In bar table eight ball, do you deliberately miss shots?
- Thread starter newcuer
- Start date
I play in an APA-clone league, so all slop counts. If I want to play a safe then I will do it by deliberately missing a shot and (attempting to) move the cue ball into a detrimental position for my opponent.
I no longer really play casually with unknown bangers, but I have done the same thing in those situations, as well.
Your balls are obstacles to your opponent, so a common tactic is to leave them on the table (maybe moved around a little) until you're ready to try running out.
pj
chgo
DeeDeeCues
Well-known member
How long have you been playing?
Yes but not without control or purpose.
You should always be moving towards a run out. So if you can't get out, play safe to: get ball in hand, open up balls for a run out, block a pocket, or force an opponent to do these for you by only leaving them options that open up the table for you.
shooter_Hans
Well-known member
Yes.
I don’t miss on purpose but I don’t make the ball. I try to get the ball close to the pocket as possible.
I don’t miss on purpose but I don’t make the ball. I try to get the ball close to the pocket as possible.
Nobody intentionally misses shots that are part of the proper winning solution. It is fairly easy for a opponent/spectator with some pool knowledge to know exactly what the shooter intended.
Getting a favorable safety as a result of a near-miss, especially if it isn't a two-way shot, and then claiming purposefulness, is embarrassing to the shooter whether he knows it or not. Others know better.
However, deliberate safeties are appreciated by those with experience and scoffed at by those without experience, because the latter doesn't play pool to engage System 2 (they just want to relax and not think), while the former does.
Cognitive Systems: System 1 produces the fast, intuitive reactions and instantaneous decisions that govern most of our lives. System 2 is the deliberate type of thinking involved in focus, deliberation, reasoning or analysis.
Getting a favorable safety as a result of a near-miss, especially if it isn't a two-way shot, and then claiming purposefulness, is embarrassing to the shooter whether he knows it or not. Others know better.
However, deliberate safeties are appreciated by those with experience and scoffed at by those without experience, because the latter doesn't play pool to engage System 2 (they just want to relax and not think), while the former does.
Cognitive Systems: System 1 produces the fast, intuitive reactions and instantaneous decisions that govern most of our lives. System 2 is the deliberate type of thinking involved in focus, deliberation, reasoning or analysis.
Yes absolutely. Not so much deliberate missing as deciding not to make a completely makeable ball. Different from a two way shot, but you should look at two way shots that are good if you make it and safe if you miss.
One example is if one of your balls blocks a pocket for the 8 or opponent’s balls. You don’t shoot that until the end or when you are confident about running out.
It sounds like you are a newer player. Bar table 8 ball has a lot of strategy- particularly when the players aren’t run out players. There are many occasions to play safe, move your balks into better spots, tie up opponents balls etc…. There are some good books on 8 ball. Givens, Schwartz, others I think.
On a bar table there are clusters. You have to think about how to break them, leave them alone, or create them.
If you are a newer player, maybe the first guideline I’d say is to never leave yourself one of your balls and the 8. You want at least 2 of your balls on the table. This makes it harder to play safe on you and easier for you to run out. A good position and shotmaking drill is to take two balls -2 solids or two stripes- and the 8 ball and toss them randomly on the table. Take ball in hand and run the two balls then the 8. This helps 3 ball patterns in all games, but here gets you thinking of an 8 ball run out.
So for now if you can’t run out all the way, look to leave yourself with two or three balls and look for ways to play safe and move your balls into better position when doing so. Like after the break. You decide on stripes. You have an easy starter but a bad cluster. Solids are tied up. You can win games by choosing the better group of balls then playing smart. Make a couple balls then try to play a safe that opens your cluster but leaves the opponent safe or difficult.
I am no bar table monster, but when I have had modest success at 8 ball, it often comes by playing a little more strategically than the opponent. You will win more games against equal opponents and be able to make things a little tougher for better opponents.
One example is if one of your balls blocks a pocket for the 8 or opponent’s balls. You don’t shoot that until the end or when you are confident about running out.
It sounds like you are a newer player. Bar table 8 ball has a lot of strategy- particularly when the players aren’t run out players. There are many occasions to play safe, move your balks into better spots, tie up opponents balls etc…. There are some good books on 8 ball. Givens, Schwartz, others I think.
On a bar table there are clusters. You have to think about how to break them, leave them alone, or create them.
If you are a newer player, maybe the first guideline I’d say is to never leave yourself one of your balls and the 8. You want at least 2 of your balls on the table. This makes it harder to play safe on you and easier for you to run out. A good position and shotmaking drill is to take two balls -2 solids or two stripes- and the 8 ball and toss them randomly on the table. Take ball in hand and run the two balls then the 8. This helps 3 ball patterns in all games, but here gets you thinking of an 8 ball run out.
So for now if you can’t run out all the way, look to leave yourself with two or three balls and look for ways to play safe and move your balls into better position when doing so. Like after the break. You decide on stripes. You have an easy starter but a bad cluster. Solids are tied up. You can win games by choosing the better group of balls then playing smart. Make a couple balls then try to play a safe that opens your cluster but leaves the opponent safe or difficult.
I am no bar table monster, but when I have had modest success at 8 ball, it often comes by playing a little more strategically than the opponent. You will win more games against equal opponents and be able to make things a little tougher for better opponents.
I'm really starting to think I'm on the spectrum.
It's called playing safe. How/when depends on who I am playing. Of course a lot of bar bangers don't know how to deal with or like someone not trying to make every single shot they are facing, but many of them do it anyway just with a comment of "oops I tried soooo haaard to make that ball but I missed and now you have no shot, sorrrreee".
WobblyStroke
Well-known member
LOL
Very smart people are not immune to making very dumb plays as they are learning the game (and many years into thinking they 'know' the game). A poker author wrote about how genius businessmen can play like droolers at the tables....it doesn't mean they're dumb (or on the spectrum lol), they just don't have a sophisticated approach to the game. Same goes for pool players. As you learn more and have a more sophisticated view of the game, you start seeing some 'obvious' shots that wouldn't even register on your radar a year prior.
Another one is safety down, you can call safety, make a ball, and not have to shoot again.
I haven’t done it, but just once I want to do the “dick move” version of this and just call the wrong shot….it’s the exact same outcome.
“6 in the side” …. “Oops, I made the 3 in the corner, my bad, sorry for the tough leave”
boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
I like it when my opponent thinks I missed a shot. Often times I'm just re-arranging the furniture so to speak. Of course I do miss but I'm not trying to.
If you want to see some strategy that can be tied directly into your 8 ball game, watch some 1 pocket. It gives you a real good idea of how to not leave your opponent anything. Of course in 8 ball there are more pockets but the idea is the same. Make your balls easy and theirs tough. I think it's Cappelle that has a "Play your best 8 ball" book. It's a good one that talks about strategy. That's what's so neat about pool, the more you play you pick up all kinds of stuff that wouldn't have even crossed your mind before. It's a fun game and I don't think anyone truly masters it. Sure they can beat other players but they still miss, and there's always something to learn.
Last edited:
Depends on where the bar table is.
Reminds me of a scene from the ‘Hustler’ movie, where Paul Newman is trying to hide his true speed: If you shoot hard enough into a corner pocket from near the rail, the OB will usually ‘bobble’. Likely not the type of ‘intentional miss’ that typical bar-bangers would necessarily notice.
In 8 ball I look for shots that leave my opponent little to nothing if I Miss plus a good shot or options on the next ball if the shot is made. With offense and defense being factors in every shot.
Pretending to miss when safety is the intent would be a hustlers tactic. It's a tactic that's applauded in a poker game.
Pretending to miss when safety is the intent would be a hustlers tactic. It's a tactic that's applauded in a poker game.
If the general speed is people who won't get out, then by all means let them have at it. You can use your turn to take care of unfavorable congestion by simply shooting at the problem. No pocketing necessary. As you get familiar with what is and what isn't an out, you can play your cue ball accordingly.
'Course, if your opponent even might get out, then more caution is strongly advised.
Whether you call it intentionally missing, strategy or a safety and defense, it's all the same in the end. The intent is the same to gain an upper hand and leave more blockers for your opponent. Only in pool is this sometimes considered improper and that is only by bangers and bar players. Every other sport on Earth has defensive play. At the end, all safety play can be defeated by superior or just plain lucky offense, so miss at your risk.
Like I said, there are people who haven't exercised System 2 since they dropped out. Thinking is uncomfortable to them in the same way that exercise and eating well is uncomfortable to fat people. These people understand life as something that happens to them. The allure of gambling, drugs, alcohol, and addictive behaviors has led these people to pool, glamourized by a romance with ego presented in movies and legends, where the range of skill is so easily hidden that they think it is closer to a game of chance.
Informing them that the path to improvement requires the uncomfortable learning process in System 2, though passionate about pool they may be, causes them to reject the idea because it deprives them of instant gratification; probably the only reason why they like the game. It is a cognitive trap some people never get out of because of their intrinsic attitude about life.
Informing them that the path to improvement requires the uncomfortable learning process in System 2, though passionate about pool they may be, causes them to reject the idea because it deprives them of instant gratification; probably the only reason why they like the game. It is a cognitive trap some people never get out of because of their intrinsic attitude about life.
Last edited: