What would you do if you were a Referee?
Recently I was talking about a ruling question with a friend of mine who is a BCA National Referee. Here is the hypothetical situation:
Rob and Gary are playing a bar table 8-ball race to 7 alternate break. Rob is shooting the 8-ball and Gary realizes that Rob broke this game out of order and asks for a referee to make a ruling.
A. The game should be re-racked with Gary breaking.
B. Rob should be allowed to shoot the 8-ball and break the next rack. This
will keep the original breaking order.
C. Rob should be allowed to shoot the 8-ball and Gary should break the
next rack to begin a new breaking order.
D. None of the above.
Confusing the breaking order is easy to do. We’ve all had to work backwards a game or two to remember who should be breaking the next rack. The best way to avoid this confusion is to remember who won the flip or lag before the match started. Any game that is an odd numbered game should be broken by the winner of the flip. For example, if the score is 3-1 the 5th game is to be broken by the coin flip winner. Another way to think about this is that anytime the sum of the two player’s scores is even, the coin flip winner should be breaking. So if the score is 3-4 the total is odd (7) so the coin flip loser should be breaking. Making a mental note of who won the flip should solve most of the confusion. If a score sheet is being used, it isn’t a bad idea to jot down a note like “Sue won flip†right on the score sheet.
Of course sorting out these situations is much easier before the player breaks the rack. If there is a doubt part way through the game, the problem is more difficult to solve. Back to our multiple choice question: I believe that C is the best answer. Just as calling a foul on your opponent must be done before the next shot has been taken, the proper time to object to the out of order break should have been immediately after the break shot. Since Rob continued to shoot and has run balls and is now shooting the 8-ball for the win, Gary missed his chance stop the game and ask for a re-rack with him breaking. It is also unfair to Rob to throw out that game. A new breaking order should begin with Gary breaking because it would be unfair to punish Gary by loosing another break shot in the next rack.
It seems as though the BCA Rule book doesn’t cover this type of situation clearly and the referee must exercise reason and adjudicate based on logic. Have you had an unusual rules question come up? Please send me your scenario.
Mike Fieldhammer
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