How do you win from here?

[Luxury]

I am not a world beater and I agree with the shot you took. It is the easiest shot to execute consistently and it works out just as well as the thin hit many are suggesting, if both are hit correctly. Not sure "most" suggested the thin hit though because many of us have recommended exactly what you did.

I can understand what one person was saying though that from the diagram it looks as though you may either get a double hit of the cue ball or have to hit it hard enough that the cue will drift further to the left. It's very hard to make the diagram show the exact positions of the real shot and in cases like this an eighth of an inch one way or another will completely change your options.

I will respectfully disagree. The way Cleary shot it has so much more risk for leaving a shot. Look at the line of the ten and look at how long the ten spends in its travels where it is makable if it isn't hit hard enough. We all know that when you are stretched its easy to hit softer than planned. With the thin hit there is only a very tough shot available the entire time the cue ball is traveling. Hitting thin is so easy to execute from that distance too.

 

[Baxter]

I'd bank it to the bottom corner pocket. Tough bank, but makeable. I've made that bank numerous times, and am comfortable with that shot, but most players wouldn't be. The leave if you miss would be a cross table bank, unless you rattle the pocket. I'm a strong banker, and would play that shot 100% of the time if my opponent wasn't (since the leave is a bank). If my opponent was also a strong banker, I may look at the safe, but would probably still play the bank. If the safe is as tough as the shot, shoot the shot.

 

[Ktown D]

I'd bank it to the bottom corner pocket. Tough bank, but makeable. I've made that bank numerous times, and am comfortable with that shot, but most players wouldn't be. The leave if you miss would be a cross table bank, unless you rattle the pocket. I'm a strong banker, and would play that shot 100% of the time if my opponent wasn't (since the leave is a bank). If my opponent was also a strong banker, I may look at the safe, but would probably still play the bank. If the safe is as tough as the shot, shoot the shot.

The safety isn't as tough as the shot, the safety is about as basic as it gets. I am by no means a "strong" player but I believe I will put you in a real bad spot thinning it a lot more than I will make that bank.

But hey.....sometimes ya just gotta sell out ya know.

 

[The Renfro]

Really depends on what you think you can control. Shooting the shot as Cleary shot it IS the nuts if you can freeze the CB on the end rail. The 4 rail thin shot would be the nuts if you don't freeze the OB to the end rail and leave the cueball open to shooting a scotch shot. I personally would have banked the ball on a 7 footer. Banked the OB up table like Cleary did on an 8over... And thinned and went 4 rails on a 9footer...

 

[Baxter]

The safety isn't as tough as the shot, the safety is about as basic as it gets. I am by no means a "strong" player but I believe I will put you in a real bad spot thinning it a lot more than I will make that bank.

But hey.....sometimes ya just gotta sell out ya know.

No guts, no glory. But hey, different strokes different folks. When it comes down to the money ball, I tend to be more aggressive. Just my playing style. I'd rather play a bank than a safe with only one ball on the table. Like I said earlier, I'm pretty comfortable and confident with my banks. I've had that safe played on me, and I've made the bank.

 

[Luxury]

I tried both of the most popular safeties on my home table and Cleary's safety actually was easy to get safe on. I take back what I said and think both options are about equal for me. I'm just a b player though so what do I know?

 

[BRKNRUN]

I do miss the object ball about 15% of the time as well!, and 60% of the time, I hit it too thick out of fear and sell out. The other 25%, I get a perfect hit and end up scratching! LOL I gotta work on this.

I'm 100000% lucky I got the object to freeze on the bottom rail and there was no double kiss. Possibly I remember it slightly different than I diagrammed it.

After I shot this and ended up winning the set, people told me I should have thinned it as well, I wanted to see what everyone else thought.

I still like sending the 10 up table two rails...especially if there is some angle so that you can hit the 10 full (with out a double kiss)..and hold the CB froze to the end rail.....It is one of those need to see the exact situation to be able to tell....but I have a better chance of freezing the CB on this rail than sending it all the way to the other end of the table and freezing it.

IF the double kiss is going to come into play and you opt to thin it.......This would be one of the times I would use a CTE like pivot method....especially to thin a ball.

Aim 1/4 CB to the edge of the OB...then pivot to center....You effectively subtract the 1/4 thickness and create an edge to edge contact so thin that the OB barely moves........You just have to trust the method...:wink: