Guide · 5 min read
Why your pool night loses ten minutes a rack
Nobody notices a night getting slower, because it happens ten seconds at a time. Here is where the time actually goes, with the arithmetic.
The multiplier nobody applies
A twenty-player three-strikes night is about 400 shots. That number is the reason small inefficiencies are not small.
| Delay per shot | Cost across the night |
|---|---|
| 5 seconds | 33 minutes |
| 10 seconds | 1 hour 7 minutes |
| 15 seconds | 1 hour 40 minutes |
Ten seconds of "whose turn is it?" is not a small problem. It is the difference between finishing at ten and finishing at eleven.
Where it goes, in order of damage
1. Nobody knows who is next. Costs 10–15 seconds a shot. This is the biggest single item and the cheapest to fix: say the on-deck player's name every time, or put the order on a screen.
2. Finding the shooter. They are outside, or at the bar. Costs 30–60 seconds, several times a night. Calling two names ahead fixes it.
3. Racking slowly. 20–30 seconds per rack, a dozen racks. Rack while the previous player is still shooting.
4. Adjudicating a rule. Two to five minutes, and it kills the energy as well as the clock. Agree the scratch rule, the slop rule and the break rule out loud before the first shot.
5. The last two playing safe. Can add half an hour. Shot clock, or rule that a shot with no attempt to pocket is a miss.
6. Working out the payout at the end. Five to ten minutes of everybody standing around while one person does arithmetic. Announce the split at the start.
The fixes, ranked by minutes saved per unit of effort
- Name the on-deck player. Free. Saves up to an hour.
- Put the running order somewhere visible. Nearly free. Saves twenty minutes.
- Agree the three disputed rules up front. Thirty seconds. Saves ten.
- Rack during the previous shot. Free. Saves five.
- Announce the payout structure at the start. Free. Saves ten at the end.
- Shot clock for the final two, only if needed. Saves up to thirty.
All six together will take a three-hour night back under two, with no change to the format and nothing bought.