So what now ?
- Thread starter alphadog
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you need a miracle fluke safe to happen is about what you need
The answer is you don't play safe.
If your opponent is an expert, a strong case can be made for taking three fouls here unless you like trying to kick in the fifteen two rails, a high risk but possibly makeable shot.
Against most players, I'd do one of these:
1) Take a foul by knocking the cue ball into the jaws of the top corner where the only shot they will have is the three ball, a shot that is missable bridging out of the jaws, and a shot in which the cue ball might scratch when it caroms off the ball next to the three. In addition, shape is not guaranteed even if the three is pocketed. This is my play against a weak player.
2) Take a foul to the top rail where opponent can't see the three or the fifteen. They'll likely either return foul, leaving you the rail first fifteen ball from against the top cushion, or they'll shoot the fifteen rail first themselves. Either way, you have a chance to survive the sequence. This is my play against an intermediate player.
What you do here is entirely dependent on who your opponent is. Learn to adapt your tactical choices to the skill level of your opponent.
If your opponent is an expert, a strong case can be made for taking three fouls here unless you like trying to kick in the fifteen two rails, a high risk but possibly makeable shot.
Against most players, I'd do one of these:
1) Take a foul by knocking the cue ball into the jaws of the top corner where the only shot they will have is the three ball, a shot that is missable bridging out of the jaws, and a shot in which the cue ball might scratch when it caroms off the ball next to the three. In addition, shape is not guaranteed even if the three is pocketed. This is my play against a weak player.
2) Take a foul to the top rail where opponent can't see the three or the fifteen. They'll likely either return foul, leaving you the rail first fifteen ball from against the top cushion, or they'll shoot the fifteen rail first themselves. Either way, you have a chance to survive the sequence. This is my play against an intermediate player.
What you do here is entirely dependent on who your opponent is. Learn to adapt your tactical choices to the skill level of your opponent.
or push the cb up on the 6 if you want a safe intentional foul
I don't like these ideas.
Trying to kick in the three is a terrible idea as it is difficult and also because the cue ball might well scratch in the corner.
Taking a foul under the three is also a terrible idea. We're not playing one pocket here. Put your opponent under the three and they'll return scratch, tapping you up under the three or tapping you to the rail inside the cushion and you're no better off than you were before the defensive exchange began.
If you're good enough to two-rail the fifteen out of there, you're good enough to pocket it., although I'm not inclined to do either in this layout.
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Hard to see angles from your pic but a possible wild shot might be 6-11-1 combo and the 1 caroms off the 2 onto the left corner. 
I would shoot it for fun if it looked good in person but not in a serous game.
I would shoot it for fun if it looked good in person but not in a serous game.
They say fortune favors the brave and, as noted in post #3, I agree that this is a legitimate option at expert level.
Uhm , the cue ball is away from the rack. The rack is well spread , I just had the 6 roll up there.
Approximately 40 racks broken.
Missed 3 break balls.
Scratched 2X where cueball got kicked in both times. Scratched 1 time back across in the side I shot from.
Left cueball in the stack probably 6 times. This table does not break well and has shimmed procut pockets so sometimes you have to cinch the break ball.
Waaaay too many times this was the result- balls every where and no easy shot.
A couple of breaks with low break balls , I
just intentionally nudged a few balls out and would have 1 straight in , or a back cut off angle combo.
It isn't soft break 9 ball.
Sometimes things just go that way.
And that is why huge runs are so impressive.
If that happened 30 times out of 40 break shots then either you aren't getting the cue ball away from the rack or you are the unluckiest pool player in the history of the game.
I wouldn't shoot it even if I thought it was on, because I'm almost against the six-ball, which would force me to hit the shot with a nearly vertical cue from the center of the table to avoid a foul. and I doubt I could generate the pace the shot requires. Still, it's this kind of shot and thinking that keeps straight pool fascinating.Hard to see angles from your pic but a possible wild shot might be 6-11-1 combo and the 1 caroms off the 2 onto the left corner.
I would shoot it for fun if it looked good in person but not in a serous game.
No way this shot can be played with English as the cue will be jacked up. Center ball is the only chance.
And I’m the 2nd unluckiest. I’ll put the CB dead center table after the break, and that last rolling OB will usually land right up against it.
Several reasonable shots have been mentioned above. My first shot would be to roll the cue ball half an inch so it's tight on the 6. Maybe your opponent doesn't know what to do. If you can see a safe from nearly frozen to the 6, roll the cue ball to there. (I don't see such a place in this layout.)
In the end, this is the kind of situation where you may have to take three fouls. Make sure your opponent is on two when you do.
In the end, this is the kind of situation where you may have to take three fouls. Make sure your opponent is on two when you do.
id still push it right on it, and try to get them to make a mistke, and im great with that tiny touch from playing years of straight rail so im confident i could freeze em
No player will forego a return foul in that position other than a super-weak one, and against a super-weak player, I'll happily concede the rail-first fifteen ball.
Taking a foul to see if opponent does something insane is not really what straight pool tactics are all about. You need a plan to give yourself a realistic chance of not having to take three fouls or leave a good shot here. Tapping up to the six does nothing to further any such plan. In fact, you'll worsen your position if you do that.
If you really want to tap it up to the six, you shouldn't freeze it. Should opponent return foul, your kick at the fifteen just became more difficult as you can be left with practically nowhere to bridge, instead of the half inch gap between cue ball and six ball you have now for bridging. If you take a foul, go across the six a bit and leave it unfrozen, hoping that a less than fully alert opponent will scratch back but simplify your cueing on the kick of the fifteen.
Against anyone who knows what they're doing, you trade down by freezing to the six.
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Yes, this is a step in the direction of taking three. Great point about making sure your opponent is on two, for if you hit a good break after your third foul, opponent can't escape with a back-scratch. Crane always stressed this when taking three.
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