Racking the Balls in Billiards

Video Transcript

Alright, we're back, and we're going to show you exactly how we rack the balls to start the game of 8 ball. OK, the rack. This is the rack that we talked about earlier in terminology. This is the rack, it's a triangle rack. For racking the game of 8 ball the most universal rack is always the 8 ball. In every rule for racking the 8 ball always goes in the middle. And usually, the 1 ball always goes in front. This is the universal rack, though. The universal rack says the one ball goes here (front corner of the rack). And all you have to do is put a solid here (back left corner of the rack) and a stripe in this corner (back right corner of the rack) and the 1 ball goes flush on the spot which is also an imaginary line to these two spots here. And, that is your rack, universally for 8 ball. You would take off your rack and say, "Break 'em." Alright, let me show you a more common rack that we use here in New York City. Most of the bars and pool halls I play in all throughout the country pretty much rack them this way. OK, again, the 1 ball will be up in front but what you're going to do is have a solid, stripe, stripe, solid, solid, again the 8 ball will always go in the middle. So, solid, stripe, stripe, solid, solid. You're going to put a stripe and a stripe, solid, stripe, solid, stripe, and a solid. That's the more commonly used rack for 8 ball. OK, I just want to touch real quick on racking. A lot of times when you see guys getting an edge on a game, you have to watch this, if your opponent gives you a loose rack. That's when the balls aren't really touching each other but they're still in the rack. What will happen is you'll break that ball, hitting it really hard, and the balls won't really go anywhere and you probably won't get anything on the break. So, watch for that. You want all the balls to be flush and tight and you want to make sure they all touch each other. And you know what? You want to make sure this 1 is right on the spot. You don't want it to be a little below. And you have to watch sometimes, also, if it's a little above it you can get a big break. So, the guy who may be racking, maybe he's friends with the other guy. So, make sure the rack, to be fair, is where all the balls are tightly racked together and the 1 is flush right over the spot. Make sure no one gets you moved by racking them.

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