One pocket WWYD

[Runner]

I have some question about that character:smile:.

1. Is that his real beard?
2. Why is he dressed up as Santa? Is there a hidden significance to this, or is it random?

Inquiring minds want to know about the Santa plant... talk about a shark move... you look over in the heat of battle and freaking Santa is sitting there?!

That is some beard maintenance there...

So Santa.... about that 'Bushka....

 

[one stroke]

Let me preface this by saying, despite my sig.. I actually play decent One Pocket. I had John Morra down 2-1 with Shane Van Boening sweating my match pretty hard at the DCC the year Morra won the Banks.. Shane was rooting for me to win to lessen Morra's chances at the all-around. I couldn't pull it out.. :-( I have 13-14 ball runs in practice on a Diamond Pro/Am 9 footer.

Now,that being said, I think the main thing to think about here is that if you can remove the 14, it makes all those balls on the left side of the table play a lot easier due to there not being as much pressure on a miss, in case you get slightly thin on them. You will need that extra confidence in case you get thinnish and need to pinch/squeeze one of those balls in to get behind one of the other balls.

I would make the 6, and get the most natural angle I could off the 8 to fall on the 14. If you get right on the 8, it's fairly natural to get to the 14. Even if you get thin on the 14, just cut it in and try to stun three rails soft to the 5, aiming to hit the 15.. If you hit this even remotely good, you have a chance to get straight in on the 5 with a draw shot straight back to get to either the 15, 7 (or 11!) If you miss it, you have a chance to hook your opponent on your closest ball with the 5...

In my humble opinion, banking the 14 doesn't lead to anything, as it is a speed-sensitive bank. Rather thn trying to hit that shot real good and "just" hanging it up with a safe, just try to hit the 8 ball good and get the 14 as the third ball. If you get thick on the 14, you can play thre rail shap (side-rail/top-rail/same side-rail with top right.. You can go right to the 5..

If you make the 14 and get on a ball, you're probably gonna get at least 6 balls. If you can't get good on a seventh ball, you play to make one of the remaining ball on the table in another pocket and let Lou try to play safe off two balls on the spot.

Anything that relies on "two-ways", and just-in-case is a losing proposition. You have to be hyper aggressive while the balls are still runnable. You stall out before getting 5 bals, you won't get another chance if playing any decent opponent.You need to get on the balls straight in.. Don't bank any balls until you are absolutely forced to, and you better have run 5-6 balls before that.

I believe that playing to the 14 removes your opponent's biggest threat and at least give you an equal chance to any other option to run as many balls as possible. This is a layout your gotta take some chances on.

Short Bus Russ - C Player

I like it that's what I'm thinking I think coming up under the 14 after the 8 would certainly be worth a try no question that's what I would be doing
1

 

[alphadog]

Always glad to help those with special needs.

pj
chgo

Someone is in denial

 

[Danimal]

Inquiring minds want to know about the Santa plant... talk about a shark move... you look over in the heat of battle and freaking Santa is sitting there?!

That is some beard maintenance there...

So Santa.... about that 'Bushka....

I know this guy. He is a decent player that is also a cabbie in NY.

He always had the beard thing going on, and one holiday he decided to rock the Santa hat.

When he continued to wear it into, say, February I suggested to him that maybe it was time to hang it up for the year. He told me that he was enjoying the attention from the hat and was going to roll with it.

If you recall, JB and Lou played around the Expo so this picture was from about mid-to late-March of that year.

By the time the sweltering summer heat came that hat was getting mighty ripe, and I kinda became disassociated with him at that point.

 

[JB Cases]

I've rewatched some of the Barton-Figueroa match, and since I'm not a one pocket player, I often do not know exactly what is the correct shot choice.

In the picture John Barton needs all the balls plus one. He is aiming directly at his pocket. Lou needs only one, as can be seen from the score. I'm curious to know if you'd try to run all the balls, what order you'd run them in, or when you'd play safe. I'll leave the suggestions to you advanced one pocket players, like I said, when it comes to playing one pocket I am a beginner. The 9 ball is directly behind Johns Bridgehand, not frozen to the rail (between half a ball, and 3/4 ball off the rail, I think).

As you can see from the screencap, this is part 3 of the youtube video, at 9 minutes 12 seconds in. Link should start right at this time.
https://youtu.be/CUeoiUZdbMs?list=PLSKV5CK_fziXgJfmuqZiy_N-C5JFHNg8w&t=550

Please keep this thread positive and on the subject matter. I do not want this to end up a bashing of either of the two players in this match.

My thought here was to get the 6 and punch it down for a little flatter shot on the 8 so that I could come up better on the 14 and go from there. I didn't have any plan beyond the 14.

I was happy to still be at the table at all. Even though I came back to get 6 balls on my side Lou closed it out with a terrific 3 railer after I hit the 6 a touch too hard and it bumped the 15 far enough up to give a clear try at the 3 railer.