[Geno368]

I just got introduced to a new league game that is starting to gain momentum all over the country. I am a APA 6 in 9-ball, and although the game seems simple, it really isn't. The main gist is you play the table,(kinda like golf) not an opponent. It's kinda like straight pool with a few small differences. You develop a handicap and play people all over the country in any pool hall that is a sanctioned facility. The rules are simple...you rack your own balls, you can't sandbag...you can play 6 people or one person at a time. You play 10 racks of 15 balls in a session. You alternate rack turns and the player with the most balls made wins....In tournaments, you use your handicap to play even with anyone...they have a web site with a clearer explaination than this. It is really going to test and tune up my game.

[FASTLARRY]

Geno368, on May 15 2009, 05:35 PM, said:

I just got introduced to a new league game that is starting to gain momentum all over the country. I am a APA 6 in 9-ball, and although the game seems simple, it really isn't. The main gist is you play the table,(kinda like golf) not an opponent. It's kinda like straight pool with a few small differences. You develop a handicap and play people all over the country in any pool hall that is a sanctioned facility. The rules are simple...you rack your own balls, you can't sandbag...you can play 6 people or one person at a time. You play 10 racks of 15 balls in a session. You alternate rack turns and the player with the most balls made wins....In tournaments, you use your handicap to play even with anyone...they have a web site with a clearer explaination than this. It is really going to test and tune up my game.

Now we are getting somewhere. This is what I have been advocating for years, and have been laughed at, equal opportunity. You need to publish those rules.

[Geno368]

FASTLARRY, on May 15 2009, 05:27 PM, said:

Now we are getting somewhere. This is what I have been advocating for years, and have been laughed at, equal opportunity. You need to publish those rules.

Thanks for the reply Fast Larry "G"
Thanks for the previous lessons or I may have not even scored a 50.
Go to their website for info:

www.6pocketleague.com

Just copy/paste link in your browser...

[Geno368]

BTW, the pro spokesman for the league is "Mr. 400" John Schmidt. He came to my house with the founder of the system, Dick Clark a couple of weeks ago. What a nice pair of professionals! John shot a perfect 150 with 2 penalty points here and then we went to Huntsville, AL and shot a perfect 150 on a tight 9 foot diamond. What a player...

[IROCK]

How many racks of 6 pocket are the Pros playing in their games.

This is something like fargo, which I think is a good practice game.

[Pin]

Sounds like fun. I love the handicap idea.

[Geno368]

Everybody plays 10 racks...when it is set up for the pros for sudden death, they may have to play solids or stripes first

[Geno368]

your handicap is based on the best 10 scores on the last 20 sessions, so sandbaggng is nill

[FASTLARRY]

Why do they call this 6 pocket?

http://6pocketleague..._rules.asp?pg=3


The rules"

Starting! - 6 Pocket™ (6 POCKET) is a called shot pocket billiards game played using 15 numbered object balls. The object of the game is to score as many points – maximum 15 – as possible from a single rack during your turn.

Your turn is the combination of the called shots you take, beginning with a break and ending when you either miss, foul, or pocket all 15 balls from your rack.

The 15 balls are racked using a conventional triangular rack. There is no requirement regarding order or placement of the balls in the rack except the first object ball in the rack is to be placed over the foot spot on the table.


Breaking! - Should you pocket any object balls on a break in which you do not scratch or commit a foul, those balls remain pocketed and are counted when determining your score.

Should you scratch or commit a foul on your break, then any balls you may have pocketed are spotted, and you continue your turn by making your first called shot from anywhere behind the head string.

Should you not sink any object balls on your break nor scratch or commit a foul, your turn continues by your calling and playing your first called shot.


Shooting! - In 6 POCKET, all shots (except the break) are called shots.

During your turn, if you pocket one or more object balls not the subject of your called shot, while pocketing your called object ball, those balls remain pocketed and count toward your score.

The rules of 6 POCKET say that missing a called shot (along with certain other fouls) and/or legally pocketing all of the balls from your rack, are the conditions that end your turn. Because your turn is over when you miss a called shot, safety shots are not a viable strategy when playing 6 POCKET!


Scoring! - When your turn is over, you count the number of balls you have legally pocketed and you are awarded 1 point for each. This point total - your "rack score" - is then recorded on your score card.

Your "rack score" is added to your Level Play™ Handicap number to determine your "turn score", which is also recorded on your score card.


Winning! - After all of the players have played and their "turn scores" have been calculated and recorded, the "turn scores" are totaled to determine the "game score".

After all of the "game scores" have been recorded, they are compared, and the player with the highest total "game score" wins.

If 2 or more players' "game scores" are tied, a tiebreaker is played. Afterwards, if there is still a tie, then subsequent tiebreakers are played until a winner is determined.


Handicapping! - The 6 POCKET Level Play™ Handicapping System uses a purely numerical calculation process to determine a consistently fair handicap for each and every player, by table size.

ONLY those scores that are turned in through a 6 POCKET sanctioned facility, AND which are the result of a sanctioned competition or handicapping session, qualify for use in computing your handicap.

[FASTLARRY]

FASTLARRY, on May 17 2009, 08:08 PM, said:

Why do they call this 6 pocket?

I have had this very idea and game out and published for the last decade, and everyone laughed at me. It's about time, somebody did something with this, and made it a reality. The concept of equaly opportunity pool has been around for decades, and ignored by all the idiots who could not understand it.

I wish him luck in this venture and I pray it succeds. All I have to say, is Bravo.

http://6pocketleague..._rules.asp?pg=3


The rules"

Starting! - 6 Pocket™ (6 POCKET) is a called shot pocket billiards game played using 15 numbered object balls. The object of the game is to score as many points – maximum 15 – as possible from a single rack during your turn.

Your turn is the combination of the called shots you take, beginning with a break and ending when you either miss, foul, or pocket all 15 balls from your rack.

The 15 balls are racked using a conventional triangular rack. There is no requirement regarding order or placement of the balls in the rack except the first object ball in the rack is to be placed over the foot spot on the table.


Breaking! - Should you pocket any object balls on a break in which you do not scratch or commit a foul, those balls remain pocketed and are counted when determining your score.

Should you scratch or commit a foul on your break, then any balls you may have pocketed are spotted, and you continue your turn by making your first called shot from anywhere behind the head string.

Should you not sink any object balls on your break nor scratch or commit a foul, your turn continues by your calling and playing your first called shot.


Shooting! - In 6 POCKET, all shots (except the break) are called shots.

During your turn, if you pocket one or more object balls not the subject of your called shot, while pocketing your called object ball, those balls remain pocketed and count toward your score.

The rules of 6 POCKET say that missing a called shot (along with certain other fouls) and/or legally pocketing all of the balls from your rack, are the conditions that end your turn. Because your turn is over when you miss a called shot, safety shots are not a viable strategy when playing 6 POCKET!


Scoring! - When your turn is over, you count the number of balls you have legally pocketed and you are awarded 1 point for each. This point total - your "rack score" - is then recorded on your score card.

Your "rack score" is added to your Level Play™ Handicap number to determine your "turn score", which is also recorded on your score card.


Winning! - After all of the players have played and their "turn scores" have been calculated and recorded, the "turn scores" are totaled to determine the "game score".

After all of the "game scores" have been recorded, they are compared, and the player with the highest total "game score" wins.

If 2 or more players' "game scores" are tied, a tiebreaker is played. Afterwards, if there is still a tie, then subsequent tiebreakers are played until a winner is determined.


Handicapping! - The 6 POCKET Level Play™ Handicapping System uses a purely numerical calculation process to determine a consistently fair handicap for each and every player, by table size.

ONLY those scores that are turned in through a 6 POCKET sanctioned facility, AND which are the result of a sanctioned competition or handicapping session, qualify for use in computing your handicap.

[FASTLARRY]

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY POOL. fix 14.1 Straight pool. Fix the game.

3 pages 1-14-2000, 11-27-07, rev 8-2-08,CR, fast larry Guninger, all rights reserved, published in numerous internet publications.

We all know 9 ball can be very unfair. On 3 occasions pros have broke and ran 9 straight racks in a race to 11 giving the opponent no chance to come back. 9 ball can also be a very unfair game when the rolls go against you and luck becomes a factor. The races are just too short and you are seeing them have sets to 5 games on TV. 7 ball is being played which is even worse. 9 ball is a stupid short rack version of 15 ball rotation. You can make 90% of the balls and lose. Does that make any sense? In reality, it is worse and more unfair than Rotation.
8 ball is a game that is fairer than 9 ball and the pros only played it once during the IPT which barely lasted a year. Most races were to 7 and that was about right. On both games the break usually determines who wins.
14.1 became the championship game in 1912 because Rotation was totally unfair.

Usually the player who made most of the balls lost. You can make 2/3’rds and lose. In 14.1 every ball was a point and it became finally a fair contest to determine who was best. Over the decades the players gambled and liked 8 and 9 ball but the world championship was always 14.1. This was the longest run of a championship game in pool, almost 75 years.

During the teens high runs were 40’s, 50’s. During the 20’s Greenleaf was good for a 75, and in the 30’s Mosconi was good for a 100.

Then used to have a match at 125 but players began to run 125 and out and the other poor guy never got to play. They moved it up to 150 and the same thing happened several times again, 150 and out. When you played to a large block of points that no longer mattered because you had several days to make your long run and catch up. So what he opens the match with a 160 point run. He still has 1840 points more to go to beat you. You have 4 days to catch up. 14.1 was now a fair game. When they stopped the round robins and began playing into long blocks of 500 to 2000 points Willie Mosconi became unbeatable for almost 15 years.

All was great when players and fans had a week to stage a competition like Golf does today. Enter TV in the 70’s and those blocks went away and a single match was now 125 or 150 and you had a champion. ESPN did the worst possible job filming it for TV. You would see Varner on a run of 20, come back from commercials and his run was now 70, the 50 balls you never got to see. No wonder the fans hated it. Couple that with a few drag out forever safety games from the Miz which drove the ball bangers nuts. The TV people who did not understand the game and they wanted it gone.

It was not fair to Mike Zuglan to see Mike Sigel run 150 and out in the US Open in the 92. Mike never had a chance to make a ball or put up his own run. He lost in the chair which is ridiculous. The same thing happens when a player opens with a 121 run. The opponent usually loses because he does not have the time to catch up. There is no equal opportunity to score like in Golf and that makes pool a stupid unfair game. The game was made unfair by TV which corrupted it and then discarded it for the power break of 9 ball which could be made shorter and easier to film and put on. ESPN, the BCA, and a few greedy promoters, sold the game out, for TV coverage and 30 pieces of silver.

Golf realized that playing one on one, match play, two players against each other like pool does was a disaster The stars would get knocked out by nobodies and on the final day two nobodies would be playing and fewer fans would show up. They stopped that in the 1950’s. Golfers do not play any one, or one on one like pool does. They play the course and ignore everyone in the foursome. One can be in competition and the other 3 out of it but the guy in 2nd could be 9 groups back a mile away. Golf learned to cut and paste it all together, pool never did. In golf, the guy with the lowest score wins. Could you imagine saying to Tiger Woods when he came on the tee to play at 2pm, sorry, you lost, Erving bumfud ran the table and it’s all over, go home. Every player in Golf has equal opportunity to shoot that lowest score. Pool could do the same thing with 14.1. On the final day, golf has the entire group still playing, pool has only 2. Does that make sense?

I think there should be a world championship on 8 and 9 ball. But I think the grand finale of the year, the Billiards Champion of the world should be an all around. To win, you would have to win 2 out of the 3 events which would be 8 and 9 ball and 14.1. I would make the races on 8 ball to 7 games and in 9 ball to 11. In the semis & finals 8 ball a race to 10 and 9 ball a race to 17. Winner racks and breaks so we could see some racks ran. The longer the races the more lucky rolls equal out and become non factors.

14.1 I would make it where it would be equal opportunity. Nobody could run out on you. Everyone plays on their own table by their self. There are no safeties. You would see longer runs that way.
You would run 400 balls a day, 200 in an afternoon session, 200 in an evening session, for 4 days, in a block of four 400 ball sets. 1600 balls. Your score is how many innings you take. The higher your runs, the less innings. If you are a Mike Sigel fan, then you are by his table, watching him play by himself, but assured of seeing a hundred ball run for sure. You are watching him play to see his skill. If somebody runs 200 and out, that would be the one that would get on TV.

You watch him to see how low he can score in innings, and if he can set the high run. The same thing the golf audience is doing following their favorite player around the course. The player would rack his own balls. When he misses, he marks up an inning. With no safety play when he gets into trouble he is banking and trying tough cuts. You now will see spectacular shots, especially out of the rack since the danger is now gone from missing and the other guy running out on you. His opening break would open the rack up with him trying to call the one in the side pocket. Every shot, he would have to announce out loud where his ball is going. The amount of 100 ball runs would increase. With only one player at a table at a time you would have the marquee top players in the prime time slots, playing twice a day, and the lower ranked players showing up early in the day, or later at night. A couple of referees would walk around the room keeping every one honest.

When that is finished you take the 4 lowest or best scores and they are now in the finals where they now play each other one on one in a final race to 200 for the semi. 4 players on two tables side by side. Then the final with the final two playing each other, for 250 points. During the semi’s or finals, if a player gets on a long run and wins, runs 200 and out, he can be allowed to continue his run in an attempt to set a new high run record. Now when somebody runs 150 and out, they must stop, and who knows how many he could have ran if he had been left alone. Now safety play comes in as does gamesmanship.

You would have the best of both worlds having equal opportunity and match play at the end. Nobody would ever become champion again out of luck or run out on the other guy without him getting to play. The winner would have run 2,050 balls in just the 3rd 14.1 leg of the 3 tests. In each block you have a 45 second shot clock, and allow them to have 3 extra 60 second extensions when they have to study a rack. They get a 5 minute break, once an hour. The shot clock would keep the event moving and everyone would finish on time. If a player is seen lagging behind or seen exceeding the 45 seconds then a ref would put a stop watch on him and each violation would take away points scored.

You stage 4 world championships in a row during a week to 10 day period.
The 8 ball world championship
The 9 ball world championship
The 14.1 world champions
The all around world champion of pool

A player could walk away with 1, 2, or all 4 world titles. When they stopped the round robins and began playing into long blocks of 500 to 2000 points Willie Mosconi became unbeatable for almost 15 years.

You first play 8 ball, then 9 ball, then 14.1. A player can choose to enter only 1, 2 or all 3. If a player wins all 3, he is the grand champion of pool. If there is different winner on all 3, then those 3 play it off, at 14.1. The 8 and 9 ball winners play the semi and that winner then plays the 14.1 winner for the final. Both the semi and final, would be 250 points. If players have a tie, the same amount of innings, then the one with the highest run would win. If a player won either the 8 or 9 ball, and the 14.1, he would be the all around winner. If a player won the 8 and 9 ball events, he would still have to play the 14.1 winner.

Like golf, they would be there for 7 days. Golf has no problem with this. Neither should pool. Trying to tailor pool to fit an hour of TV is what destroyed the game. The only way to save it is to say to TV, we are here for a week, film and edit the best runs and put on a show, have a nice day. You edit it all into an hour if you want to. Or show segments over several weeks leading up to the grand finale which is the smart way to do it. Pool must take a stand on TV and make them adjust to us, rather than us being forced into an hour and then getting 40 minutes after commercials. We sold the game out to ESPN who destroyed it. We can take it back if we want to. 9 ball has become so corrupted and screwed up playing alternating racks it has lost its appeal. The game needs a total overhaul and a complete brand new approach.

The only problem with 14.1 is 90% of the balls will be pocketed in the two bottom pockets, and 10% in the sides, so you are playing in only 4 pockets, or on half of the table. You are now playing all very short shots and when you have to go play 9 ball and face longer shots, you have a problem.
A good way to practice is doing the 8-7 drill once a day. You rack up 15 balls, break them like 8 ball, and I break really good, so I usually make 2 on the break and spread the balls out well leaving 7 up table and 8 down. This makes running 13 and out fairly easy.

You shoot any ball like in 14.1 but you try to run all 15 and don’t leave one on the table. If I run 15 and out, then I break and try to do it again. If I fail to run 15, say run 7, that’s my score, I stop, rack them up and break again. You run 10 racks and try to run 150 and out. This is usually stopped by not making a ball on the break, so your score on that rack would be zero. If you break, run 7 and miss, your run that rack was 7. You are now working on your break, your spread, and your running skills. You can now gauge your daily skills and your advancement. Your score could be like this, break, pot a ball, run 8 and miss, score 9. Score 7, 8, 5, 11, 0, 8, 0, 7, 12. A total of 67, average 6.7 per run. Now you have a level you have set to try to improve above. The better you learn to break, the higher your runs will become.

Or if you are a straight pool student, after each rack, you set up any 14.1 break shot you want, and play the game that way. You set a ball on the side of the rack, pot, go into them, and now you are playing to run 14 using only the bottom 4 pockets.

My high run at 14.1 was 274, just one ball behind Greenleaf’s record. My high run at 8-7 was 255 and then I came up dry on the next break.

My high run at 8 ball was 8 racks, and in 9 ball, nine, which was done gambling, and not in a tour situation. The all time high tour run at 9 ball was 9 racks, same problem, they come up dry on the break and the run ends.

[Pelican]

Great concept Larry. Would need corporate sponsorship to make it work. Without that TV will not be interested. Need something to really spark interest in the general public, like a "Hustler" or a "Color of Money". I know there is interest out there but it needs something to act as a catalyst to get things really stirred up. I can gurantee "Chalk" wouldn't do it :-).

Later, Pel

[DC6Pocket]

Pelican, on May 18 2009, 08:49 PM, said:

Great concept Larry. Would need corporate sponsorship to make it work. Without that TV will not be interested. Need something to really spark interest in the general public, like a "Hustler" or a "Color of Money". I know there is interest out there but it needs something to act as a catalyst to get things really stirred up. I can gurantee "Chalk" wouldn't do it :-).

Later, Pel

Because 6 Pocket is different from the standard, I am happy to say we are getting some attention from sponsors that are NOT in the billiards business. Even our local Chamber of Commererce is willing to help put together a pro. tournament.

[FASTLARRY]

DC6Pocket, on May 22 2009, 12:31 PM, said:

Because 6 Pocket is different from the standard, I am happy to say we are getting some attention from sponsors that are NOT in the billiards business. Even our local Chamber of Commererce is willing to help put together a pro. tournament.

I wish you well and pray for your success. Let me know if I can help.

[DC6Pocket]

FASTLARRY, on May 22 2009, 12:28 PM, said:

I wish you well and pray for your success. Let me know if I can help.

thanks Larry,

I look forward to meeting you and I'm sure I will be calling on you for some ideas and who knows.....advice. What part of Atlanta are you located? I'll come play you some 6 Pocket and give you the 10 cent tour about what we plan to do with it.

Dick Clark

[FASTLARRY]

DC6Pocket, on May 23 2009, 11:24 AM, said:

thanks Larry,

I look forward to meeting you and I'm sure I will be calling on you for some ideas and who knows.....advice. What part of Atlanta are you located? I'll come play you some 6 Pocket and give you the 10 cent tour about what we plan to do with it.

Dick Clark

Gwinnett county, come to me, play in my private room, its all on the house. 770-381-6609

[Geno368]

Dick and I are going to do a short youtube clip and will post the link here...is that ok Larry?

[FASTLARRY]

Geno368, on May 23 2009, 07:56 PM, said:

Dick and I are going to do a short youtube clip and will post the link here...is that ok Larry?

sure

[DC6Pocket]

IROCK, on May 16 2009, 08:07 PM, said:

How many racks of 6 pocket are the Pros playing in their games.

This is something like fargo, which I think is a good practice game.

Our Pro tournaments will have 4 rounds, 1 Game per day for a total of 40 racks in the 4 days. Everyone plays day 1 & 2, the top 1/2 make the cut and those play day 3 & 4. The winner is determined by the highest 4 day total. In the event of a tie, the sudden death playoff format changes to this, after the break you are required to pocket the ODD numberd balls first and if you complete those, you then shoot the EVEN numbered balls.

[Geno368]

as promised...the you tube link....then search for the second one.
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=Adshac8k22I