I discovered this game while trying to find videos and info on Cowboy Pool (see earlier post) when I stumbled upon a video on a game dubbed "Drunken Cowboy".
The game outlined in the video seemed like a hybrid game between Bottle Pool (see earlier post) and Cowboy Pool combining the equipment and scoring of both games.
Materials & Setup
To play Drunken Cowboy you need the following
- A standard Pool table
- 4 standard Pool balls: the white cue-ball, the red yellow 1-ball, a red 3-ball, and an orange 5-ball.
- A plastic or leather (or any non-brittle material) shake bottle
The 1-ball is placed in the head spot, the 3-ball in the foot-spot, the 5-ball in the middle, and the bottle is placed neck-down between the 1 and 5 balls. On this diagram the bottle is represented with a magenta circle.
The Game
The object of the game is to reach 101 points just like in Cowboy Pool, except the game additionally also adds the bottle as a way of scoring for another way of scoring 5 points.
Differences from Cowboy Pool
There are a few major ways this game differs from Cowboy Pool (other than the bottle of course).
- Your cue-ball must always hit a cushion in each shot. This is to prevent a player from simply camping in front of the 5-ball and getting easy 5 points in every shot.
- The 101st point must be a losing hazard off the 1-ball on a called pocket.
Structure
As with most other billiards games, the game is played in innings, where your turn keeps going as long as you make valid scoring shots.
Once you miss or foul, the turn is over and the turn passes to the other player.
The Break
To break, the starting player shoots the cue-ball from the kitchen (the area behind the 1-ball) trying to hit the 3 ball.
Scoring
There are three ways to score in Drunken Cowboy
- Pocket any one of the object balls for the printed value in points.
- Hit two object balls with the cue-ball for one point.
- Hit three object balls with the cue-ball for two points.
- Hit the bottle with the cue-ball after hitting an object ball for five points.
Like in Cowboy Pool, any pocketed object balls are returned to their spot on the table.
Like in Bottle Pool, the bottle is lifted back up wherever it ended up. If you are unable to lift it, the bottle is spotted back to its original position.
Unlike Cowboy Pool, any ball must hit a cushion for the shot to be valid. This as mentioned in the Differences section is simply to prevent good players from continuously pocketing the same ball over and over by simply shooting with a bit of back-spin and having the cue-ball sit perfectly for the next shot.
Unlike Eight-Ball Pool, simply pocketing a ball doesn't count as hitting a cushion, thus pocketing without hitting a cushion would count as a foul.
Phases
As mentioned, the object is to get to 101 points (the video says 100, but you still need the losing hazard at the end to close the game, so it's technically 101). Just like in Cowboy Pool, the way you get there is in three phases, each of which is bounded by a specific number of points.
Phase 1: 0-90 points, where all methods of scoring are legal. The 90th point must be reached exactly. Failing to do so is a foul, garnering no points for that shot.
Phase 2: 91-100 points, where only carom shots are legal
(carom shots being hitting two or more balls with the cue-ball), again
the 100th point must be hit exactly. Note that hitting the bottle at this stage doesn't give points!
Phase 3: the 101st point, where you must do a losing hazard (called an in-off in Snooker), a special shot from English Billiards, where you pocket the cue-ball after hitting one of the object balls.
Fouls and Penalties
Any foul immediately ends that player's turn and forfeits any and all points scored by that player in that inning.
Fouls include
- Not hitting a cushion in every shot
- Not hitting anything at all
- Hitting the bottle directly
- Hitting the bottle with an object ball
- "Scratching", that is pocketing the cue-ball
- Hitting the bottle with the cue
- Pocketing the bottle or knocking it off the table
Additionally, should a player make three consecutive fouls, they immediately lose the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment