Peer said:
Actually, if I had to choose between 14.1 and one pocket, I think I'd prefer one pocket... although that game is kind of boring too.
-- peer
Boring?! But then why is it the game more experienced players prefer?
IMO, it's because 1pocket is the game richest in strategy, offers the most opportunities to play a wide variety of offensive and defensive shots (caroms, multiple rail banks, kicks, combinations, extreme cuts, and exotic position play), and rewards the player with the greater knowledge and repertoire of those shots.
And, regardless of who you're playing, you'll be playing too. Unlike 14.1, or even 9ball, you won't be spending extended periods in the chair while your opponent runs rack after rack. And unlike 9ball, there's no road map, and though there's still an element of luck, it seems much less a factor in 1pocket than in 9ball.
And here's the reason it's the perfect hustler's game: your opponent never ever thinks you've beaten them -- they always leave the table thinking that they beat themselves. They missed the shot (and sold out); misplayed a safety (and sold out); hit a bank too hard (and sold out); let the cue ball creep out a bit too far (and sold out). Well you get my point. What they don't get is how difficult some of those simple looking safeties are to execute; the quality of the trap they were put in that forced the error in the first place; how they were repeatedly trapped (frozen to the back of a ball or the stack, with a ball in the jaws of their opponent's pocket); and how, without fail, their opponent punishes them for their mistakes. What it boils down to is that any opponent that doesn't come to the table with the full compliment of shots in their bag of tricks is pretty much doomed from the start against an experienced player. You can't just know some of the shots -- you have to know them all. The player that knows the most shots best wins.
And then, all you have to do is get eight lousy balls to win. Probably all of us have watched some good straight pool at one time or another, and know how easy a good player can make running balls look. It's no different at 1pocket. A good player can make running a few balls look incredibly easy. The fact that he's playing pinpoint position to one pocket is all too easy to overlook.
Given all this, the hustler, or better player, doesn't ever have to look like a champion to win. Just an innocent looking little bunt shot at the right time can win the game. Running four balls and then playing a strong safety can put the game out of the reach of your opponent. Knowing a simple looking shot, like a rail first takeout, can frustrate them over and over.
I think, just like the ball running and the deceptively simple looking safeties, it's difficult for the majority of players to appreciate the depth of skill they might be witnessing. Just one other example: the experienced 1pocket player isn't just flinging those bank shots towards his pocket. They're being played with a degree of precision that most players can't begin to imagine. That's why the lucky bastard always seems to make bank shot after bank shot, or the ball jaws, or always seems to remain within inches of the pocket. And somehow, the cue ball is always at the other end of the table... Before moving to the Midwest, I had never played 1pocket, just 9ball and straight pool, (with a four year hiatus of bar table 8ball up in Montana). I soon found out that 1pocket is all anyone would gamble at around here. So, I decided I'd learn.
I hated it. Couldn't stand it. Loathed it. All the bumping, nipping and tucking. Sometimes for what seemed like an eternity. Shot after shot after shot. And here's the worst part: I was losing to white haired old men with cheap jewelry. Fat old good ol' boys that couldn't carry on an intelligent conversation to save their lives. Even young kids half my age were taking me off.
And, the game would get me out of stroke. All the shots at pocket speed - laying up balls. Twisting and spinning balls. And the brutal realization that I never knew what the *right* shot was. And then, the even more brutal realization that even if I recognized the right shot, years of 14.1 and 9ball hadn't prepared me for so many of the shots I needed to be able to execute at 1pocket. These guys were giving me 10-7, feeding me a lie that I actually believed: "I can only give you a couple of balls 'cause you shoot so straight" and robbing me.
For months I would play, and lose, and curse the game. But then, I started to learn the shots. I would watch Accu-Stats tapes, and began recognizing the *right* shots, the correct strategy. I started to win. The spots became smaller. "I still hate this game."
But then, more and more of them had to play me even. "Hmmmmm. Maybe this game isn't so bad."
Soon thereafter, I had to start giving up weight to get a game. "Hey, I like this game."
Then the ultimate: the guy who had started out giving me 10-7, refused to play when I offered him 11-7.
I really like this game now
Sooo, what's probably spoiling your true enjoyment of 1pocket is not yet having the precision to fully take advantage of your defensive opportunities. It's something every single player who takes on the task of learning 1pocket goes through.
Over time, it does not become just a matter leaving the cue ball safe. It's: leaving it safe frozen to a rail; safe frozen to a ball that leaves nothing but a sellout; a safe with a free shot at your pocket thrown in; a safe that clears out your opponent's side; a safe that moves one, two, or three balls to your side; a safe that blocks your opponent's banking lane; a safe that kicks a ball towards your hole. Well, once again, you get it. Often times, playing a beautiful safe can win you a game more easily that pocketing a difficult shot. But your game must be of sufficient maturity to not only see the opportunity -- you must then be able to execute. Most of the shots that will completely put your opponent "in jail" require very precise cue ball speed and placement. And, properly executing these shots is every bit as satisfying as pocketing a ball.
You'll know you've arrived when you pass up a relatively easy shot, to instead freeze your opponent to the back of a ball and makes the likelihood of them selling out a high probability. There's nothing boring about manufacturing game winning shots that bring your opponent to their knees
Lou Figueroa
