Effing ASSHATS! Am I gonna have to hit someone?

I'll bet you are not at an actual pool hall.

Does this mean you have to hit the 8 ball into the same pocket as the last ball you sank?

I haven't played that game, but it sounds frustrating.

One detail further, mullacc, you sink the 8 ball into the same pocket as your last object ball, whether you sink your ball or your opponent sinks it. It can get pretty extreme strategically and games can last forever. This game should not be played in bars with only a few tables.

It's the same thing as in darts, when playing Cricket, having to score only in descending order 20 to Bull, and not counting landed darts out of order. Technically, this is the right, proper, and traditional way to play the game. Pragmatically, when playing in a group of mixed skill in a casual setting, it becomes officious and tedious.

It was always last pocket where I grew up. I never knew that people played any other way until I moved to the States.

Last pocket is for people who think they are too skilled for straight up 8-ball but for some reason don't want to play 9-ball. I'm not sure if that makes them asshats.

I played bar league pool in SF for a couple years, and there was actually a problem with straight up 8-ball where some of the asshole teams would always fucking challenge that the called pocket for the 8 was not indicated clearly. Things like chalk cubes and quarters couldn't be trusted, so someone had to bring something specific (like a poker chip) to mark the pocket. There were rules against coaching, but "MARK YOUR POCKET!" was a specific exception, and whenever your teammate stepped up to make a shot on the 8 the whole team would clamor it out if necessary.

Last pocket removes that whole problem, so maybe people who play it a lot are people who have played in an environment of higher pool assholery, and so tend to be assholes themselves.

Actually though it can be dramatic and fun if the people playing it are at the right level of skill.

I completely and utterly misunderstood this thread. I thought you were talking about pocket billiards.

I'm with Senyar, but I'm immensely pleased to find out this exists. Next, someone tell me there's a real game of Hide The Salami.

I suppose that in Chicago bar pool, there is usually an understood rule of 'no last pocket'. Sometimes it's not even understood - it's posted on the wall.

The people I've encountered that want to play last pocket demand that the game be played that way and act like it's a challenge - they are better than I am so I'm expected to lose. So that's where the asshattery comes in.

I'm sure not all people that play last pocket are asshats, just the one's I've met. And the original post was fueled by jagermeister and ire.

The best rule is that whoever sinks no balls whatsoever has to drop their pants and run around the table 3 times.