This came up in 8ball

[Russ Chewning]

Really?????????....the 7 is a very low percentage shot, and you're postion on the bank on the 8 is incorrect unless you're slow spinning it with inside english and then it is also a spectacular shot.

Nope. From that position on the 8, the bank is the next best thing to a hanger. Hit it slightly long, and with a firm stroke, and it straightens right up.

Russ

 

[Patrick Johnson]

the 7 is a very low percentage shot

It's a high percentage shot for me, definitely higher than the bank. And shape on the 5 is natural. And the angle on the 8 would take an outside cut if anything (and an inside spin bank isn't that hard).

You're the guy who thinks banking the 7 is a hanger, right?

pj
chgo

 

[Snapshot9]

The out

First, you make the 7 in the corner with sliding low left english, hard enough to come off the rail and give you some angle.

Next, you make the 5 in the corner, coming off the long rail to go over and make the 9, coming off the end rail first, and you cue slides up on the long rail with a shot for the 8 in the same corner.

 

[Onepocket73]

I'm rather surprised at some of the answers. Banking the 7 into the 9 to block the pocket from the 8 is no easy task. It requires great accuracy on the bank, plus great speed control.

If this player has that kind of control, he is much better off just making the 7 in the corner with left draw and an easy ,good, stroke. Then just shoot the 5 in the corner, follow down to near the end rail, and take that much easier bank on the 8.

But, since he doesn't seem to have those capabilities yet, per the touch safe he failed at. I say the touch safe was his best option at his level. Just needs to work on his 'touch' more.

I am in 100% agreement with you in this situation.I would add that I am a HUGE favorite from here to lose the game.I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.And the shot pattern you suggested gives me the best chance of achieving a victory from such a dire position.Why try to "grind" from a position such as this??

 

[okinawa77]

IMO

CueTable Help

 

[Cornerman]

Too many times people concentrate on what to do in one-off situations like this..

In this particular situation, your opponent at some point was shooting on his last ball, and missed, or played a safe. Then, you ran a few balls, and left yourself here.

Or, you might have ran a few balls and missed, and he ran 6, and missed, leaving you this.

The key is, in 8-ball, table management. There was some point in this game where you either won or lost the game. This position you are showing us is not it.

It doesn't really help you to improve by over analyzing "how do I best improve my chances here from a 5% chance to win, to a 10% chance to win?"

Excellent breakdown.

The point is, yes, if you hit this safety shot perfect, you'll get a stalemate. If you hit it just slightly less than perfect, he shoots a kick shot either off the top rail or side rail, and is a strong favorite to win.

LOL!!! I'd think that since he's hitting the 8-ball first, the other guy would choose to play with ball-in-hand rather than kick at it.

Fred

 

[Cornerman]

My shot- i'm solids. The only thing I can do is hit the cb into the 8 hopefully freezing the 8 to the 9, and hope for a stalemate. I tried to do it, but my touch was too heavy, and I knocked in his last ball. I think I could have had better success trying the same shot, but with an illegal stroke-gently pushing the cb instead of stroking it. The precedence for this thread is the Schmidt-Sigel 14.1 match where on 2 occasions Schmidt pushed the cb instead of stroking it for safety play near the rack. What's the legality of that shot?

CueTable Help

p.s Schmidt placed the tip on the cb,and gently pushed it.

If the 8-ball banks, shoot the 7-ball in the corner.

Fred

 

[ABall]

It's a high percentage shot for me, definitely higher than the bank. And shape on the 5 is natural. And the angle on the 8 would take an outside cut if anything (and an inside spin bank isn't that hard).

You're the guy who thinks banking the 7 is a hanger, right?

pj
chgo

Wrong,I never said that; the bank on the 7 is not a hanger!! All you have to do is get it close, which is what I am comfortable doing a higher percentage of the time than trying to run out with this layout. Your margin of error on the 7 ball bank is fairly large, and you leave distance with the cue ball being up table.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Patrick, finally the answer I was trying to get.
I'm going to rewatch that tape of Schmidt-Sigel to see if I'm mis-remembering that intentional push. But the referee did nothing.

In general it is accepted at straight pool that it is OK to push the cue ball into the rack when playing a small safety. Whether this should remain accepted is a good question. Are you permitted to push the cue softly and slowly into the middle of the rack so there is no path to a cushion? I'd guess not.

This eventually becomes an unsportsmanlike conduct issue, but I'm not sure where.