Please help me with this 8 ball situation!

[sjm]

Kick 3 rails how? It was blocked as far as I saw, coming off the 2nd rail.

If you mean shoot uptable 3 rails, that is a low percentage shot for me and I could still scratch.

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The shot I'd play is the one in my first diagram. Beating this scratch is easy with low right hand english, as I can hit the three quite a bit fuller than I would without english.

The only other shots I'd consider are the difficult three railer on the three in the side that you mentioned and, finally, the admittedly tough one rail kick in of the three across the table shown in my second diagram.

If I miss, I could care less whether I block the pocket or not. If I do, my opponent can combo my ball in and play me safe relative the eight all day long. As I see it, my only hope is to send opponent long where they have a chance to get the safety wrong or miss any shot they opt for. Blocking the pocket would only work against a very, very weak opponent.

 

[Captain]

Thanks--that makes sense.

 

[Craig Fales]

Blocking the pocket is for barroom hacks...the last to diagrams are the way to go...offense in this case...
________

 

[Colin Colenso]

I like sjm's rail first shot, but also the ones below.

Without knowing the exact positions it's hard to know exactly what is possible. My second diagram below assumes there is enough gap to glance the 3 ball softly to catch the rail without scratching and hooking or leaving the opponent a tough shot.

 

[Colin Colenso]

btw: I tried Donovan's 2 railer as I wasn't sure there was enough angle. I played it with left english to hopefully widen the angle off the top rail. Also playing to miss the 8-ball by about an inch on the way down. I made it first shot

sjm's rail first down the rail took 2 shots. My plant shot off the 8-ball took 3 attempts.

Not very scientific, but Donovan is declared the winner

 

[Donovan]

I had to set up the balls on my table. I put them as close to the same as the picture as was possible. Once I did that, I saw the 2-railer immediately, as I play lots of one-pocket, it is one of my favorite position shots. I like it because with slight speed adjustments you almost always block the hole or make it and you can follow, draw, or stop and get close to the same results from the object ball. That allows you many choices for post shot cue ball position.

Plus in this situation, I felt it was a two-way shot, getting offence and defence in one shot.

 

[Blackjack]

Nice shot, Donovan!

 

[Snapshot9]

Call me crazy ...

but, from the diagram, it looks like the 3 will
go in the corner, sliding it slightly, and use
straight top english. Even if the cue hits
the point of the side pocket, it will just
throw it more towards the center of the
table and better position on the 8.

I do realize that the exactness may not be
totally there between the WEI table and in
reality.

 

[rackmsuckr]

It was a scratch to make it in the corner with left, right, follow, draw, or natural. I would have had to hit it straight on and try to block the pocket.

I guess I did not draw it correctly, but what you see is a looming side pocket on a bar box. There may have been slightly more angle on the cueball. I know how to straighten out shots with english and it was just not possible. Colin, to go rail first, I would have had to hit the tit above the ball, not the one it was close to, because of the scratch. I will have to try the 2 railer, I did not see it. Also, the position of the 9 may have been in the way, but it's a moot point since I did not see it anyway.

 

[cuetechasaurus]

Are you guys really that petrified of hitting a shot very softly? Linda with the 3 ball being so close to the rail, you are in a great position to lock up your opponent behind your ball. If you are too scared to roll a ball then use a soft drag-draw stroke. The best possible thing that could happen is you freeze them on the 3. Either way, your percentages are very high of getting safe. Aside from that, the kicking paths your opponent will have makes your percentages of winning from this shot even higher, which brings the percentages for this shot way higher than any of the shots you suggested. This is not a hard shot to execute, unless you have absoloutely no control over your stroke whatsoever.

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Object stops around A, cueball stops around B. If you hit the shot perfectly, the cueball will softly rebound off the rail and freeze to the object ball. You are guaranteed to get safe on the 9 ball and 12 ball, and you might leave a sliver of the 13 if you hit the shot poorly. The black lines indicate the boundary lines for a full ball safety on all three of your opponent's balls. You have a fairly large margin for error since you are hitting the shot so softly.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the highest percent change you have to win the game from that position. It's not a hard shot, not even close.

 

[sjm]

Are you guys really that petrified of hitting a shot very softly?

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the highest percent change you have to win the game from that position. It's not a hard shot, not even close.

Obviously, most of us felt the safety was unavailable, and not because of the speed considerations but because there doesn't appear to be room to get underneath the three.without selling out. That's certainly my opinion.

Nonetheless, even if you could execute it, I suspect you remain a significant underdog. If you don't cut off all the one railers across the table at a stripe, I'd guess you're still a huge underdog, because the three will be positioned in a spot where it can't be made from many places on the table and any safety battle rates to be a losing one unless opponent misses all the stripes kicking across, which is almost inconceivable. If, by some miracle, you cut off all the one railers and forced opponet to kick off the top rail toward the stripes, I still reckon you probably won't end up with a shot unless opponent fouls, and a good player isn't very likely to foul with three stripes to hit going two rails.

I remain of the opinion that the time to go for the win is now, and rail first into the corner isn't that tough, perhaps between thirty and forty percent.