Billy_Bob said:That was my thinking. Also by playing safe and leaving a few of your balls on the table, you have a lot of options - some of which would be to snooker your opponent being as he only has one ball left, so easy to do.
I am learning (by playing the better players) that they don't go knocking all their balls in and leave just the 8. They have a lot of patience and will have say 3 balls left in a situation like this, then make a shot and intentionally miss. Then their opponent's only option is to hit the 8 or an intentional foul. If they hit the 8, then you probably could run out at that point. (Players who leave themselves with just a clustered 8 ball on the table probably would not think of shooting an intentional foul and would hit the 8 - not realizing that by doing this, they have lost the game.)
So I've been learning that it is good to leave a few balls on the table, be patient, and wait out your opponent. If you are more patient than they are, eventually they will mess up and leave you with a run-out.
in my book this is 100% correct as long as you realize that you do have to play catchup at some point. But in most cases unless the guy with the 8 ball left gets lucky, whoever has to break up that cluster in not in a good position unless it is broken up with a break shot off the 3 or 6 and even then you have to hope for position on it.