Opponent played safe on me. What would you do and what I did

madmiller

madmiller

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I played a game of 8 ball with a buddy of mine a couple of days ago. We were hill-hill. In the final game I broke and ran all of my balls but one and missed. He , in his turn,ran the table on me, but couldn't make the 8. I had one ball left before the 8. In the first picture I show the position that was left for me. What would you do in this situation?
safeshot1.jpg
In the second picture I am showing what I did in order to win the game.
safeshot2.jpg
 
madmiller said:
I played a game of 8 ball with a buddy of mine a couple of days ago. We were hill-hill. In the final game I broke and ran all of my balls but one and missed. He , in his turn,ran the table on me, but couldn't make the 8. I had one ball left before the 8. In the first picture I show the position that was left for me. What would you do in this situation?
View attachment 254011
In the second picture I am showing what I did in order to win the game.
View attachment 254012
Click to expand...

if you can do that to win the game
can i take lessons???:grin-square:
 
Actually, that shot is not that difficult. I don't have a table at home, so I practice masse shots on the floor. Someone gave me an old table cloth which I lay on the floor and practice. It took me a couple of days to become consistent with those type of shots.
I guess I could kick at that ball, but like I said I have limited access to a real pool table and since I am a beginner, my kicking skills "suck" to put it softly :grin-square:
 
Nice shot

That shot is not in my arsenal. I would first look to see if there was room to brush the 4 and go to the head rail and back behind the 4. If that was not available I would probably have to try and kick the 4 to try and roll it onto the 8 hopeing to cover the 8 and keep the cueball on the end rail. Tough situation!
 
Last edited:
I must have missed something. How did he play this safety on you? I don't shoot full masse shots enough to attempt that knowing that if I mis I will more than likely lose. I probaly would have played safe on him along the short rail & hope he misses & gives me one more shot. It's a tough situation. I have also made that type shot from off the opposite side point, but again not if I mis I lose.

Congratulations on the win. I bet he was upset.
 
ENGLISH! said:
I must have missed something. How did he play this safety on you? I don't shoot full masse shots enough to attempt that knowing that if I mis I will more than likely lose. I probaly would have played safe on him along the short rail & hope he misses & gives me one more shot. It's a tough situation. I have also made that type shot from off the opposite side point, but again not if I mis I lose.

Congratulations on the win. I bet he was upset.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
He didn't do it intentionally, he just missed the 8, the ball rattled and didn't drop and that's where the cue ball and my last ball wound up sitting.
I was thinking to play a safe first, but with my experience I couldn't come up with anything, especially knowing that 8 was a hanger and he could easily kick at it from just about anywhere on the table( he played pool for over 20 years)
So I decided to put a shot that I can do well and consistently to a good use instead of playing some safe that I don't know how to do! :smile:
I guess my floor practicing time wasn't spent in vein!!
I also improvised a "pool table" out of a long dresser that I have. it's about a foot and a half wide and 6 foot long and is very sturdy. I cover it up with a table cloth and practice long shots working on my stroke using that rig. I made a pocket out of a cardboard box and that's where I shoot the balls in!
My game is improving pretty quick. I can only imagine what it's like to have a real table at home to practice on!
 
Last edited:
madmiller said:
I was thinking to play a safe first, but with my experience I couldn't come up with anything, especially knowing that 8 was a hanger and he could easily kick at it from just about anywhere on the table( he played pool for over 20 years) Don't think that 20 yr. vets don't mis long kick shots or scratch on them either.
So I decided to put a shot that I can do well and consistently to a good use instead of playing some safe that I don't know how to do! :smile:
I think you made a wise decision.
Click to expand...

Your enthusiasm & dedication is very refreshing & makes me remember when I was first learning. It is very rare for a 'beginner' that you say you are to be shooting masse shots like the one you did. I think you are well on your way to becomming a very very good player. Keep learnig all of the different shots so you have options & not forced to shoot certain ones. You should alway have chooses. You obviously chose the correct one this time.

Congratulations Again & Best Wishes for You,
 
The masse wouldn't cross my mind. I'm making that shot 0% of the time so I take my hat off to you for pulling it off at the first try.

I don't think I'd try kicking at the 4 and I wouldn't go for a 2 rail kick. I'd play safe. Roll the 4 up to the 8 trying to block a kick at the 8 as much as you can whilst still snookering the opponent. Roll the CB to the short rail and leave a kick. If you manage to block the kick then you're a heavy favourite. If not you still have a chance hed scratch or miss the kick.
 
That's a piquet shot. Awesome win dude. First person i ever saw do this was David Matlock. He shot it like it was a hanger and just gave us that "You can't do that?" look.
 
Normally when I shoot I don't take much time on deciding what to do if I know what's available. It took me a minute or so of figuring out what other options I had in order to play safe or to make my ball. I know that I don't possess the speed control well enough to slow roll the ball in order to block the 8. I could try, but the chances of me either leaving him wide open or what's even worse- scratching - were obviously against me and my skills.
But that masse shot I made a numerous times before, that's why I chose it.
Thanks, everyone, for your input.
Last couple of years were very tough on me, divorce, loss of job , etc...
Hopefully someday soon I will get a chance to practice on a real table full time, but for now the floor in my room and an old dresser work just fine.
when I get a chance and when I am in a bar or at a pool hall , I will try to find somebody with a videophone to make a video of that masse shot and will post it here.
For some reason people are usually freaking out when I shoot those shots and look at me like I am some kind of pro:) and they are not that hard really.
 
Thats some good stuff there with the at home training and you what it does not sound odd to me at all and sure other posters would think the same thing.

I would of tried to play safe but im pretty sure my plan would not worked out you the aw man only missed it by a foot safe. I had a shot like that one time but it was a little furter from the pocket oh ya i tried to masse it but it went around the whole object ball and the CB flew right into the pocket.
 
the other shot you could do is to shoot the cue ball directly into the tit of the side pocket. The cueball will come straight back to the corner pocket. Based on where you drew the 4 ball it should contact it full and leave the cue ball at that end of the table for a simple shot at the eight. It's a pretty easy shot but you have to hit the tit right at the point with no english.
 
leehayes said:
the other shot you could do is to shoot the cue ball directly into the tit of the side pocket. The cueball will come straight back to the corner pocket. Based on where you drew the 4 ball it should contact it full and leave the cue ball at that end of the table for a simple shot at the eight. It's a pretty easy shot but you have to hit the tit right at the point with no english.
Click to expand...

Wow! I didn't even think about that possibility! That might have worked too! Actually I tried those shots one time, but I am not consistent with those, I will make probably 5 out of 20 tries. That masse I can hit almost every time dead on!
 
leehayes said:
the other shot you could do is to shoot the cue ball directly into the tit of the side pocket. The cueball will come straight back to the corner pocket. Based on where you drew the 4 ball it should contact it full and leave the cue ball at that end of the table for a simple shot at the eight. It's a pretty easy shot but you have to hit the tit right at the point with no english.
Click to expand...
Well, for anyone who has not played it before, I doubt that the shot is better than 1 in 100. Playing the two rail kick out of the far corner is probably a much higher percentage for those who know both or neither.
 
I'm not that familiar with 8-ball strategy and game play, but i see a few possibilities. 3 rail kick,2 rail kick, another 2 rail kick reverse(short-long then make the ball) or just play safe with the 4 on the short rail, and put the cueball really close to it. Also 2 rail bank into the side, or the corner. But I would never shoot this shot.
 
EAGLETRICKSHOTS said:
I'm not that familiar with 8-ball strategy and game play, but i see a few possibilities. 3 rail kick,2 rail kick, another 2 rail kick reverse(short-long then make the ball) or just play safe with the 4 on the short rail, and put the cueball really close to it. Also 2 rail bank into the side, or the corner. But I would never shoot this shot.
Click to expand...

WOW! comes from a trick-shot guy! I thought that you would be the one that masse it in before any other options would pop up in your head!
 
I would have jumped the cue ball off the table, hitting the light above the table, landing the cue right on the 8...then masse around the table in circles celebrating a great shot...lol

I actually like my suggestion better than playing off the tit a half table away...just me, .................

I would definately do the only thing to do here, and that's play the easy safety, wait my turn, hope he missed, then run out.

Great shot tho, I wouldn't attempt it, I'd only make it 50% of the time at best, and it would probably be the LAST 5 out of 10 attempts, lol...BUT ID MAKE THAT SAFETY 9 out of 10 times, and my opponent would miss the kick 6 out of 10 times since the 8 is on the short rail side of the pocket. My odds are not bad.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top