Traditionally, you would be correct if someone plays you safe to the end rail without making the initial ball. The fact that you make the ball, call safe and then roll the CB to the center of the end rail means you're rolling the CB to a full 15 ball rack. It's super easy to sell out from that distance hitting the head ball as a safe. You almost have to get lucky to have zero roll-off on the CB prior to impact.
What does everyone else think? Am I crazy? Would everyone roll the CB to the head ball on a 15-ball rack from that safe position?
I don't think you're crazy at all, Dave. That position, being at the head rail, and confronted with a full 15-ball rack, has "sell out" written all over it. If I were placed in this position by my opponent, I certainly wouldn't roll-up onto the head ball, thinking I could stick the cue ball onto it. You can even hit that head ball PERFECTLY CENTER (a gamble all its own), but imperfections in the rack behind that head ball would cause some deflection of the cue ball. Depending on how "centered" the cue ball is on the head rail, I might even try the classic 14.1 opening break, with the focus on making sure I return that cue ball to the head rail again. I'd rather sell out a very long distance shot (with the cue ball optimally pinned against the head rail, if I can manage it), than selling out a short distance shot in the rack area.
I'd rather my opponent be in this position of dealing with a full 15-ball rack with the cue ball against the head cushion, because he/she will start the three-foul countdown if he/she decides to just take an intentional foul from that spot.
I like this one the best. Being that One Pocket is my second-most favorite game (I teeter/flip-flop between 14.1 and One Pocket), this is a standard One Pocket shot. Just as in 14.1, pinning the cue ball to the pack is a common safe move in One Pocket. It's actually easy to perform, too -- just a bit of inside english, and you can almost intuitively get the feel for how much speed to put on the cue ball to have it bank off and pin itself to the pack. The object ball is guaranteed to bank to the other side of the pack. Like I said, a very common One Pocket move. Whenever you have the cue ball moving in a direction towards the pack, you're closing/shortening/eclipsing the available "window area" to see a shot at that object ball. I much prefer this over the other two options that cleary offered, as it -- to me -- is the easiest to do RELIABLY.
Cleary's second option involves getting the speed just right so that the object ball and the cue ball end up on opposite sides of the pack -- there's a small chance of a sell-out if you hit it too hard or too soft and the object ball "peeks out."
Cleary's third option, although a common move in One Pocket because there's only ever one target pocket on the table (vs all six pockets in 14.1) is a bit risky, because the apex 14-ball (in the top row of two balls) *can* leak out and sell out a shot to the side pocket or the head-rail corner pockets. (Obviously not a concern in One Pocket [because One Pocket "doesn't care" about any pockets on the table except those two foot-rail corner pockets], but it's *certainly* a concern in 14.1!)
This is a great discussion!
-Sean
i guess i need to start getting that first position so this doesn't arise.
