5 Rack Ghost

cincy_kid

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I am sure most of you are familiar with this game / bet but if not, it's a pretty fun one to play sometime. Basically you rack the balls like you are going to play a game of one pocket. You decide which pocket you are shooting for and then break however you want to (hard/easy, hit the head ball/hit the side ball) and wherever your CB ends up, that's where you have to shoot from.

After the break, you run as many as you can before you miss into the pocket you chose. Once you miss, you re-rack and do the same thing on rack #2. Rinse and repeat. After 5 racks, you add up your total and that's your score.

So you can either be the shooter or the other guy. I have seen many people bet this game and win/lose from both sides. I will say it's a little harder than you may think when you first try it until you get a consistent break that you are comfortable with. For example, lets say you are shooting at 20 (that means you need to run 4 balls per rack on average). Well on your first rack if you end up with a ball frozen to the CB and you get 0, now you need 20 in 4 racks (5 per rack average) - so there is surely some luck involved too on how the balls lay or tie up.

The only thing I cant remember is if you scratch on the break, does that add one to your total and you get ball in paw behind the line? I think that's the way we played it years ago....

The first time I played it, I started shooting at 15, then 13, then 11 and went busted on 9 :)

I am curious to see what's the most you guys have done in 5 racks and what you would be comfortable betting on yourself to shoot at. If you have never tried it, give it a go and report back.

PS - I wonder what Alex or Efren or one of the tops would be willing to shoot at....
 

jrhendy

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May 24, 2004
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Placerville, CA
I am sure most of you are familiar with this game / bet but if not, it's a pretty fun one to play sometime. Basically you rack the balls like you are going to play a game of one pocket. You decide which pocket you are shooting for and then break however you want to (hard/easy, hit the head ball/hit the side ball) and wherever your CB ends up, that's where you have to shoot from.

After the break, you run as many as you can before you miss into the pocket you chose. Once you miss, you re-rack and do the same thing on rack #2. Rinse and repeat. After 5 racks, you add up your total and that's your score.

So you can either be the shooter or the other guy. I have seen many people bet this game and win/lose from both sides. I will say it's a little harder than you may think when you first try it until you get a consistent break that you are comfortable with. For example, lets say you are shooting at 20 (that means you need to run 4 balls per rack on average). Well on your first rack if you end up with a ball frozen to the CB and you get 0, now you need 20 in 4 racks (5 per rack average) - so there is surely some luck involved too on how the balls lay or tie up.

The only thing I cant remember is if you scratch on the break, does that add one to your total and you get ball in paw behind the line? I think that's the way we played it years ago....

The first time I played it, I started shooting at 15, then 13, then 11 and went busted on 9 :)

I am curious to see what's the most you guys have done in 5 racks and what you would be comfortable betting on yourself to shoot at. If you have never tried it, give ti a go and report back.

PS - I wonder what Alex or Efren or one of the tops would be willing to shoot at....

I watched Efren shoot a 45 or 48 at Derby City the first time he ever tried it. I think Gabe Owen shot the highest number, 60? Hard to believe.:D
 

cincy_kid

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I watched Efren shoot a 45 or 48 at Derby City the first time he ever tried it. I think Gabe Owen shot the highest number, 60? Hard to believe.:D


WHAT?! Holy Cow!!!!

Of course I will bet anyone to shoot at 60 - that's a no brainer but I may even let Efren shoot at 48, that's strong strong strong!

he would have to do better than break + run 9 every rack.
 
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bernie p

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Interesting thread....

I once spoke to an individual who witnessed Efren's challenge for him to go to 43 on one single attempt for a sizable amount.

Efren scored exactly 43. His (non playing) opponent was apparently shocked that Efren could pull this off in one try.(Duh....this is Efren)

The opponent offered the same sizable bet again.....but this time with Efren going to 44.

Efren's response......"no bet" :eek:

A man has to know his limits ;):D

Bernie.
 

Jeff sparks

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Houston, Texas
WHAT?! Holy Cow!!!!

Of course I will bet anyone to shoot at 60 - that's a no brainer but I may even let Efren shoot at 48, that's strong strong strong!

he would have to do better than break + run 9 every rack.

The stars of old used to shoot at 25... Ronnie included... Anyone included... The tables had bigger pockets, but somehow 25 was a tough number... Go figure!

If it's raining in Houston, I would let anyone shoot at 38 at Bogies on table # 2
 

jrhendy

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Placerville, CA
The stars of old used to shoot at 25... Ronnie included... Anyone included... The tables had bigger pockets, but somehow 25 was a tough number... Go figure!

If it's raining in Houston, I would let anyone shoot at 38 at Bogies on table # 2

I watched Richie Florence win a bunch of $$ going to 25 when he was a youngster. He had a straight pool background, unusual for a California kid.
 

cincy_kid

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Cincinnati, OH
Interesting thread....

I once spoke to an individual who witnessed Efren's challenge for him to go to 43 on one single attempt for a sizable amount.

Efren scored exactly 43. His (non playing) opponent was apparently shocked that Efren could pull this off in one try.(Duh....this is Efren)

The opponent offered the same sizable bet again.....but this time with Efren going to 44.

Efren's response......"no bet" :eek:

A man has to know his limits ;):D

Bernie.

I know Efren is Efren, but dang that 5 rack game is so hard. For someone to make it anywhere near the 40's impresses the heck out of me.

Good to see Bernie and good luck in your match on Saturday, I will be rooting for ya!
 

cincy_kid

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Cincinnati, OH
The stars of old used to shoot at 25... Ronnie included... Anyone included... The tables had bigger pockets, but somehow 25 was a tough number... Go figure!

If it's raining in Houston, I would let anyone shoot at 38 at Bogies on table # 2

25 sounds a lot closer to what I would expect some of the better players to shoot at and then someone like Alex or Efren shooting at about 35.
 

cincy_kid

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I watched Richie Florence win a bunch of $$ going to 25 when he was a youngster. He had a straight pool background, unusual for a California kid.

When I was playing lots 20 years ago, there were quite a few bets going around on the 5 rack game. I remember watching a couple of local shortstops play it for like a 10 hour session, insane..It was brought up to me as a "sucker's bet" but I saw plenty win on it so it makes me realize that the sucker could be the shooter or the racker hehe...
 

Jeff sparks

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Sounds like a fun exercise. How do people normally break for this??

Seen several ways, one way is hit the 2nd ball full with a slight draw to the side rail and back out into the middle of the table... Medium speed

Another way is to split the top two balls with inside draw running English and open em up again going two rails outta the corner. Jersey Red used this break when trying to get all 15 balls.
 

cincy_kid

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Cincinnati, OH
Seen several ways, one way is hit the 2nd ball full with a slight draw to the side rail and back out into the middle of the table... Medium speed

Another way is to split the top two balls with inside draw running English and open em up again going two rails outta the corner. Jersey Red used this break when trying to get all 15 balls.

Yea, that's the 2 breaks I have seen used mostly.

Basically you can do a one pocket break with not as much inside and hit it harder so that your CB ends up around the middle of the table
 

baby huey

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When I was very young, once upon a time a long long time ago, Richie Florence busted me shooting at 27 and needing 14 in the last inning. That cemented me as a Richie fan forever. That SOB made more incredible shots than anyone I have ever seen. Afterwords Richie told me he was zoned in that day and would have bet me anything I wanted. Afterwords he quietly gave me a stake to get started again. Of all the players who ever played pool Richie will always be my favorite. I still miss him. Soon afterwords he made a big score in Vegas and then took it to Johnson City only to have Fats get all his cash playing one pocket. That's another story for another day. I'm sure Dr. Bill has some memories of Richie as well.
 

Jeff sparks

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When I was very young, once upon a time a long long time ago, Richie Florence busted me shooting at 27 and needing 14 in the last inning. That cemented me as a Richie fan forever. That SOB made more incredible shots than anyone I have ever seen. Afterwords Richie told me he was zoned in that day and would have bet me anything I wanted. Afterwords he quietly gave me a stake to get started again. Of all the players who ever played pool Richie will always be my favorite. I still miss him. Soon afterwords he made a big score in Vegas and then took it to Johnson City only to have Fats get all his cash playing one pocket. That's another story for another day. I'm sure Dr. Bill has some memories of Richie as well.

Interesting... Jerry did you know he won that money at the Stardust Casino?
I was standing right next to Richie at the Baccarrat table when he made that score, I think it was about $60,000.00.
I believe it was in '68 or 1969, not sure...

He was betting $2000.00 a hand on the player and won an amazing 14 hands in a row, then finally lost one and switched the $2000.00 bet to the bank and won another 11 or 12 hands in a row. He seesawed back and forth for a while winning a little more then called for the security guard to escort him to the cage where he promptly deposited the money.

I know the reason he called for security, there were several of us broke ass scuffs hanging near him and he knew he needed to do something to avoid the bite... Lol... Not only could he play... He was a pretty sharp cat also...
Small world huh? :)
 
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