What is Straight pool?
{{wikify|date=July 2010}} [[Image:Straight Pool Rack.jpg|thumb|right| A proper straight pool rack with the 1 and 5 balls as the two corner balls and all other balls placed randomly.]] '''Straight pool''', also called '''14.1 continuous''' or simply '''14.1''', is a [[cue sports|pocket billiards]] (pool) game. It was the common sport of championship competition until faster-playing games like nine-ball and to a lesser extent [[:en:Eight-ball|eight-ball]] became more popular. This is the [[mwod:classical|Classic]] game from the history of pool. The game was especially popular in the [[United States]], and was the subject of the classic 1961 film ''The Hustler''. In straight pool, the person shooting may attempt to pocket any ball on the table. The aim of the game is to reach a set number of points. The amount of points needed to win is agreed to before the game. One point is scored for each ball pocketed legally (that is, without a foul). A typical game might require a player to score 100 points. This means that at least 100 balls must be pocketed to win. In professional competition, straight pool is usually played to 150 points. Straight pool is a call-pocket game. This means that the player must call what pocket they mean to sink the ball into on every shot. It does not matter how balls reach the pocket (Hole) . As long as no foul is involved, and the balls goes into the pocket that is called, a point is scored. Straight pool is well known in the United States, [[Europe]], [[Japan]] and the [[Philippines]], but the game has become more [[mwod:obscure|obscure]] elsewhere. Probably the all-time greatest player (by professional statistics), [[Willie Mosconi]], held the record high run, of 526 balls, which stood for 65 years until beaten by John Schmidt, who scored 626 points in a 2019 attempt to break Mosconi's record. ==Rules== ===The first rack=== In the first rack in straight pool (when you place all the balls together before the break), the fifteen object balls (the colored balls) are racked in a triangular