Something needs to be done about this, because playing the better 8 Ball UK players they just don't play pool. They will even stoop to potting the opposition's balls. This is ridiculous, and totally undermines the spirit of the game. My point is the best 8 ball UK player(s) aren't actually good at the game, they just deliberately foul and it is thoroughly frustrating.

View http://www.funkypool.com/viewTopic.do?topicid=14052 for a recent discourse on this issue. The points made there are basically that occasionally a player will commit a deliberate foul in order to gain the upper hand; however that leaves his/her opponent with a glorious opportunity to exact maximum capitalisation, because the rules of UK 8 ball (shots cary, hit any ball on first shot after a foul, etc) mean it's an extremely risky business fouling in UK 8 ball. US 8 ball however is a different story. Anyhow, read that topic and see what's been said.

Without violating Funkypool's policy against naming and shaming, can you describe what exactly happened?

Sorry I haven't give this a fuller shot at answering, but I've (hic) had a drink or two

yeah, it does suck heaps, but they are playing within the rules and you cant really do much about that.

when that happens to me, just give them a bout of their own medicine. if you are carful enough and have enough fenice, then you cana ctually beat them at their own game!! i did that before and its actully a great feeling.

or you can just try and pull off extrodinary shots each time!!

A win is a win no matter how it has been achieved. Deliberate fouls and tap snookers is a style of play for some people, and if it helps them win, then why should we say that they shouldn't do it??

The reason why they are the best, is because the can use un-conventional methods to gain the upper hand... There is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Just practice until you can beat them... But in the meantime, just learn to live with it matey! (Tap snookers are my style of play in 8UK, so I'll heavily defend it on this thread )

What you are upset about is skill. If deliberately fouling is the best course of action, then recognizing that fact and doing it is the sensible thing to do, an intended part of the game and nothing you should be upset about.

The best UK 8 ball players are those who play it according to the rules - not those who play it according to how YOU think it should be played.

Literally none of the pool games are only about potting the most possible balls, UK 8 is no exception to that rule. There is a lot more to that game than merely potting your own balls.

Edited at 10:41 Sun 2/11/08 (GMT)

Indeed this is one of the main differences between pool and snooker. In snooker, if you don't try your very best to play a legal shot, it is declared a miss and you have to try again.

In pool, oddly as it may sound, a foul is a perfectly legal shot.

Ok, after reading all your comments I have to agree there is nothing that can be done to prevent this. I'm sorry for bringing it up but I was very annoyed after playing a tourny game.

Not disagreeing with nearly everything said above. I made my comments on the other thread about considering whether rules should ever evolve for the benefit of the majority and I stand by them.

One interesting debate though would arise from whether the style of play alluded to in the first post (deliberately fouling) is actually playing according to the rules as jan states above.

The rules state what is a legal shot. If a player is deliberately playing an illegal shot then you could argue that it is actually against the rules. The player clearly takes a penalty for doing that but the question is whether the penalty fits the crime sufficiently. I know two shots sounds like a big advantage but by knowing that the white can only be placed in a certain area if it's been potted or else it has to be played from where it lies if it hasn't you can often negate one of the carry shots straight away.

I guess therefore it becomes a question of whether if you choose not to play within the rules (ie play a legal shot) there is sufficient punishment. I still believe for example ball in hand following a penalty shot would be an improvement but again that is just my opinion and seeing as I don't enjoy playing UK8 anyway its not really an opinion that is worth a great deal at the end of the day

Couldn't agree more Jan.

In UK8 though, you can be at a disadvantage, as with the 2 shots comes a carry. Even if the position is dreadful for yourself, just whack in to the bunch and you still have 2 shots even if you potted an opponents ball.

I personally don't see the advantages of deliberate fouls, but we can't put anything in place to make it stop.

http://www.funkypool.com/help.do?section=8balluk

theres the rules lol

On every shot a player must hit one of their own balls first.
A foul will lead to the opponent getting two shots from behind the line

never happens unless white is potted lol

you should check out the world pool rules and see how they compare to funkypool uk rules lol

http://www.epa.org.uk/wrules.php or http://www.arseweb.com/rupe/pool/uk_rules.html

Edited at 03:42 Fri 7/11/08 (GMT)