8-Ball Strategy Situation Options

[Colin Colenso]

A common situation that we find during a game of 8-ball is when an opponent's ball is blocking the path of one of our own balls to a pocket.

To try to fast track my thinking process in these situations, I wrote down a list of options to work through for dealing with this situation more efficiently. I thought I'd pass them on, and see if anyone could add any, or categorize the options in a clearer way.

Here are the Options for when an opponent's OB is blocking the path to a pocket for one of my balls

When OB is close to the pocket...
1. Can I cannon off my own ball to pocket opponent's blocking OB and leave a safe?
2. Can I pot my own ball onto opponent's blocking OB and follow it through to make the pot and continue shooting?

When Blocking OB is out from the pocket mouth...
3. Are any of my balls well placed to carom off the blocking ball allowing a pot?
4. Can I promote any of my balls to a position where they could carom off the blocking ball, achieving a safety at the same time?

General...
5. Can my blocked ball be positioned onto for potting in another pocket?
6. Does the opponent have a bad layout, such that I could just pot or clear his blocking ball with little risk of him going out?
7. Do I have a safety shot that might allow me to get ball in hand or to allow my next shot to likely be from a stronger position?
8. Can I force the opponent to play at this ball from an angle that makes position or a clearance difficult?
9. Is there an easy way to cannon onto the blocked ball after potting one of my other balls so as to move it into a better area.
10. Can I play one of my own balls onto the blocking ball, trying to leave the CB safe?
11. Can I pot any of my own balls into another pocket and cannon my CB into the opponent's blocking OB to pot it or knock it clear and continue?

Did I miss any options? Or what else could be considered?

Colin

 

[steev]

pretty thorough list. i tend not to use words when i have these thoughts, so it's nice to see them written down. of course i had to get out my colin-to-english dictionary cause i dunno what pot and cannon mean (stupid americans).

-s

 

[supergreenman]

I'm glad you brought this up Calculator dude. I've been thinking about this alot more lately when I've been planning my runnouts. A good example of this is:

CueTable Help

A lot of times your ball is closer to the pocket but you're unable to sink it directly because of an oponents OB is blocking access to it. Therefore you have to play a carom off your ball with another of your balls to free up the first.

I try and identify any shots like this early on so I have other options if I don't get shape on the ball I've played the carom off.

Edit: for some reason when I paste this the arrows get messed up

 

[Colin Colenso]

pretty thorough list. i tend not to use words when i have these thoughts, so it's nice to see them written down. of course i had to get out my colin-to-english dictionary cause i dunno what pot and cannon mean (stupid americans).

-s

haha...yeah, I tend to mix in a few English terms to confuse

I have always, until recently just looked at the situation and imagine the options, but sometimes the brain gets a little tired or lazy. It is easy in these situations to overlook a better option I think. So it tends to help to have a list to run down when no clear solution is popping into the mind.

Colin

 

[Colin Colenso]

I'm glad you brought this up Calculator dude. I've been thinking about this alot more lately when I've been planning my runnouts. A good example of this is:

CueTable Help

A lot of times your ball is closer to the pocket but you're unable to sink it directly because of an oponents OB is blocking access to it. Therefore you have to play a carom off your ball with another of your balls to free up the first.

I try and identify any shots like this early on so I have other options if I don't get shape on the ball I've played the carom off.

Edit: for some reason when I paste this the arrows get messed up

SuperGreenman,
This is another common and similar obstacle in the game. Certainly worth remembering a few systematic ways of dealing with it.

Colin

 

[Andrew Manning]

A common situation that we find during a game of 8-ball is when an opponent's ball is blocking the path of one of our own balls to a pocket.

To try to fast track my thinking process in these situations, I wrote down a list of options to work through for dealing with this situation more efficiently. I thought I'd pass them on, and see if anyone could add any, or categorize the options in a clearer way.

Here are the Options for when an opponent's OB is blocking the path to a pocket for one of my balls

When OB is close to the pocket...
1. Can I cannon off my own ball to pocket opponent's blocking OB and leave a safe?
2. Can I pot my own ball onto opponent's blocking OB and follow it through to make the pot and continue shooting?

When Blocking OB is out from the pocket mouth...
3. Are any of my balls well placed to carom off the blocking ball allowing a pot?
4. Can I promote any of my balls to a position where they could carom off the blocking ball, achieving a safety at the same time?

General...
5. Can my blocked ball be positioned onto for potting in another pocket?
6. Does the opponent have a bad layout, such that I could just pot or clear his blocking ball with little risk of him going out?
7. Do I have a safety shot that might allow me to get ball in hand or to allow my next shot to likely be from a stronger position?
8. Can I force the opponent to play at this ball from an angle that makes position or a clearance difficult?
9. Is there an easy way to cannon onto the blocked ball after potting one of my other balls so as to move it into a better area.
10. Can I play one of my own balls onto the blocking ball, trying to leave the CB safe?
11. Can I pot any of my own balls into another pocket and cannon my CB into the opponent's blocking OB to pot it or knock it clear and continue?

Did I miss any options? Or what else could be considered?

Colin

One option you seem to have overlooked is "can I pot one of my balls and moved the 'blocked' ball to a more open position?" Quite often when a ball is in a bad spot, you can plan your pattern such that you'll have the opportunity to move it to a better spot during your run.

Another move I've set up occasionally with success is this:

Say you have this situation, you're solids:

CueTable Help

The 2 is very clearly your problem ball; one way to set yourself up in better position for later in the rack is like this:

CueTable Help

So now the 15 is in jail for your opponent, but any time it suits you, you can combo the 2-15-1, making the 1 and freeing up the 2, leaving you an easy out. Situations like the 2 and 15 come up a lot, and positioning your ball so that you can hit the 2 and sink a ball definitely gives you a big leg up in the rack.

-Andrew

edit: The other stripes were supposed to show up ni the diagram, sort of clustered up such that it was doubtful your opponent would be able to run them while breaking out the 15. Somehow several of them left the table when I copied and pasted.

 

[8-ball bernie]

colin, my favorite in this situation is to pot your opponents blocking ball that is hanging in the bag with your object ball,playing the plant, then have the cue ball contact a cushion with run through and go behind one of your balls laying down a perfect snooker. the cannon is a bit tricky, because you can face an in-off that's on if the white contacts your oppoents object ball flush. here we accomplish many things: first we remove our opponents ball,second, we leave our object ball in the vacinity,and third, we snooker our opponent, giving us ball in hand, for the clearence,because his escape plans are spoiled. there, i said it, an american speaking perfect british lingo, hire me!

 

[Colin Colenso]

One option you seem to have overlooked is "can I pot one of my balls and moved the 'blocked' ball to a more open position?" Quite often when a ball is in a bad spot, you can plan your pattern such that you'll have the opportunity to move it to a better spot during your run.

Another move I've set up occasionally with success is this:

Say you have this situation, you're solids:

CueTable Help

The 2 is very clearly your problem ball; one way to set yourself up in better position for later in the rack is like this:

CueTable Help

So now the 15 is in jail for your opponent, but any time it suits you, you can combo the 2-15-1, making the 1 and freeing up the 2, leaving you an easy out. Situations like the 2 and 15 come up a lot, and positioning your ball so that you can hit the 2 and sink a ball definitely gives you a big leg up in the rack.

-Andrew

edit: The other stripes were supposed to show up ni the diagram, sort of clustered up such that it was doubtful your opponent would be able to run them while breaking out the 15. Somehow several of them left the table when I copied and pasted.

Thanks Andrew,
Great example shot!

The first option you mention is the same as my number 9 I believe.

The example you gave is different than what any of my options describe, but is similar in theory to no.4.

So I should add:
Promote one of my OB to a position over the pocket or so that it can be caromed onto and potted, or such that it can be later used to open up the blocked ball.

I like your shot. It gives the option of a direct combo, or cannoning off your blocked ball to pocket it (in some situations) or of using it to break into the blocked or blocking balls.

Colin

 

[Colin Colenso]

colin, my favorite in this situation is to pot your opponents blocking ball that is hanging in the bag with your object ball,playing the plant, then have the cue ball contact a cushion with run through and go behind one of your balls laying down a perfect snooker. the cannon is a bit tricky, because you can face an in-off that's on if the white contacts your oppoents object ball flush. here we accomplish many things: first we remove our opponents ball,second, we leave our object ball in the vacinity,and third, we snooker our opponent, giving us ball in hand, for the clearence,because his escape plans are spoiled. there, i said it, an american speaking perfect british lingo, hire me!

Hey Bernie,
That's basically the same as my no.10 option. It's probably the best shot you can find if there isn't a decent way to try to go out.

Good job with the brit lingo...I'll call you when a spot becomes open

btw: Here's a situation, which fits into the no.10 category, that I had in Vegas. I thought I had Ralf Souquet in a bit of trouble after I had just fallen short of clearing up.

He potted several of his balls and worked into the position shown below. He played his 12 ball onto my ball, potting it and leaving me up table, so I was forced to play a difficult long double.

I think there were a couple of other of his balls on the table but that's not really relevant.

CueTable Help

 

[PoolSharkAllen]

Another move I've set up occasionally with success is this:

Say you have this situation, you're solids:

CueTable Help

The 2 is very clearly your problem ball; one way to set yourself up in better position for later in the rack is like this:

CueTable Help

So now the 15 is in jail for your opponent, but any time it suits you, you can combo the 2-15-1, making the 1 and freeing up the 2, leaving you an easy out. Situations like the 2 and 15 come up a lot, and positioning your ball so that you can hit the 2 and sink a ball definitely gives you a big leg up in the rack.

-Andrew

Hey Andy, A combo on the 2-15-1 is not a gimme. The combo may not free up the 2 and in fact, may put solids right back in jail as the 15 may still block the 2. If the 15 blocks the 2 then stripes may now have the advantage.

Also, if I were stripes, I would consider consider a counter-safety in moving the 13 ball to the upper left corner, thus blocking the 3 and the 8, and preventing an easy runout. Stripes should also try to repositon the 14 to a better location for offensive/defensive purposes.

 

[Williebetmore]

of course i had to get out my colin-to-english dictionary cause i dunno what pot and cannon mean (stupid americans).

-s

Steev-o,
Speak for yourself. A pot is one of those round thingies that the wife uses to cook up some stew. A cannon is a large, cylindrical, metal thingie that people use to blow the f$%k out of each other (I'll show you one at DCC, I'm bringing one to use on breakup). Of course I have NO clue why he's putting these on his nice pool table.

P.S. - thanks, Colin, for the tips; even without a shot clock it should help us hackers to speed up our play - always a worthwhile goal.

 

[Cornerman]

A common situation that we find during a game of 8-ball is when an opponent's ball is blocking the path of one of our own balls to a pocket.

My thoughts on the blocking ball:

In general terms, Colin, advanced 8-ball players do not look to leave ball's near a pocket to "block an opponent's balls." Too often, those balls will be the toughest to use for position, or the toughtest to get to. Leaving them when they were the perfect balls to continue and finish the runout takes away any perceived advantage of keeping them there.

Fred

 

[Colin Colenso]

My thoughts on the blocking ball:

In general terms, Colin, advanced 8-ball players do not look to leave ball's near a pocket to "block an opponent's balls." Too often, those balls will be the toughest to use for position, or the toughtest to get to. Leaving them when they were the perfect balls to continue and finish the runout takes away any perceived advantage of keeping them there.

Fred

I agree Fred,
That's one of the reasons I started this thread. In the 8-ball I played, blocking a ball was a much bigger strategic advantage..in fact it was the predominant tactical shot.

In US 8-ball it is quite weak, but still an issue that comes up a lot and needs to be thought about. Many of these ways are foreign to the English style player so sometimes we overlook them.

Also, we still need to think about coping with being blocked from access to our ball from a ball lying behind our ball and various other strategical positions.

Just looking for a spread of ideas and getting some good ones to mull over. While I doubt there is a strategy I haven't seen used, some of them are rare/obscure to me, and hence overlooked on occassion due to unfamiliarity with these rules.

Colin