9-ball Strategy: Playing someone much worse than you

[book collector]

The biggest mistake I have seen people make, is that they are giving up a big handicap and the guy makes 1 good shot or does something they think should be above his level, and they panic.
Now they think the guys a sandbagger and they have to play perfect or they will lose.

In some cases , that is exactly what it is, but most of the time it's just luck and if you play solid, the weaker player usually folds up in time for you to beat them.
Although it might be hill hill case, ball though , so be prepared!}

 

[hang-the-9]

I have a handicapped 9-ball tournament coming up this weekend that I've been preparing for. The opening rounds of the tournament always scare me because I have to play people who are rated much lower than me. They only need to win a few games due to the handicap system.

What kind of strategy should I use on these low handicaps? I always stress myself out when I get towards the end of the rack because although I've ran all the balls up to the 8, one miss and I could lose the game. I know that it's no different than playing a good player but for some reason it makes me think and worry too much. I guess it's because one loss is much more costly against a low handicapped player.

Any strategy advice?

Don't miss late in the game. At all. You may get lucky but chances are you will sell out an easy shot. I lost a close handicapped race once where I easily doubled the ball count that the other guy made but he ended up shooting a lot of 2 and 3 ball run outs when I messed up late in the race.

If it's a tough rack, play safe or even just leave tough shots while opening up balls for a better run later. If you are playing someone that you know won't run 2-3 balls even with ball in hand, that is the way to do this. Don't try for 2 tough shots and try to break up an 8-9 cluster or something in one rack during a run out. Leave balls long and banks even if they can be seen, I'd sacrifice safety play to move balls to an easily runnable position when he/she misses.

 

[app4dstn]

The biggest mistake I have seen people make, is that they are giving up a big handicap and the guy makes 1 good shot or does something they think should be above his level, and they panic.
Now they think the guys a sandbagger and they have to play perfect or they will lose.

In some cases , that is exactly what it is, but most of the time it's just luck and if you play solid, the weaker player usually folds up in time for you to beat them.
Although it might be hill hill case, ball though , so be prepared!}

Don't miss late in the game. At all. You may get lucky but chances are you will sell out an easy shot. I lost a close handicapped race once where I easily doubled the ball count that the other guy made but he ended up shooting a lot of 2 and 3 ball run outs when I messed up late in the race.

If it's a tough rack, play safe or even just leave tough shots while opening up balls for a better run later. If you are playing someone that you know won't run 2-3 balls even with ball in hand, that is the way to do this. Don't try for 2 tough shots and try to break up an 8-9 cluster or something in one rack during a run out. Leave balls long and banks even if they can be seen, I'd sacrifice safety play to move balls to an easily runnable position when he/she misses.

Ok, then i'm gonna say we're a 5-3 matchup. So here's what i'm thinking at this point. OK i get 4 chances to screw up, but how do i manufacture 3?

(i started typing but now i gotta run and pick up at daycare. i'll be back. cuz i definitely want to hear some inner thinkings leading into a tourney matchup between strangers. i never thought i'd have anything good to share on AZB, but yeah, the musings of a 1st round newb sacrificial lamb? i have daydreamed of being that!)

yup, pretty much everything i'd hope for has been laid out here. manufacture an early 9. try to get your potential runout slowed or spoiled by tying up later balls.

i'm not going to win a shootout. i need to vulture a game or two. i need to somehow find a way to the table with 3 or fewer clear path balls. i'm studying the layout to figure out how the rack ends, and what if anything i can do if and when i get to the table. is it sufficiently clustered? what is your runout and where does it bog down? how can i prolong this game? if not an early 9, then maybe i can get into an endgame position/safety battle on the 8/9 or 9 only, and maybe win that. or back into a win via 3 fouls.

i'm hoping to find my opponent doesn't care about what i do, or that i can outmaneuver him in the guerilla war game. to win like this, of course i need to execute, but i also need my opponent to help facilitate the opportunity. if he choose to try to lock me up instead of finishing the rack i'm probably going to lose that battle. just hoping to find that narrow window of opportunity.

 

[Keith Jawahir]

Here's my experience playing lower rated players. People make the most mistakes when they're trying to outrun the spot. Unless you're in your very highest gear that day, you're going to have a hard time outrunning some spots. And even then, you might make a small error, all of a sudden they make some hail mary combo. the next rack, you leave an easy combo. These things happen so much it's unbelievable. I have a match up on youtube where I'm playing a skill level 2 in 10-ball. I had to give him 6 on 11 and the 9-ball. I started out trying to outrun the spot and found myself staring at 10-3 very quickly. I switched to a safety based game and won the next 8 straight to take the match.

 

[app4dstn]

I've got mixed feelings about this. What everyone has posted about being conservative is great advice and it's how I used to play bad players. I've changed a little bit though.

When you are playing conservative and playing safe and then making balls and playing safe, you really can't make mistakes and you put a lot of pressure on yourself. Any mistake you make gives them a free shot. And there isn't any difference in how you play when there is slack - early in the rack - and when there isn't - later in the rack or with the 9 ball in an easy spot for a combo.

this is exactly it. i'm hoping that you're a player who's accustomed to winning pretty. and that you're rating stems moreso from shotmaking than defense. and that we can get into something like a safety/position battle where the skill difference isn't as great and randomness/luck narrows it even more. if you're loathe to that style, i hope to get you there. if you're well accustomed to that, i'm SOL and going to figure out a way to get inspired quickly or fall into that i've-already-lost mindset.

The big problem with this is eventually you make mistakes. And then they capitalize on your mistakes. And then they get some confidence and then they play better and pretty soon, you couldn't beat them playing even because their game has jumped and your game has slumped.

yeah, i'm hoping that you show me if you have any weaknesses or tendencies.

I'd rather put myself in a position to capitalize on their mistakes and put the pressure on them. I do this by always being aware of the situation and giving them plenty of opportunities to make those mistakes.

i'm going into this thinking match thinking when i come to the table the 1st time, can i do anything for the end game? how do i advance the table for myself? running a sequence accelerates the end and removes blockers. where do i stop this run and duck? where do i miss the OB to? where do i move other balls and where do i leave the CB? where's he going to go and how is he going to procede? how can i thwart that? i want to overtake him going into the win-zone, and most definitely not lead him into it. how/where do i place the turd on his path?

Instead of giving them lock up safes I like to leave them tough shots with no leave or a tough table. Missing shots, even if they aren't 'supposed' to make them will shake their confidence. Plus, I've learned the hard way that poor players kick hard and have good stuff happen way too often. Giving them a kick shot that would stymie a better player doesn't phase them at all. Because they look at it as a free shot and hit it warp speed. Anything can happen and most of them aren't a good outcome for ME.

this is a great point. though it's an outlier play that i'd never invoke against a similarly-classed opponent, i am ready to go nuclear and bust out the rack if i feel i'm standing at my final inning and there's no hope. if you leave me just enough oxygen to be feeble, it will keep me from sensing death. if somehow i get to hill before you, i would consider this option every time. maybe in that situation you are better of getting me to attempt and bogart a sequence than to leave me with nothing to start on. launching a bomb is the underdog's perogative .

If there is a lot of trouble in the rack I like to let them get to it first. They will usually break it up and make a mistake giving you an easy runout.

Sometimes I'll just let them shoot at the 4 or 5 ball knowing that odds are they will run a few balls and leave me with an easy two ball out.

this is where i see the crux of the rack in my winning scenario. maybe i can assume i'll get 1 inning a game. can i hope for 3? probably not. if i can get to the table at this stage, i figure i can only run out the simplest layout 2-5% of the time. so i'll instead be thinking back to what you're shooting pattern has been and hoping i can setup a way to hook you.

It takes a little practice to get the feel for it but now my win% has improved dramatically over bad players.

This only works with people who are legitimately lower handicaps.

boy, this is perfectly written, and matches what i'd predict my significantly stronger opponent is thinking. my comments within...

 

[accustatsfan]

Define the lesser ranked player and that gives you the answer. A fair handicap system is supposed to give every player a chance to win without the handicaps many players wouldn't play and there goes your tournament.

The most dangerous lesser ranked players IMO are the ones who ride the 9 every shot.
They can't run 2-5 balls? Leave open shots on the one or two ball. Sometimes the better ranked player can't run out either and leave the lesser player 9 ball hangers and 2-3 ball run outs that they can handle.
They can't play certain shots? Leave them those shots a safety doesn't always mean you need to hide the cueball
They can't kick or jump. On your safeties play to hide the cueball while rearranging problem balls.

If you are the better player and you lose shake their hand you might have given them a victory they'll talk about all month

 

[thefonz]

I don't think you'd need a different strategy than if you were playing someone that was mustard.

Shoot what you can make, control the table.