3 ms·
My guess is that the point is that real skill is exposed over a long game of both players shooting at any ball. There is a considerable amount of positioning lu
by dionidium 12y ago
My guess is that the point is that real skill is exposed over a long game of both players shooting at any ball. There is a considerable amount of positioning luck involved in any single 9-ball game.
- jzwinck 12y agoRight, but nobody plays a single 9-ball game. For one thing, you can win on the break! But over many games the relative skill of two players will be revealed, just as in straight pool. However, in 9-ball the maximum risk from failing to play a safety is much less--one rack instead of many.
- mrbrandonking 12y agoIt seems like straight pool provided a more accurate means of distinguishing skill levels between players. Dallas West (straight pool pro from 70's) once said that he knew he had arrived as a pro when, as a teenager, he finally ran 100-balls in a row. He then said that he had made a 100-ball run every day of his life since then. There's a similar jump in standing at 50-balls. A complete beginner might have to practice hard for a year to clear a single rack. 9-ball players like to boast about their long runs, too, but there's an element of luck (the break shot) that throws a kink into direct comparisons between players' high runs. Earl Strickland once ran 11-racks in a row to win a $1 million prize, but a player with a "six-pack" (6-racks in a row) isn't necessarily half as skilled.