Even though my skills at pool are mediocre, I really love to play. I go to local pool halls at least once a week and I have found pool to be a great way to stay in touch with friends. One of my greatest pleasures in life is having a really good game of pool with a really good friend.

Over the years, as I have played, I have often overhead the term "perfect rack." As an avid player, who also holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, the question of "what is a perfect rack?" has pried at my mind. My thoughts drifted along these lines until I realized there is no such thing as a perfect rack without perfect balls.

The BCA specifies the ball diameter to be 2.250 +/-.005 inches. Most players do not realize that the average pool hall has balls that do not meet these specifications. While the typical player does not have digital calipers handy, I do. I have personally gone into pool halls, from San Diego to Long Island, and measured the balls I have checked out. Of course we played pool as well.

There are always exceptions, but if I were forced to give a gut-based estimate, I would say the typical rack varies by +/- .010" and sometimes up to +/- .020 inches. For those of you who are not engineers, this means that, in the worst case, the smallest ball in the rack, and the largest, may have diameter differences of the better part of 1/16". This is four times over BCA tolerances. Keep in mind that these figures are not exact, but are intended, rather, to give you a "gut feel" for the variances involved. These variances in ball size matter very little in actual play but they have a great impact on the rack.

The next thing that became clear to me, over time, is that a perfect rack is not desirable. If you were even close to having a perfect rack, a good player could pocket the same ball, on the break, every time!

Ideally, the break should provide a random starting point. It is analogous to shuffling a deck of cards at the beginning of a poker game. What is most desirable is a random but tight rack. A tight rack will allow for a better "spread" on breaking, and will thus provide a more enjoyable game. This line of reasoning led me to invent the Master Rack.

The Master Rack is a new product for racking balls. It gives a random, but very tight rack. For a given set of balls, it will provide the tightest rack possible despite the variances in ball size. This is made possible by its unique and patented design.

I hope you enjoy using the Master Rack, and I hope that it adds to your enjoyment of our wonderful sport!

Russell H. Bonn Jr.
Inventor of the Master Rack