Recently, I visited Bob Jackson’s Main Street Billiards in Tucson, Ariz. While I was there, a player asked me what to do when faced with the situation in Diagram 1. You are playing 9-ball, the cue ball is in the position marked C-1, and it is your shot on the 8. It is not an easy situation.

     One possibility, marked Option 1, is to play off the right side of the 8 ball (as you face the shot). You are trying to bring the cue ball three rails around the 9 ball to end up at position C-3. At the same time, you are trying to move the 8 ball to position 8-2, as shown in Diagram 1. Hopefully, you’ll leave the table with the 9 ball between the 8 ball and the cue ball. It is a difficult safety option, because you have to control the speed of both the 8 ball and the cue ball.

     Option 2 is another difficult safety. You try to hit the 8 ball thinly on the left side and bring the cue ball back down table behind the 9 ball to position C- 2. It is easy to do two things on this safety. Firstly, you could miss the 8 ball entirely, and secondly, you could hit it too thick and leave your opponent a shot on the 8 ball for pocket A. It is very tough to contact the 8 ball thinly enough that it will stay at position 8-3.

     If you execute either Option 1 or 2 and snooker your opponent on the 8 ball, you have definitely made a great hit. But for me, both of these defensive options are too difficult. I prefer the offensive option shown in Diagram 2. You try to bank the 8 ball into pocket C one rail, following Line 2 in the diagram. It is not an easy bank shot. But for me, it is easier to pocket the 8 ball one rail than to execute safety options 1 or 2.

     Three other things can result when trying to bank the 8 ball into pocket C. First, you can hit short (see Line 3 in Diagram 2) and pocket the 8 ball two rails into pocket A. Second, you can overcut the 8 ball (along Line 1) and send it into side pocket E. The last thing is that the 8 ball could miss side pocket E and end up going back uptable toward where it started from. At the same time, the cue ball could go three rails as shown and end up at C-5. If you miss the side pocket E, you figure to leave your opponent a long and difficult shot.

     One additional thought on any safety is that even though you put your opponent at a big disadvantage with a solid safety, it is not automatic that you’ll win the game. Your opponent can always make a great kick or jump shot to escape the safety trap. The only sure way to keep your opponent from the win is to keep him from getting to the table.

     The player’s next question was, “Does the choice change if the cue ball starts closer to pocket C?” One of the interesting things about pool is how a slight change can make a big difference in your shot selection. In Diagram 3, the only change is the position of the cue ball from C-1 to C-6. From this position, now the bank for pocket C is a lot tougher. It is still an option.

     Another option is to contact the 8 ball on the right side and drive it two rails to position 8-1. Try to get the cue ball to go three rails to position C-4. You might even get the 9 ball between the cue ball and 8 ball, at position C-7. One of the key thoughts on this shot is to get the cue ball as close to the end rail (Rail A) as possible, because the closer to the rail you get, the tougher it is it make the 8 ball. You may not always get the snooker, but at least you leave a long, hard shot. Position 8-1 is a good place to leave the object ball, especially if the cue ball is closer to pocket D. If the cue ball is closer to pocket C, the shot is a lot easier.

     Often, players set up extremely difficult situations and want the easy answer. In the examples discussed in this article, it is simply hard to win. These are hard shots to execute. However, you should be able to find some kind of answer and, with good execution, find a way to win. Once you make a decision, commit to executing your choice as well as possible.