What Would A Sucker Do? Part 5

If you look around the room and don’t see any suckers….YOU are the sucker!

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You have stripes here. You each only have one ball left and the 8-ball. Your opponent’s ball, the solid, is on the opposite rail. What do you do?

1) “Make a super thin cut on your stripe and pocket it in the corner!”

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2) “Bank your stripe in the corner!”

3) “Double bank the stripe in the opposite corner.”

Suckers…

Why are these not good ideas?

  • Super thin cuts are low percentage and if you miss, your opponent will either have a shot or play a safe on you.
  • Bank shots are also low percentage.
  • Double banking is about twice as low percentage and an even worse choice.

Answer:


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The best conclusion can be arrived at only after you have weighed all of the options and costs and benefits of each option. First look to find your safe spots on the table and see if it is easy to get there. In this case, it is very easy to put your cue ball behind the eight ball blocking your opponents shot to their solid. This easy shot takes a lot of pressure off you and puts it on them. Now they have to worry about making a legal hit. Even if they hit it, you will most likely have another shot at the table to either run out and win or play another safety. Either way you are maintaining the control at the table. Now your odds of winning are much higher.