Thanks for the tip, I’ll look into that one too.
Tried again tonight…lets just say I’d loose an ass kicking contest to a one legged man. Never could get into any sort of feel for the game tonight. It just wasn’t there. Maybe next week.
I went to a local pool hall, for the first time, and tried this tonight. I scored 32, I think, but just realised I didn’t follow the rules correctly. I didn’t do “ball in hand” after the break, but played the break as it was. This was a big disadvantage, as there were three turns where I was unable to sink a shot from the break, and it was never the most advantageous position. I’d guesstimate that I should normally score about 40-75, although it might take a few times of practicing to get that.
One thing I noticed: I played a lot more conservatively this way than I normally would. It’s because I was playing “not to miss” instead of playing to making shots. I’ll have to work on that.
Also, I am just a decent bar rules 8 ball player, but it’s my normal game to play very defensively. The name here is accurate as there is no real defense involved. So if I can get out and play this once a week or two this would probably improve my game quite a bit. I don’t recall playing a game of pool for over a year until tonight.
The great thing about EO is that it’s a fun game to play by yourself, and there just aren’t too many of those.
One of the strategy choices you have to make is when to trade off an easy ball for a harder one that gets you better strategic position. You have to factor your skill level into that. When I score really low at EO it’s usually because I get too clever and decide to clear off some ball on the rail or a long table shot because I’ve got decent but not great position on it. Then I miss, and score a 1 or a 2 when there were easily 3 or 4 balls that would have been trivial to sink. So you have to be a good judge of your own skill level, which is also a good skill to develop.
I think I’ll play another round tonight.
What if the cue and object ball lie within the rack space?
BCA 14.1 rules apply. They are:
If both the cueball and the 15th ball are in the rack space, the cueball is put in the ‘kitchen’ (the 'D" at the top of the table), and the 15th ball goes on the foot spot.
If the last ball is in the rack space and the cueball isn’t, all 15 balls are racked and you have to try to call a ball out of a 15 ball break.
Another silly question: after the break, with the cueball behind the head string, I always aim for a ball which is ahead of the head string. Is that correct, or can I hit a ball placed within?