Cowboy – Game of the Month for January 2010
With this article I’m introducing a new feature to Pool Student’s blog called Game of the Month. Each month I’ll introduce you to a new game, explain briefly how to play it, provide a link to the rules, talk a little about strategy and point out why you might find the game interesting. Many of these games will be new to you, but the games themselves are not new, they’ve all been around quite awhile.
The main idea behind playing multiple different games is to broaden your pool horizons, exercise new areas of your pool brain, and tax different skills. By going out of your comfort zone you’ll benefit in many ways, and have fun doing it. Don’t worry, I’m not trying to trick you. These are not solo games or practice drills modified to make a game.
This month’s game, Cowboy, has been around for a hundred years and combines aspects of pool and English billiards. You use only 3 object balls, the 1, 3 and 5 Balls, along with the cue ball. The balls each have a starting place, as in the diagram, and at the end of every shot, any balls pocketed are replaced on their starting spots. If that spot is occupied, the ball stays off the table until the spot is clear.
To win you must score 101 points before your opponent. The scoring is done in three separate phases, 0 – 90 points, the pocketing phase; 91-100 points, the carom phase; and the 101st point, the in-off phase. You continue to shoot until you miss, foul or win the game.
On all fouls, you lose all points in that turn at the table, so scratching after you have scored 78 points in your 1st inning takes you back to zero. If you start the inning with 20, and score 55 and foul, you go back to 20. This means that you’ll need to keep score of your inning separately from your total, to avoid scoring problems if you a foul. The 3 foul rule in Cowboy is also more severe than in other games: If you foul in 3 consecutive innings (not consecutive shots) you lose.
In the 1st phase you score mainly by pocketing balls, but also by caroming the cue ball into multiple object balls. Pocketed balls score based on the ball’s number; 1 point for the 1 Ball, 3 points for the 3 Ball, etc. Caroms score 1 point for hitting two different balls with the cue ball, 2 points for hitting all three. You score all points earned on each shot, so pocketing the 5 Ball and caroming into the 3 Ball would score 6 points, 5 points for the 5 Ball and one for the carom. You could theoretically score a maximum of 11 points in one shot by sinking all balls after caroming the cue ball into each of them.
You must reach 90 exactly or it’s a foul. That is, if you have 88 and sink the three ball, you have fouled.
Points between 91 and 100 can only be scored by caroming the cue ball into multiple object balls (same points as in phase 1). During this phase, if any ball is pocketed it is a foul. Failure to reach 100 exactly is also a foul.
To score the winning 101st point, you must pocket the cue ball by hitting it off the 1 Ball, like a scratch. Pocketing any object ball is a foul. Not hitting the 1 Ball is a foul.
You’ll want to read all the rules for Cowboy before you play.
Beginning Strategy Tips
Remember, fouls are very costly; don’t foul.
Keep a close eye on the score, since you have to hit 90 & 100 exactly or foul.
During the 1st phase, you can make the most points, the most easily, by pocketing high value balls, especially the 5 Ball. Since the object balls are placed back on their spots after being pocketed, the best strategy to amass a lot of points in phase 1 is to pocket the 5 Ball in such a way as to leave another shot on the 5 Ball as your next shot. Doing this over and over can get you to 90 very quickly.
Don’t fool with caroms during phase 1. The points are low and it’s harder to control where the cue ball is going to go.
In the carom phase it’s very useful for the object balls to be close together, so pay attention to this on every shot. If your opponent is on caroms and you are still pocketing balls, leaving one or more balls near a pocket makes his job much more risky. Of course, once you get to the carom phase you’ll be handicapped too.
Remember your tangent rule. You can use it to aim your cue ball precisely, and you can modify with a touch of draw or follow to adjust for a wide range of angles.
Using draw or follow with speed on cut shots is very hard to control, because the cue ball will curve.
Why Play Cowboy?
First off, it’s fun. The pocketing phase, what with balls coming back onto the table after every shot, and being of significantly differing values, really pushes you to see patterns differently, expanding your creativity. The high penalty for fouling also keeps you in mind of avoiding stupid mistakes, and the requirement to score exactly 90 keeps you focused on the goal.
In the carom phase and in-off phases, which are probably very new to most of you, you’ll learn quite a few new skills, but all are directly related to things you already know, just turned around a little. Since you cannot pocket a ball, they are more like safeties than like your typical shots. You learn to focus on the exact direction the cue ball takes off the collision with the object ball, and you’ll learn to focus also on the distance and direction all balls will have, if you want to make more than 1 or 2 points in a row.
You’ll be surprised at how much better your position play gets for your preferred games after you play Cowboy for a while. And because it’s so different, it’s a great game to play when you’re getting tired of pool, or can’t seem to stay focused.
Try this and tell us what you thought of it. Did you like it? Was it harder than you thought it would be? How did it affect your approach to pool, and to your favorite game?
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One Response to “Cowboy – Game of the Month for January 2010”
Michael McCafferty
- January 31st, 2010
Fun Game!
But I can’t say just “Fun Game!” because the blog software says it’s too short,
that’s why I’m bathering on, so it thinks I’m actually saying more than:
Fun Game!
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