The pattern-play options are endless in the game of One Pocket. The types of shots and layouts are limitless. This is a game in which there are very few hard and fast rules, and pattern play is anything but common. For this reason, One Pocket is definitely the game to play if you want to use your imagination and creativity to its fullest. One Pocket is also the most difficult game to play because every skill you will ever develop comes into play: shooting straight, controlling the cue ball, controlling object balls, safety play, kick shots, bank shots, caroms—you name it.
Every conceivable type of shot can come into play at least once in a single game.
The rules we can outline for pattern play in One Pocket will thus focus on common threads that can run through any particular game. First, because of the unpredict-able nature of the game, you’ll never be unpredict-able to think a full rack ahead. Too many situations change; the balls get moved around, and you never know what your last ball will be. Second, there’s always one excellent place to leave the cue ball—and that’s as near as possible to your opponent’s pocket, shown by the shaded area in figure 7.9. In this case, your opponent has the left corner pocket, and you have the right corner. Whenever possible, you’ll do your best to leave your cue ball in the shaded area. Leaving opponents here leaves them with no straight-in shot options.
The best option they’ll have is a bank, and they’ll have to be able to bank very well.
Consistently having to shoot from this area will be frustrating and counterproduc-tive for them. It’s also a great pattern play and strategic move to fall back on when you’re not sure what your next Pocket can be broken into three basic components: the beginning game, consisting of some typical and not so typical opening moves;
the middle game, in which balls tend to get shifted to the other end of the table; and the end game, in which one or both oppo-nents need just one ball for the
win and play becomes extremely E4276/Kanov/fig.7.09/296236/alw/r3 Ideal
area
Figure 7.9 The best place to leave the cue ball for
Figure 7.10 shows one example of the beginning of a One Pocket game.
Your opponent has broken the balls and left you with a difficult layout.
While no straight-in shot exists, a carom shot is available, indicative of the sort of shot for which you will always be on the lookout. Shoot the cue ball with right english off the 13-ball to pocket the 4-ball, spinning the cue ball with the english to get to your opponent’s side of the table.
As you can see, the rest of the object balls are then between your cue ball and your pocket. This is the kind of move you’ll often try to make because you leave your opponent no shot if you miss. If you make the 4-ball, you have a better chance at another shot toward your pocket.
See figure 7.11 for another begin-ning game situation. Your opponent has broken well, but the 2-ball, which was the corner ball on the rack, leaked toward your corner pocket.
As a result, you have been left with a very thin cut on the 2-ball. Extremely thin cuts on balls come up very often in the typical One Pocket game. This shot in particular is an important shot to practice.
After you get past the opening moves, you come to the middle of the game.
The middle game occurs when you and your opponent begin a defensive battle that gradually moves the balls down table. When you start moving the balls down table, keep in mind that it’s to your advantage to keep the object balls on your half (right or left side) of the table. In figure 7.12, notice that the balls were strategically played to the shaded area and the cue ball was left as close as possible to your opponent’s pocket. As you might imagine while studying the layout, this makes it very difficult for your opponent to attempt a shot at his or her pocket, let alone make a shot. If he or she attempts a shot and doesn’t make it, you’ll likely have a shot to your own pocket.
At the end of the game, only a few balls will be left, and chances are good that either you or your opponent needs just one more ball pocketed for the win. An end-of-the-game situation is shown in figure 7.13. Your opponent has the upper-right corner pocket, and you have the upper left. You need all three balls to win the game, but your opponent needs only one. Your best play here is to bank the 5-ball two rails, following the 5-ball with the cue ball to send it down table and up off the bottom short rail, leaving an angle to the left of the 2-ball. This allows you a shot on the 2-ball and a natural angle to the right of the 2-ball to arrive in position for the 14-ball. Again, even if you miss any of these shots, you leave your opponent very
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Figure 7.11 Practice your thin cuts—they occur often in One Pocket.
Figure 7.10 The beginning of a One Pocket game.
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Figure 7.13 The end of a One Pocket game—a true test of will and patience.
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Figure 7.12 The middle of a One Pocket game.
little to shoot at by keeping the cue ball on his or her side of the table. The two-rail bank, like the thin cut, is a valuable One Pocket tool. In fact, the best offensive and defensive shots in One Pocket involve the multirail bank skills. Your knowledge of banking, banking systems, and natural tracks around the table will elevate your One Pocket game instantly.
Besides thin cuts and multirail banks, kicking ability also quickly advances your skills in this game, allowing offensive shot selections that are quite defensive at the same time. Upper-echelon players take plenty of time to develop strong kicking skills for this very reason.
Kicking at a ball in the game of One Pocket allows you to place an object ball close to your pocket and still place the cue ball quite near or frozen to other balls. For example, in figure 7.14, your oppo-nent has wisely left you near your own pocket with little opportunity for a shot, and surely none with defensive results. You must counter his or her move. You kick into the rail first, sending the 11-ball toward your pocket and allowing the cue ball to glance off the 11-ball and nestle itself, ideally, between the 2-ball and the 9-ball. If the cue ball freezes between these balls, that’s wonder-ful—your opponent won’t have a shot. Keep in mind that you must hit this shot firm enough because you’re going rail first to send the 11-ball to another rail or into the pocket to and avoid a foul. If you aim to hit the 11-ball thin, it will head toward the 6-ball and possibly break up this cluster, and will send the 6-ball to a rail for a legal shot.
The vast majority of your shots in One Pocket are strictly defensive, to the point where you’re attempting to control both the cue ball and the object ball, or a mul-titude of object balls. You’ll constantly be trying to send balls toward your half of the table while at the same time trying to snooker your opponent from making an offensive shot for his pocket. One Pocket is a move and countermove game; some-times your focus will be more offensive, and somesome-times more defensive. If your opponent is a very good One Pocket player, you’ll need to play a more offensive game because he or she will be experienced in countering defensive moves and accomplishing shots that you might not immediately see. If you’re the stronger player, a more defensive game is in order because you’ll have the added luxury of forcing your opponent to make the mistakes.