Recent content by Bob Jewett

Because they did not know how to write clearly. Technical writing is not easy. If you read through the rest of the rule book you will see lots of problems. It got worse over time. Some rules were given in three different ways in three different places. Some rules said the opposite of what was...

On AZBilliards there is the "Goldmine" on the front page (not in the forums) which includes scans of the National Billiard News going back to 1964. Here is the listing of copies for 1968.

Here is the rule from the 1968 rule book: Here is the rule from the 1970 rule book: Here is the listing of the rules committee for 1970: If anyone here is interested in the history of the rules of pool, I have extra copies of most of the rule books going back to the 1890s. Or, you can...

I think a lot of the differences that people notice between the three games are due to the cloth and cushions rather than the balls themselves. Trying to move the cue ball around on a snooker table with fuzzy cloth and a dirty cue ball can seem impossible compared to the same path on a carom...

A heavier ball deflects less because the "end mass" of the cue stick is less compared to the mass of the larger ball. It still deflects, but it can seem like negative deflection when your brain is calibrated to what the ball should be doing.

Exactly. It is broken and confusing to fill in details that have nothing to do with the game. If there is no calling of shots mentioned, there can be no safeties. Make a ball in your pocket legally and it is still your turn. There is no need to explain that to people in the rules. If someone...

For what it's worth, in Winning One Pocket, Eddie Robin states a slept ball rule. It is worded a little ambiguously, but it says each player gets one more completed turn. I'd interpret that as a full turn. The main point in choosing the amount of delay is so neither player is hurt (much) by...

If you're going that route, I think it would be better to tap/train the table.

I think it's not hard to write at all. How about: After the error is noticed, each player will get one full turn and then all slept balls will spot. If the table is cleared, all balls to be spotted will be spotted at that time.

This is covered by the official rules on this website. Here's the rule: 9.4 If any owed balls, or balls that have fallen into a neutral pocket are forgotten and later remembered, then instead of being spotted after the current shooter’s inning, they are spotted after the end of the next...

Because in OP it is not possible to have the cue ball in hand with only one object ball on the table. And if there are two object balls on the table, one of them is on (or near) the foot spot. It is possible for a single object ball and the cue ball to be frozen to cushions. But I think...

Are you measuring with the center or the edge of the ball? 😈

Do we have enough potential versions yet? 😊 Yet another one is loss on any foul but not with the "poison pockets" rule. A ball pocketed extraneously is just spotted on the foot spot. If the break is restricted (only safe, not closer than one diamond, to other side ...) the restriction has to...

Well, my favorite way to play safe when only one ball is on the table is to put the object ball within a diamond of my pocket and stick the cue ball on the head rail. That safe seems to be against they way people want to play the break.

It appears that it would be possible to have all 15 balls back on the table. How do you keep track of how many each player needs? Do their bins start with 7 each? Can they spot past 7 from their bin if it comes to that or do they start putting coins up? It may rarely come up but I think it...