Not to be confused with Eight Ball (Bally, 1977), Eight Ball Deluxe (Bally, 1981), or 8 Ball (Williams, 1966).
Complete Champ twice from the top lanes and in lanes to light triple playfield scoring (lane change moves the lights between all 5 of the lanes), then shoot the left "orbit" all day. The only reason to collect pool balls and work on racks is to build bonus- which does carry over from ball to ball- but eventually the left lane will be worth 200,000 a shot before the triple playfield.
These lanes spells Ham. Combined with the two in lanes, though, they spell Champ. Any lane scores 3,000 points. Go through a lit lane to unlight it. Lane change with the right flipper only moves the lit lanes. Unlighting all 5 lanes spells the word Champ. Spell Champ once to light 2x playfield scoring for the rest of the ball, and increase the spinner value to 1,000/spin. Spell Champ a second time to light 3x playfield for the rest of the ball, and increase the spinner value to 3,000/spin. Spell Champ a third time to increase the spinner value to 5,000/spin and light one of the out lanes alternately for a special. Spell Champ a fourth time to light the other out lane for special as well.
The value of the two orbit shots at either side of the top of the table is tied together. The left orbit sends the ball up to the 8 ball saucer for bonus X and eventually possible 100,000s before falling into the Ham lanes, while the right orbit just sends the ball to the top Ham lanes directly. The first shot to either orbit scores 5,000 points; the second shot to either orbit scores 10,000 points; each shot after the second is worth 10,000 more than the last, up to a maximum of 100,000 points. At some point (typically when the value is around 70,000), the orbit shots will be lit for a special as well.
The left orbit sends the ball to the 8 ball saucer. The first three shots increase the bonus multiplier to 2x, then 3x, then 5x. Every shot after that scores 100,000 points. If the 1-7 pool balls have been collected in the current rack, the 8 ball saucer appropriately collects the 8 ball and finishes the rack. The points alone are more than enough to make this worth it, though, even if 1-7 is not complete.
The 5 drop targets around the table correspond to the 7 pool balls. Starting in the lower left and going clockwise, the targets collect the 6 ball, the 1 & 2 balls, the 3 ball, the 4 & 5 balls, and the 7 ball. Hitting a target collects a pool ball and exposes a standup target behind it. That standup target collects one of the letters in the word Eight and resets the drop target. If a drop target is raised but there are no more pool balls to collect on it, the drop target scores 5,000 points. For the targets that correspond to 2 pool balls, they mus be collected by hitting the drop target, then the Eight target, then the drop target again.
Each pool ball collected is worth 15,000 points toward base bonus. After collecting all of 1-7, pick up the 8 ball from the left orbit to finish the rack, light the 120,000 (first time) or 240,000 (second time) super bonus, and qualify the next rack. Completing either the first or second rack scores a special.
Each letter in Eight that is collected adds 10,000 to the base bonus. Spell Eight to earn a letter in Ball, worth 50,000 in base bonus. Collecting the A in Ball scores an extra ball. Collecting the first L in Ball scores a special.
Eight Ball Champ has a conventional in/out lane setup. The out lanes score 1,000 points, and can be lit alternately or together for a special after 3 or 4 completions of Champ on a single ball, respectively. The in lanes score 3,000 points and correspond to the C and P in Champ. The in lanes are included in the lane change with the top lanes, moving the lit Champ lanes around the playfield. Careful shatzing/alley passing with skillful lane changing can help complete Champ spellings very quickly while keeping the ball relatively in control.
Bonus multiplier is advanced by making the 8 ball saucer from the left orbit: 2x the first time, 3x the second time, 5x the third time. See the "Drop targets and pool balls" section for discussion of base bonus. Bonus cannot be collected mid-ball. Bonus multipliers are not carried over from ball to ball, but all components of base bonus (pool balls, super bonuses form completed racks, and all Eight Ball letters) are carried forward for the entire game.
I assume that specials and extra balls score 50,000 and 25,000 respectively in competition/novelty play, but have not been able to confirm this.
Extra ball and special can be tied to the B and A in Ball, rather than the A and first L.
The spinner value can be 1,000 points per spin to start. In this case only two completions of Champ are needed to max its value at 5,000/spin.
The special lit at the orbit shots can turn on when the orbit shots are at any value between 30,000 and 100,000 points.
A special can be awarded alongside completion of the first rack instead of the second. Completed rack #3 and on always award a special.
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