One pocket
Encyclopedia : O : ON : ONE : One pocket
One Pocket is a variation of pool.
It is a two player game played with the general conventions of Standard Rules of Pocket Billiards. The winner is the first to score 8 points, a point is made when a player makes any ball into their designated pocket. The player making the break (typically after winning the lag) chooses a bottom corner pocket to be theirs for the rest of the game. That shooter must make all of his balls in that pocket. The opponent must make his balls in the other bottom corner pocket.
One Pocket is like the game of straight pool in that both games allow you score points for pocketing balls, and each legally pocketed ball earns the shooter another shot. The penalties for a foul (illegal shot) is the loss of one point and in the case of a "scratch" the incoming player gets "ball in hand" behind the headstring. Unlike Straight pool (or 14.1) three consecutive fouls is often considered the loss of the game.
History
The famous American pool player "Minnesota Fats" allegedly said the game of One Pocket was like chess, later admitting that he had actually never played a game of chess. It is one of the highest tests of skill in all of pool. It requires great shot making skills, banking excellence, planning, and patience.On the other hand, Willie Mosconi—perhaps the greatest pool player ever (high run of 526 at straight pool) #redirect —called one pocket a gimmick game for gamblers.
The game is even described as having a beginning, a middle, and an end game like chess. A player must be careful not to leave their opponent with a good shot, or the opponent may be able to make that shot, and capitalize on it for successive shots. A player will even intentionally pocket their opponents ball losing a point in the process to prevent the player from being able to make that ball and get shape (ideal cue ball position,) on their next shot.
The game is still very popular with gamblers and One Pocket plays a major role in the yearly Derby City Classic which is played in Kentucky at about the same time as the Kentucky Derby each year. There are also large scale One Pocket events such as the World One Pocket Championship and the Legends of One Pocket that take place yearly.
One of the most famous players of the game is "The Professor", Grady Mathews who has written articles and published a number of instructional videos on the game. The two main reference works on One Pocket are "Winning One Pocket" and "Shots Moves and Stratagies" both conceived by Player and Gambler Eddie Robins. The books are available at a stiff premium over their original price with copies regularly bringing over $200 (US) each.
Additional resources
- [Accu-Stats Videos] (lots of different matches on tape or DVD)
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.