onepocketman
Well-Known-Member
Started with a standard scenario. Score is 7 to 7. I shoot for the win but it hangs up deep in my pocket. I wait a few seconds in case it decides to fall. It stays put. I relinquish the table. My opponent bends, aims, and shoots to pocket my ball and follow it in with the cueball. No big deal. The CB was mid-table, not that that matters here.
So after he strikes the CB, my hanging ball falls into the pocket before the CB contacts it. No ball to ball contact was made. CB is pocketed as expected after my ball falls. Technically he did not pocket my ball. I've never seen this timing play out in a game but anything can happen. One for the books. It makes a split-second seem like a long time. This was more like 200 ms, but clear to see.
He thought we should spot mine and one of his as one would normally do for the intended shot. I wondered out loud whether it had to be replaced in the jaws and he just spots his ball for the foul (almost guaranteeing I get the win), but as there was no gambling involved I agreed with his call. I didn't protest or call the house-man. Just a friendly game.
Normally a delayed hanger dropping in happens before the incoming player shoots or when they shoot at some other ball. Table vibrations. Sometimes it may fall while the incoming player is only viewing the table, or sizing up a shot but has not taken up any stance or shot profile yet. If the outgoing player has left the table for the incoming player I know the object ball gets replaced in the jaws as close as possible to the spot it was in, once the outgoing shooter relinquished the table (or after so many seconds if the outgoing player wants to wait it out). So for all deep hangers now I go look how deep they are to decide if I want to wait a moment before leaving the table.
1) Does anyone know the correct call? I have received varying opinions since then.
2) How long is the outgoing shooter allowed to wait out a hanger to see if it falls?
3) If the outgoing player starts to leave the table but the incoming player has not stepped up (say only a very few seconds have elapsed since the shot stopped) is there an automatic continuation of the outgoing player's turn? The gray area so to speak.
Thanks for your input and any reference links you know of.