Rotation


Rotation is occasionally called Chicago (in the East) and Boston (in Chicago?). It is also called Sixty-one. Though Rotation is primarily played for money and not for fun, anyone who has played Rotation will tell you that the person who wins the money also has an inordinate amount of fun.

In Rotation you shoot the balls--yes--in rotation, and profit when you sink money balls, which may be arbitrarily determined before the game begins. (Four money balls, evenly spaced, keep the game interesting; put as much coin as you choose on, say, the 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-balls.) The player with the highest point total wins the game, and this also wins a share of the predetermined game booty. A ball's point value is equal to the number on the ball and, since balls 1 through 15 are worth a possible 120 points, the first player to pocket 61 points worth of balls wins. All combos are kosher, as long as the lowest-numbered ball on the table is always the first contacted; pockets need not be called. When a player makes a ball, he takes it from the pocket and sets it aside for himself.

To cheat: Because all of the accounting--determining who has which money balls and who has the highest point total--isn't done until the table is clear, one of the most valuable skills in Rotation is knowing how to steal your opponent's balls after they've been cleared from the table. The prevailing wisdom dictates that miney balls go unmolested. Instead, hoard low-numbered and little-respected balls such as the 2 and 4, which are more likely to go unmissed when it comes time to figure the profit or loss on the game. Those little balls can make a difference, so if the game looks close and you haven't kept a running score in your head, the safest tack is to lift your opponents' rocks and claim them as your own. (Do so surreptitiously, when he's pondering a difficult shot, if possible; by the same token, don't let your opponent out of your sight when you're at the table.) Of course, if the player has run thirteen consecutive balls and looks down at game's end to find only three or four in his possession, he'll likely be hip to what you've been up to.