A 9-ball Brainteaser
- Thread starter sjm
- Start date
pharaoh68
Banned
sjm said:
I'd play the 3 in the corner and draw back a little; maybe 2 inches. Next, play the 4 in the side with a little high left sending the cue ball about halfway down the rail (maybe a little more) but off the rail. Then I would cut the 5 into the bottom corner and play it with low right, drawing two rails BEHIND the 6-8 and splitting them, assuring that I won't get hooked behind the 8 ball.
Sensation said:
If you get ball in hand, play safe there again. Give them nightmares about the 6-8. It WILL break up sooner or later, you want to keep control of the table, not break it up so your opponent can drill you.
Draw back a little on the three, stun the 4 or roll down and play short-side shape on the five. You can land at a few different angles on the five and be able to break out the 6/8 cluster. If you wind up bad on the five, then two or three rail the five and play safe hitting the 6/8, breaking them apart. That seems to be the highest percentage route to me.
I agree that the safety is too passive. I think breaking up the cluster off the 4 is clearly the shot but after carefully examining the cluster I think maybe aiming to hit the 8ball FULL without any rail at a speed faster than just nudging speed is a sure way to leave a shot on the 5. Going rail first is a problem because when the 8 hits the 6 it will stop right there and the cue will be hooked and you devestated.
I think the pros spend more time figuring out the interplay between the balls in the cluster and therefor run so many more racks.
Not that I don't make the mistake of breaking up without really thinking it through cuz I do make that mistake. But writing this post might make me practice what I preach next time! Woohoo!
Oh and I admit I could be totally wrong.
I think the pros spend more time figuring out the interplay between the balls in the cluster and therefor run so many more racks.
Not that I don't make the mistake of breaking up without really thinking it through cuz I do make that mistake. But writing this post might make me practice what I preach next time! Woohoo!
Oh and I admit I could be totally wrong.
I'd shoot the 3 straight in the corner with a touch of center draw to give angle on pocketing 4 in side so that when the 4 is made the cue ball will float down lightly into the 6 to seperate it from the 8 and give you shape and a slight angle on the 5.
Martin
Martin
sjm said:
Ace saw the place
I cannot feel sure that breaking the 6 any other way will do assure the runout. I do like my chances once the cue is safe behind the 8 though.
I agree with this poster about the value of the safety. Slight drawback on the 3, then cheat the side on the 4 ball to shape the 5 easily. Kick behind the 6 and lock my opponent on the 8. There is no uncertainty with this pattern.ACE said:
I cannot feel sure that breaking the 6 any other way will do assure the runout. I do like my chances once the cue is safe behind the 8 though.
Aaron_S said:
That's what I'd play.....stop shot stop shot safe...then it's all good. I play those types of safeties constantly, it's a good play. There is a lot that could go wrong with the break out...
Actionhound
Banned
sjm said:
i would shoot the 3 in the corner, draw back a couple inches and shoot the 4 in the side, some across table with shape on the 5 but you must stay above the 5, then i would pocket the 5 in the upper left corner and float the cueball up above the 6 ball, then i would play a "lock down safe" on the 6, and bank the 6 ball out 3 rails, and stun the cue ball behind the 8, trying to freeze it to the 8 ball, then get ball in hand and run out.
i try not to run into balls like this because there is a good chance you will hook yourself on the 5 ball, or not get a shot so you will probably have to play safe, so why not go ahead and play the easy safe thats already there? but thats just my opinion and i havent went through the whole thread so i dont know if someone already mentioned this or not.
Drawman623 said:
I too liked the safety. Given I don't feel comfortable knowing exactly how the breakout results will look, I'm for pocketing the 3 in the corner with a small amount of draw, 4 in the side, 5 in the corner closest to the 6-8. Then hitting the 6 ball out and hiding the cue behind the 8. For me that was the safest bet. But this layout will definitely have different comfort levels!
BVal said:I would play the 3 in the corner and draw the cue back a few inches. Then play the 4 in the side with some left hand english and bump the 8 and 6 to break them up. After I break them up I would have to see where they end up before I could play the rest of the rack. While I could hit them to break them up I am not able to predict where they will end up yet. That is part of my game I am working on.
Thank you for the pool related question.
This is the best way to play this situation. Depending on the equipment, this should be a fairly routine runout. JMO.
Southpaw
As clusters go, this is not the most fun. If you were to rate clusters as:
A=Very easy to break out and control
B=Very easy to break out, possibility of not getting a shot
B=Very likely to get a shot, possibility of not sufficiently breaking open cluster
C=Possibly not break open cluster or get a shot
D=Unlikely to get a shot or unlikely to break out cluster
This would definitely fall under B. The more of an effort you place on breaking this out, the less likely you are to get a shot. With that said, there is a reasonable chance you will be successful. What's more, the more experienced players can assure they are not left safe (which is what most posts have shown are people's biggest concern).
Personally, I see too much to gain with going for the run. Although there are bad leaves, it would be unlikely that you will be left with no options at all. If you fail to efficiently break open the cluster, there will be safeties left to play. The only thing you have to be concerned about is safing yourself.
A=Very easy to break out and control
B=Very easy to break out, possibility of not getting a shot
B=Very likely to get a shot, possibility of not sufficiently breaking open cluster
C=Possibly not break open cluster or get a shot
D=Unlikely to get a shot or unlikely to break out cluster
This would definitely fall under B. The more of an effort you place on breaking this out, the less likely you are to get a shot. With that said, there is a reasonable chance you will be successful. What's more, the more experienced players can assure they are not left safe (which is what most posts have shown are people's biggest concern).
Personally, I see too much to gain with going for the run. Although there are bad leaves, it would be unlikely that you will be left with no options at all. If you fail to efficiently break open the cluster, there will be safeties left to play. The only thing you have to be concerned about is safing yourself.
I'd stop shot on the 3. 4 in the side, setting up to shoot 5 in top left corner, ideally trying to setup for breakshot.Southpaw said:
I think the problem with trying to break up the 6-8, while shooting 4 increases risk as the most likely scenario while trying this is has the 6 ball going towards the 5 ball and could render you without a shot.
Jude Rosenstock said:
Would you try the breakup shooting the 4 or the 5?
AngryPanda said:
I would definitely break it open with the 4 because the 5 is so close by and I would definitely run into the 8-ball since it will yield a sufficient separation and position. The only pitfall would be catching the right side of the 8-ball and getting safe but I think my cueball is decent enough to avoid that.
Richm said:
I do like your thought process here. People rarely position for banks and there are plenty of situations where it's definitely called for. However, I don't think that's the easiest route in this situation. There are a lot of ways to to mess-up the route to the bank. If your cueball is THAT good, you should go for the break out.
This one gets my vote. Too much risk trying to bump the 6-8 from the 4 or trying to get safe behind the 6 from the 5 (safe behind the next OB?!). If you don't fall right on the bank for the 6, then the 3-rail safety sticking the CB behind the 8 is much higher percentage than any other safety out there.Poolhalljunkie said:
pj
chgo
I don't think everyone is grasping how much can go wrong with the breakout. Sure it looks easy, and sure you can hit it...but what do you really think you are going to do?
So much can go terribly wrong with just a hair of difference. If you execute it PERFECTLY and basically get the cue to stop right at the 8, you have a shot. Not a great shot, but it's not going to stop your run. A hair to the other side and you hook yourself, or a hair to the other side and you send the cue straight at the 5...possibly getting too close or a terrible angle. If you go rail first, that's even worse...then even successful breakouts result in being out in the middle banking the 5... This is the kind of situation that you learn from when you make the wrong decision hill-hill in a match...I'll take my chances leaving a safe. It's tight work down there; it's not like you're just pushing a ball out toward a pocket, you'd be pushing balls together and possibly off of rails all around where you are trying to put your cue ball!
So much can go terribly wrong with just a hair of difference. If you execute it PERFECTLY and basically get the cue to stop right at the 8, you have a shot. Not a great shot, but it's not going to stop your run. A hair to the other side and you hook yourself, or a hair to the other side and you send the cue straight at the 5...possibly getting too close or a terrible angle. If you go rail first, that's even worse...then even successful breakouts result in being out in the middle banking the 5... This is the kind of situation that you learn from when you make the wrong decision hill-hill in a match...I'll take my chances leaving a safe. It's tight work down there; it's not like you're just pushing a ball out toward a pocket, you'd be pushing balls together and possibly off of rails all around where you are trying to put your cue ball!