Terminology of Bumper Pool

 Words used to describe the Table 

Cushion - any of the 8 sides/walls of the bumper pool table. On the opening shot, players must shoot their spotted ball off of the cushion on their right side.

Bumper - any of the 14 wooden pegs wrapped in a rubber tubing. Bumpers are useful for protecting offensive setup shots, playing off of bumpers directly into the pocket, and other game situations

Pocket - where the ball goes in. Red balls enter the red pocket and white balls enter the white pocket- ALWAYS!

Strong side - side of the table closest to the door in Tyler's room (the right side as viewed from the red balls starting position). A shot off of the strong side cushion has a greater likelihood of going in due to curves in the table that make shots break towards the pocket.

Weak side - side of the table closest to the desk in Tyler's room (the left side as viewed from the red balls starting position). A shot off of the weak side cushion has a lower likelihood of going in due to curves in the table that make shots break across the pocket.

Murph zone - region of the table on the cushions of the offensive zone where direct shots into the pocket are not possible, so named due to the tendency of Murphy Poplyk's balls to end up in the Murph Zone

Vault- The very center of the table. Balls are placed here if they are played off of the table. See Gameplay Rules for more details.

 Words Referring to In-Game Situations 

"Bump for Glory (BFG)" - Game situation in which a player scores their final ball by playing off of a bumper. A bump for glory is only valid if the opponent has their final ball in scoring position while the bump for glory shot is taken; otherwise, the shot is referred to as a "bump". Bump for Glory is occasionally shortened to BFG in casual conversation. Examples: "Will is going to need to take the Bump for Glory to win this game", "Could we have a BFG opportunity here?"

"Sweep" - Game situation in which a player sinks all five of their balls before their opponent has sunk their spotted ball. A sweep allows for heightened celebration including, but not limited to: a sweeping motion towards the swept player using the mounted broom, general trash-talk, and a photoshop of the swept player's visage onto some sort of picture of a broom.

"Jump for Glory" - Game situation in which a player jumps their final ball over the bumper wall dividing the table into their scoring hole. A jump for glory is only valid if the opponent has their final ball in scoring position while the jump for glory shot is taken; otherwise, the shot is referred to as a "jump shot".

"Vaulted"- A ball is considered "vaulted" when it is in the vault or the center of the table. This can occur either by penalty (hitting a ball off of the table) or by a defensive move from an opponent

"Potted" - A phrase coined by Kaustav Shah to describe when a players ball is stuck behind a bumper in the offensive zone and is therefore not in scoring position. Players may "pot themselves" or "be potted" as the result of a defensive shot from their opponent. Example uses: "Am I potted?", "Did Katsis pot himself?", "You are potted."

"Pulling a Katsis" - This phrase refers to a ball entering a pocket, but being spit back out. This phrase originated at The Larry Moneta Invitational, when Alex Katsis failed to advance from the group stage after he shot multiple balls into the pocket that were spit back out. Example: He pulled a Katsis!

"Wide Angle Bump (WAB)" - A shot taken off of the center bumper into the pocket from outside of the 2nd and 4th black dots on the table. A WAB is a very difficult shot and especially unlikely into the white pocket.

"The Perfect Game" - When a player sinks each of their balls on their first 5 shots of the game, without a single one of the opponent's balls being scored. This feat has never been accomplished in the history of the sport. The closest opportunity came when Tyler scored his first 4 balls in against Shaunak and left the fifth and final ball at the cusp of the hole. Tyler subsequently lost the game to Shaunak.

 Common Bumper Pool Phrases 

"DTB (Down to Bump)" - used to see if someone wants to play bumper pool. Examples: Tyler is always DTB. Are you DTB tonight Shaunak?

"New age" - generally referring to more offensively aggressive tactics pushed by Tyler beginning in January 2015. A classic "new-age" shot involves shooting a non-spotted ball off the strong-side cushion directly towards the pocket instead of the more classic setup shot off the angled cushion on the opponents side. This movement also ushered in one of Tyler's favorite phrases to players in Spring 2015: "Welcome to the new age" - credit Imagine Dragons

"The Playlist" - When used in the context of Bumper Pool, refers to the Bump Playlist created by Tyler on Spotify featuring various bumpin tunes. The headliner for the playlist is "Le Bump" by Yolanda Be Cool Ft. Crystal Waters (music video link). Spotify users can listten to the entire public playlist by clicking the following link: Spotify - Bump Playlist

"Le Bump" - First song appearing on the Bump Playlist, by Yolanda Be Cool Ft. Crystal Waters The music video can be found here. This song inspired the organizational name "Le Bump" and the Aussie Pop tune is infectious to new and old bumpers alike.

"HQBP (High Quality Bumper Pool)" - used when a game is played at a very high-level. Example: That new-age shot followed by the bump for glory was some HQBP.

"Elo" - This is the ranking system used for players eligible for ranking under the 7-win criteria. Read more here.

"7-win Criteria" - Players who have accumulated 7 wins over any players will be eligible for an Elo ranking and added to the "Le Bump" group. After achieving this, players are said to be "Ranked".

"Ranked" - Players achieving 7 wins are said to be Ranked and receive an Elo score each week.

"Farming" - Term coined by Kaighn Kevlin after implementation of the Elo ranking system. Players who are overrated in the Elo can be "farmed" for points. A player who is "farming" is playing currently overrated players in the rankings system in hopes of artificially inflating their Elo ranking. After "farming", a player is then ripe to be "farmed" by other players, redistributing the points in the Elo ranking system.

"K32", "K24", "K16" - This refers to the scaling factors used in the Elo ranking system. Players who are low-ranked have a K-value of 32 (Each game matters more in rankings points for a K32 player than a K24 players) to encourage movement in the rankings for players who have not played much, while players with higher rankings have lower K-values to decrease unnecessary Elo noise. Example: "I'm surprised Kaighn lost to that K32 yesterday."