With this shot, I went for pocket E 10 times, and then pocket C 10 times. Then I did each option again 10 more times. I got out 19 out of 20 times with pocket E, despite a couple of times getting straight in or on the wrong side of the 7.
With pocket C my results were poor, 12 out of 20. If the position wasn't just right, I'd find myself having to force the cb to get a shot on the 8, and this caused me to rattle the 7 a few times. I never missed the 7 going to E. The margin for error is just so much bigger for pocket E.
There are a ton of statements made by various people on this thread that I could have commented on.
I decided on this one because it seems to most accurately portray the distinctions between the 2 camps--C&E.
Just an aside but as I typed C&E, while I'm in the E camp, the thought popped into my head that C would not
be my 2nd choice but rather B.
Anyhow, the relevant factors in deciding what to do would be what? This is where Fargorate starts coming into play.
While not perfect, Fargo is the best we have. So what do we do in this situation?
It's kind of ironic but the higher someones rating, even though they're capable of executing either option, they'll
choose the highest % play almost to a man.
Whereas players in the 5-600+ range will vary in their choices and have many reasons for their decisions. I'll
list some even though they've all been voiced in posts on this thread.
1) Speed difficulty
2) Crossing the position zone
3) Minimizing CB travel
4) Old/new School
5) Follow/Draw/Stun
6) Comfort or lack thereof
7) Playing to one's ability
8) And my all time favorite....Personal preference.
I could write a book on each of these 8 points but let's just take #8. Do you think
that "personal preference" should enter into a pool players decision making process? If you do, that's fine, I'm not
about to argue with you. What I will say though, is that you'll probably have to resign yourself to the fact that
whatever your Fargo is now, it's likely to be very similar 5 or 10 years from now.
On the other hand, if you reject #8 and pay very little attention to #'s 4-7, your Fargo will magically start to rise.
Of course we need to pay attention to #'s 1-3 but only in the context of how they may have a bearing on what's really
important. The quoted post above illustrates what's really important not just in this instance but also in almost all
situations encountered on the table. Real good players make decisions by focusing almost exclusively on maximizing Margin
Of Error and something that goes hand in hand with that is Avoidance Of Forcing The CB.
Whether they use stun/draw/follow is largely irrelevant but the inbetween strokes they avoid like the plague. They wreak
havoc with both direction and speed.
This is what The JV is referring to by "subtle pitfalls of playing for pocket C". CB control when playing for C is way
harder and has a much smaller MOE than playing for E.