Break In

[Spector]

I'm struggling with this one, as I don't know the rules! I thought it would be like normal pool, where you have the spots and stripes, and when you pot one of them, you pot the rest before downing the black. But it doesn't seem to play like that, cause I'm accused of committing a foul when I try it. Can anyone here give me a simple run down of the rules with 8-ball, 9 ball and the other versions in this game?

[nat]

Maybe it's 9-ball.

There are some rules here:

http://departments.weber.edu/wildcatlanes/billiard_rules.htm

[nat]

Nevermind, doesn't sound like 9 ball. I have no idea. I have to get this game and figure it out, now.

[guyjin]

maybe you have to put them in, in numerical order?

[Spector]

I've worked out that one of the games is like that, yeah. But there's 8-ball and 9-ball too. I've never played them, though I hear that they are big in the US.

[m1savage]

Break In is a really good game with all the different variations plus the tutorial section is fun too. As far as I can tell, the games use the same rules as their real life counterparts.

[ceti alpha]

I've worked out that one of the games is like that, yeah. But there's 8-ball and 9-ball too. I've never played them, though I hear that they are big in the US.

8 ball and 9 ball are quite popular here in North America. The rules vary somewhat depending if you're playing bar rules or league rules.

In a nut shell:

8 ball:

-- someone breaks. The solid colour balls are 1-7 (low) and the striped balls are 9-15 (high). The first person to sink a ball becomes either low or high depending on what ball it was that they sunk (i.e. if you sink a striped (high)  ball the rest of the stripes (high balls) become yours, and vice versa).

-- Once all that is determined you try to sink all of your own balls before your opponent sinks theirs.

-- The 8 ball (black) is the last one you shoot for. Generally you have to call this shot (bar or league) and if you scratch (sink the cue ball) while shooting the 8 ball you lose. Be careful! 

9 ball: This game is fun.

-- In this game the balls 1 to 9 are racked in numerical sequence in a diamond starting with the 9 ball in the middle.

-- The purpose of this ball is to sink the 9 ball as soon as possible. You basically just go from 1 to 9. If you don't hit the lowest ball on the table before any of the others it's a scratch and your opponent has "ball in hand", meaning they can put the white ball wherever they want. You don't have to wait to sink all the balls before sinking the 9; however, you always must hit the lowest ball first before hitting the 9. For example, if the 3 ball is the lowest number on the table you must hit that ball first. So you can combo the 3 into the 9 to sink the 9 and win the game. Oh and you don't have to call your shots in this game.

Sorry for the confusing instructions. lol

[Spector]

Thanks for that. It turns out that 8-ball basically is pool, though if you foul on the black, you lose the game, which seems a bit harsh. In the UK, you only lose if you down the white while potting the black.

The biggest problem I have now is with screwing - can anyone tell me how do a screw in this without messing up?




Please feel free to reply with as many double entendres as possible.

[Spector]

BTW, my avatar is all low res now. I changed something in the profile and it disappeared. I now find that I can only upload it via photobucket, and when I do that, it's all blocky. Whassat all about?

[nat]

It looks exactly the same to me. I see no blocks.

[Turbo D]

If you are having photobucket resize it for you, then that is half of the problem. I always resize photos with photoshop before uploading them to photobucket.