Strategy

Here is a word you really need to learn.  More, perhaps, any other aspect of playing pool, whether online or off.

Websters’ Dictionary defines strategy as “the art of employing a careful plan to reach a goal.”  I agree: it is an art, because you must be creative while figuring out your course of action before you shoot.  What are you going to shoot at next?  What if you can’t get your leave?  What then?  Where will the cue ball be after it stops?  This is (I believe) where the game gets interesting.

Let’s have some fun with this first!

Everybody seems to love it when I give names to different types of afflictions, so here goes!

The “Screwed Pooch Syndrome”

Did you really mess up by leaving yourself absolutely no way of dropping one of your balls?  Did your opponent do this to you?  Then you have “Screwed the Pooch” Syndrome.  When this malady assails you, do NOT go to bed and apply any home remedies like “feed a cold and starve a fever”.  There are really only two cures for this disease.

1.)    Remember the rules state that you must strike your ball first in order to keep from giving your opponent “ball in hand”.  Keeping this in mind, just do your best to hit one of your balls.

2.)    Click on the “quit” button, push “cancel and forfeit”, and quit playing pool altogether.  (Since this happens to even the best of players, this is the only cure, and the only way to prevent it from happening.)  If this is the option you would choose, then you probably aren’t even reading this page.

“I-know-you-are-better-than-me-so-I-am-gonna-screw-you-itis”

This is a disease that afflicts people who are of such a low self-esteem that they will always try to leave you nothing to shoot at unless they have an exceptionally easy shot.

If this describes you, you need to know that this affliction has a particularly horrendous effect on your opponents.  Consequently, try to control your impulses in and actually try to pocket a ball.  By stretching yourself in this way, you will grow both as a pool player and as a mature, well rounded individual of character. 

Truly, the only known cure for this ailment is for you to realize that

YOU ARE BEING A JERK!

Taking pleasure in others’ misfortune (especially when you are causing it intentionally!) is NOT the sign of a well balanced, mature person.  You need to go back and read the page that describes good sportsmanship.  Winning isn’t everything.

If this describes your opponent

there is only one way to handle this.  First, you ask your opponent if they have ever tried to make a shot that wasn’t straight in.  Second, after the game is over, let him/her know BEFORE you drop the 8 that their conduct made the game definitely UN-fun, and you are going boot them (or, if you aren’t the host try to avoid them for the rest of his/her natural life).

“I’m-an-idjit-and-I-don’t-care-itosis”

This person doesn’t care about the game and is just in the pool rooms to “mate and date” so to speak.  This syndrome is usually revealed very early in the match by this person, usually a man (sorry guys!), asking “a/s/l” and other questions that are definitely inappropriate, being more associated with the “mating game” and definitely unrelated to the game of pool.

Cures?  I haven’t the foggiest notion as to what to do about this, nor does any Ph.D. in the world.  For ideas on how to deal with these people, see the earlier sections on syndromes related to being immature and otherwise anti-social attitudes.

On a more serious note, this is what “Strategy” really is all about.  Since it is an art, consider it to be a creative solution to the current concern: winning the game. 

The “Leave”

The leave is, without doubt, the most important part of your game.  The basic object of “getting a leave” is to get the cue ball to stop where you will be able to hit another one of your balls in the pocket.  This is called your “leave”. 

For those who haven’t yet gotten the hang of the game entirely, you have to grasp the idea of how important the “leave” is.  If you are able to shoot only one ball in at a time because the you can’t “see” another ball to shoot at and your opponent drops 2 every turn, there is only one possible outcome: a lost game.  Considering this, you must be able to leave the cue ball in an advantageous position after you strike your ball.

If you cannot pocket a ball and get a good leave, go ahead and try to hit one of your balls, leaving the cue ball where your opponent will have a difficult shot.  However, if you find yourself doing this on a regular basis, you may be developing the above syndrome named:

“I-know-you-are-better-than-me-so-I-am-gonna-screw-you-itis”

 In this case PLEASE either attempt to make more difficult shots or stop playing pool entirely.  This makes the game very UN-enjoyable for your opponent.  Try to keep the game fun and exciting for everyone.

For the player who is beyond the beginner stage,

I make the following suggestions:

1.)    Use the power applied to the shot to make the cue ball travel the distance you need to get to your next shot.

2.)    Use english to make the cue ball travel in the direction you need.

3.)    Use a combination of english and power to get it EXACTLY where you need the cue ball.

4.)    If you don’t know how to use English, learn it!  Learning this technique will make it look like the ball is trying to help you. 

What happens if you master the art of “strategy”

If you can get good leaves, the shots will almost always be easier.  When I am “on a roll”, I am often accused of having a new type of “auto-aimer” that makes my shots easier and gives me excellent leaves.  As far as I know this “cheat-program” does not exist.  So, if you are playing me, please do not make any such suggestion.  I do not cheat, and I appreciate it if all of you would avoid these programs as well.  It takes a lot of fun out of the game.

On the other hand, I have, on several occasions, beaten people who used “auto-aimers”.  I can do this because they forget how to use good strategy when using a device such as this.

The subject having been broached, I will talk now about the auto-aimer programs available to everyone.  When you see someone with a rating of 2-3000, the odds are that they have one of these.  Needless to say, it is tough to beat someone who cheats.

I doubt that any of my readers would even think of using a cheat of any kind, as you are trying to improve your skills, not cover up incompetence.  The people who do so are reprehensible bottom feeders who take joy only in the image of being the best, not at actually deserving such the honor.  So, I applaud all of you who strive to become better people, better sportsmen. 

I served beside and among heroes during 3 tours in the Persian Gulf, so I know what comprises true character in people.

You do.