Easy 8B puzzle! ( taken from a real match )

Barbox 8B BCA rules, hill hill, 20K in the middle. Your opponent is a 664 Fargo. You’re solids and you got bih.

Do you:
A) 7 in the side to break up the 8B, make the 1 and run out

B) 6,4,5,1 ( or 2 ) then safety on the 2 ( or 1 )

C) Run out by playing short position on the 8B

D) Other

View attachment 667864
100% option A.....I can't imagine that shortstopish (I made a word up) or above player would do anything different. After you make the 7 and knock the eight out (and yes to everyone who points out that you should go 7 ball into the rail then the 8... it guarantees the cueball and 8 ball are going to be open).... I think so many people on this thread are making it more difficult than they need to.... The simplest pattern is to shoot the 1, then stop shot on the 6.... shoot the 5.. float over for the 2.... then really easy position on the 4 for the 8 (which will certainly be somewhere easy after the breakout).... This pattern simplifies things a lot and you really don't have any hard shots.
 
I tried this set up last night when I got home from work. First attempt I tried to shoot 7 in side and break out 8. Made the 7 and skimmed the 8 ball which knocked the 8 up against the 10. So to me that was a fail. I tried it a second time and it broke the 8 out to the open leavening a shot on the one. And was able to run out. The way I said I would do it yesterday was to shoot the 6,5,4,7break out 8 then 1,2, &8. I messed up position after the 4. So then I tried 5,6,4,7 with break out & then 1,2and 8 it worked.
 
100% option A.....I can't imagine that shortstopish (I made a word up) or above player would do anything different. After you make the 7 and knock the eight out (and yes to everyone who points out that you should go 7 ball into the rail then the 8... it guarantees the cueball and 8 ball are going to be open).... I think so many people on this thread are making it more difficult than they need to.... The simplest pattern is to shoot the 1, then stop shot on the 6.... shoot the 5.. float over for the 2.... then really easy position on the 4 for the 8 (which will certainly be somewhere easy after the breakout).... This pattern simplifies things a lot and you really don't have any hard shots.
I'd definitely do it different. You absolutely can have a hard shot if you get a little out of line on the 5 or the 4. For my shortstopish money I get those two balls out first.
 
Did that make your pee pee feel big?
With your thinking, why not break out the 8 first with the 7, then play the 1, then use your 2,6,5,4 pattern and get out? I think I'd take even money and run these out starting with any ball. I'm sure you and many others could do the same, so I'm just wondering why a safety would cross anyone's mind?
 
I'd definitely do it different. You absolutely can have a hard shot if you get a little out of line on the 5 or the 4. For my shortstopish money I get those two balls out first.
I know you play good....So two questions.

First, how do you not break out the 8 off of the first shot when you have ball in hand and complete control..especially given the fact that you have a hanger down in the corner so you have almost no risk of not having a shot afterwards.....This is clearly the hardest part of the rack and the most natural place to get messed up in some way.

Second, how do you get out of line on the 5 after the easy stop shot in the side? Seriously I have a hard time envisioning how bad I would have to hit this to get out of line.... Same thing with the 2 to the 4...... the position is so automatic that the only thing that could go wrong is being too straight in.

Peace,
Chris
 
I know you play good....So two questions.

First, how do you not break out the 8 off of the first shot when you have ball in hand and complete control..especially given the fact that you have a hanger down in the corner so you have almost no risk of not having a shot afterwards.....This is clearly the hardest part of the rack and the most natural place to get messed up in some way.

Second, how do you get out of line on the 5 after the easy stop shot in the side? Seriously I have a hard time envisioning how bad I would have to hit this to get out of line.... Same thing with the 2 to the 4...... the position is so automatic that the only thing that could go wrong is being too straight in.

Peace,
Chris
If I start with a stop shot on the 5, then hit a stop shot on the 4, I feel I'm perfect on the 7 for the breakout. Then I have three "hangers" to figure out the best way to get on the 8 wherever it landed. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'd mess the run up going your way either. BUT, if I get a little off line on the 6 in the side, now I have to do a little work to stay good on the two balls on the rail. I hate using the 4 or the 5 as a key ball in case the 8 ends up funny.
 
If I start with a stop shot on the 5, then hit a stop shot on the 4, I feel I'm perfect on the 7 for the breakout. Then I have three "hangers" to figure out the best way to get on the 8 wherever it landed. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'd mess the run up going your way either. BUT, if I get a little off line on the 6 in the side, now I have to do a little work to stay good on the two balls on the rail. I hate using the 4 or the 5 as a key ball in case the 8 ends up funny.

If I start with a stop shot on the 5, then hit a stop shot on the 4, I feel I'm perfect on the 7 for the breakout. Then I have three "hangers" to figure out the best way to get on the 8 wherever it landed. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'd mess the run up going your way either. BUT, if I get a little off line on the 6 in the side, now I have to do a little work to stay good on the two balls on the rail. I hate using the 4 or the 5 as a key ball in case the 8 ends up funny.

It’s debatable exactly what the diagram is but the way I see it, if you stop on the four you are shooting too close to the rail for my comfort and it looks like a smooth forward roll would either miss the eight or hit it thin and tie it up
 
It’s debatable exactly what the diagram is but the way I see it, if you stop on the four you are shooting too close to the rail for my comfort and it looks like a smooth forward roll would either miss the eight or hit it thin and tie it up
Could happen. Of course when I say "stop shot" I'm giving myself an inch or two to play with either way. As soon as I get to a bar table I'll film a few of these different options. I think it'll be fun!
 
Could happen. Of course when I say "stop shot" I'm giving myself an inch or two to play with either way. As soon as I get to a bar table I'll film a few of these different options. I think it'll be fun!

I do agree that there’s certain level of players that should do it differently. I was only certain that a pro would break the eight out on the first shot and to be fair I haven’t tried this yet.
 
If I start with a stop shot on the 5, then hit a stop shot on the 4, I feel I'm perfect on the 7 for the breakout. Then I have three "hangers" to figure out the best way to get on the 8 wherever it landed. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'd mess the run up going your way either. BUT, if I get a little off line on the 6 in the side, now I have to do a little work to stay good on the two balls on the rail. I hate using the 4 or the 5 as a key ball in case the 8 ends up funny.
While I would personally rather have the ball in hand on the breakout shot..... I will say that I think you are correct that the 4 to the breakout does look extremely doable with the 1 hanging in the pocket.
 
I’d like to add that the position zone to get good on the six to make the five four easy is approximately two square diamonds which is gigantic. You just don’t want to come up short leaving the cue ball on the right side of the six by a Diamond. A little below it and you can still bump into the 5.
 
One final point is that if you get bad and have to power the seven in for the break out you could make the eight early or leave it on the end rail
 
I do agree that there’s certain level of players that should do it differently. I was only certain that a pro would break the eight out on the first shot and to be fair I haven’t tried this yet.
I would like to see what a pro would do. I think the average level player around here (what fargo would that be? mid to high 500's?) would get out more with my pattern. I feel people underestimate the difficulty of the 4 and 5 (especially the 4).
 
One final point is that if you get bad and have to power the seven in for the break out you could make the eight early or leave it on the end rail
How the hell am I supposed to be able to concentrate on your posts if you don't change your avatar? She's one of my all time faves.
 
One final point is that if you get bad and have to power the seven in for the break out you could make the eight early or leave it on the end rail
thats why i dont save the most unpredictable shot ( where your trying to control 3 balls at once) for last and go for it first.
and if the 8 gets funky you have plenty of shots to get back in line on it

its neat to hear all the ways others would play this, and worth while going through some of those patterns seeing what you can learn
 
Video of one way to run it out.

Not bad but with BIH you should never be that far away from your work and you shouldn’t have to hit it nearly that hard.


I was doing this last night and was Breaking out the eight with the cue ball about 8 inches away from seven using natural follow and a touch of left spin just enough to bump it and the eight ball would move about 3 inches and get right in front of the corner with a super easy shot on the one.
 
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