| copyright © Raya Sports 2009 |
by Ted Lerner
THE discipline of 10-ball was formally adopted by the World
Pool Association (WPA) and incorporated into its system in
December 2007. Now, barely two years on, few people would
doubt that the game has not only been a success, it is here to
stay.
From Europe to America to Asia, 10-ball tournaments have
become as ubiquitous as 9-ball events. World-renowned cue
manufacturer Predator has given its backing to a big
international 10-ball tour. A world 10-ball championship for
women was held for the first time ever in May this year. And
now, of course, an absolute powerhouse, world-class field has
assembled in Manila for the second World Ten Ball
Championship.
Interestingly, with the worldwide recession having forced the
world 8-ball and 9-ball championships off the calendar this
year, the world 10-ball championship has taken center stage as
the biggest and most important world pool championship in
2009 for men.
Amazing Leap Upwards
While nobody in the sport is happy about the cancellation of
the 8-ball and 9-ball world championships this year, it is,
nonetheless, an amazing leap upwards for the discipline of 10-
ball to stand alone in the spotlight of the pool world today. Just
a little more than two years ago, 10-ball was nothing more than
a fringe game, a hash of 9-ball with one extra ball, and played
mostly in smoke-filled Manila pool halls. In this environment,
10-ball was favored over 9-ball because the better players were
tired of losing money matches due to the easy break shot
fostered by the 9-ball diamond rack.
This year, however, 10-ball has clearly emerged on its own – a
top-flight pool game in its own right. There are even those
within the sport who claim that 10-ball as it is played now
represents the absolute highest level a billiard discipline can
reach. They point to the fact that the triangular 10-ball rack has
brought the power back to the break shot and the intricacy
back to the subsequent pattern play. They note that the game’s
unique rules have rung just about every ounce of luck out of
what had become the bane of 9-ball, and now reward only sheer
hard work and the highest quality play. Just listen to what Ralf
Souquet, one of the greats of the game today, has to say about
10 ball.
“I’m absolutely happy with the way 10-ball is being played
now,” Souquet said. “I would say it’s the one billiard discipline
that comes close to being perfect. 10-ball is the best game.”
When Darren Appleton won the first world 10-ball
championship in Manila last year, he exclaimed to me, “What a
game! It’s a lot more skillful than 9-ball. It’s a game where you’
ve got to play pretty good safeties. You’re not guaranteed a
shot after the break. It’s a true test of skill.”
Labeling 10 ball “perfect”, “the best game” and “a true test of
skill” is not something that will get too many arguments from
players and others close to the sport, who are nearly one in
praising the game’s toughness. So as 10-ball takes its place
firmly alongside older and better known pool disciplines, it
might be instructive to take a look back at how it all came
together.
One Man’s Vision
Although there were many people pushing for some time for 10
ball to solve the inherent flaws in 9-ball, it took one man’s
vision and appetite for extreme risk to make it happen. Even
while he was spending a fortune bringing the 2006 and 2007
World 9-Ball Championship to the Philippines, Yen Makabenta
dreamt of bringing 10-ball to the world stage.
“Even when we were hosting the World Pool Championship in
2006, I had already made inquiries about hosting a 10-ball
world championship,” Makabenta said, “I just felt this was
where pool was going. And I decided then that I was going to
make a presentation to the WPA for the formal creation of a
world 10-ball championship.”
Makabenta was motivated by several factors. First was the fact
that nobody in the Philippines was playing 9-ball anymore.
Secondly he saw the fixes being employed in 9-ball as mere
band-aids.
“The game had become too easy,” Makabenta says. “There
were perpetual problems with the rack, and then promoters
would offer up ridiculous solutions, like having to get a certain
number of balls past the head string, switching tables, moving
the spot, etc.”
Makabenta had another compelling reason to push for the 10-
ball world championship. As evidenced by the millions of
dollars he raised for bringing two world 9-ball championships
to Manila, he wanted his country, the Philippines, to become
home for an annual world championship. He saw his country as
the perfect place for the biggest pool events, and eventually
emerging as the world’s capital of pool.
“I told my friends and colleagues in the sport,” Makabenta
recalls, “if we can get a 10-ball world championship for the
Philippines, we can nurture and grow our very own world
championship event. Now we can have a signature event for
our country. We could have our own Wimbledon.’”
So shortly after the 2007 World Pool Championship in Manila,
in which the soft break became a major issue, Makabenta
traveled to Germany in late November to make a presentation
before the WPA board of governors, who were holding their
annual general assembly and marking the 25th anniversary of
the world governing body for pool. The WPA board liked the
idea of having another World Championship, but was
concerned that 10-ball would be seen as simply 9-ball with one
extra ball.
New Rules for a New Game
“If we were going to adopt 10-ball as another game,” said WPA
president Ian Anderson, “we had to make the rules different,
make the game different. We encouraged input from a lot of
different people.”
These included people like veteran pool journalist and now
WPA board member Jerry Forsyth, who back in December
2007 famously wrote a widely publicized article entitled, “9-
Ball—a Funeral Whose Time Has Come.” In the article, Forsyth
declared that the diamond shape rack of 9-ball had passed its
“Use By” date by encouraging soft breaking, predictable and
repetitive patterns, and thus, a boring professional game.
”I was encouraged by Jerry Forsyth,” Makabenta said. “He had
been saying in writing the very things I and many others
thought about 9-ball.”
The WPA also consulted with various players, including
Johnny Archer, Thorsten Hohmann, Souquet, and several
Filipino players.
Souquet was delighted to hear that 10-ball was about to become
a major discipline. Back in the early 1990’s, as he was on his
way to establishing his reputation as one of the greats of the
game, he crafted what he hoped at the time would become a
new set of rules for 9-ball. Souquet’s main object in trying to
rewrite the rules of 9-ball back then was to remove any and all
luck out of the game.
“In 9-ball, if you get lucky once or twice in a whole set, you can
win the match,” Souquet says. “I never liked luck involved. I’ve
lost more matches when my opponent got lucky than I can
remember. I’d rather play by rules that reward hard work and
good play, not luck.”
Souquet’s noble quest, however, was met with indifference.
“At the time nobody wanted to see a change to the rules of 9-
ball,” he says. “The rules were the rules. Anyway in the early
90’s, there were not many players who could run 4 or 5 racks in
a row in a tournament. Not as often as nowadays. Now a lot of
players can string racks together. The level of play has gone up
big time. Players now practice a lot more and they even
exercise. Pool is a physical game now. The equipment is better.
And there are more players from more countries. “
Souquet filed away the rules on his laptop for many years, until
late 2007 when he found out that the WPA had just approved
10-ball as one of its disciplines and was looking to adopt new
rules.
“I told them about the new rules that I had written and they
said, ‘Forward it to us’,” he recalls.
Many of Souquet’s recommendations were adopted, along with
the ideas from other people. Among the most noteworthy rules
adopted were: all pocketed balls must be called, flukes no
longer counted, and safeties in which a ball is pocketed could be
handed back to the original player. At first the golden break
rule remained, but this year the WPA has removed it. Now
sinking the 10 on the break doesn’t win you the game. Overall
the result has been positive.
“In Europe everyone likes the new rules,” Souquet says. “I’ve
never had any bad feedback.”
Filipino veteran player and pool official Edgar Acaba says,
“The rules are perfect. Players cannot ask for better than
these.”
“The players believe 10-ball is more competitive,” Makabenta
said.
Contrarian thoughts have come not from the rules of the game
but from those who believe the new game would not play well
on television because of the longer racks. The thinking goes
that pool already has a hard enough time getting on TV, and
that a slower game like 10-ball isn’t going to help attract the
kind of mass audience the sport needs to grow. Those who’ve
pushed 10 ball, however, don’t buy it.
“TV production companies always want fast, exciting games,”
Souquet says. “Like a game show. That’s OK for some events,
but not for serious titles like World Championships. There are
no real golf tournaments where you don’t play four rounds over
four days. Tennis matches go on for three hours.“ And
according to Makabenta, the growing popularity of 10-ball has
had an interesting side effect; as players become more familiar
with the game and the rules, match times have sped up.
“Before a race-to-9 match would have taken two hours or
more,” Makabenta says. “Now they’ve cut 30 to 45 minutes off
matches. The players have caught up with the game. Now that
they play it regularly, the matches are faster.”
Perhaps even more remarkable is that the rise of 10-ball has
not taken away the shine from 9-ball. In fact, it appears the new
discipline has helped raise the profile for all of pool.
“10-ball has been a success,” Anderson said. “The players really
like it. Now there are 10-ball tournaments being played
everywhere. We had the world 10-ball championship for men,
and now for women. We had the Philippine Open and a number
of other tournaments. And it hasn’t detracted from 9-ball. We
have the Qatar Open. We’ve also had new events for 9-ball like
the China Open and the Women’s World 9-ball in China.”
For the time being, though, it is 10-ball that will take center
stage; six glorious days of the finest and toughest pool action,
played by 128 of the best players in the world, in the very heart
of a country where pool is adored like in no other place on
earth. Whoever emerges the winner of this long haul of a
World Championship will no doubt carry the moniker of
“hardcore” along with “world champion.” It’s just the perfect
scenario that a dreamer like Makabenta had in mind.
“I was always convinced that once people play 10-ball, it will
catch on,” Makabenta said. “I’m not saying that it has killed 9-
ball. 10-ball, however, is a keeper, it’s here to stay and it will
grow.”
THE discipline of 10-ball was formally adopted by the World
Pool Association (WPA) and incorporated into its system in
December 2007. Now, barely two years on, few people would
doubt that the game has not only been a success, it is here to
stay.
From Europe to America to Asia, 10-ball tournaments have
become as ubiquitous as 9-ball events. World-renowned cue
manufacturer Predator has given its backing to a big
international 10-ball tour. A world 10-ball championship for
women was held for the first time ever in May this year. And
now, of course, an absolute powerhouse, world-class field has
assembled in Manila for the second World Ten Ball
Championship.
Interestingly, with the worldwide recession having forced the
world 8-ball and 9-ball championships off the calendar this
year, the world 10-ball championship has taken center stage as
the biggest and most important world pool championship in
2009 for men.
Amazing Leap Upwards
While nobody in the sport is happy about the cancellation of
the 8-ball and 9-ball world championships this year, it is,
nonetheless, an amazing leap upwards for the discipline of 10-
ball to stand alone in the spotlight of the pool world today. Just
a little more than two years ago, 10-ball was nothing more than
a fringe game, a hash of 9-ball with one extra ball, and played
mostly in smoke-filled Manila pool halls. In this environment,
10-ball was favored over 9-ball because the better players were
tired of losing money matches due to the easy break shot
fostered by the 9-ball diamond rack.
This year, however, 10-ball has clearly emerged on its own – a
top-flight pool game in its own right. There are even those
within the sport who claim that 10-ball as it is played now
represents the absolute highest level a billiard discipline can
reach. They point to the fact that the triangular 10-ball rack has
brought the power back to the break shot and the intricacy
back to the subsequent pattern play. They note that the game’s
unique rules have rung just about every ounce of luck out of
what had become the bane of 9-ball, and now reward only sheer
hard work and the highest quality play. Just listen to what Ralf
Souquet, one of the greats of the game today, has to say about
10 ball.
“I’m absolutely happy with the way 10-ball is being played
now,” Souquet said. “I would say it’s the one billiard discipline
that comes close to being perfect. 10-ball is the best game.”
When Darren Appleton won the first world 10-ball
championship in Manila last year, he exclaimed to me, “What a
game! It’s a lot more skillful than 9-ball. It’s a game where you’
ve got to play pretty good safeties. You’re not guaranteed a
shot after the break. It’s a true test of skill.”
Labeling 10 ball “perfect”, “the best game” and “a true test of
skill” is not something that will get too many arguments from
players and others close to the sport, who are nearly one in
praising the game’s toughness. So as 10-ball takes its place
firmly alongside older and better known pool disciplines, it
might be instructive to take a look back at how it all came
together.
One Man’s Vision
Although there were many people pushing for some time for 10
ball to solve the inherent flaws in 9-ball, it took one man’s
vision and appetite for extreme risk to make it happen. Even
while he was spending a fortune bringing the 2006 and 2007
World 9-Ball Championship to the Philippines, Yen Makabenta
dreamt of bringing 10-ball to the world stage.
“Even when we were hosting the World Pool Championship in
2006, I had already made inquiries about hosting a 10-ball
world championship,” Makabenta said, “I just felt this was
where pool was going. And I decided then that I was going to
make a presentation to the WPA for the formal creation of a
world 10-ball championship.”
Makabenta was motivated by several factors. First was the fact
that nobody in the Philippines was playing 9-ball anymore.
Secondly he saw the fixes being employed in 9-ball as mere
band-aids.
“The game had become too easy,” Makabenta says. “There
were perpetual problems with the rack, and then promoters
would offer up ridiculous solutions, like having to get a certain
number of balls past the head string, switching tables, moving
the spot, etc.”
Makabenta had another compelling reason to push for the 10-
ball world championship. As evidenced by the millions of
dollars he raised for bringing two world 9-ball championships
to Manila, he wanted his country, the Philippines, to become
home for an annual world championship. He saw his country as
the perfect place for the biggest pool events, and eventually
emerging as the world’s capital of pool.
“I told my friends and colleagues in the sport,” Makabenta
recalls, “if we can get a 10-ball world championship for the
Philippines, we can nurture and grow our very own world
championship event. Now we can have a signature event for
our country. We could have our own Wimbledon.’”
So shortly after the 2007 World Pool Championship in Manila,
in which the soft break became a major issue, Makabenta
traveled to Germany in late November to make a presentation
before the WPA board of governors, who were holding their
annual general assembly and marking the 25th anniversary of
the world governing body for pool. The WPA board liked the
idea of having another World Championship, but was
concerned that 10-ball would be seen as simply 9-ball with one
extra ball.
New Rules for a New Game
“If we were going to adopt 10-ball as another game,” said WPA
president Ian Anderson, “we had to make the rules different,
make the game different. We encouraged input from a lot of
different people.”
These included people like veteran pool journalist and now
WPA board member Jerry Forsyth, who back in December
2007 famously wrote a widely publicized article entitled, “9-
Ball—a Funeral Whose Time Has Come.” In the article, Forsyth
declared that the diamond shape rack of 9-ball had passed its
“Use By” date by encouraging soft breaking, predictable and
repetitive patterns, and thus, a boring professional game.
”I was encouraged by Jerry Forsyth,” Makabenta said. “He had
been saying in writing the very things I and many others
thought about 9-ball.”
The WPA also consulted with various players, including
Johnny Archer, Thorsten Hohmann, Souquet, and several
Filipino players.
Souquet was delighted to hear that 10-ball was about to become
a major discipline. Back in the early 1990’s, as he was on his
way to establishing his reputation as one of the greats of the
game, he crafted what he hoped at the time would become a
new set of rules for 9-ball. Souquet’s main object in trying to
rewrite the rules of 9-ball back then was to remove any and all
luck out of the game.
“In 9-ball, if you get lucky once or twice in a whole set, you can
win the match,” Souquet says. “I never liked luck involved. I’ve
lost more matches when my opponent got lucky than I can
remember. I’d rather play by rules that reward hard work and
good play, not luck.”
Souquet’s noble quest, however, was met with indifference.
“At the time nobody wanted to see a change to the rules of 9-
ball,” he says. “The rules were the rules. Anyway in the early
90’s, there were not many players who could run 4 or 5 racks in
a row in a tournament. Not as often as nowadays. Now a lot of
players can string racks together. The level of play has gone up
big time. Players now practice a lot more and they even
exercise. Pool is a physical game now. The equipment is better.
And there are more players from more countries. “
Souquet filed away the rules on his laptop for many years, until
late 2007 when he found out that the WPA had just approved
10-ball as one of its disciplines and was looking to adopt new
rules.
“I told them about the new rules that I had written and they
said, ‘Forward it to us’,” he recalls.
Many of Souquet’s recommendations were adopted, along with
the ideas from other people. Among the most noteworthy rules
adopted were: all pocketed balls must be called, flukes no
longer counted, and safeties in which a ball is pocketed could be
handed back to the original player. At first the golden break
rule remained, but this year the WPA has removed it. Now
sinking the 10 on the break doesn’t win you the game. Overall
the result has been positive.
“In Europe everyone likes the new rules,” Souquet says. “I’ve
never had any bad feedback.”
Filipino veteran player and pool official Edgar Acaba says,
“The rules are perfect. Players cannot ask for better than
these.”
“The players believe 10-ball is more competitive,” Makabenta
said.
Contrarian thoughts have come not from the rules of the game
but from those who believe the new game would not play well
on television because of the longer racks. The thinking goes
that pool already has a hard enough time getting on TV, and
that a slower game like 10-ball isn’t going to help attract the
kind of mass audience the sport needs to grow. Those who’ve
pushed 10 ball, however, don’t buy it.
“TV production companies always want fast, exciting games,”
Souquet says. “Like a game show. That’s OK for some events,
but not for serious titles like World Championships. There are
no real golf tournaments where you don’t play four rounds over
four days. Tennis matches go on for three hours.“ And
according to Makabenta, the growing popularity of 10-ball has
had an interesting side effect; as players become more familiar
with the game and the rules, match times have sped up.
“Before a race-to-9 match would have taken two hours or
more,” Makabenta says. “Now they’ve cut 30 to 45 minutes off
matches. The players have caught up with the game. Now that
they play it regularly, the matches are faster.”
Perhaps even more remarkable is that the rise of 10-ball has
not taken away the shine from 9-ball. In fact, it appears the new
discipline has helped raise the profile for all of pool.
“10-ball has been a success,” Anderson said. “The players really
like it. Now there are 10-ball tournaments being played
everywhere. We had the world 10-ball championship for men,
and now for women. We had the Philippine Open and a number
of other tournaments. And it hasn’t detracted from 9-ball. We
have the Qatar Open. We’ve also had new events for 9-ball like
the China Open and the Women’s World 9-ball in China.”
For the time being, though, it is 10-ball that will take center
stage; six glorious days of the finest and toughest pool action,
played by 128 of the best players in the world, in the very heart
of a country where pool is adored like in no other place on
earth. Whoever emerges the winner of this long haul of a
World Championship will no doubt carry the moniker of
“hardcore” along with “world champion.” It’s just the perfect
scenario that a dreamer like Makabenta had in mind.
“I was always convinced that once people play 10-ball, it will
catch on,” Makabenta said. “I’m not saying that it has killed 9-
ball. 10-ball, however, is a keeper, it’s here to stay and it will
grow.”
IS TEN BALL THE PERFECT GAME?
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