Am I Thinking Correctly?

[mosconiac]

This table layout came up in a professional tournament from a few years back. Please take a look at the situation and determine your plan of attack. You can see what I would have done by paging thru the cuetable.

My plan does not match what the professional (of which I have the highest regard) did.

Am I off my rocker??!?!

CueTable Help

 

[OneArmed]

I would have attempted something similar.

Depending where the CB ended up, I probably would have drawn back for the 6 a little bit

 

[selftaut]

I would have shot that 7 in the upper corner first with a little draw to get back for the 8 or the 12 next, once I get the 12 I clear that path to the corner.. That opens up the 2 for either the corner or the side and eliminates having to play close position on the 2 ball if I left the 7 there..

Also, if the 2-6 combo is on then that may or may not change the way I would determine the rest of the rack.

 

[Blackjack]

I like your solution, but I think that player got his cue ball in trouble and got stuck. I think the 9 was a better break ball, but he just got out of line and ended up having to shoot off a different sequence of balls.

Sometimes you get a millimeter too much to left or right and it cancels out the easy stuff. IMO, Efren put himself in position where he had to go for that back rail break ball - I think at one point he was trying to nudge one of those two combination balls out for a BB, but a millimeter to the left or right can change everything.

and how dare you second guess The Magician? LOL

 

[3andstop]

I haven't looked at anything, but I'll give you my first impression. Shoot the 12 and draw to the center of the table attempting to get an angle on the 7 in the lower left pocket with a little pinch draw to nudge the 2 out for a break shot.

If I get on the wrong side of the 7 I can simply pocket it in the lower left corner, get an angle on the six and soft follow it to bump the 2 out.

 

[ghost121]

As a total beginner with very little idea about patterns I set up the layout and shot the 7 top corner, back for the 8, down onto the 15 in the opposite pocket, off the rail for the 12, side rail and back across for either the 2 or 6, landed better on the 2, stunned into the corner for the 6 in the same pocket, screwed back for an angle on the 9 as break ball.

Set it up a few times and made it. I tried to get the balls just right, but they may have been off a little.

Don't want to hijack mosconiac's thread, but I also wonder if I am thinking right? Or is my brain still in snooker mode...?

Steven

 

[rikdee]

David has it right. If you roll off plan, you simply have to piece something together from what's left. We've all been there a thousand times. Half inch and it's a new sequence. Additionally, it demonstrates that there are usually several ways to get the balls cleared and if you end up good on a break ball, who is to say what was best.

_Rick

 

[Gerry]

I might try 12...leaving and angle on the 15 to go one rail into the 6,7,2 cluster trying to create something better. I know its not old school pickemoff 14.1, BUT.... I don't really play that style too well. You would be hard pressed to hit that cluster and not come up with a shot.

I also don't really like using the 15 as a key ball to get on the breaker because I'm coming across the angle and not into it.

G.

 

[Blackjack]

I might try 12...leaving and angle on the 15 to go one rail into the 6,7,2 cluster trying to create something better. I know its not old school pickemoff 14.1, BUT.... I don't really play that style too well. You would be hard pressed to hit that cluster and not come up with a shot.

I also don't really like using the 15 as a key ball to get on the breaker because I'm coming across the angle and not into it.

G.

Gerry

This is what Efren tried to do.

 

[Steve Lipsky]

Mosconiac,

One of the few failings of the WEI is it sometimes makes angles difficult to see correctly. When I saw your diagram, I totally agreed with you that the 12 to the 7 off one rail was correct. When looking at the screenshot from Blackjack, the one rail doesn't look possible. Even the straight draw off the 12 (to still play the 7) looks like it barely has the right angle. You'd have to stroke it awfully accurately.

It's interesting because your original layout looked pretty nonchalant. When looking at the screenshots of the same position, the whole position looks quite different. It's actually fairly awkward.

Also, the WEI makes it look like he can comfortably shoot the 8 first as well - judging from the screenshot, this is a much thinner cut than it looks like on the WEI. In fact, his only option for staying in line when choosing the 8 first was to try and stop the cueball on the 12. (This had the nice side benefit of creating another breakshot, as Blackjack mentions.)

Again, this layout is much more awkward in real life than on the WEI, simply because of the lack of the perfect angle from the 12 to the 7.

- Steve