Sep 27, 2010

Pool League Week #2

Well, we have already developed a nice lead in our 8 ball pool league...3 rounds.



Last season, we ended up in 4th place...and were only 3 rounds out of 1st.  We are no longer Fishin' though...Q Ball express moved up to the Gold Division, 1st Ave is now "Drifter's Wood"


So we definitely need to stretch our lead and maybe win the league by 20 or so rounds! :)

Challenge #2 Video Attempts

Attempt #1





Attempt #2





Attempt #3



Sep 26, 2010

Challenge #4: 8 Ball Choke

This is from last week's 8 Ball Challenge...instead of dropping the 8 ball, they....


Happen's to the best of us, take advantage of this one here and run these!

Solution will be available here on/after 10/01/2010.

Sep 24, 2010

Challenge #3 Video Attempt

Got this one on the first try, didn't run these anything like I planned in my 8 Ball Diagram

My first attempt was just a "less think, more stroke" run...got a lucky nudge!






Send your video attempts to dan@8ballrun.com!

Challenge #3 Solution

Here is my run attempt...

I like taking the tough 6 ball here to start off the run, really the key ball is only the 7 ball after you drop the 6


I didn't think the 1 would go by the 5 ball here...hard to tell from a diagram, need to one-eye-it!


Coming between these 2, gives you options at either one...even the 4 if you don't like the angle you left


I do like the side pocket and may shoot the 1 now...or take the 3 and shoot the 1 in the other side!


Thinking back, I'd probably take the 1 first to get a better angle at the 3.


Need to get a steep angle at the 4 to allow for shape on the 7 in the open side pocket!


This is not easy to get, but if you get a good shot at the 7...the 8 is cake!


The 8 is a nice cut into the corner...seen people choke on the money ball though!


Please, feel free to drop me a comment at dan@8ballrun.com if I can make these better or if you have a question you'd like me to present to the group!

Sep 23, 2010

Cappy's 8BallRun.com Week 2 Recap

Well after a nice 6-0 start, we drew the other team that won all 6 the first week...SV 8 Ballin'


Chas and my dad both shot a 50, Chas & I both had an ERO...here is the end of my ERO run.


I typically shoot rather quickly, but paused at this point to decide the best way to make the two balls that had the preferred pocket blocked!


I managed to get perfect shape on the 14, to get me near the foot rail to get out.


I seem like it would be easy from here...except I deadended my follow through on the 9 ball shot to make the 8 about as difficult as I could!


I still had a good chance at the 8 ball, and dropped it...


Chas's opponent played a safety in his first game, he had to kick the duck 8 in...he was happy to get a 2nd chance. He rattled it the first time..here is a diagram!



And the video...





I think the other team (and my team) may complain if I start with FLASH photography! :)

We again won 19 out of 25 games, but managed to lose 3 out of the 6 games in one round and lose it.  5-1 tonight, 11-1 overall!

Our team is psyched to play together, some of us are saving up for VNEA Vegas and all of us are ready to win Midwest! 

Chas told us about a funny ass commercial with Jamie Pressly and Axe ball scrubber...none of us had seen it, so I loaded it on my Droid and we took a break in during round 3 to watch it. Here it is for those that missed it like me...


Sep 22, 2010

Interesting Halloween Costume

If i get 100 cameras, i can go as an invisibility cloak, or rob a bank undetected. Just need to make screens that double as cameras too. So you could have camera-screens on both sides!


Here is the engiNERD version...



Sep 21, 2010

Doublebank From Week #1

Made this shot the last game of week #1 league...

I know I coulda made a 1 time bank and got shape for the 8 ball in the other corner, but I thought this was the best 2-way shot




Please share your thoughts...

Sep 20, 2010

Cappy's 8ballrun.com

Decided to sponsor the team this year, so we named the team after my website... the other team member thought I was a dork! :)

The first night of league was exciting to say the least!

We picked up a new team member, Chas...and we were playing his former team at our home bar.

Chas started off with two EROs his first 2 games, and won all 5 shooting a 50. Brian also had an ERO and shot a 47...but also made a HEGONE shot to win the round in the 3rd round.

Brian need to win 10-6 to get the round and his opponent got somewhat lucky to miss and leave this...


Brian got his jump cue out while our team discussed that kicking at it may be a better option (what I should have done is get out my video camera)

Brian fired in this jump shot and stood frozen until it was determined the cue wasn't gonna scratch!  Awesome moment...

Our team won 19 out of 25 games, losing the 4 of the 6 games to one player. In my loss, I broke and ran off 6 balls...meant to miss my last ball. But my opponent ran his out against me, appearing to be out of shape when this happened.


It was definitely a fun night out shooting pool...we should be able to win the Widmer Wheat Silver league, at least that is the plan!

Sep 19, 2010

Challenge #3: 8 Ball Runout

Again...things to keep in mind:

Play aggressively, no safeties
Drop a comment, don't be shy
Submit a video of your run to dan@8ballrun.com

Your opponent broke and made nothing...


Solution will be available here on/after 9/24/2010.

Sep 18, 2010

Sep 17, 2010

Challenge #2 Solution

Here is my solution for 8 Ball Run Challenge - #2


I have decided to take stripes...really only a couple options here, 6 ball for solids or 9 ball for stripes


In taking stripes, you need to identify any breakouts that you'll need to do. It appears your opponent has broken them nicely, such that either suit (solid/stripe) can be runout without disturbing anything else...preferably!


The 14 ball and 15 ball could create issues later in this run out...need to get one of these out of the way at the beginning of my run.  The other key ball I see is the 11 Ball, this one is in the middle of a lot of traffic.


You will notice that I've added a cueball to these images, to hopefully provide the english applied to the shots to make this work.  The speed of the shot is also important, and can be gaged by the distance the cueball travels on these diagrams.


As I said before, I like shooting stuff in the side pocket...even though many books suggest otherwise.


This shot is a little more advanced, with more risk of missing it as well.


In running this rack out, I noticed that the 13 ball is another key ball...in that 3 out of 6 pockets are blocked.


Well 4 out of 7 stripes were shot in the side pockets...wonder where I should make the 8 ball! :)


Please, feel free to drop me a comment at dan@8ballrun.com if I can make these better or if you have a question you'd like me to present to the group!

Sep 13, 2010

8 Ball Wallpaper

Here are the 8 Ball Wallpaper Backgrounds that I've ran across so far...will add more as I find them.

Click image for larger version...

Sep 12, 2010

Facebook Password Trick

Going to do it on my facebook and see if anyone falls for it!


________________________________________________________

Challenge #2: 8 Ball Runout

Again...things to keep in mind:

Play aggressively, no safeties
Drop a comment, don't be shy
Submit a video of your run to dan@8ballrun.com

Your opponent broke and made nothing...

It's your shot with an open table, ERO Write It Down?


I will set these up at home and take 3 attempts to run these out, and will post the videos Friday! Be sure to send me your attempts...

Solution will be available here on/after 9/17/2010.

Sep 10, 2010

Challenge #1 Solution

Obviously, there are 100 ways to run this out (and 100,000 ways to F it up!) But here is my 8 ball run for 8BallRun.com Challenge #1

The key ball in this runout is probably the 15 Ball as it is blocked to it's preferred pocket, by the 8 Ball!  I'm starting with the 10 ball since I have an easy shot at it and it is near the end-rail


I have left myself lots of options here...but the 13 has a good angle to potentially get a good shot on the 15 ball (KEY BALL)


Since I got a good angle at the 15...I alway seem to diagram my shape perfectly :)

I'll take it...


Again, I've left myself many options here...after looking at this again, I may take the 14 ball (NEW KEY BALL) instead of the 12 here. 


Now the 14 is the key ball since I took the 12 ball eariler...


I'm planning to take the 14 in the side pocket...I prefer the side pockets, not sure why.  So the 11 ball is natural shape to get the 14 in the side.


Just a little draw off the 11, but a stop shot would be okay still.


I really didn't get any comments on the original challenge, hopefully there will be more interest in upcoming weekly challenges!

Sep 7, 2010

8 Ball End-Game Strategy

Even though this is 8 Ball Run, there are times that you'll need to play smart to win. You need to weigh the chances of success for both you and your opponent...but take advantage of every chance you have at the table!

If it is YOUR turn...95+% of the time, you are the favorite to win!

In playing a safety or "smart shot", it is usually best to keep your balls on the table.

Here is a recent situation I was in during leagues


....my opponent shot his ball in and called a safety (leaving me to shoot the 8)


Missing the ball on purpose and leaving it in-front of the pocket would have probably been a better option

Before he made this shot, he was the favorite to win the game...but in doing this shot, my opponent shifted the odds into my favor.  I probably have a 70-80% chance of pulling off a really good safety back at my opponent.


The above safety is rather straight forward and was an obvious shot on the 8 ball...you do need to hit it either a) hard enough to hit the rail or b) accurate enough to hit the side of the 8 closest to the rail.

If I had been in my opponents situation, there are numerous options to keep the "odds in my favor"...

If shooting the 1, you should try to get the cue closer to the bottom rail to make your opponent hit 2 rails or apply english with 1 rail to hit the 8. 

This is likely what I'd have done...


You need to hit this hard enough to seperate the 8 and 3 ball, but accurate enough to keep the cue behind the 3 ball.


A master opponent will likely (80-90%) hit the 8 ball on this kick, depending on how tight the 3 is locked up on the cue.  But if you get the 3 blocking the 1 rail kick, you may get ball-in-hand 50% of the time for an easy run.