9Ball Tips - How to Avoid Being Hustled

9ball pool has been long known as "the hustlers' game". As a beginner to 9ball, you can easily become an easy target to some random pool shark. Follow these guidelines and learn how to avoid being hustled when playing 9ball pool.

If you enjoy playing 9 ball pool, whether in your favorite online pool room or at your local pool hall, you will probably enjoy playing the pool games described below.

How Pool Hustlers Play 9Ball

The best and the worse thing in 9ball is that you can actually end the game on the opening break shot. In this pool game, once someone pockets the 9-ball, (providing the cue ball hit the lowest numbered ball), the game is over. Therefore, pool hustlers who have gained experience in pool halls, will not find it difficult to pocket the 9-ball at an early stage of the game and to grab your money on the same occasion.

Another one of 9ball rules upside and downside is the "three consecutive fouls" rule, according to which, a player who commits three consecutive fouls (including a scratch) is penalized with the loss of the game. And you can count on those evil pool sharks to take advantage of this rule and to hustle the pool table so their poor victims would perform one foul after another.

As you can see, 9-ball pool rules offer many advantages for the blood thirsty pool hustler. (And we didn't even mention the "push out" rule, which allows the player to improve the position of the cue ball after the break shot, i.e. allows the hustler to hide the cue ball before your next shot) By following these tips, you will be able to enjoy playing 9-ball knowing your money is safe and protected:

How to Avoid Being Hustled in 9Ball

Rack

Note that the 9-ball has to be placed at the center of the rack. Otherwise, once you forget to follow this minor principle, it will be easily drowned by your opponent at the beginning of the game.

Opening Break Shot

Fast and powerful opening break shot is a common beginners' mistake, which usually leads to a scratch or any other unpleasant foul. If you follow pro pool players (or hustlers), you'll notice that they put bigger emphasize on cue ball control than on speed and power. Therefore, practice more on how to cause the cue ball hit the 1-ball and then sinking the 9-ball instead of on how to break the rack and the pool hall lamps at the same shot.

Stance

The stance is an important principle in billiards, and 9-ball is not exceptional. It is recommended to adjust a different stance for making the break shot in 9-ball. Therefore, as you intend to break the 9-ball rack, straighten yourself a bit and move most of your weight to your frontal leg. Additionally, to add some power to your stroke, let your body move along with your arm.

9-Ball Strategy

Finally, 9-ball pool strategy is different than 8-ball or any other . Unlike other pool games, 9-ball pool strategy focuses mainly on position playing and planning accurate shots. It would be wrong strategy to start by showing off some difficult, long shots when you can get some decent achievements by making simple shots while focusing on pocketing the 9-ball.

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