5 rack game?

cincy_kid

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I know we talked about this in another thread somewhere but seeing Dave's / Bill's run out videos reminded me of the infamous 5 rack ghost game so I had to bring it up.

For those that are not familiar with it, it's a game that involves only one player against the ghost. You rack the balls, choose your pocket and then break. Wherever the Cue Ball ends up after your break is where you shoot from. You then shoot balls into your pocket until you miss.

You do this for 5 racks in a row and total your score.

Things to note:

- If you scratch on the break, you start with BIH behind the head string and with a score of -1
- You can choose to break them like one pocket but harder or more of an 8 ball break, or whatever you want, but obviously CB control is everything.
- sometimes, after your break you may freeze on a ball or just have no shot whatsoever, so for some racks, you may get 0

So 2 players could gamble by having one player shoot at a number.

I personally have only gambled at it one time (and then I learned my lesson lol).

I started by shooting at 17 I think...got stuck, adjusted to 15, then 13, then 11. I think I ended up going busted shooting at 9 haha...I will tell you it's harder than it may seem since you dont get to take BIH after the break.

I am pretty sure some of the top pros will shoot at 45 or 50 which just blows my mind!

Anyway, if you have played it before and you don't mind sharing, let us know what you shot at or what you think you would shoot at and/or any other experiences you may have had with it.

Plus, if Dave, Whitey, Bill or anyone else with a camera wants to post their 5 rack ghost as a video here, it would be neat to see some! If you do, don't do a cut after each rack, leave it all as one video so we know you really did it in the 5 racks (instead of doing 50 racks and only showing your best 5 racks) :)

What would you guys shoot at for the money?
 

Dennis "Whitey" Young

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This is a hustle, for from the onset it appears simple to get your balls in five racks.
Cincy, I think you are wrong about scratching on the break, that would end the inning and you would be a minus point.
In todays world the pros that are shooting at 40 + balls are taking ball in hand after the break which makes it much simpler.

In early '70's we broke the rack by hitting the head ball fairly moderately and letting the cb drag over slightly at the top of the rack on your pocket side in hopes to get a shot. More later! got to run! Whitey
 

cincy_kid

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This is a hustle, for from the onset it appears simple to get your balls in five racks.
Cincy, I think you are wrong about scratching on the break, that would end the inning and you would be a minus point.
In todays world the pros that are shooting at 40 + balls are taking ball in hand after the break which makes it much simpler.

In early '70's we broke the rack by hitting the head ball fairly moderately and letting the cb drag over slightly at the top of the rack on your pocket side in hopes to get a shot. More later! got to run! Whitey
Yea, mostly a hustle I think too Whitey...

I could be wrong but I thought Joe and some others posted that they were shooting at 40+ but doing it without taking BIH. If they were taking BIH then I 100% agree, so much easier. Maybe someone will confirm if they have seen the pros attempting and how they did it..

I think I broke that way too as you mentioned but if I did it today I would probably do like Dave does on his break (like a regular one hole break but harder).
 

androd

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Yea, mostly a hustle I think too Whitey...

I could be wrong but I thought Joe and some others posted that they were shooting at 40+ but doing it without taking BIH. If they were taking BIH then I 100% agree, so much easier. Maybe someone will confirm if they have seen the pros attempting and how they did it..

I think I broke that way too as you mentioned but if I did it today I would probably do like Dave does on his break (like a regular one hole break but harder).
Most of guys on here would have a lot of trouble shooting at 15
 

cincy_kid

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Question: what happens if you make a ball on the break, would it count?
If the ball on the break was in your pocket, yes it counts! If you make one in the side, it stays down and spots up at end if you run the other 14.

Good luck on your attempts Dave! It's better to try to shoot for a number, like for example 20. Do your 5 racks see where you end up, try it again, again, etc. If you find yourself doing it more often than not, go up a few balls, if doing it less than 50% go down a few...Would be fun to see what our average numbers would be...
 

cincy_kid

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Most of guys on here would have a lot of trouble shooting at 15
Interesting, then I was shooting at what I was probably supposed to shoot at, and although I think I won once or twice when it got down to 11 or 9, I mostly loss, lol....

So that means you shoot at 30 Rod? :)
 

Hardmix

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When Filler Was trapped at Roys he was playing the Ghost in all games. When playing 1P he took ball in hand after the break and the line was 45.5 as I recall. If a ball was made on the break it came up.
 

androd

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Jersey Red was the greatest, for 3 reasons #1 great player #2 played excelant position #3 he had the best break of all.
 

androd

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Interesting, then I was shooting at what I was probably supposed to shoot at, and although I think I won once or twice when it got down to 11 or 9, I mostly loss, lol....

So that means you shoot at 30 Rod? :)
I have made 17/18 because I use Jerseys break.
 

Dennis "Whitey" Young

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Just curious, what do you think Alex or any top pro could do without taking BIH and shoot from where it ends up?
If they were to use the same break, an excellent player probably 16 - 19. Next level player @ low 20's and I'd say Alex probably 23 -25 if he is playing exceptional, In talking with Monk, he said he seen shooting at 27.
There was a player that came and hung out at the Bellflower Palace, he would sleep there also. They said he was from Chicago. He was shooting at 23 and was playing picture perfect, and he used the same break as I did, which I was self taught. They bump it up to 25 and he still beat it. It was beautiful to witness for every shape was perfect.
I schooled a friend of mine on this game, for he approached me because his game was not getting any better and was at a lost as to how to get to the next level. I knew he practiced like crazy, so I could not just say practice more. I also knew he liked tinkering with OP. So I suggested this 5 game OP, and that was all he needed, and the excitement came back. He does a 2nd ball break, and ever once in awhile he will text me that he ran all 15 balls. Whitey
 

cincy_kid

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If they were to use the same break, an excellent player probably 16 - 19. Next level player @ low 20's and I'd say Alex probably 23 -25 if he is playing exceptional, In talking with Monk, he said he seen shooting at 27.
There was a player that came and hung out at the Bellflower Palace, he would sleep there also. They said he was from Chicago. He was shooting at 23 and was playing picture perfect, and he used the same break as I did, which I was self taught. They bump it up to 25 and he still beat it. It was beautiful to witness for every shape was perfect.
I schooled a friend of mine on this game, for he approached me because his game was not getting any better and was at a lost as to how to get to the next level. I knew he practiced like crazy, so I could not just say practice more. I also knew he liked tinkering with OP. So I suggested this 5 game OP, and that was all he needed, and the excitement came back. He does a 2nd ball break, and ever once in awhile he will text me that he ran all 15 balls. Whitey
dang, well after hearing that, maybe my real number should be about 7-9, lol....
 

12squared

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When Filler Was trapped at Roys he was playing the Ghost in all games. When playing 1P he took ball in hand after the break and the line was 45.5 as I recall. If a ball was made on the break it came up.
I thought I ran a 15 spotting a ball up at the end of my 14 ball run. Normal 1pocket rules say spot it, but when I asked Roy he said it stayed down and did not count. He also said if you make one on the break it stays down and would not count. I was bummed cause I thought I had another 15. Grrrrr

Ben, I thought if you made a ball on the break you would spot it, too. In fact that's how I played until hearing from Roy. It's confusing to me.
 
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cincy_kid

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I thought I ran a 15 spotting a ball up at the end of my 14 ball run. Normal 1pocket rules say spot it, but when I asked Roy he said it stayed down and did not count. He also said if you make one on the break it stays down and would not count. I was bummed cause I thought I had another 15. Grrrrr
guess it just depends on what rules you go by, there are variations...
 
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