What is the most popular way to rack 9-ball?

Question

I know the BCA says you just need the 1 up top and the nine in the middle...and they leave the configuration of the 2-8 up to you...what is the most excepted way to setup these balls?

Answer 1

Give your self 10 points Luke you just answered your own question

The only diff if the 1 or the 9 is racked on the spot

1 in front 9 in the center

Answer 2

There is no preferred or accepted order to racking in 9-ball.  You answered your own question with the 1 up top and 9 in the middle.  The other 7 are placed at random.  For some reason, the most 'common' rack I've seen is...1 with the 2 and 3 in the second row, 4-9-5 in the middle, 6-7 in the next row and the 8 sitting in the back.  I've seen players (both inexperienced and experienced players) do this.  There is no reason for it.  Just personal preference or possibly OCD, but really it doesn't matter as long as the 1 and 9 are in the right spots.

Answer 3

Actually, the rules say you must arrange the remaining balls randomly. So any intentional placement of the balls is technically illegal, but not exactly something people enforce.

How you rack them numerically should depend on your opponent. If you're playing someone who usually makes a ball on the break and often runs them out, spreading the balls out properly can give you a better chance of getting to the table. A good order would be (row by row from top to bottom): 1, 7 8, 5 9 6, 2 3, 4. Anything can happen on individual breaks, but over the long run you'll see that you'll be left with a lot of racks where you must go up and down the table to play position.

This could really backfire though if you're facing a player who cannot run out anyway, or rarely makes anything on the break. If that is the case, you're much better off arranging the rack so that the balls bunch together (numerically) so you have a better chance to run out when you get to the table.

Answer 4

the yellow ball which is number one up top and the nine in the middle for the rest some ppl will try to rack the rest of the balls close to others in order that way in the break they end up with balls next to each other in a nice order instead of having to play up and down the table.you don't want to end up with ball 3 and 5 in one end of the table and 4 and 6 in the other cause that's too much traveling and have to play for every position and have to use spin and others to avoid obstacles...then again the table doesn't turn out to be set up that way everytime you break.

hope this was good of an answer.

Answer 5

This is how we do it:

  

.........................1

.......................6..5

....................4...9...3

.......................8..7

.........................2

But then its really up to you. If you break the balls a certain way every time, you're bound to always sink the same ball in the same pocket.