Internet Equal Offense is a pool game that can be played by two or more players who are not at the same table. It’s sanctioned by the Billiard Congress of America, and there are tons of players on the internet.
I thought it might be fun to get an SDMB Equal Offense game going. In a nutshell, here’s how the game is played:
You rack 15 balls, and break them open.
Pick up the cueball after the break, and place it anywhere on the table you would like. Then start shooting. Stop when you miss a ball. Count the number of balls you have sunk. That is your score for the ‘inning’. Ten innings makes up a game. At the end, your cumulative 10 inning score is your final game score.
If you sink 14 of the 15 balls, you re-rack the 14, leaving the last ball and cueball where they were. The object is to try to pocket the last ball while sending the cueball into the rack, breaking open the other balls. If you sink a ball, keep shooting until you’ve sunk at most five balls.
The best possible score for an inning is therefore 20, and the best possible IEO score is 200.
We have to rely on the honor system on this - no cheating. If you miss, don’t tell youself that you were really just fooling around and give yourself a ‘do-over’. Part of the point of this game is to teach you to focus on every shot and really think about what you’re doing. Consistency is the most important skill in pool.
Anyone interested in playing? If you don’t have a table at home, the next time you’re out you can play in a bar, or in a pool hall. If you don’t want to run 10 innings in a commercial place, play five and double your score, but let us know that that’s what you did.
One of the interesting things about IEO is that it’s a good way to judge your skill as a pool player. Based on internet tournaments that were sanctioned and monitored, played by known players of known skill levels, here’s a breakdown of where you stand based on various scores:
You're probably better than if your typical
THIS percentage of pool players score is
------------------------------ --------
5% 25
10% 35
15% 41
20% 47
25% 51
30% 55
35% 59
40% 64
45% 68
50% 71
55% 76
60% 80
65% 85
70% 91
75% 98
80% 106
85% 114
90% 125
95% 136
99% 160
The ‘pool players’ in question aren’t your typical weekend bar players, but serious players - the kind who would play IEO on the internet in the first place. So don’t be too disheartened if you score somewhat low on that scale. Even a 50 is probably significantly better than your average bar player.
To start things off, I just got our pool table set up in our house after having it in storage for four years, and my first crack at IEO I scored a 97.
To expand on what the scores mean, here’s a breakdown of results from a number of sanctioned tournaments:
I know a lot of the guys who played in these, and they are by and large VERY good players, including some very good professional pool players. Robert Byne and Bob Jewett, for example, played in these tournaments, as did a number of other collegiate, semi-pro, and pro players. So don’t be discouraged by low scores.
This would also be a good thread to discuss IEO strategy, if anyone is interested.
Yep. You break, any balls sunk on the break are spotted, and you get a ball-in-hand. I had forgotten that the cue ball has to be behind the head string after the break.
An inning ends when you miss, or when you run 20 balls. Each inning starts with a break.
It’s a great practice game, because you don’t need an opponent to enjoy yourself. Playing 8-ball by yourself sucks, but in equal offense you’re just playing against your own scores. Also, it’s a great way to learn how to thread your way around a table and think ahead of your next shot or two.
Absolutely. The inning starts AFTER the break, with a ball in hand behind the headstring. You can even scratch the cueball on the break or jump balls off the table.
I gave it a try and netted a whopping 39. I did manage a 19 on one rack, but the rest were just shite. I was a tad frustrated at racking after only pocketing 2 or 3 balls. I’ll try again when I’m more relaxed.
For a slightly better skill indication, I’m ranked a 5 by the APA in both 8-ball and 9-ball.
There are two keys to getting a good score - one is a good break. If you don’t spread the balls open around the table, it’s going to be hard to run a lot of balls. The other is learning to spot patterns and control the cueball. If you just sink balls, eventually you’ll wind up without a shot or tied up with another ball or something. That’s why I like Equal Offense - it’s great practice for thinking about how you’re going to thread your way around the table.
Frank #2: Isn’t it satisfying when you manage to break open a second rack (when you got your 19)? That’s what always keeps me coming back to straight pool. That end-of-the-rack play is challenging!
The year I played APA I fluctuated between a 7 and an 8.
shot a 52 last night with a rack of 19 and two racks of 0.
My biggest problem (besides not always getting the cueball in a good spot) is having the balls so bunched after a break I don’t have a clean shot from behind the head string. Perils of a 7’ table, I guess.
One hint: When you have a cluster of balls that need to be broken up, here’s what you want to do:
look for a ‘key ball’ - a ball close to the cluster that can be pocketed.
look for a ‘position ball’ - a ball that can be pocketed in a way that gives you an angle on the key ball that will send the cueball into the cluster breaking it open.
preferably, keep an ‘out’ in mind when doing this. For example, if there is a ball in the jaws of a pocket at that end of the table, it’s your ‘out’, because if you break open the cluster and wind up without a good shot, you can usually find a way to play a combo or bank or something to take down your ‘out’ ball. That kees your run going.
In straight pool (and when trying to break open the second rack in EO), a ‘key’ ball is one that’s beside where the balls will be racked, a few inches from them. A good ‘position’ ball is one near a side pocket. If you leave those two balls for last, then you can shoot the ball near the side pocket into the side, drawing the cueball back a bit to leave a nice angle on the key ball. Then rack the other 14 balls, shoot the key ball into the corner pocket, and fire the cueball into the rack.
Straight pool, 8-ball, and equal offense are all about learning how to thread through patterns of balls, whereas 9-ball and one-pocket are all about cueball control (cueball control is important in the other games as well, but usually you don’t have to put extreme english on the cueball to achieve what you want. Stop shots and slight draws and follows are usually enough).
Assuming those who read this thread are interested in their game and improving it, here is a book we all should own.
“The 99 Critical Shots in Pool” By Ray Martin and Rosser Reeves. This book tries to show you not specific shots (in spite of the name) but general principals. If you learn the principals your game will improve.
<disclaimer – I have no financial interest in anyone purchasing this book>
Sorry for the hijack, but since the other thread this was mentioned in was closed… Can you check the 8-ball rules section in the back of that book? I swear it was in there that I originally read the “respot the 8 if it’s behind the string after the foul” rule. In fact, I think one of the critical shots was how to pocket a ball on the foot spot when shooting from behind the string. It’s possible later editions were different, but mine was bought around 1994, and I can’t imagine what other book I could have read this in.
I have that book, but in my opinion a far superior one is “Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards”. Byrne approaches the game like an engineer, and he understands the mechanics of the game and explains them well. There’s also an accompanying video that’s very good, and a second volume, “Bryne’s Advanced Book of Pool”. Highly recommended.
They’re also really fun to read. He writes with wit, talks about the science of the game, its history, odd facts, etc. Ray Martin’s book is much drier. For example, in Byrne’s chapter on selecting pool cues, he talks about an experiment he devised to determine the optimum weight of a cue for the hardest break. His pool table is in his garage, so he took the far rail right off the table, opened his garage door, and then got some players together and they started firing cueballs off the end of the table into the street, measuring where they land. Smart idea. As I recall, it turns out that heavier cues are NOT better. You want a cue light enough that you can accelerate it as fast as your muscles will allow.
Byrne also did an experiment to disprove the notion that a ‘wrist snap’ could be used to apply more english on the cueball. I think Martin himself says that you can do this, but Byrne shows that the contact time between the cue and the cueball is virtually instantaneous, and the tip does not stay in contact with the ball long enough for any wrist action or follow-through to add extra english.
I did manage a 19 on one rack, but the rest were just shite. I was a tad frustrated at racking after only pocketing 2 or 3 balls. I’ll try again when I’m more relaxed.