Best Way To Play This One?

[Cardinal2B]

The way I see it, anything other than pocketing the 8 ball is going to result in a loss simply because the way the one ball sits. It can be pocketed from anywhere on the table. So, in this situation, you're pretty much screwed. Since you're screwed, you have nothing to lose by taking a fould and trying to nudge the 4 up against the 8, and hope that your guy will fail to break the cluster and come up with a shot. Kicking at the 8 isn't a difficult shot, but even if you kick and avoid the foul, you're still leaving an easy out with the way the 1 ball sits. This is an all or nothing situation, and you've pretty much already lost. dave

Dave,
That's what I thought also, avoiding the foul is not enough - if you hit the 8 you must sink it or you lose. So I did hope he'd choke based on creating the 4-8 cluster. He did & I won. But I just like to see what other shots folks come up with - because when you're in one of these deals, you hate to shoot without having thought of all the possibilities. I didn't think of the 2-rail shot that Cornerman and Linda (rackmsukr) proposed, nor the inside masse of the foot rail posted by sjm. I doubt I currently have the skill or the stones to have tried them in the given situation - because the 8 had to go in if you shot at it. But, I've got something new to practice, and those shots will - no doubt - prove useful in some other situation where the downside isn't quite so steep and avoiding the foul is more important. Thanks again everyone for laying out the other options!