Amateur league pool player here: You have to consider there are mainly two things to think about when playing any kind of Billard sport: 1. Pocketing the ball

Amateur league pool player here: You have to consider there are mainly two things to think about when playing any kind of Billard sport: 1. Pocketing the ball 2. Position of your cue ball (the white ball) Mastering the one doesn't necessarily mean you have mastered the other. Pocketing a ball is fairly easy if you get in a good position - but first you have to get in that position and thats the tricky part. In Straight Pool to win the important part at first is to have the balls spread out across the table, so as to have many options and easier shots. And that's the difficult to do because of the way you break. Because you actually start the game with a defensive break (because you have to call your shots and you can't just smash the rack open as you do in 8-,9- or 10-ball), as to not give your opponent an easy shot. This video shows 2 great pool players at the break [0]. In 9-ball for example there's luck involved (also where the rack is placed and what rack is used, but thats too complicated for now), because at the start of the rack you simply smash the balls wide open. If you make a shot - great. If not - great for your opponent. So in Straight Pool the beginning is mainly safety play until someone actually manages to pocket a ball and open the balls up at the same time. Running a rack in straight pool isn't the issue - having a good ball to re-open the next rack to continue the run is the difficult part. That's the position issue. Because you have to be aware on how you want the develop the balls and what position your cue ball is going to be in. There are a lot more things to consider but I think that's a pretty basic start as to why Straight Pool is more advanced than 8-, 9- or 10-ball ;) [0] http://youtu.be/SqxvJaPABW0?t=9m42s http://youtu.be/SqxvJaPABW0?t=9m42s