Last year I learnt to play “eight-ball”. I’ve become pretty good at it. One thing I cannot figure out is how to arrange the ball in the triangle “thingy”. Usually i put the black ball in the middle of second row. They i place alternate balls on the on the outer diagonals. However i’ve notice that other people have different ways of fixing theirs…some try to form two J’s…you know different people have different ways of arranging the balls. So today i went online to find out how best to fix and the ball and lo and behold i read that there are no order in which we can arrange the balls the only thing that matters is that the black balls is in it’s usually position and one only has to place a “stripe” and a “solid” on each corner of the diagonals.
So why do every one think that there is a patttern to follow? is there a pattern? i’m terribly confused…help
As long as both you and your partner are satisfied , you can arrange the balls in any configuration you wish. In a competition game , it would be done for you , to ensure fairness.
My manner of racking the balls , is to place a solid at the top of the triangle , followed by two stripes , then two solids and the eightball. The fourth row is usually three stripes and a solid ,usually 0X00 , and the fifth is X0X0X with the zeros being the stripes.
Almost all the breaks done with this configuration , ensure that both solids and stripes have a good chance of sinking on the break.
Declan
Hmm. I’ve always done by putting a solid in each corner, alternating each stripe/solid ball. There’s one of each left to put behind the eight ball.
[url=http://www.bca-pool.com/play/tournaments/rules/rls_8bl.shtml’This site agrees with you, saying "The balls are racked in a triangle at the foot of the table with the 8-ball in the center of the triangle, the first ball of the rack on the foot spot, a stripe ball in one corner of the rack and a solid ball in the other corner. "
In most bars I’ve played in (in the US), the “house rules” dictate doing it my way.
I used to play in a BCA (Billiard Congress of America) league and that’s what we were told was the only condition for a legal rack, that is, eight centered in the second row and different types on the back corners.
I rack along the lines of the “J” you’re describing. I put 3 1/2 balls of each type on either side of the centerline. You can legally group balls of either kind together, but who needs to add another variable to your opponents opening run. It might help you, but it might lead to a run-out.
People think there’s a particular ‘rule’ on how to set it up because their parents or friends or whatever taught them a particular way to set it up and they’ve been doing it like that ever since.
I guess I need to learn to type faster or use preview more often… 
I’ve always followed the same procedure as Declan. Also, I always put the 1 in the front, because something just seems right about shooting for the yellow ball.
O
Xo
O8x
Xoxo
Oxxox
Pool is notorious in britain for having as many different rule variations as they are places it is played.
Oops, I slipped on the preview/post choice.
I was going to add that in league no one, at least on a few teams, would ever break an illegal rack. Sometimes newcomers would offer a “bar rack” and I’d ask that they swap a different ball into one of the corners.
FWIW, when I play at the local pub I don’t give a rat’s ass what the rack looks like, as long as the eight is where it’s supposed to be. And I always put a solid over the head spot out of courtesy, though I don’t care if it’s the one ball.
In my family we always set them up so 1 and 15 were in the corners, eight was in the middle of the second row, and all the others were random.
We also had an odd house rule that 1 and 15 must be sunk in a middle pocket.
Indeed, and also for the players making them up on the fly out of desparation and convenience - I used to play a fair bit of pub pool and one of my mates was particularly fond of this - always citing obscure ‘rules’ (such as “I can’t see both sides of my ball from the cue ball, so I can nominate and pot one of yours” and “You sank the ball off three cushions, so I get an extra shot”) - I stopped playing pool because of this general state of affairs.
I usually just put the 8 in the middle and color coordinate/sequence the balls in numerical order around the 8.
…1
…9…14
…2…8…6
…10…7…15…13
.3…11…4…12…5
If you’re playing cutthroat though, this isn’t a desirable rack.
My two sense…
Eight ball in the middle, with the one at the top, and the two and three in the lower corners, alternating stripes and solids throughout.
As with many games, you and your opponent need to agree on which rules you’re playing by at the beginning, before a shot is made. In my college days, in the late 70s and early 80s, the alternating rack was standard where I usually played. But things have changed - when I play a stranger nowadays, we invariably play BCA rules, and always rack so that the two back corners are opposite groups. The other balls are supposed to be at random, but if randomness decides to put a bunch of one group together, I scatter them around to make it more balanced.
I’m sure that there are still places where the alternating rack style is dominant, but I think that at higher levels of play, you have to have more formalized rules (to avoid “dirty” pool), and the BCA rules give you that.
I think I may have to revise my scheme…I now agree that one of each kind of ball should be at the back corners. one stripe, and one solid. It’s the only way to make it balanced.
You could always use the Bible as your guide. Specifically, that passage where one child cuts the cake in half and then the other child picks the half they want.
Whichever player is not breaking the rack can set it up any way he wants. If the non-breaking player has some masterful strategy to set up the rack to his advantage, let him try. Then, if the strategy actually works, use it against him when you set up the rack.