Jb..vs...Lou-one pocket shot

8pack

They call me 2 county !
Silver Member
In one of the matches John needed one ball and Lou needed two. Lou is faced with a spot shot or playing safe on another ball. From what I recall Lou decides to play safe and pass on the spot shot. Question,if your faced with a spot shot and your opponent needs one ,do you pass on it or play it. This is how I play it (the spot shot). I shoot the ball with speed so if in miss the ball hopefully goes up table,cb I try to get on the end rail. I've lost a lot of matches slowing rolling it and missing leaving the easy bank for the out .
 
In one of the matches John needed one ball and Lou needed two. Lou is faced with a spot shot or playing safe on another ball. From what I recall Lou decides to play safe and pass on the spot shot. Question,if your faced with a spot shot and your opponent needs one ,do you pass on it or play it. This is how I play it (the spot shot). I shoot the ball with speed so if in miss the ball hopefully goes up table,cb I try to get on the end rail. I've lost a lot of matches slowing rolling it and missing leaving the easy bank for the out .

Which game? What did the commentator happen to say. I think I remember the situation and I might have expressed surprise, but the layout might have favored one decision over the other.
 
I believe I remember that situation. Match score was somewhere around 6-4 and LF faced a nearly-jacked-up spot shot or a simple safe. He went with the simple safe by rolling up on a ball in the upper-right corner & left JB the spot shot to his pocket (lower-right). JB overcut the spot shot (avoiding the scratch) & the CB came to rest up table. LF then banked that ball to the upper-left corner pocket & out of play (got it "safe" & didn't leave a 2-rail bank).
 
Practice spot shots...not just pocketing the object ball...cueball position!!!!!!!!

Make the spot shot a better then 90% proposition and it almost becomes a
"No brainer"


Almost is the keyword. Score...table layout.. who you are playing..all enter
into the need to shoot or move.
 
I guess I worded it wrong ,Lou didn't have bih in the kitchen . I can't remember what actually happened but a ball was spotted and Lou had a shot on it.
 
I guess I worded it wrong ,Lou didn't have bih in the kitchen . I can't remember what actually happened but a ball was spotted and Lou had a shot on it.

It is still a"spot shot". Right?
I think 1 pkt player should practice spotshots from everywhere.
Spotted ball can be banked! 1,2, or more rails!
Spotshot can involve multiple balls also.
 
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I'd NEVER pass on a spot shot unless missing it would mean a sell-out: balls in front of opponent's hole where I couldn't control the rock enough to prevent it.

If a miss meant the loss of a game due to sell out, Lou played it correctly. If there were no balls in JB's quadrant, he made an error.
 
If your going for the spot shot then I would play position for the next shot or set up for a safety. I don't like two way shots that screw me if I make it.
 
I agree with what you are saying Alpha, but this wasn't a simple spot shot though. The CB & an OB were near the upper-right pocket & the OB placement would make cueing a bit awkward IIRC.

I would have me doubts about shooting it too...he took the "cautious route", but I do recognize that he could have banked the spotted ball away right then & there & not let JB have a go at the spot shot himself.
 
I agree with what you are saying Alpha, but this wasn't a simple spot shot though. The CB & an OB were near the upper-right pocket & the OB placement would make cueing a bit awkward IIRC.

I would have me doubts about shooting it too...he took the "cautious route", but I do recognize that he could have banked the spotted ball away right then & there & not let JB have a go at the spot shot himself.

Didn't Lou end up giving John a cross bank though . This has me wondering what was the right shot.
 
Can you post up what the layout was? Lou is pretty smart, so if he passed up the spot shot, the risk reward was not in his favor. In the fewest words, that's really all one pocket is about, risk, reward, penalty.

-td
 
Can you post up what the layout was? Lou is pretty smart, so if he passed up the spot shot, the risk reward was not in his favor. In the fewest words, that's really all one pocket is about, risk, reward, penalty.

-td

Excellant analysis really only risk vs reward
 
I remember a match at Chagrin Valley Billiards. Bugs Rutger was playing Billy Incardona.

Bugs needed one ball. Billy had scratched. They spotted the ball and there was another ball about 2 diamonds above Billy's pocket just off the long rail.

Bugs had BIH in the kitchen. Guess what ball Bugs shot! :wink:
 
Can you post up what the layout was? Lou is pretty smart, so if he passed up the spot shot, the risk reward was not in his favor. In the fewest words, that's really all one pocket is about, risk, reward, penalty.

-td

I can't remember the exact position of the balls. It was a very interesting shot considering the stakes and the ball count . I also recall Lou missing a spoted ball that wasn't to tough during the match. Wondering if that made him not go for the spoted ball. Maybe Lou can chime in here let us know why he shot what he did .
 
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So many variables. If I need two and he needs one, I would be more likely to shoot it; but only if I felt real good about making it and only leaving myself a shot on the second ball. If he wasn't confident for whatever reason, there's no shame in punting; especially if you can leave him on the rail or generally in a bad spot. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here. It depends on how you feel and none of us can say how he felt in that moment. For him, in that moment, he chose the right shot it sounds like since he won the game.
 
if you can find the shot it would be better to discuss it exactly. Typically it depends on risk reward though. I will almost always shoot the shot because I feel like I am high percentage to make it or lag it to the hole. But if missing means selling out the game then even the slight chance is too much.

That shot is tricky to take because missing often leaves a shot of some kind.
 
if you can find the shot it would be better to discuss it exactly. Typically it depends on risk reward though. I will almost always shoot the shot because I feel like I am high percentage to make it or lag it to the hole. But if missing means selling out the game then even the slight chance is too much.

That shot is tricky to take because missing often leaves a shot of some kind.


John can this be watched again somewhere?
 
Here's the shot.Looking at it now ,Im banking the ball on the spot back up table being that John needs 1. I don't understand why Lou did what he did.He actually left John an easy cross bank which he almost made.3 pictures,the shot ,what Lou did and how close John came to making it.
 

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