Ronnie O'Sullivan to play pool this year

Nobody said that 8ball doesn't need strategy - it does. 8ball is a game where if a pro player gets an open table he will get out 95% of the time. To win against a pro player in 8ball you'll have to be constantly judging the table to see whether you're better off trying to run the table or play safe / improve the table. It does take experience.

But all in all, I don't think it is that difficult to learn this stuff. Especially after you sell out to your opponent a couple of times :-)
 
Differences ...

There are subtle nuances in 8 ball that help define
whether a player is a great 8 ballers or simply just a
good one. How a player handles those 8 ball 'problems'
is what defines him as an 8 ball player. The complexities
of strategy are greater in 8 ball than 9 ball really.
Watching 2 really good players play 8 ball is, I think,
interesting and entertaining, because it shows off
their imaginations more than I think 9 ball does.
 
Addicted2CuesRU said:
lol... bring on the hooligans... Just because the UK has 3 sports Soccer (no I am not going to call it football...)
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Now you've got me started!

Our game was invented first and it's called "Football" because it is played with the "Feet" :p
 
shortshooter said:
Now you've got me started!

Our game was invented first and it's called "Football" because it is played with the "Feet" :p
Click to expand...

And with the head, chest, shoulders, knees, thighs, back etc. :D
 
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pinkisntwell said:
Nobody said that 8ball doesn't need strategy - it does. 8ball is a game where if a pro player gets an open table he will get out 95% of the time. To win against a pro player in 8ball you'll have to be constantly judging the table to see whether you're better off trying to run the table or play safe / improve the table. It does take experience.

But all in all, I don't think it is that difficult to learn this stuff. Especially after you sell out to your opponent a couple of times :-)
Click to expand...

Here are some of the Strategy that i can provide u guys with.

Always plan ahead all the way to the 8 ball before you shoot your first shot.
This will enable you to take the best route, making every shot as easy as possible.

Run out or play safe. The only time you should run out is when you are certain you will make it all the way.
If you don't think you can, play safe before pocketing any of the your balls.
You should play a safety anytime you are looking at a ball arrangement that prevents a reasonable shot.


Know the value of each of your balls to a victory.
Don't pocket your "key ball" too early
Don't pick of your own blockers
If these are your only options, consider a safety
Every ball you pocket without running out is like killing one of your own soldiers in a war.

Patience is very important.
Once everything is out in the open, then it's time to run the balls and win the game.
Taking a ball or two and getting them out of the way is okay, as long as you leave yourself a couple of balls to work with and you're not in a good position to have a safe played on you.

Leaving the 8 ball in jail:
Whenever the 8 ball is blocked by one of your balls, you must leave it there so you opponent cannot win the game.
The only time you will shoot your ball is when you know you can run out, freeing the 8 ball.

I hope this tips help u in ur game of 8 ball,and i totally agree with pinkisntwell that u need a strategy in an 8 ball game.Good luck!

Thank You
 
Snooker bores the shit out of me. Wow they run a bunch of red balls and then they shoot 6 balls in rotation, with almost ALWAYS the same layout every damn time (talk about repetitive!?). And I don't understand why so many of you place such a huge emphasis on the game's requirement of potting accuracy. Yeah the pockets are smaller, and they are rounded. But the pockets aren't THAT small, and the balls are smaller too. My first exposure to snooker wasn't snooker actually, it was the game liability, played on a 6x12 table at Hard Times Bellflower. The pockets are so tiny they barely fit a snooker ball. I thought that was a standard snooker table, so I was like "wow those snooker players in Europe must be amazing shotmakers with pockets that small". My friend loaned me a tape of snooker being played in England, I noticed that the pockets are much bigger than the table at Hard Times, and that the snooker players can actually CHEAT the pocket! So yes it requires more accuracy, but not THAT much. You guys think that people like Efren, Earl, etc can't make a ball on a snooker table? You are NUTS! Watch them play 9-ball and see how often they hit the center of the pocket. They do that nearly every shot, unless they are trying to cheat the pocket. I've seen some WPC tapes of snooker players like Davis, Hendry, White, etc playing 9-ball, and these guys miss two or three times as much as top pool players do! There is not one snooker player in the world that is a threat on a pool table to any of the top pool players. Nobody. Drago had a great run in 2003, but look at how massive the pockets were back then, there were tons of flukes at the WPC because of that.

Lets compare snooker to 9-ball. In 9-ball you have a different pattern every time. You have to go back and forth across the table often. In snooker after the cherries are down, the layout of the balls is almost always the same, with the exception of maybe the 6 ball which usually gets bumped because the cherries are racked right below it. Snooker has a straight pool aspect and a rotation aspect, except that in the rotation part of the game it is nearly identical every game. Stop, stop, draw, stop, stop.... Booooooring.
 
For advanced players I think that not making any balls until you feel you have a very good chance of running the table is the best strategy.

But for lesser players I think making a couple of balls is not bad, since lesser players will have problems even with open tables if they have to run 8 balls.
 
After filtering through the last 8 pages of drivel, here are the results:

FACT: Snooker players can play pool to a high standard with the right preparation, see Drago and Gray.

CLAIM: Pool players can play snooker to a high standard, its just that they enjoy poverty and are too lazy.
 
14.1player said:
After filtering through the last 8 pages of drivel, here are the results:

FACT: Snooker players can play pool to a high standard with the right preparation, see Drago and Gray.

CLAIM: Pool players can play snooker to a high standard, its just that they enjoy poverty and are too lazy.
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:p

You forgot to add that they enjoy so much playing the sophisticated game of 9ball where the best player always wins and you can't win with one lucky shot. Also, 16-year olds don't win World Championships.
 
I have not read this whole thread as I don't have the time!!!

However, Ronnie O'Sullivan, in my opinion, is one of the greatest players to have ever held a cue (from any discipline). Whether he will adapt to pool only time will tell. Someone mentioned the pattern play needed for 8-ball, granted I agree you do need a good level of knowledge, however, a snooker pro pots more than 8 balls on their way to a century break and they are looking for patterns all the time and this is on a 12 foot table with tight pockets.

I think Ronnie will do quite well at 8-ball I am not suggesting he will win his first event but he should place quite well.
 
14.1player said:
After filtering through the last 8 pages of drivel, here are the results:

FACT: Snooker players can play pool to a high standard with the right preparation, see Drago and Gray.

CLAIM: Pool players can play snooker to a high standard, its just that they enjoy poverty and are too lazy.
Click to expand...

Drago and WHO!? What have they accomplished in pool, except Drago's L8 appearance in the 2003 WPC?

NOTHING. (Not even Davis)

Thank you.
 
LastTwo said:
Drago and WHO!? What have they accomplished in pool, except Drago's L8 appearance in the 2003 WPC?
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Drago: World Pool Masters 2003 winner, 3rd place WPC 2003, Runner Up Eurotour Austria 2005.. What you don't seem to understand is that he only enters a few events per year, selected Eurotour events and Matchroom events.

Mark Gray I believe was ranked no. 128 in the snooker world rankings last year, and has recently entered the 9-ball professional tour in the UK, the BPPPA. He has won or placed highly in every event he entered, including winning an 8-ball tournament, beating Rico Diks in the final.

What has any poolplayer accomplished in snooker? ;)
 
LastTwo said:
Snooker bores the shit out of me. Wow they run a bunch of red balls and then they shoot 6 balls in rotation, with almost ALWAYS the same layout every damn time (talk about repetitive!?). And I don't understand why so many of you place such a huge emphasis on the game's requirement of potting accuracy. Yeah the pockets are smaller, and they are rounded. But the pockets aren't THAT small, and the balls are smaller too. My first exposure to snooker wasn't snooker actually, it was the game liability, played on a 6x12 table at Hard Times Bellflower. The pockets are so tiny they barely fit a snooker ball. I thought that was a standard snooker table, so I was like "wow those snooker players in Europe must be amazing shotmakers with pockets that small". My friend loaned me a tape of snooker being played in England, I noticed that the pockets are much bigger than the table at Hard Times, and that the snooker players can actually CHEAT the pocket! So yes it requires more accuracy, but not THAT much. You guys think that people like Efren, Earl, etc can't make a ball on a snooker table? You are NUTS! Watch them play 9-ball and see how often they hit the center of the pocket. They do that nearly every shot, unless they are trying to cheat the pocket. I've seen some WPC tapes of snooker players like Davis, Hendry, White, etc playing 9-ball, and these guys miss two or three times as much as top pool players do! There is not one snooker player in the world that is a threat on a pool table to any of the top pool players. Nobody. Drago had a great run in 2003, but look at how massive the pockets were back then, there were tons of flukes at the WPC because of that.

Lets compare snooker to 9-ball. In 9-ball you have a different pattern every time. You have to go back and forth across the table often. In snooker after the cherries are down, the layout of the balls is almost always the same, with the exception of maybe the 6 ball which usually gets bumped because the cherries are racked right below it. Snooker has a straight pool aspect and a rotation aspect, except that in the rotation part of the game it is nearly identical every game. Stop, stop, draw, stop, stop.... Booooooring.
Click to expand...


I am sorry, I didn't realise that the red balls fall in exactly the same place after every single break!!!

Yes of course they don't fly around the table like a 9-ball rack, but you have to work around the clusters that are created and constantly look for breaking up these clusters to open up more opportunities for break building.

Cheat the pockets?!?! In clubs these could be possible, I don't think you understand just how small and tight the pockets are in professional level Snooker. Ever wondered why you see Snooker players so far down on their shots and so still when they deliver the cue? It is because one small movement on their delivery and they will not pocket the ball, 9-ball allows for a certain degree of movement when delivering the cue. I have never seen a proper pool player like Efren or Earl play Snooker, but I certainly would love to see how they would cope.
 
Fred
i have been following this thread and read all the post in detail and all i can say is that you remind me of fast larry , so angry , just because peoples views differ with yours , your angry replies prompt angry replies , in the future i am just going to skip your posts just as i would fast larry if he were still around on this forum. My advice to you is control that anger , it can not be good for you.

remember just because you say it is so , does not make it so.
 
I don't think cheating the pocket is possible in professional snooker tables. Watching pro snooker you will see that the balls can fall even if they don't split the pocket (if for example they travel at a relatively small speed and they touch the inside of the jaw) but that is never because the player deliberately "cheated" the pocket, but simply because that's how the shot ended up. In general though, the pockets are very tight to the point that a frozen ball is so tough to make from an angle (say, 30 degrees) that if it happens (even by a pro) a generous applause is given from the crowd.

I think a telling difference between the games is that in the UK snooker clubs generally have much more loose pockets than the tables that the pros play on. While in the US I've seen lots of times people here arguing that the tables on pro events have gotten so loose that the players are beginning to lose some of their shotmaking ability, with the known results when they went to Asia to play on the tight tables of the WPC.

Don't get me wrong, I play pool, I practice pool and I enjoy pool. But snooker is what got me involved and, after playing pool (and snooker) I can realize the differences between the games.
 
Evidence

If you haven't seen this yet, read it.

http://azbilliards.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=17277&highlight=centuries

Efren is adept at all games, so it may not be fair to say that all pool players can dominate in snooker. On the same token, not all snooker players can easily adapt to 9-ball.

I do feel that skill in one cuesport can translate into another with the proper training and adjustment period.

To use my first az forum acronym, JMO!
 
14.1player said:
Drago: World Pool Masters 2003 winner, 3rd place WPC 2003, Runner Up Eurotour Austria 2005.. What you don't seem to understand is that he only enters a few events per year, selected Eurotour events and Matchroom events.

Mark Gray I believe was ranked no. 128 in the snooker world rankings last year, and has recently entered the 9-ball professional tour in the UK, the BPPPA. He has won or placed highly in every event he entered, including winning an 8-ball tournament, beating Rico Diks in the final.

What has any poolplayer accomplished in snooker? ;)
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You know all this speaks to is that pool players dont care to jump across the pond to try and master your game... There are a lot more reasons than just the games of snooker and pool... How about your crummy food and crappy weather... and the fact they would have to live with insufferable brits...

Showing that guys ranking means little too... I mean snooker is how much more popular over there... Break down all the stats... how many events did he play to get that ranking??? Sure he is going to be ranked higher in a less popular competition where the money is probably far less than the snooker tour... All the top players over there are going for the big bucks, spending more time on the snooker tour... the 9 ball tour probably has fewer top UK players...

Any idiot can throw stats around to prove their point...
 
Crummy food! LOL :D What this proves is that national stereotypes and preconceptions are predominant in this thread, and they're not going to change anyones opinion on the snooker/pool issue. All some of us non-US posters are trying to say, is that snooker is a damn sight harder than US posters conceive.

I used Mark Gray as an example because he is one of the few who has converted full time from snooker to pool, and with great success.

I'm outta here... :D
 
14.1player said:
Crummy food! LOL :D What this proves is that national stereotypes and preconceptions are predominant in this thread, and they're not going to change anyones opinion on the snooker/pool issue. All some of us non-US posters are trying to say, is that snooker is a damn sight harder than US posters conceive.

I used Mark Gray as an example because he is one of the few who has converted full time from snooker to pool, and with great success.

I'm outta here... :D
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Just messin with ya bro, both sides were flamin' back and forth so I thought id just flame away too... LOL :D

I threw in the obvious national stereotypes just to be funny... Really this whole post has had misconceptions thrown around about a lot of things and you know what noone is going to win...

I like snooker, I found it a difficult game, but ya know what after a while playing with the little balls and little pockets I did get adjusted to it... and I started "potting" balls like they are petunias...

Pool is a similar adjustment, whether its because of the Large balls and crater sized pockets or what not... The real adjustment is going from 8' table where the pockets are canyons to a triple shimmed 9' table from one day to the next as a player who plays different rooms or local tourneys as a roadie (not me)...

The road to tolerance is a 2 way street... ;)
 
Buckster_uk said:
Cheat the pockets?!?! In clubs these could be possible, I don't think you understand just how small and tight the pockets are in professional level Snooker. .
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I can only tell you what I've seen on TV and what I've seen on the tables in europe (England and Germany). And what I've seen is that you can pot a ball on the European tables much easier than what we see in the states.

We either have tricked up tables or we have K66 nose profiles (or similar) with curved pockets. Both are more difficult to pot balls than the tables I've seen in Europe. And again, from what we see on TV for the World Championships, it's seems the balls bobble and fall more than we ever see on tables here.

Fred
 
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