Straight pool
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Straight pool, also called 14.1 continuous, is a pocket billiards game, and was the common sport of championship competition until overtaken by faster-playing games like nine-ball (and to a lesser extent eight-ball). The game was formerly especially popular in the United States, and immortalized in the 1961 film The Hustler.
In straight pool, the shooter may attempt to pocket any ball on the table. The object is to reach a set number of points determined by agreement before the game. One point is scored for each ball pocketed where no foul is made. A typical game might require a player to score 100 points, meaning at least 100 balls must be pocketed to win. In professional venues, straight pool is usually played to 150 points. Straight pool is a call-pocket game, meaning the player must indicate the intended object ball and pocket on every shot. How the ball reaches the pocket is irrelevant, so long as the called ball enters the called pocket.
Although straight pool is well-known in the United States, Europe and Japan, the game is obscure in other countries that produce world-class players such as the Philippines. (Nevertheless, Filipino players Efren Reyes and Alex Pagulayan have both achieved continuous runs over 100.)
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[edit] The initial rack
In the initial rack in straight pool, the fifteen object balls are racked in a triangular rack, with the center of the apex ball placed over the foot spot. Traditionally, the 1 ball is placed at the rack's right corner, and the 5 ball placed at the rack's left corner. Other balls are placed at random and must touch their neighbors. However, it is considered courtesy by some to place a stripe ball at the rack's apex.
Unlike in most pool games, where pocketing a ball and spreading the balls is the aim on the break, the object in straight pool's standard initial break shot is to leave the opponent with a safety. This is because the call-pocket rule includes the break shot. This makes it similar to the break shot in another cue sport, snooker.
On the break, either a ball must be pocketed in a designated pocket or the cue ball and at least two additional balls must touch a rail. The failure to accomplish one of these two options results in a foul. Fouling on the initial break results in a special penalty of a loss of 2 points. In addition, the opponent has the choice either of accepting the table in position, or alternatively of having the balls re-racked and requiring the offending player to repeat the opening break.
All other fouls during the game result in a one point deduction, including fouling on an intergame rack. However, a third foul in a row at any time in a straight pool game results in a loss of 15 points (for purposes of this rule, a foul on the initial break, though it is a loss of two points, is not counted as two fouls). The 15 point deduction is in addition to the one point loss for each foul. Thus, the first two fouls are a loss of one point each, and the third foul in a row is a loss of 16 points; 1 point for the foul, and 15 points for it being the third contiguous foul.
[edit] Intergame racking
Because straight pool is played to a specific number of points normally far in excess of the 15 points (professional matches are usually to 150 points) total available in the initial rack, multiple intergame racks are necessary. Intergame racking employs a separate set of rules from those in place at the game's start.
To reach the point where an intergame rack becomes necessary, the balls are played until only the cue ball and one object ball remain on the table's surface. At that time, if neither the cue ball or the fifteenth object ball remains in the rack area (or is interfering with racking in the rack area) the fourteen pocketed object balls are racked with no apex ball, and the rack is placed so that if the apex ball were in the rack, its center would rest directly over the table's foot spot. Play then continues with the cue ball shot from where it rested and the fifteenth, non-racked, object ball from where it rested prior to racking.
The "14.1 continuous" appellation derives from this racking practice, i.e., that fourteen racked object balls and one remaining object ball left in position is presented to the players at the conclusion of each intergame rack. The shooter will then normally try to pocket the unracked fifteenth ball, and at the same time have the cue ball carom into the fourteen racked balls, spreading them so that subsequent shots are available, and a run may continue.
A number of rules have developed which detail what must be done when one or both of the cue ball and fifteenth object ball are either in the rack area at the time an intergame rack is necessary, or are in such proximity to the intergame racking area, that the physical rack cannot be used without moving the one or the other. The rules also vary depending on whether the cue ball or fifteenth object ball are resting on the table's head spot. Such rules are detailed on the following chart (note therein that the kitchen refers to the area behind the table's head string).
| 15th ball lies | Cue ball lies | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| In the Rack | Not in the Rack and not on the Head Spot |
On The Head Spot | |
| In The Rack | 15th ball: foot spot Cue Ball: in kitchen |
15th ball: head spot Cue Ball: in position |
15th ball: center spot Cue Ball: in position |
| Pocketed | 15th ball: foot spot Cue Ball: in kitchen |
15th ball: foot spot Cue Ball: in position |
15th ball: foot spot Cue Ball: in position |
| Behind Head String, but not on Head Spot |
15th ball: in position Cue Ball: head spot |
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| Not behind Head String, and not in the Rack |
15th ball: in position Cue Ball: in kitchen |
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| On Head Spot | 15th ball: in position Cue Ball: center spot |
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[edit] References
- "World Standardized Rules: 14.1 Continuous", Billiard Congress of America, 2006. Accessed August 21, 2006.
[edit] See also
- Willie Mosconi - Holder of the official straight pool high run world record, for running 526 balls in a row.
[edit] External links
- BCA World Standardized Rules for straight pool
- Billiard Parlors — directory of pool halls in the U.S. and Canada
- "What Killed Straight Pool?", R.A. Dyer, Billiards Digest magazine (online edition), August 2005; accessed February 15, 2007
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