Me and my friend are decent, not great. After playing weeks of 8-ball we decided to mix it up and play some 9-ball. However, there wasn't a lot riding on the early balls and if you missed the 1,2,3 or 4 the sentiment was generally 'oh well, who cares'.

To combat this we started playing 5-ball. Now every shot is huge and a miss will frequently see your opponent running out.

We play :

£50 / game
£50 bonus for potting all five balls on your first visit to the table
£25 bonus for potting all five balls in one game

It's fun.

We'll no doubt play some one-pocket soon, though I'm not sure we are good enough to do it justice. Right now this game is fast, fun, high variance, and presents a ton of 'big' shots. I imagine we'll continue to add a ball every time the standard improves.

Any other suggestions for cool betting games (bearing in mind our skill level)?

Sounds like u would enjoy 3 ball a lot. Simply rack three balls and try and break and clear them in as few shots as possible. Each have an inning, losing player has to pay £x for each extra shot they missed over the other. Is a great game for players of your skill level.

My initial reaction is :

- That sounds like absolutely insane variance.
- I think maybe you think we are a bit worse than we actually are.

We'll probably give it a whirl for a few games, but on paper it doesn't sound great. Having said that, the wiki is pretty detailed so maybe it's better than I'm making out

Thanks, keep them coming!

Sorry I didn't mean to sound like a complete prick about your ability, It is much harder than it sounds - particularly on tight tables. A bad break can easily cost you dearly, as can any lapses on pressure shots where you not only miss, but also mess up position and/or put the object ball safe.

I've seen even close to pro speed players totally collapse at this game and its one of the very best for seeing how good someone is under pressure imho.

according to wikipedia, 3-ball "is relatively harder and requires more skill than say, nine-ball." Is there any way this is accurate?

To make the early balls in 9-ball more important, you could put £50 on winning the game and £25 on potting the 5-ball.

It's like saying hellmuth is the best at poker. 3 ball plays to certain areas that could be considered 'tougher' than some more useful in 9 ball, but the whole comparison is dumb really considering how different they are.

hmm, that ain't bad!

I've played a variant of 9-ball for 8 ball players which is both good for practice and gambling. It probably has a name but I don't know it.

Rack all the reds and a single yellow with the black (All spots + 1 stripe + 8 ball) in a 9 ball formation:

Alternate breaks (as in international rules) if the breaker pots a ball he can nominate reds or yellows, then normal 8 ball rules apply.

Nice variance as the yellow or black is often tied up after the break and you need to run 6 or 7 reds or play good defense, and players can come back quickly with a couple of lucky breaks where the yellow is sitting with easy position to the 8.

I used to play this game called Olympic 9-Ball. Its a rotation game thats really fun if there is 3 to six players playing.

Its the same rules of 9ball, but whenever the 9 is potted, all the players participating pay the shooter a set amount ($1 and up). So if the amount is set at $3 and there are four players, the person who made the 9ball would collect $9 total, so basically you wanna make the 9ball yourself once in 4 racks. Its a strictly offense game but very fun.

update : we made it 6 ball, pressed up a lot of the amounts, and threw an additional bounty on the 3.

Oh and its well worth incorporating a doubling cube in nine ball and a whole load of forms of billiards - cranks up the pressure and adds a lot of self evaluation issues to the game which always favour stronger players.

Starts in the middle like it does in backgammon, any player can double in between their shots or at the start of their visit, the person being doubled either has to resign the game at the £ value of one frame loss, or take and continue at double the stakes, with them then holding onto the cube until the game finishes or they want to re-double the stakes and so on.

What's the rule if the 9-ball is potted first? Potter gets both prizes or play on to the 5?

Ever play 3,5,9? It's a game of 9 ball only the 3 and 5 are money balls as well. if you hit the 3 or 5 out of order(eg get the 5 on a 2 to 5 combo) you spot the ball till it's hit as part of the normal rotation. It's a great money game especially multiway.

There are many online gaming portal where we can play as if we were gambling in a casino and win real money.

Wow, cheers, to think I been on a gambling site 4 years and never knew.....