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Ten-ball

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Not to be confused with Tenball, a British TV show featuring a game played on a snooker table.
A valid ten-ball rack; the 1 is at the apex on the foot spot, and the 10 (the money ball) is in the center. The remaining balls can be in any position.

Ten-ball is a modern pool game. It is a rotation game very similar to nine-ball, but more difficult, using 10 balls instead of nine, and with the 10 ball instead of the nine as the "money ball".

Ten-ball is preferred over nine-ball by some professionals[1] as a more challenging discipline than nine-ball,[2] because it is slightly harder to pocket any balls on the break shot with the more crowded rack, the initial shooter cannot instantly win the game by pocketing the 10 on the break, all shots must be called, and performing a string of break-and-runs on successive racks is statistically more difficult to achieve.

Although the game has existed for a long time, its popularity has risen in recent years as a result of concerns that nine-ball has suffered as a result of flaws in its fundamental structure (particularly the ease with which players can often make balls from the break). The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World Standardized Rules for 10-ball are very similar to those for nine-ball, but with key changes to ensure the difficulty of the game and its marketability as an alternative to nine-ball.

Racking

The 10 balls are racked as a triangle[3] as in the game of eight-ball (but with 10 instead of 15 object balls), with the 1 ball positioned at the apex of the rack, the 10 ball positioned in the middle of the rack, and the other balls placed randomly, with the apex ball on the foot spot.

Play

Most of the same rules apply as in nine-ball. This means that in order to establish a legal hit, the cue ball must contact the lowest numbered ball first, and subsequently at least one ball must hit any rail or be pocketed, without the cue ball being pocketed. In 10-ball, shots have to be called, which means that the player must call a ball and the pocket in which to make the ball, usually by pointing to a pocket with his finger or cue, and stating the number of the ball he intends to make in that pocket (not necessarily the lowest-numbered ball on the table, e.g. if a combination or carom shot is being attempted). If the 10 ball is pocketed on the break, it will be spotted and the player will continue his inning (previously a 10 ball made on the break resulted in a win).

Under WPA World Standardized Rules, it is a call-shot game, in which flukes, or shots that go in an unintended pocket (usually by simple random chance) do not count; that is, unlike in nine-ball, the ball to be pocketed and the pocket must be specified. If a player pockets only the wrong ball, or pockets the nominated ball in the wrong pocket, the ball stays down. The opponent then has the choice of taking the shot, or handing it back.[4] The exception is the 10 ball, which gets respotted on the foot spot. This format is considered controversial among some of the game's elite, as many pros are experts at playing multi-way shots where they may be attempting to pocket more than one ball on a given shot. Nonetheless, the rule has been adopted for professional competitions.[3]

UPA International Ten-ball Championships

The nominal first international International Ten-ball Championship (previously, for six years, the event has existed but been known as the Florida Open Ten-ball Championship) was held in 2007. The sanctioning organization is the United States Professional Poolplayers Association (UPA), using WPA/BCA rules. The World Pool-Billiard Association itself separately started its own inaugural WPA World Ten-Ball Championship (WTBC) in 2008, in Manila, Philippines. The events are essentially competitors, but many players compete in both. The UPA event is known for sponsorship purposes as the Predator International.[when?]

The 2009 UPA event, the Ninth Annual International Ten-Ball Championship, and numerically acknowledging the original Florida Opens), was held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino May 11–16, 2009. Ozone Billiards co-sponsored the event, which featured a field of 112 male and female competitors (including a record number of women), and was held during the BCAPL's National Eight-ball Championships.[2] Mika Immonen of Finland won the tournament, which was played on 4.5 ft by 9 ft standard, professional tables

The 2008 edition of the event was hosted by Bankshot Billiards and like the WPA event that year was played on 4.5 × 9 ft tables provided by manufacturer Olhausen Billiards.

UPA champions

Date Winner Nationality
2001 Buddy Hall  United States
2002 Mika Immonen  Finland
2003 Johnny Archer  United States
2004 Johnny Archer  United States
2005 Johnny Archer  United States
2006 Thomas Engert  Germany
2007 Shane Van Boening  United States
2008 Tony Drago  Malta
2009 Dennis Orcollo  Philippines
2010 Efren Reyes  Philippines
2011 Dennis Orcollo  Philippines

WPA World Ten-ball Championships

Main article: WPA World Ten-ball Championship

WPA champions

The following is a list of WPA World Ten-Ball Champions and sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association.

Year Host Final Semifinalists
Winner Score Runner-up
2008  Philippines United Kingdom
Darren Appleton 		13–11 Taiwan
Wu Chia-ching 		Philippines
Demosthenes Pulpul 		Netherlands
Niels Feijen
2009  Philippines Finland
Mika Immonen 		11–6 Philippines
Lee Van Corteza 		Philippines
Antonio Lining 		Spain
David Alcaide
2011  Philippines Netherlands
Huidji See 		11–8 China
Jian-Bo Fu 		Philippines
Carlo Biado 		Japan
Yukio Akagariyama
2015  Philippines Taiwan
Ko Pin-yi 		11–9 Philippines
Carlo Biado 		Taiwan
Ko Ping-chung 		Spain
David Alcaide
2018  Philippines

UPA World Ten-ball Championship

The first UPA World Ten-ball Championship, building on the original Florida Open, was held on May 23, 2007, in Jacksonville, Florida. The genesis of the event was said to be "demand for more skill in competitive games as requested from the top pro players around the world" by event sponsor Dragon Promotions's president, Cindy Lee.[1] The winner of this inaugural event was Shane Van Boening of the United States. Rather unusually for professional pool, the matches at this event were played on home billiard room, mid-size 8 ft by 4 ft tables instead of the professional, pool hall 9 ft by 4.5 ft standard size.

U.S. Open Ten-ball Championship

The U.S. Open Ten-ball Championship is an international, professional ten-ball tournament held annually in the United States. It is sanctioned by the Billiard Congress of America and sponsored by CueSports International. The 2011 event was May 16–21 at The Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.[5] Unlike the U.S. Open Nine-ball Championship, the competition is by invitation only, though it is open to spectators.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "Predator World 10-Ball Championship Announced" Archived 2008-05-20 at the Wayback Machine (Dragon Promotions press release), as reported by AZBilliards, February 27, 2007; accessed March 5, 2007
  2. ^ a b "Jeanette Lee & Allison Fisher Lead Super Women's Invasion of the Predator International 10-Ball Championship". AZBilliards.com. Scottsdale, AZ: AZBilliards. 2009-04-15. Retrieved April 20, 2009. Web republication of a BCA press release.
  3. ^ a b ABS-CBNNews.com, "World Ten Ball Kicks Off in Manila; 128 in Main Draw"
  4. ^ "WPA Ten ball rules". World Pool-Billiard Association. Archived from the original on 2011-02-18. Retrieved 2008-07-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b "Upcoming Events". PlayBCA.com. Henderson, NV: CueSports International. 2010. "Events" section. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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