If you look around the room and don’t see any suckers….you are the sucker!
You have stripes here. You are snookered and have only one ball remaining. Your smiling opponent has five balls left that are all makeable with no obstructions. What do you do?
“Kick at the stripe!”
“Send the cue ball 5 rails!”
“Jump the cue ball!”
Suckers. In this case, it is unlikely that you will even hit your object ball, let alone make it and leave yourself in a position to make the 8. Whether you make a legal shot or not, you are left in the unenviable position of taking your seat and watching your opponent run out.
If you prefer to take a more aggressive and proactive approach, consider taking an intentional foul by hitting the 8-ball in order to block the corner pocket. Instead of returning to the table to run out, your opponent now has a much more difficult layout and some problem balls to contend with.
Rather than watching your opponent run out, you will most likely have at least one more turn at the table.
Photos provided by Jaqueline Karol Editor: Dana Gornall