Hey,
I'm a decent player, I can't fit in any official rating but let's put it that way, my record is 4 10ball racks and I often reach local tournaments pretty often. (playing for 2 years)
The problem is I don't like 8ball. I find it borring (I know it's not), probably borred by all these stop shots people play.
I love snooker, 10ball/9ball, long distance safety play, travelling around the table, kick shots.
Any tip to help me appreciate 8ball ?
8-ball can be an enjoyable game, if you are playing a playing against a player of similar skill level, or better. However, generally players who want to play 8-ball are not as high a skill level as for instance a 9-ball, one-pocket or 14.1 player are. Certainly there are exceptions to that assumption.
I find when I'm playing 8-ball against a weaker player, it becomes very frustrating, particularly if the balls are not spread out well on the break - usually the result of your opponent either giving you a bad rack or your opponent not hitting the balls squarely with velocity on their break.
In those instances, when the balls are tied up, it's not possible to run out in one or two innings, and even a weaker player has a chance to pocket a number of their balls and maybe even win some games. The number of times your weaker opponent leaves you absolutely no shot just by sheer luck is something you just have to accept and deal with as best you can.
I find at least for myself, you don't have to like 8-ball, but if you're playing against someone and that's what they want to play, it's good for your discipline and patience to play it and just accept what the table gives you. Unlike 9-ball, particularly if I'm playing against a considerable weaker player, I don't even think about playing defensive shots even though strategically to maximize my chance to win every game, I should, but it's just not the courteous thing to do. That all changes when you're playing a 8-ball against a good player, in which there is a lot of strategy and safeties and it's a totally different game.
If nothing else, playing 8-ball occasionally makes me appreciate how much I prefer playing 14.1 or rotation games!