joey, to raise her.  Gail meets Jeanette Lee, who knows the owner of the pool hall, Vicky.  Jeanette tells Gail she needs to start playing on the APA League.  Joey, of course, doesn't like this because he wants to continue hustling.

The Story...7/10

The overall story of the movie was pretty good.  A young female pool player looks to become a professional.  Broken family issues drive most of the plot, but some parts not really addressed.  Not too bad, overall.

The Pool Scenes...4/10

There really weren't that many pool scenes given this was a movie about pool.  The scenes that were in there were pretty short and usually only 1 or 2 shots before the game was over.  I would have liked to have seen longer pool shooting scenes...maybe even whole games.

The Actors...6/10

The actors in the movie weren't too bad, actually.  I thought the movie was cast pretty well.  I liked Red as the bookie, Vicky as the pool hall owner, and Jeanette Lee and Allison Fisher as themselves.  It was cool they could be a part of the movie.  The acting, however, is another story.

The Acting/Dialog...3/10

The acting and dialog in this movie is pretty bad.  I thought the best acting job in the whole movie was Red.  I liked Red's role and thought he did a good job and Jennifer did pretty good considering acting isn't her day job.  The dialog at times was cheesy, predictable, and seemed forced or unnatural.  The script wasn't written very well.  Overall pretty bad.

My Movie Rating...5/10

I sort of felt like this was a big commercial for the APA League.  The story had potential, the actors were ok, just had bad scripts and bad directing, which led to poor dialog, and the movie directing and some scene selections left a lot to be desired.

2013 US Open 10-Ball and One Pocket Championships

     The 2013 US Open One Pocket Championship is just about in the books.  64 players started the tournament and it all came down to Corey Deuel from the loser's side playing undefeated Dennis Orcollo.  Orcollo had blanked Corey earlier in the tournament by a score of 4-0 sending him to the loser's side to face Carlo Biado.  Corey squeaked by Biado 3-2, setting up a rematch in the final with Orcollo.  Winner side matches are a race to 4 and a race to 3 over on the loser side.
     Orcollo is up 3-2 over Deuel at the time of this writing.

     Meanwhile, the 10-Ball Championship continues into day 3.  A few of the matches were delayed due to some pretty severe storms blowing through Las Vegas which knocked out the power, suspending play on some of the matches until the next day.  A few notable matches were both Corey Deuel and Shane Van Boening losing in nail biters to Jin-Hu Dang of China, both by the score of 9-8 in a race to 9.  
     Charlie Williams also lost deep in the winner side in a close one to Denis Grabe 9-8.  Earl Strickland got knocked out of the tournament over on the loser side by Shane Van Boening by a score of 9-5.

     Someone I've had my eye on lately is Jonathan "Hennessee" Pinegar.  I saw this guy play in a tournament in my hometown several years back and he's been showing up at lot lately at the bigger tournaments.  This year at the US Open 10-Ball Championship, he lost 9-6 to Denis Grabe, but has torn through the loser side with wins of 9-1, 9-7, 9-6, 9-6, and at the time of this writing is up 7-5 over Karl Boyes of Great Britain in Round 6.

Welcome!

Hi! Welcome to the Onthe9 Billiards blog!

I will give you tips on how to improve your pool game, pro and amateur tournament updates, billiard news, some product reviews occasionally, and lots of other billiard related stuff!

Today starts the US Open 10 Ball Championship at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.  10 ball is quickly becoming more popular with the professional players as it presents a more challenging game than 9 ball.  Sure, 10 ball is just one more ball and is similar to 9 ball in that the balls must be pocketed in rotation, but there are a few key differences that make it more challenging.

With the balls racked similar to 8 ball with the 10 ball in the middle of the rack, it makes it more difficult to pocket the 10 ball on the break.  If, however, the 10 ball is made on the break, it is spotted and the player continues his turn at the table.  Also, all balls must be called before pocketing them.

See the BCA rules for 10 ball here:  http://home.bca-pool.com/associations/7744/files/10ball.pdf

Be sure to visit all the Onthe9 Billiards sites for more great billiard happenings!

Google Calendar

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

YouTube