9-ball: What do you do here? - Dec 30 #1

[sjm]

He is the man. If i thought of that i sure as hell couldnt pull it off-Wow!

Yeah, Varner's shot brings attention to detail to a completely new level.

 

[lewdo26]

Yeah, Varner's shot brings attention to detail to a completely new level.

Very instructive thread, sjm. Thank you. That's why Varner is one of the most intelligent players I've seen play (on tape, unfortunately).

 

[sjm]

Very instructive thread, sjm. Thank you. That's why Varner is one of the most intelligent players I've seen play (on tape, unfortunately).

Right you are, my friend. Nick, though deliberate, has been a good watch for over 25 years.

 

[travis trotter]

nine ball

i would just play a safety with the one and let my opponet have the one ball and i would shoot the rest of the balls fast and quick

thanks

 

[acedotcom]

I bank the one softly off the top rail and over into the 5-9 and leave the CB frozen on the 2 & other ball. Hopefully getting a 1-9 combo with BIH. It's important to hit the end rail before the 5B with the one. That gives best chance of combo & will be harder for opponent to make legal hit.

Cheers,
RC

Looks like the best move for me, too.

 

[Deadon]

Understand the shot by Varner. Myself, I would almost never play a safe that would put the 9 ball close to the pocket with the next ball near it. If the safety is missed a little, carom or combo is left. Even if the safety is good, if the other player hits the 1 then the 9 may go in easily for a quick win. I would play the run, or the safe breaking the 7/8 apart only.

 

[I rack balls]

Well, I highly doubt I'd have found the shot that Nick Varner found in this situation at the (1998?) BCA Open, but the shot he played certainly made an impression on me.

In many ways, he had a simlar approach to those suggesting playing the snooker while addressing a cluster. He found an ingenious way of addressing both clusters on the same shot.

Actually, a few years later, Nick used a slight variation on this shot in his Billiards Digest column, showing that on your best day, you can solve multiple problems as you play your defense.

Here's the shot Nick found, setting up the runout he made on his next inning. He parked the cue behind the two and six, and, I think you'll agree, he got maximum value out of the one ball.

That is exactly what I was going to say. Actually with the way the 7-8 look the 7 might be dead to break the balls out and I would use that instead of the one ball to avoid the 1-9 disaster. I guess I could give Varner the 8.

Eric.A.

 

[PoolFool]

Play safe for the 3 foul period. Balls are laid out to funny to do anything else. Don't like playing for combo's because too much can go wrong. Three fouls game over!

Hmm... although this works mostly against your avg. player; it would never work against the Magician.

 

[sjm]

That is exactly what I was going to say. Actually with the way the 7-8 look the 7 might be dead to break the balls out and I would use that instead of the one ball to avoid the 1-9 disaster. I guess I could give Varner the 8.

Eric.A.

I must concede that using the seven to break out the five and nine is an option I hadn't considered. It's pretty similar to what Varner actually did. The one concern I might have with that approach is losing control of the eight ball. which might either pocket or land in a bad spot. Still, this is the kind of creativity that we're celebrating in this thread, and you get high marks from me for this idea.

 

[pulzcul]

I shoot the 1-2-and 3 into the corner. Play the 4 into the other corner with the cue coming off the rail into the 5 leaving a 5-9 combo into the corner. Cool?

 

[Southpaw]

I bank the one softly off the top rail and over into the 5-9 and leave the CB frozen on the 2 & other ball. Hopefully getting a 1-9 combo with BIH. It's important to hit the end rail before the 5B with the one. That gives best chance of combo & will be harder for opponent to make legal hit.

Cheers,
RC

I definitely agree with this shot. Also, if you do not line up the 1-9 or get a shot on the 1 to break the 7-8 out, you may put your opponent on 2 fouls...and the third foul should be pretty simple to execute.

Southpaw

 

[Snapshot9]

Options

I shoot the 1-2-and 3 into the corner. Play the 4 into the other corner with the cue coming off the rail into the 5 leaving a 5-9 combo into the corner. Cool?

I had this in mind, although if your bump on the 5 was towards the other corner, then you could evaluate whether you could break out the 7 with the new 5 ball shot, and if so then you could get the rest of the way out.

 

[sjm]

bumo bump bump

 

[seymore15074]

Just like a drill safe knocking the 1 out, and then be ready to safe knocking the 2 out for the game. This is the default game plan, and would be re-evaluated as soon as there is a legal hit...

 

[Aaron_S]

Myself being somewhat less skilled than Mr. Varner, I think I might play the 1 into the 7/8 cluster just hard enough to break it up, while leaving the cueball tight behind the 2 & 6. I would be afraid to shoot this shot hard enough to try to clear both clusters due to the risk of accidentally making one of those balls and putting my own ass in a bear trap.

I would put preference on breaking out the 7/8 over the 5/9 for two reasons. First, the proximity of the 4 to the 5/9 makes that a much easier cluster to deal with during a runout. Second, I've been burned enough times by hooking my opp. and leaving the on-ball near the money ball. It's scary how many times I've seen them kick (at 100mph, mind you) and $hit in the money. Unless you can play a lock-up safety (or at least one that requires a multi-rail kick) while breaking up the 5/9, which is not easy given the location of the 1, you are putting yourself at risk of leaving your opp. a straightforward one-rail kick shot for the cheese. Don't get me wrong, sometimes that is certainly the right shot, but I don't see any compelling reason to take that risk here.

On a side note, Varner always struck me as being a very aggressive 9-ball player, often going offensive in situations where many other top pros would have probably ducked. I'm not knocking the man, as I have immense respect for his game, and his accomplishments certainly speak for themselves, but I wonder how a Buddy Hall or a Jimmy Rempe would have played the shot?

As always, JMHO,

Aaron

ps. I also agree that trying to get 3 fouls is a good plan at this point. With two clusters on the table, and decent cb control, you could probably be successful a fair % of the time.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Well, I highly doubt I'd have found the shot that Nick Varner found in this situation at the (1998?) BCA Open, but the shot he played certainly made an impression on me.

In many ways, he had a simlar approach to those suggesting playing the snooker while addressing a cluster. He found an ingenious way of addressing both clusters on the same shot.

Actually, a few years later, Nick used a slight variation on this shot in his Billiards Digest column, showing that on your best day, you can solve multiple problems as you play your defense.

Here's the shot Nick found, setting up the runout he made on his next inning. He parked the cue behind the two and six, and, I think you'll agree, he got maximum value out of the one ball.

Nick's da man. The beauty of this shot is that (1) you can hit it very accurately and (2) if you only get the CB near the 5-9 cluster your opponent still might break it out for you with his kick. Don't freeze him up too tight - give him a little rope.

pj
chgo