Talk:Nine-ball
There's no mention of having to hit the balls in order, ie. you must strike the lowest number ball on the table. I thought that was one of the main rules.
--Prisonblues 10:02, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Significant changes
I made some significant changes to the article. I hope these are satisfactory. --GoHawks4 10:15, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Order
We now have: "Although the order of the rest of the balls is in fact irrelevant, they are ordinarily arranged in numerical order from left to right as shown." If the order is indeed irrelevant, we might want to include an explanation. Aliter 23:00, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Pocketing the nine ball and fouling doesn't lose the game immediately, so I removed that line from the article. (The nine ball is respotted, otherwise it's just like any other foul.)
When can the nine ball be sunk?
My impression was that the nine could only be sunk after all the others but the article doesn't seem to say that explicitly. Or can one sink the nine at any time as long as one has hit the lowest numbered ball on the table first? --Editdroid
- The nine can be sunk at any time as long as you have hit the lowest numbered ball first. --Al 19:39, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
redundance
"Like most billiards games, there are many variations on the rules of nine ball, and a specific ruleset is often decided before a game." This statement was re-inserted in the second paragraph by Superm---. It obviously refers to recreational games, not tournament or championship games. "The game may be played in social and recreational settings . . . subject to such rules as may be agreed upon beforehand" has already been stated in the first paragraph. This re-insertion is unnecessary. RogerK 01:55, August 21, 2005 (UTC)
Significant changes
I made some significant changes to the article. I hope these are satisfactory. I am a professional pool player and write articles under the name "Pool_Teacher" in the pool/billiards category at allexperts.com. --fuhghettaboutit December 10, 2005
Memories
It appears that this article is being written by seasoned players, rather than researchers, 'cause there are no references listed, lol. I've played a lot of nine ball, mostly in pool halls in the 60s when I was a young man, and then always for money. It wasn't unusual for 4 or 5 of us to play on one table for hours, for a buck or two a head, and it was always call every shot, no push allowed. Sometimes some hot-shot would show up, and we'd play for $5 or $10 a head. Ah, the good old days. It was big money to me back in those days. Today my wife and I play occasionally at a local tavern, and I occasionally shock some egotist with a flash of talent, but it's gettin' tough; I wear tri-focals now, lol. Pleased to meet you, fuhg, and you too, woohooo --RogerK 03:35, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
- Hey Roger so you used to play ring games huh?, I was in the back playing Chicago! Actually cut my teeth on straight pool of course, but I really never was a huge nine ball fan. Course after straight pool died, I had to switch to playing nine ball. Guess we have to add some references to the article. Shouldn't be to difficult (hey, why don't you start?)
- Added a coupla references which related to Nine Ball's beginnings. The games we played were Nine Ball, Harrigan, and Kill Pool. Don't remember much about Kill Pool, but Harrigan was by far my favorite. Up to seven players could play, and each was given, by the proprietor (who did not play and also served as the referee and settler of disputes), two pills randomly from the pill bottle, which was shaken before each delivery. Each pill was about 5/8" in diameter with a flat upon which was a number (from 1 to 15), and each player would return one of the pills to the proprietor (these would determine the order of play, lowest first), and retain the other pill which would be the player's object ball (he "owned" it). If the breaker pocketed his object ball on the break, the game was over and he won. If he sank another player's object ball on the break, the game was over and the owner of the pocketed ball won. Every player paid the winner. If any player, in the course of his turn, pocketed a ball that was owned by no one, he could continue shooting, but if he pocketed any owned ball it was an immediate win for its owner. Fast game; quick money. I used to keep my pill in my right ear, lol. Perfect fit. Ah, the good old days :)). --RogerK 03:16, 6 January 2006 (UTC)