SNOOKER IS LIKE ONEPOCKET

bbb said:
i just finished watching a few rounds....i mean sessions... of the world championships
congratulations to ronnie for winning his 7th
i have never played it and dont know all the rules
but from watching the little bit i did it reminded me of onepocket and here is why
there were a lot of safety play
until someone made a mistake or decided to pull the trigger on a "long pot"
those long pots looked me like shots from new york city to los angeles..... 😂
pulling the trigger was great reward or often sell out
as both ronnie and trump were capable of centuries if they got a good start
also going from red to black and red to black etc. was often like doing the L drill which is a great onepocket drill
anyway
you all may think i am crazy but as a one pocket nut
that was my impression
(i also saw a similarity to straight pool but that will have to have its own thread)
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I found snooker to be more like bar box play. Once I got into the killing field, red and black, the playing area was three or four by six. Tight shape to play and breaking out clusters. Soon learned not to blast open the stack in case I had to turn the table over too. I never learned straight pool but as a watcher I can see a lot of similarities to snooker there. One pocket which I landed in a hot bed of and have played some, doesn't seem as similar, probably my playing style.

I didn't care much for a young Ronnie, the person. He has matured into a personality that I enjoy watching and his play has always been a treat. I always remember when he had made about two balls and stopped play for a minute or two to ask the referee what a 147 was worth! Another time he felt the bonus for 147 was too small and very deliberately shot a 146, statement made!

Hu
 
Snooker kinda reminds me of all pool games. As if they share some dna in the distant past. Almost as if the perfect game of snooker took form long ago, then some rebels left the area and wanted their own new types of games...so they took parts and pieces from “the game” and made these different versions.

Pool then adapted on its own to form some new games based off the already news games...but they still trace back eventually to The Game.
 
I would definitely buy the video of the World Championship. That way when I am in my surveillance station I could watch it again and..... better than burning my time watching....wait a minute. Forged in Fire Friday..... gotta go.😁😉
 
I hate the fact you can't hardly find a snooker table 6x12. They were everywhere when I was a kid, in almost every hall. Of course that was a LONG time ago.
 
gregcantrall said:
I guess you didn't see Ronnie nail the cocked hat on his first shot after Judd open on the respot black. I mean it was only The World Championship and the 3 railer was struck by the world champ.🤷
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I don't think Ronnie was going for that 2-railer at that point in time. He was leaving the white near the black spot, sending the black to baulk. The fact that it dropped in the side was a bonus.
But okay, this was a similar situation, I'll give you that. In all the years I've been watching snooker, this never happened before this. So I'll change my statement to 'there is very little chance in hell... etc'
 
hotelyorba said:
I don't think Ronnie was going for that 2-railer at that point in time. He was leaving the white near the black spot, sending the black to baulk. The fact that it dropped in the side was a bonus.
But okay, this was a similar situation, I'll give you that. In all the years I've been watching snooker, this never happened before this. So I'll change my statement to 'there is very little chance in hell... etc'
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Cocked hat double on re-spotted black comes at the end of this 35 minute YouTube video. They call it a cocked hat double but it's a 3 rail bank. The cue ball action is the safety portion but it was no accident that the black split the middle pocket. Ronnie seems to see it as he walks to the table. Likes where the cue ball can be taken to and drills it. The cue ball action is beautiful.
 
gregcantrall said:
Cocked hat double on re-spotted black comes at the end of this 35 minute YouTube video. They call it a cocked hat double but it's a 3 rail bank. The cue ball action is the safety portion but it was no accident that the black split the middle pocket. Ronnie seems to see it as he walks to the table. Likes where the cue ball can be taken to and drills it. The cue ball action is beautiful.
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I agree with you that he saw the possibility of the shot, and that he went for it as a shot-to-nothing (as they call it in snooker). So he kept his cueball safe, knowing that should he miss it, the black ball would most likely end up in the baulk area or at least at great distance. And again, that resembles a three-railer-1P shot but I still maintain that you'll see this kind of shot in 1P a lot and it very rarely happens in snooker.
 
hotelyorba said:
I don't think Ronnie was going for that 2-railer at that point in time. He was leaving the white near the black spot, sending the black to baulk. The fact that it dropped in the side was a bonus.
But okay, this was a similar situation, I'll give you that. In all the years I've been watching snooker, this never happened before this. So I'll change my statement to 'there is very little chance in hell... etc'
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From the 2022 Champion ship. At the 7:57 time in this YouTube video is a shot similar to what I imagine you call a 2-railer. The ball actually strikes 5 rails but the first 4 would have done it. Gets the snooker with the white near the black spot.
 
gregcantrall said:
Of course there's the, Live In Fame or Go Down in Flame attitude.😁
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Known as the hero move in racing! One way or the other you are going to make the highlight reels. Turn two was a nightmare at one track and I usually stayed clear of the snarled up mess there at the start of a race letting others take the low groove while I stayed out of the fray. Timed in very poorly one night for reasons I don't recall and made an uncharacteristic low side move in turn two. I could pass four to six cars in that one turn, unless somebody made a mistake. Cars hit and balled up in front of me and I was jammed into the pile when another car hit mine! That smarts when you can't move with the impact.

Almost half a century later I still think of it as a hero move in pool when you take that shot that is going to result in a lot of balls made, ... by somebody! A pool room detective had came over to see what he could discover when I went into a hall I hadn't been in for a few decades. We were playing one pocket when he left me on the foot rail. Only about a foot to a ninety degree cut into my pocket, about a foot there too. Thing was it was a ninety degree cut to the center of the pocket, I had a few more degrees of makeable pocket. I shot the ball in with the firm stroke required for it to trickle in and the cue ball went completely around the table to stop very near the foot spot.

The other player pointed out I would have sold out everything if I missed. It seemed foolish to point out that using the whole pocket made that cut more like 85 degrees than 90. I wasn't teaching school so I just told him I hadn't planned on missing!(grin)

Hu
 
The other player pointed out I would have sold out everything if I missed
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Watched Cole use that strategy playing Harry one pocket. 90 degree cuts that splatter the rack. Success rate of 50%. Well .... run out on success then steal if Harry couldn't run out on his gifts. Set the hook real deep.🤷
 
I didn't remember until I listened to the comments. It was a shot that Judd took on with the right hand and missed that set up the respotted black. 3-1 when it could have been 2-2.
In this match Ronnie switched to the left so seemless that I didn't notice until it was commented. Sometimes the smallest thing can make the biggest difference.
Comments first compliment Judd's opener then predicted the standard safe shot for Ronnie. World Champion is about exceeding Standards.
 
gregcantrall said:
Just the cocked hat with complete comments.
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I started on a snooker table…those three-in-the-sides (cocked hat double) are a lot easier on snooker rubber…I’d rather shoot a three in the corner on pool rubber because the object ball collects more running english on knife edge rubber.
 
pt109 said:
I started on a snooker table…those three-in-the-sides (cocked hat double) are a lot easier on snooker rubber…I’d rather shoot a three in the corner on pool rubber because the object ball collects more running english on knife edge rubber.
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I have experience shooting both 3 in the corner and 3 in the side in competition. If I am shooting a 3 railer it's because of what I can do with the cue ball. Both shots that come to my mind were playing 8 ball.
Playing the 8 ball 3 to the corner because my opponent was good and had the other options blocked. Missed the 8 but blocked half the pocket he needed. Wasn't good enough and he won the championship game.
Playing scotch doubles in Nationals in Vegas. Our opponents were on the hill and ran to the 8 ball leaving it midway between the spot and corner. Whew their Combined Fargo was 100 points higher than ours. We had 3 or 4 balls left and it was my shot. All were at the opposite end from the 8 and I could be sure of a couple of shots but wasn't sure of the shape. With my partner shooting next...... I found a shot that had me shoot the cocked hat for the side because it gave me the best chance to control the cue ball. The plan was to slide it a short distance behind an adjacent ball on the rail. The two together on the rail were a big part of our problem anyway. This was before coaching was allowed. I called one ball in the side. My partner immediately exclaimed, "What?" I carefully enunciated a little louder, "One in the side" only to have her respond with, "WHAT?" Starting to feel...uh distracted, our opponents male interjects, "he is playing us safe Mam." Whew get back down and miss the safe by a fraction leaving the 8 available.... but the one got the slightest grazing of the five after the third rail and found the called side pocket. My partner got so inspired we got out. Then we won the match!
So I definitely prefer 3 in the side.😉
 
Greg, Paul, This seems odd, I see the merits of what both of you are saying! Of course that does fit with what I always say, granted a reasonable level of experience only the shooter knows the best shot for them at the moment. I had to laugh a little reading about Greg's partner because I can picture them damned near losing their mind: "You are going to do WHAT???"

It has been too many years since I spent much time on a snooker table to swear which shot I would favor. I do remember those comparatively dead cushions on the snooker table playing very honest. I found myself considering window very carefully. By which I mean which pocket played larger. Despite the rule of thumb I favored a simple cross side bank into a side pocket over a thin cut sometimes. Being able to see a pocket edge to edge had a lot of appeal over seeing a very thin slice of it.

I think I would shoot this in the side on a snooker table with those cushions, a six foot shorter shot has a lot of appeal! On the pool table I think I would be more inclined to let the ball run free for the corner. Traffic or blocked pockets could change those choices though. My real decision back when I was very young and playing on the snooker table would have been to send it straight into the corner with helping english. That old table taught me to use helping english and that it worked. The ball would have fell or hung in the jaws of those snooker pockets so I would have won or sold out with that shot. Ronnie was much smarter and had that ball missed it was probably going down to the far rail. Twelve feet of distance and no easy pocket would have probably got him back to the table.

Looking back it is easy to think I would have used the experience I have now with the physical skills I had then. In reality unless I was hungry or the stakes were high I would fire at the moon in a heartbeat. I made a lot of those shots, missed a lot of them too! I still remember some of those shots I cut thinner than deli ham for a win, only the rare whiff when I completely missed touching an object ball. I am sure the whiffs were more common than I remember today!

Hu
 
I always said I feel good seeing the pros miss a shot. Thinking, "see they miss the same shots I do." Then the logical side inquiry is, "and how many balls do they make between misses and you?" Oh well 😉
 
The logic was super simple for Ronnie. I watched everything available up to that point and he had been deliberate to a T. Anything out of order and he started over. Even specks on the cloth At The Other End of the table. Whew what focus. So his walking to the shot is practice d. The speed was uh confident. The execution was perfect. He was committed. The ball travel to the predicted top rail would have required a miss larger than I would expect (at that level 😉). So he was committed to the make with cue ball position making a miss up to luck if rounds involved.
My preference for 3 to the side is mainly due to time I have put in on it lately. Ok ok 3 to the corner is on mymenu for fun.
 
gregcantrall said:
From the 2022 Champion ship. At the 7:57 time in this YouTube video is a shot similar to what I imagine you call a 2-railer. The ball actually strikes 5 rails but the first 4 would have done it. Gets the snooker with the white near the black spot.
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This is something completely different in my eyes. We were talking about trying to make a shot into the pocket with a seemingly wild multi-railer while keeping your CB safe, which is a common shot in 1P and not common at all in snooker.
What you show us here in this video, is a safety shot over multiple rails landing the OB in a small area behind another ball, and that is something you see a lot in snooker - especially in the end stage of a frame. Mark Selby is an example of a player who is very proficient in this department. (Oh and btw: this is something I don't think you'll see a lot if ever in 1P.)
 
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