Alright, how would you run this rack?

Drew said:
Earl did it differently, but I would have played it this way. I'm fairly confident I can land perfect on the 3. From there I can either shoot for a break or try to get behind the 4.
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I'm simply not as good as Earl. My decision on whether or not I'm going to attempt a run is completely based on how I land on the 3-ball and there are a lot of situations where I'm going to have to play position for a safety. I'm speaking candidly. I don't think I'm the favorite to get out.

The leave on the 3 is key. If the angle isn't just right, you have to look for position for a safety or even consider playing safe on the 3.
 
Neil said:
I disagree with you here. It's not the way Earl played it, but I believe it is not that hard to draw into the 4-8. There is plenty of room to cheat the pocket on the 1. That is what i would go for, and if I missed it, I could come off the 3 for the 4. I see it as a win -win situation. With no more risk than Earls' shape on the 4.
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It's so hard to say from a diagram. You have to KNOW you're going to run into that 4-8 the right way because if you don't, you're definitely safe. Obviously, cheating the pocket is part of pool but you can't risk missing. From what I see with this diagram, you can't draw into this and shouldn't try. Evenso, for the sake of argument, we'll assume you can. You'd still need a good roll to get a shot out of it.
 
I prefer the way Drew has showed it. I was thinking the same way. If it gets short to the 4, then you're infront of the 4. If shot Earl's way and got short, you've hooked yourself most of the time.
 
LOL, okay I just watched the youtube. The shape Earl got on the 3 was perfect for an attempt at running but even the commentators mentioned concern about position on the 5. Earl had to hit three great shots in a row to get out (3, 4 and 5). I mean, if I never missed, my strategy to this rack would be different, too.
 
I'm with Jude here. Im shooting the one with the idea of playing safe when I get to the four. Even if Earl did it, I know when I get to the four, my opponent is gonna be locked on that eight tighter than Dick's hat band.
 
I would actually go for the runout here because simply playing a safe on the 4 behind the 8 is very trivial for anyone to get out of and not difficult to get out of and still make it hard. I think the runout isnt terribly difficult here and if I did get bad shape on the 4 for the side pocket then I would play safe and create distance between them instead of the little easy duck.

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edit: My line from the 3 to the 4 is a little off. I drew it in a hurry. By the way how did earl do it? I cant watch it at work today.
 
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Jude Rosenstock said:
It's so hard to say from a diagram. You have to KNOW you're going to run into that 4-8 the right way because if you don't, you're definitely safe. Obviously, cheating the pocket is part of pool but you can't risk missing. From what I see with this diagram, you can't draw into this and shouldn't try. Evenso, for the sake of argument, we'll assume you can. You'd still need a good roll to get a shot out of it.
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Exactly my thoughts...try to fall on the three so that you have a chance to run out. If you don't get there, I like playing safe on the three.

Edited because I quoted the wrong post, I mean to quote the previous post.
 
Jude Rosenstock said:
I'm simply not as good as Earl. My decision on whether or not I'm going to attempt a run is completely based on how I land on the 3-ball and there are a lot of situations where I'm going to have to play position for a safety. I'm speaking candidly. I don't think I'm the favorite to get out.

The leave on the 3 is key. If the angle isn't just right, you have to look for position for a safety or even consider playing safe on the 3.
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There are very few times I face a rack (particularly 9-ball) where I'm thinking about a safe. I always approach the rack looking to run out. If the run isn't there, then I think safe. In this layout, it's fairly easy to fall perfect on the 3 rolling it 6 inches forward rather than drawing 3 ft back, that's why I like the longer shot into the corner. And it leaves so many options available. If I choose to play safe then I can play the position a little shorter. If I choose to fire at the breakout, again, the option is available. To be honest, I won't think about playing safe here until I look at my shot on the 3. It's a run out game, play it that way.

BTW: Earl is just that good that he can run out here without even thinking about it. I have yet to see anyone who plays Earl's speed in this post, so I'll just assume nobody can do it quite like he did.
 
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Drew said:
BTW: Earl is just that good that he can run out here without even thinking about it. I have yet to see anyone who plays Earl's speed in this post, so I'll just assume nobody can do it quite like he did.
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How did earl do it? Also it's not hard to get on the 4 ball to make it in the side. Theres a lot of space under it. It may not look it on a cue table diagram but if you know a "real" table then you would know theres a lot of room to negotiate. if you didnt get perfect on the 4 you could still make it and send the cue ball up and down 1 rail, you could draw back 1 rail and over, you could do any # of things. Hell you could even play a safe after you made the 4 and play a harder safe for the opponent to get out of than just ducking the 4 ball.

edit: haha i cant help but think of so many ways to play this. It's really not that hard. If you did get under the 4 but still werent happy with even making it in the side you could then still play safe on the 4 sending it up table and hiding the cueball behind the 8.. or w/e ball it's beside. Anyway that's all.
 
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cubc said:
I would actually go for the runout here because simply playing a safe on the 4 behind the 8 is very trivial for anyone to get out of and not difficult to get out of and still make it hard. I think the runout isnt terribly difficult here and if I did get bad shape on the 4 for the side pocket then I would play safe and create distance between them instead of the little easy duck.

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edit: My line from the 3 to the 4 is a little off. I drew it in a hurry. By the way how did earl do it? I cant watch it at work today.
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I'd do it exactly this way... Not much can go wrong from the 3 to the 4. I'd try to be fairly straight on the 4.
 
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