The Americans go one bigger again (Pool, 9 ball)

Member Name: bruffyboy

Product:	Pool, 9 ball
Date:	28/06/09 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: not sure

Disadvantages: size difference

Pool is one of my all time favourite games, and you can read my review of 8 ball pool by searching for 'pool, 8 ball'. I played it for years with no real knowledge of 9 ball pool, so imagine my surprise when I walked into a Megabowl one day and saw the weirdest pool table I had even seen.

8 ball (British) pool is played on a 6ft by 3ft table, whereas 9 ball (American) is played on a 9 ft by 4ft table. The tables themselves are the same in other ways: slate beds, rubber cushions, 6 pockets. The aim of the game is slightly different, in that you have balls numbered from 1-9 and the aim is to pot them in numerical order. You can also play where one of you goes after the striped balls and one of you goes for the spotted. Anyway, the extra foot makes all the difference, and not in a good way.

The main problem with this game is it is too easy. The extra size makes the pockets huge, with wide angles. Basically, you can pot the balls so easily that it becomes child's play. You don't have to work so hard on cue ball positioning, because it's just easy to pot. Now, the challenge comes when you're going for the balls in numerical order, but for me this defeats the whole point of the game. Going after the same ball means when you miss and leave it over a pocket, the opponent gets it. This is more like snooker, and ruins a good game of pool in my mind. In 8 ball pool you would come back for that ball next time.

Finally, you can't buy these size tables commercially in anything like the numbers you can get 8 ball. You tend to have to go to specific places to play 9 ball on a 9 ball size table, and a home set-up from Argos or the like won't be the right dimensions, so it limits the game to non-home use, which makes it expensive to play.

All in all, I'll be sticking with 8 ball.

Summary: no!