# opening billard break: sink all 15 balls?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-billard-break-sink-all-15-balls/24824
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 7, 2000, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-billard-break-sink-all-15-balls/24824 "2000-07-07T04:03:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2000, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-billard-break-sink-all-15-balls/24824/21 "2000-07-08T01:23:23Z")
All you really need is a frictionless table with perfectly elastic bumpers. I would have thought you physics types would have lots of those
things just laying around.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
still airodynamic drag and the friction of the balls hitting each other would bring them to a stop
plus I am not wasting MY frictionless surface on a game of pool
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### Author:  [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2000, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-billard-break-sink-all-15-balls/24824/22 "2000-07-08T01:36:14Z")
My dad is a pool shark from way back. I asked him about this when I saw him the other night. The most he’s ever sunk is 3 in a break using a standard rack. He says he’s seen it done in a rack on a smaller table. He thinks, though, that the time he saw it, the rack was a loose rack. This makes a big difference. He also wasn’t sure if the front ball was right on the spot. This was not in tournament play.
He does think that it might be possible in nine-ball. There’s a rule in nine-ball called ball in hand. Suppose the balls were racked and the person breaking missed the balls completely and scratched. Then the other person could pur the cue ball anywhere they wanted. If the person knew exactly where to put the ball, they could very well sink all nine balls. Or they could just get lucky.
Anyone have a Guiness Book of Records handy? Later all.
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### Author:  [@Manlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manlob)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2000, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-billard-break-sink-all-15-balls/24824/23 "2000-07-08T23:49:42Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by silent\_rob \*
> \*\*
> Anyone have a Guiness Book of Records handy?_\*
My 1995 Guinness record book does not give a record for most balls pocketed off the break, but it does say the record for fastest 15 balls in a speed tournament is 37.9 seconds. If somebody ever did sink 15 on the break, it would bring this record down to about 3 seconds.
I think people are confusing winning a game of 9 ball off the break with sinking all the balls. Only one ball needs to be pocketed to win at nine ball.
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