Lucky wrote:What would happen if one player potted the pink putting himself 8 points in front but angled himself. Would he have to play or just call frame. Sometimes players pot the pink put there cue down and shoot off the toilet or whatever whilst the ball is still rolling.
"Fascinating!" - Mr. Spock
I thought I knew the answer to this one so I went to look it up to be certain. Section 3. Rule 4. End of Frame, Game or Match. And I discovered....it's not there! Scratched my head and thought, "Where else can it be?" When one is confused within the Rules of Snooker, the Definitions section is very often a good place to begin looking. And there it is, very first rule in Section 2.
Back to Lucky's scenario, for anyone who believes the striker wins the frame whether he plays at Black or not, you are wrong. For anyone who believes the striker must play at and contact Black for a legal stroke, you are wrong. So getting to the Rule that controls this situation:
"
Section 2.
1. Frame
...the frame is completed by:
...
(b) claim by the striker when; Black is the only object ball remaining on the
table, aggregate points are not relevant, and there is a difference of
more than seven points between the scores in his favour;
"
I like to think that the Rules parallel a legal document, attempting to be precise in the meanings of terminology; hopefully minimalist in nature (at least like the days of yore, not the bloated crap that gets shoved through our "parliament" this side of the pond these days); and continuously building a foundation the precedents upon which future rulings will be made. So this Rule, Section 2., Rule 1. clause (b) has non-obvious significance in that it lays down the precedent that there are situations that arise in which a player is forced to concede the frame to his opponent. The Rule does not use those words instead opting to say that the striker may "claim" the frame, but the point is made clear that the opponent off the table has no say in the matter whatsoever. Forced concession.
What does this mean? It means exactly what the most recent posts of this thread have been all about...that is, why is it that the Rule says the first pot or foul ends the frame when Black is the only ball remaining? The answer...based on the precedent of the above Rule, there is a time when forced concession is the proper end to a frame.
So let's back up a few paragraphs.....back to Lucky's question. There would seem to be only two possible answers and we are left to decide which is correct: 1) either the frame is over as soon as Pink entered the pocket, the stroke was deemed legal, and the difference was now 8 points, or 2) the striker having potted Pink must now endeavour to legally contact Black to conclude the frame. But as I stated above, in fact, both of these positions are incorrect. When you re-read the Rule above, it makes the statement that "claim by the striker" will end the frame. In other words, he may play at the Black if he wishes to, but it is not required that he do so.
So why in the world would he play at the Black when in doing so, he may foul giving his opponent seven points to put him back in the frame? You would not be likely to see this at the Professional level but I can imagine the following scenario in an amateur tournament. <cue wavy lines for imagination...>
Lucky's scenario, striker just had a very good break, nearly the best so far of the tournament in fact after potting the Pink ball. Six points short of the tournament high break which would carry a prize of a hundred pounds. The striker may claim this frame as his, place his cue on the table, and walk away if he wants. But if he is angled in the top left corner and the Black is perched in the jaws of the top right corner, he does in fact have a fair chance of potting that Black ball to take the high break prize. On the other hand, if he does not contact Black or perhaps puts White in off, then his opponent will be entitled to the resultant seven points penalty putting the difference at less than seven points and so play continues. Well now, what to do, what to do?......
So what this Rule means is that striker has the right to remain at the table if he wishes. If he does, he faces the consequences of the stroke whatever they may be. Or more likely, he can claim the frame in effect, forcing the opponent to concede.