Which 8 Ball Pool ? American, Chinese, English ?
Hoping someone knows more about this than me! I started thinking about this as I saw something about pool in Malta now being affiliated to European Blackball, and due to host the European Nations Cup in November.
What I (think I) do know
English 8 Ball and American 8 Ball are somewhat different games, and I've always thought the tables have a different pocket shape?
In the UK, Europe and elsewhere 'English 8 Ball' is divided by two sets of rules, one of which calls the game 'Blackball' to distinguish it from American 8 Ball. Pro players in the IPA have recently moved to Blackball rules, splitting them from the English Pool Association (EPA) who now ban anyone from playing in their competitions if they've played Blackball at county level or above. The EPA are members of the World Eight Ball Federation and the rules they play to are often called 'World rules', whilst the English Blackball Pool Federation are affiliated to the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), and via them to the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (who also have the IBSF and World Snooker as members) and the Internationall Olympic Committee.
I understand from their website that the WPA are promoting both '8 ball pool' (the US version) and 'Blackball' in North America and elsewhere - I wonder if this is just theoretical or actually happening? And apparently (per Wikipedia!) the American Poolplayers Association and something called the Valley National Eight-ball Association have variations from the WPA rules for the US version ...
I tried to get my head round the two sets of rules on the WPA website (8 ball and blackball) but just got confused, think I'll have to watch different games on youtube sometime ...
I thought the version played at the World Games this year was the American version, but am now wondering if it was actually Blackball. Anyone know?
8 ball pool is very popular in China, with big TV audiences, lots of players etc - but they are playing their own version which uses a snooker table and American style balls - they've signed Stephen Hendry and Gareth Potts to promote the game over the next several years. They are promoting the game as Chinese Eight Ball, but it's sometimes known as 'Black Eight'. The prize money Potts got for winning the Chinese Eight Ball Masters was 50,000 US dollars, so attractive for players I'd guess. To confuse the issue, there is an American pool variant called 'Chinese Eight Ball' played on a normal pool table, where the object balls are hit into the cue ball and have to be potted by playing a carom off the cue ball.
Anyone know more about the rule differences and politics involved in this? And how badly is the split affecting ordinary players in the UK? I gather there are big differences between counties on this.
What I (think I) do know
English 8 Ball and American 8 Ball are somewhat different games, and I've always thought the tables have a different pocket shape?
In the UK, Europe and elsewhere 'English 8 Ball' is divided by two sets of rules, one of which calls the game 'Blackball' to distinguish it from American 8 Ball. Pro players in the IPA have recently moved to Blackball rules, splitting them from the English Pool Association (EPA) who now ban anyone from playing in their competitions if they've played Blackball at county level or above. The EPA are members of the World Eight Ball Federation and the rules they play to are often called 'World rules', whilst the English Blackball Pool Federation are affiliated to the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), and via them to the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (who also have the IBSF and World Snooker as members) and the Internationall Olympic Committee.
I understand from their website that the WPA are promoting both '8 ball pool' (the US version) and 'Blackball' in North America and elsewhere - I wonder if this is just theoretical or actually happening? And apparently (per Wikipedia!) the American Poolplayers Association and something called the Valley National Eight-ball Association have variations from the WPA rules for the US version ...
I tried to get my head round the two sets of rules on the WPA website (8 ball and blackball) but just got confused, think I'll have to watch different games on youtube sometime ...
I thought the version played at the World Games this year was the American version, but am now wondering if it was actually Blackball. Anyone know?
8 ball pool is very popular in China, with big TV audiences, lots of players etc - but they are playing their own version which uses a snooker table and American style balls - they've signed Stephen Hendry and Gareth Potts to promote the game over the next several years. They are promoting the game as Chinese Eight Ball, but it's sometimes known as 'Black Eight'. The prize money Potts got for winning the Chinese Eight Ball Masters was 50,000 US dollars, so attractive for players I'd guess. To confuse the issue, there is an American pool variant called 'Chinese Eight Ball' played on a normal pool table, where the object balls are hit into the cue ball and have to be potted by playing a carom off the cue ball.
Anyone know more about the rule differences and politics involved in this? And how badly is the split affecting ordinary players in the UK? I gather there are big differences between counties on this.
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roy142857 - Posts: 2979
- Joined: 28 May 2011