Takes All
How the night runs
Maximum 20 players
The host is at the pub taking down names from 5 pm. Once that list hits 20, that's it. Get there early to avoid missing out.
Get your name down
Names go down with the host from 5 pm, and the comp starts at 6. No membership, no forms, no booking ahead. Everyone is welcome, first timers included - but it's capped at 20, so don't leave it late.
Pay your $20
Twenty dollars gets you in. Every dollar of it goes into the pot. Nothing is skimmed off for the venue or the organiser.
Get drawn
Straight knockout, drawn completely at random - no ratings, no seeding, pure luck of the draw. Two tables run at once to keep it moving.
Winner takes all
Win and you're through to the next round. Lose once and you're out - unless the wheel brings you back. Last player standing takes the whole pot.
Knocked out? You might not be done
A knockout draw rarely splits evenly, so some rounds end up with a player short. Rather than hand somebody a free pass through, we run a Second Chance draw: every player already knocked out goes on a wheel, we spin it in front of the room, and whoever it lands on is back in the comp.
It is completely random and it is done in the open, on the screen, where everyone can see it. No favourites, no host's picks, no quiet decisions at the bar. If your name is on that wheel you have exactly the same chance as everyone else's.
The only game the host plays is in the first round, before anybody has been knocked out and there is genuinely nobody to bring back. After that it is the wheel every time.
The rules
Winning & losing the game
Pot your group - smalls or bigs - then pot the black, and it's your game. Sink the black before your colours are cleared, sink the white while potting the black, or knock the black off the table, and it's the other person's game instead.
The break
Flip a coin. Winner picks: break it yourself, or send the other player in. Whoever's breaking just whacks it - no minimum number of balls, no line to reach. Black down off the break wins the game outright, no re-rack. Nothing down, and it's simply the other player's shot.
Picking your group, staying at the table
Whatever you pot first after the break is yours - pot one of each and the table's still open. Keep shooting while you're potting; miss and it's the other player's turn.
Fouls: two shots
Any foul hands your opponent two shots: sink the white, hit their ball first, hit nothing at all, knock a ball off the table, shoot with a foot off the floor, or touch a ball with anything but the cue. Two shots means one free miss - pot your first shot and just carry on as normal. Fouls don't stack: two in a row is still two shots, not four. Clipping a cushion after contact isn't a foul here - play your safety however you like.
Balls off the table
Any colour that flies off the table goes straight back on, as close to the black spot as you can get it, and it's two shots to your opponent. Nothing gets left out of play. The black is the one exception - knock that off and you've lost the game (rule 1).
Where the white goes after a foul
White still on the table? It stays exactly where it stopped. The two shots are played from there.
White potted or off the table? Only then does it go in hand - placed anywhere behind the line, shooting forwards.
Snookering is fair game
Snooker them on purpose all you like. Tucking your opponent behind a ball is a shot, not a dog act - play the table however you see it.
No calling
Nobody calls a pocket. Not the black, not anything else. It goes in, it counts - flukes included.
House cues only
Everybody plays with the same dodgy house cues. No bringing your own - not until we get a decent set for the comp, and then everyone gets the same decent set. Same sticks, same excuses.
One thing we don't bother with: declaring a safety out loud. Play it how you like. Anything else that comes up, the host makes the call and we get on with the game.
Want in?
Just turn up. Bangalow Hotel, any Monday, from 6 pm.
Contact bangalowchess@gmail.com for more infoThe host has the final say
Anything not covered here, and anything the two of you can't agree on, is decided by the host on the night - and that decision stands. It's not personal and it isn't up for debate; it's simply how we keep the comp fair and the night moving. Ask if you're unsure, then rack 'em up.