strategy

• 8-ball
• 9-ball

for more information, see Chapter 5 in The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards
and Disc III of the Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots

8-ball

What are some examples of good 8-ball strategy?

from Billy_Bob:

There are a couple of things I always do when playing 8-ball, which time and again gives *me* an advantage over my opponent and helps me win. I thought I would share. This stuff is "simple", but very "powerful"!

1. Don't pocket ANY of your balls if any are tied up. LEAVE THEM! Instead hit clusters where your balls are tied up and re-arrange the table so every one of your balls can be made into a pocket. THEN run out. You CAN'T win if one of your balls is tied up and can't be made into a pocket. You can't win if the 8-ball is tied up and can't be made into a pocket. Leaving your balls on the table will get in the way of your opponent. What will frequently happen if you do this is your opponent will shoot in most of his balls except two or three (as you are busy unblocking your clusters and turning the table back over to him). Then you wind up with a wide open table, very easy to runout at this point. You have cleared up your cluster problems first thing and your opponent has been kind enough to get his balls out of your way! RUNOUT!

2. If you can't runout because you still have one or more trouble balls, and you have a ball blocking a pocket and this is blocking the 8 or one of your opponent's balls, LEAVE IT! Shoot at a cluster and fix trouble balls first. Your opponent can't win if his ball or the 8 is blocked.

3. If you are left with a difficult shot and it is VERY LIKELY you will wind up giving your opponent ball-in-hand, might as well do something constructive instead of missing your shot. Something which will make winning for you easier or will make winning for your opponent more difficult. Shoot an intentional foul! Shoot one of your opponent's balls into a nasty spot. Create a cluster for your opponent by shooting at his balls. Shoot at one of your opponent's balls so it hits one of your balls which is in a cluster and tied up and this frees up your cluster. You were going to give him ball-in-hand anyway, but this way you have given him one more cluster/trouble ball, or given yourself one less cluster/trouble ball. This tips the scale so you will have more of an advantage to win.

4. Who is going to win? Look at clustered balls/trouble balls. How many balls does your opponent have which can't be made into a pocket? How many balls do you have which can't be made into a pocket? THIS is the "score board" as to who is going to win! You want to ALWAYS and FIRST THING adjust this scale so all of your balls can be made into a pocket and many of your opponent's balls can't be made into a pocket. If your opponent has balls tied up, he can't win. If all of your balls can be made into a pocket as well as the 8, then it is possible for you to runout. I feel this is the MOST important thing to winning. Work from the get go toward tipping the scale to your advantage and to the disadvantage of your opponent.

Example: It is your shot and you have 2 balls which can easily be pocketed. Instead you shoot at a cluster and move those balls so they can be pocketed and turn the table over to your opponent. (Your opponent has two clusters.) Your opponent shoots in a few balls, but does nothing with the clusters. Then your turn and you move your last trouble ball to a spot where it can be made into a pocket. Your opponent shoots in a few more balls and is left with his two clusters which he has left for last. He shoots at one and it does not go into a pocket. Now your turn. Wide open table, no trouble balls, your opponent has pocketed most of his balls so they are not blocking your shots, every one of your balls can be made into a pocket, easy runout and win!

9-ball

What are some examples of good 9-ball strategy?

from KellyStick:

1. Missing very close to the pocket in 8 ball is good. In 9 ball this is bad. My slow roll preference I have used in 8 ball for years is not a good idea in 9 ball unless I make the ball for sure.

2. In 9 ball it is not good enough to leave your opponent a tough defence like it can be in 8 ball but rather you really need to bury the next numbered ball and/or CB in a defence. Otherwise you just get defenced back. Somehow this is more critical it seems it nineball with only one OB available on each shot.

3. The break is much more critical. With only one OB each shot you gotta get good at leaving the CB in the middle. With multiple OB options in 8 ball this is not as critical. I have some bad habits and abilities that need work here.