I have a confession to make...

[Cameron Smith]

My name is Cameron Smith and I am an awful 8 ball player. I lost 11-0 to the ghost today .

I feel much better now that I have that off my chest. Admitting I have a problem is the first step. Now I guess I should buy Play Your Best 8 ball by Phil Capelle.

 

[mjantti]

Apparently the ghost was in dead stroke...

 

[Cameron Smith]

I betcha if I spotted the ghost the breaks and ball in hand after the break, it wouldn't be able to do anything with that spot.

 

[sjm]

Maybe you should ask for weight.

 

[mnShooter]

Cameron I'm pretty sure you play better than that. Maybe you need to break more from the center and a little softer.

 

[cuetechasaurus]

If you arent getting at least 4-5 balls past the headstring on the break, either the rack is bad or your break is weak/mis-hit. I'm sure you can at least come close to beating the 8-ball ghost if you get a good spread. You seem like you have alot of knowledge and can play a little. I am not even an 8ball player, but if I get a good spread, most of the time I'm out.

 

[Cameron Smith]

The problem is my break sucks. I was playing on a table with slow cloth so I was dealing with lots of clusters and I had to play very tight position as most of the balls remained at the head of the table. I think I only missed three balls, but most of the time my runs ended because I just ran out of position. Only a couple of tables were layouts that I would have actually gone for a run out in a match.

Considering that I intend to play in the Ottawa 8 ball tournament next year (February I think) I figure now is a good time to actually learn how to play this game right. That includes getting rid of my snooker players break .

 

[JimBo]

My name is Cameron Smith and I am an awful 8 ball player. I lost 11-0 to the ghost today .

I feel much better now that I have that off my chest. Admitting I have a problem is the first step. Now I guess I should buy Play Your Best 8 ball by Phil Capelle.

Your first trouble is you played the ghost, your second might be you believe what you read here. You seem to have a grasp of reality, most people waaaay overrate their game. Stop playing the ghost get out and play other people, try to play a person who beats you 70% of the time (don't play anyone worse then you) and pay attention. Sooner or later you'll pick up tips and you'll get better. When you start to play him even you'll see improvement and then you'll need to find a better player. The ghost is for advanced players and 1/2 the people who claim they beat the ghost lie. Play others and practice the parts of your game that need help.

Jim

 

[JimBo]

I figure now is a good time to actually learn how to play this game right. That includes getting rid of my snooker players break .

One more point I'll add. The ghost is a terrible way to "learn how to play 8-ball" if you want to win at 8-ball you better learn quick that B&R is not the way to win. Being able to run out when you have to is huge, but there can be 12 safeties played before that chance comes up. I've seen many good players lose 8-ball games trying to run out all the time. Learn to play smart and to play safe, send the ghost packing or play him 6-ball.

Jim

 

[Cameron Smith]

Thanks for the advice Jimbo. I do play better players. I have sessions with a former snooker pro as well as a AAA player and other guys who play my speed or better.

I split my time evenly between solo practice and competition (practice matches and gambling). I do beat the ghost often playing 9 ball, so it isn't out of my league.

But you touched upon a good point of something I need to work on which is safety play and strategy. My style of play has lead to some miraculous run outs, but also frusterating the defeats.

I guess the problem is that, when faced with a tough layout I just don't know what to do. My 14.1 brain gets going and I start looking for breakouts, many of which require me to execute some short side position play more than once per rack.

I am at least good enough at the game that I will run out if you don't. But my break and lack of defensive knowledge certainly hold me back.

 

[Dhakala]

My name is Cameron Smith and I am an awful 8 ball player. I lost 11-0 to the ghost today .

Perhaps you have confused your self with the ghost of your self? In which case, you won 11-0 today.

 

[Gregg]

My name is Cameron Smith and I am an awful 8 ball player. I lost 11-0 to the ghost today .

I feel much better now that I have that off my chest. Admitting I have a problem is the first step. Now I guess I should buy Play Your Best 8 ball by Phil Capelle.

PM DRCUESPROTEGE for playing and posting tips

 

[alstl]

A little sharking might be in order here. When the ghost gets down to shoot say "boo".



Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[Colin Colenso]

A tight slow table combined with a weak break that tends to leave clusters can make the ghost very tough competition.

Don't sweat it too much Cameron. A lot of decent players at the IPT have struggled to put together many BROs and those tables weren't leaving a lot of clusters compared to some slow tables I've played on.

And when you do get clusters, that's when experience in patterns and choosing the best ways to bust up clusters comes in extremely useful.

A lot of it is confidence too. Once you get a few runs going, all of a sudden the ghost will look a less formidable.

Colin

 

[ballball]

Forgive me for my ignorance ..who is the ghost

 

[Ronoh]

Forgive me for my ignorance ..who is the ghost

::: in a gomer pyle voice :::

SURPRIZE SYRPRIZE SURPRIZE!!!

"Isn't the ghost who you shoot that really isn't there, he/she is just in your mind?"

{{{ YES PYLE }}}

 

[mikepage]

[...]Stop playing the ghost get out and play other people, try to play a person who beats you 70% of the time (don't play anyone worse then you) and pay attention. [...]
Jim

Oh, and all those people who beat you 70% of the time? ..make sure the don't get advice from Jimbo...

 

[mikepage]

One more point I'll add. The ghost is a terrible way to "learn how to play 8-ball" if you want to win at 8-ball you better learn quick that B&R is not the way to win.
Jim

Fred? Fred?

Being able to run out when you have to is huge, but there can be 12 safeties played before that chance comes up. I've seen many good players lose 8-ball games trying to run out all the time. Learn to play smart and to play safe, send the ghost packing or play him 6-ball.

Jim

I've actually played 8-ball giving an interesting spot that turned out to be a really good learning experience.

I've played where during my first (and another time my second as well) inning, I was not allowed to execute more than three strokes. My third stroke, if I got there, was an automatic called safety.

So my first shot, if the table was open, was to choose the right balls. Then I could either duck or make a ball to get in a better position to duck.

To my opponent, who played at almost my speed, this looked great. He was guaranteed to shoot in every game, and he was guaranteed to shoot twice in about half the games.

What I found is it was a very useful exercise for my 8-ball game. Most of the time, I was not trying to play a lock-up safety (not that common on a bar table with lots of balls). Instead, it caused me to really think of little bunts that fixed a problem for me and caused one for him. For example I might knock one of my balls that doesn't go into the clear in such a way that it blocks one of his balls that needs to go down the rail.

Another think I did several times was this: On the opening shot on an open table where, say, stripes are bad and solids good, I essentially rolled out to a position where my opponent could pocket one or more stripes but no solids.

Other times I'd focus on getting rid of key breakout balls for my opponent or blocking pockets particularly important to him of making one of his balls that clears things up for me.

What I'm trying to say is being forced by the spot to think like this on every game was a very good exercise. And I was amazed at how little, if at all, it hurt my game.

 

[catscradle]

Thanks for the advice Jimbo...

That is good advice. One of the best things that ever happened to my 8-ball game was joining an unhandicapped 8-ball league on a truly bad team. Since I was the best player on our team, every week for over a year I played the best (based upon winning %) player on the team we were playing. It was humbling at times, but sure did help my game. Now I'm on a good team in the same league and over the summer session was 3rd shooter in one of the leagues, and 1st in another, softer league. That won't last going into the fall when some of the better players come back from the golf courses, but nevertheless, it improved my game immensely playing the best. BTW, when I joined that league, without knowing I was on the worse team in the league, Jimbo predicted an unhandicapped league would improve my game. Of course, he knew how bad my game was which made it an easy prediction. lol.
I might add to the advise to play better players, not so much better that all you do is watch.

 

[jjinfla]

This ghost guy, or is it a woman, must be pretty good, I never heard of him missing a shot.

In the finals, in 14 games, Reyes only missed 3 shots, as did Rodney.

Jake