BILLIARD NOTES.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 12, 4 June 1920, Page 5

BILLIARD NOTES.

HOW TO PLAY THE GAME. POTTING THE RED TO LEAVE AN IN-OFF FROM THE WHETU. In a previous article on bringing the white out of baulk — when ball in hand — I gave various examples of how the r,ed may be potted in order to leave an in-"off from the white, and thus bring that ball into the field of play. But though not ball in hand, it will constantly happen that it is the game to pot the red and leave an in-off from the white for the next stroke. This may happen whether the white is in baulk or not, but, naturally, when the white is inside the line, and there is no ordinary cannon on it will always be the correct game to play to pot the red, and gain position for an in-off from the white — should there be a fair prospect of being able to do this — and more often than not such a procedure will prove to be advantageous even when a simple cannon is on„ because the cannon,, though quite easy to get, may be of such a nature, tkat the resultant position could easily be an unfavourable one. POTTING THE RED INTO A BAULK POCKET TO LEAVE AN IN-OFF FROM THE WHITE. A positioi with all three balls in baulk. The cannon, whilst by no means a difficult one for a fair player, is, at the same time, not exactly a certainty, and, besides, even if it were made, whether the red went down or not, the after-position would be very uncertain, and very probably more or less safe. Instead, the red should be potted in such a manner as to leave an iu-'off from the white. According to the location of the red, a less than half -ball,

a half-ball, or a fuller than half-WaO stroke may be required to pot it, but in whichever manner the red ball has to be hit, position for the in-off from the white can always be gained. In playing a stroke of this nature, it would require very great judgment of strength to get the absolute best position from which to play the white, but, fortunately, it is not necessary to find the exact location. So long as the cue ball stops anywhere in the vicinity of this spot, an in-off from the white will always be on either by means of a less than halfball stroke, a half-ball stroke, a forcing stroke, or a screw-shot. A position similar to this with the differerence that the cue Ball comes off the side cushion after potting the red. If the white object-ball, however, were daced on the other side of the D, position would be gained just the same; so that an in-off could be played, sno matter which side of the table the white ball was situated. POTTING THE RED BY A FOLLOWING ON STROKE TO LEAVE AN IN-OFF FROM THE WHITE. A position for an in-off from the white can be gamed by means of potting the red with a following-on stroke. There ara' two different pots, and in each instance the red ball and the cue-ball are in a dead-straight line with the poeket. The stroke should be played by hitting the eu© ball above the centre to cause it to follow, on after contact with the red. When the cue hall has only to travej a short distance to gain the desired position, quite a geptle stroke will suffice, but a rather stron^er stroke will be necessary when the cue>-ball has to travel some little distance.