rules question

bobt64

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Green Valley, AZ
We were playing and noticed that we missed spotting a ball (my opponents), I finished my turn at the table by sinking one of his balls, I then spotted that ball. Was that the correct procedure?
 

lll

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vero beach fl
hope this helps
i bolded pertinent points
this is from our official rules
9.4 When to spot forgotten balls: If any owed balls, or balls that have fallen into a neutral pocket are forgotten and later remembered, then they are spotted after each player has shot once, unless there are no balls left on the table, in which case they are all spotted immediately. In any case, any owed balls are not forgiven, but still must be paid. As long as there is full consent, players may agree to waive 9.4 and spot forgotten balls at any time they are remembered.
 

Dennis "Whitey" Young

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I think what happen is this; you spotted the ball you put down in his pocket because you recognized that he had owed a forgotten ball. This is incorrect procedure, for that ball should have stayed downed as a legally pocketed ball. Then after each player has had an inning, then the forgotten ball would be spotted. Unless you both agreed to an earlier spotting.

So, you recognized the forgotten ball during your inning then completed your inning, now your opponent is allowed to have their inning and thereafter the forgotten ball would have been spotted.

So, you are ok if both of you agreed to spot the ball. But if there was no agreement you screwed up!
Whitey
 
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vapros

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baton rouge, la
The ball you made in his pocket is his to keep. Having already discovered the slept ball before that, after your opponent has an inning the slept ball is spotted.

The rule is to insure that each player gets a turn at the table, knowing that a ball will be spotted.
 

beatle

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there needs to be a penalty or at least where the person ultimately responsible for making the ball get spotted doesn't get the best of the situation.

so who is the one ultimately responsible for spotting or making sure the ball is spotted originally.
 

Ratamon

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there needs to be a penalty or at least where the person ultimately responsible for making the ball get spotted doesn't get the best of the situation.

so who is the one ultimately responsible for spotting or making sure the ball is spotted originally.
I believe it's the outgoing player's responsibility to spot any balls once his turn has ended. So in this case it should be the player who pocketed the ball for the other guy.

A tricky one, for sure.

Edit. I misread the OP's post. It doesn't say who had pocketed the ball that was slept. But my comment above stands, as in it would be the responsibility of the player who pocketed the slept ball.
 

bobt64

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Green Valley, AZ
Thanks for the replies, the more I think about it the more I agree we should have waited until the the next player finished his turn.
Unusual event for sure.
 

beatle

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so a player doesnt spot a ball because it will give an easy shot. so he sleeps it and hopes his opponent does as well. then he can spot it later on and not leave a shot at it.

in all games you should penalize any mistakes that can give the person an advantage by the correction of it.
 
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bobt64

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Green Valley, AZ
I believe it's the outgoing player's responsibility to spot any balls once his turn has ended. So in this case it should be the player who pocketed the ball for the other guy.

A tricky one, for sure.

Edit. I misread the OP's post. It doesn't say who had pocketed the ball that was slept. But my comment above stands, as in it would be the responsibility of the player who pocketed the slept ball.
I don't remember the exact situation but he was the one who would need to spot the ball. So actually what we did was in his favor even though if I recall correctly he didn't have a makeable shot at the spotted ball, it did give him more options.
 

Ratamon

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I don't remember the exact situation but he was the one who would need to spot the ball. So actually what we did was in his favor even though if I recall correctly he didn't have a makeable shot at the spotted ball, it did give him more options.
Understood. Was no big deal by the sound of it. The delayed spotting stops both players from getting an advantage once they've recognised that a ball was slept. Obviously, it doesn't help if one would have been left straight in had a ball been spotted correctly but I see it as a penalty on the incoming player for not paying attention.
 

beatle

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correct so by sleeping a ball which would give a shot penalizes the incoming player if he isnt paying attention.

so then the opponent is responsible for the shooters fouls and spotting of his balls. hence, then it pays to sleep balls if it is an advantage to.
 

bobt64

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Green Valley, AZ
The thing is I pocketed one of his balls, if this didn't happen it would have only been a typical slept ball situation. Since neither one of us was sure what to do we made a decision which was incorrect. I don't think either one of us thought of the option of giving him the ball then and spot the slept ball after his turn. Well, if it ever happens again I'll know what to do. If I had played the pocketed ball and moved the cue away from the pocket it could have resulted in a big advantage for him. I left the cue in the pocket but after spotting the ball he did have more options than he would have had if the ball wasn't spotted.
 

squeezeplay

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My accounting professor said (to paraphrrase) "If you can cheat a system, one should...just so early detection saves later misery." If you keep sleeping scratches you need to be penalized. Its part of the game.
 
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