rule question

[DeanH]

Sorry, maybe that was a little unclear. We agreed that snookering yourself behind a free ball was not a foul. The point that I was trying to make was that IF IT WAS, then it would become your opponent's turn, because this is what happens after any foul, as per Section 2 rule 5b. But if it is your opponent's turn, then in effect it is him that has been snookered by the free ball.

ah I see

Although in reality snookering yourself behind a free ball is not a foul, it is not clear to me why the rules could not be interpreted to mean that it is a foul and is then your opponent's turn.

of course it is not clear !
these are the WPBSA rules we are talking about - with ambiguity built in

Do you have the SRA set of rules with the guidance text alongside?
I have just received them and will be looking at them this weekend.

[DeanH]

Not usually no, but there are exceptions!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjqSNZnytow

fantastic
well there are always exceptions in life

[t.lavery55]

Do you have the SRA set of rules with the guidance text alongside?
I have just received them and will be looking at them this weekend.

I do yes, they are a useful guide, provided that the reader has some understanding of the rules already, but I don't think they mention anything about snookering yourself behind a free ball unfortunately.

When you look at your copy, I'd be interested to hear what you think about note 3.11 on page 22A, as I disagree with how they suggest handling the situation that is discussed.

[DeanH]

I do yes, they are a useful guide, provided that the reader has some understanding of the rules already, but I don't think they mention anything about snookering yourself behind a free ball unfortunately.

When you look at your copy, I'd be interested to hear what you think about note 3.11 on page 22A, as I disagree with how they suggest handling the situation that is discussed.

I shall keep that section in mind

[The Statman]

It seems a little odd that you can't snooker behind a free ball (generally), but that's been the rule for at least the last 25 years.

Imagine this scenario. Last red is hanging over a middle pocket. All colours bar the blue (which is on its spot) are close to the cushions. Having failed to hit the red, player A has now left the cue ball close to the blue but on the opposite side to the red, thereby snookering him, and a 'Free Ball' is called. The obvious shot would be to roll up tight to the blue, as there's no pot on any colour, and it's almost impossible to get the cue ball safe... but it's not allowed. So basically Player B is forced into asking Player A to play again.

Maybe therein lies the logic: if you don't like the position left you can always ask the player to play again, so you shouldn't gain an additional advantage by being able to snooker behind the free ball.

The logical shot, surely, in this scenario would be to nominate the blue as the free ball and plant the red in, leaving the blue over the pocket as the colour after the red.