The Break - Ball in Hand after the Break and the Five Ball

R

Roadie

Banned
How many of you think you can beat a professional player with this spot in a race to nine?

Combinations or caroms on the five or the nine after the break is not allowed.

Try it against the ghost and see how you do. I have not beaten the ghost in a race to five yet. Granted I rarely play these days but I certainly can run an open table. Yet, inexplicably I seem to actually get worse when I am trying to win with this spot.

Does getting a big spot make a player worse or somehow affect their judgement for the worse?
 
I'm betting the farm on this one.

Does getting a big spot make a player worse or somehow affect their judgement for the worse?
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That actually happens often, but it tends to affect weaker players more than stronger players. Although, I have seen stronger players fold when getting a ton of weight from top pros.
 
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Can we get some folks to actually try it and report back how they did? It might be embarrassing for some people to realize that they are not as good at the moment as they think that they are. It was for me.
 
The Break-Ball in Hand after the break and the 5 ball

I'll try it later today..................
 
I'm positive I can't beat a pro this way. It takes a very solid B player to win. With just the break but no BIH, it takes a solid A player to beat a top pro.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I'm positive I can't beat a pro this way. It takes a very solid B player to win. With just the break but no BIH, it takes a solid A player to beat a top pro.
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A solid 'A' player would crush the world with this spot. A solid 'B' player should be about even money or maybe a little better.
 
Roadie said:
How many of you think you can beat a professional player with this spot in a race to nine?

Combinations or caroms on the five or the nine after the break is not allowed.

Try it against the ghost and see how you do. I have not beaten the ghost in a race to five yet. Granted I rarely play these days but I certainly can run an open table. Yet, inexplicably I seem to actually get worse when I am trying to win with this spot.

Does getting a big spot make a player worse or somehow affect their judgement for the worse?
Click to expand...
I would play anyone who ever lived with that spot. You are forgetting, you don't have to run out every time to win, you also get the first defensive shot as well. Even if you are playing even, no matter who you are playing you will win still your share of games regardless, few matches are won say 11 to 0 even with a miss match of talent. A spot hopefully will tip the odds in your favor in terms of games won, you only have to get to 51%. Giving such a spot to anyone who can play a bit, no matter who the top player is would have a hard time staying even.

At best, the pro may eeak out a very small margin or games to win there will be no blowouts. You may be surprised, spot like that takes a toll on the pro as well, you may out last him.
There has always been, and still are, gamblers of average skills who liked to play top players with big spots usually for big money. When you sweat those matches it can be surprising what that big spot does.
 
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I beat the ghost that way first time out. I only have a 7' table with all 4" pockets though. No combo on 5 or 9 and NOT rack your own makes it a lot tougher. Johnnyt
 
A B+ player should play about even with the 9-ball ghost, so a solid B should be a lock getting the 5 from the ghost. Playing this game against a real player (regardless of who the player is) is easier than playing the ghost, since you will have opportunities to play defense, and a miss against a real player doesn't have to result in a loss.

Aaron
 
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It'd be sad if I couldn't beat at least half the pros with this kind of spot.. is this what you've been offered?
 
Barbox...would bet the left nut (its pretty worn out anyway and had a great run). Nine footer...wouldn't bet a nickel.
 
I hate that game...it puts you in a negative position....
..you need your opponent to miss for you to win.
I'd rather give the 5-6-7-8..at least I can keep him in his chair.....
....by good shooting
 
I think this spot, especially with ball in hand, is much more about how Viffer plays than it is how Bart does. There will be games that Chris doesn't get to the table and that could be hard to fade. At least Chris gets to rack, so he can put a slug on the breaker, lol.

I have been beating the 9 ball ghost on a 9 foot diamond, so this shouldn't be a problem. Dippy is basically playing the ghost since he gets break and BIH. If he misses, he will probably lose that game unless he accidentally hooks Bart.
 
brandoncook26 said:
At least Chris gets to rack, so he can put a slug on the breaker, lol.
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With this game, good rack-bad rack isn't much of a factor.....
...remember, the Viffer gets 'ball-in-hand' after the 'break'...

...or in this case 'vreak'...:smile:
 
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