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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   4031 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 10, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I got into watching Russian pyramid, which is a hardcore version of pool. The rules are frustratingly simple: pocket any ball into any hole, but the balls are large and the holes are small.

https://youtube.com/live/eVIHOgzODBo is a great example. If you understand Russian, the commentary is also an amusing confirmation of the Eastern European feedback meme: where snooker commentators go "oh what a shot, what a great shot", the dudes providing the commentary for this clash of the titans are both thoroughly unimpressed.

I once played pool in a friend's basement, his father (who had never played pool, just thought it's something he should have) put the table together with the bumpers attached backwards. As a result the corners were tiny, basically unusable unless you had a precise 45 degree angle, while the side pockets were enormous. It changed strategy significantly.

Where would I even buy these "Large balls" (giggity) ?

Aramith makes both 68mm and 67mm balls. The bigger question is: where would you buy a Russian billiard table?

Those are insanely tight pockets. I had to look it up to learn that the scoring is just "first to eight balls wins the rack", which makes sense since the balls are otherwise undifferentiated. It seems like the vast increase in technical skill required is partially offset by some amount of decrease in cognitive skill required. You still need to think things through a bit, but probably not to the same extent of other billiards games. I'm just thinking about that, because back in the day, I was known to come up with my own billiards variants that went in the other direction, trying to push the cognitive aspect to be harder and harder.

There's also dynamic pyramid, played with a cue ball. If you carom it into a pocket, you get to remove any white ball and get a ball-in-hand, but can't play another carom shot until you pocket a white ball. Without this rule the game would be completely impossible, but with it, it results in very interesting tactical play:

  • first, you have to look for that carom shot and sink your cue ball

  • sinking the next ball is relatively easy, but you have to ensure that your cue ball rebounds into a position that allows you to take another carom shot

  • if the situation is hopeless, you need to take a shot that makes it even worse for your opponent

That sounds like a lot of fun!

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