In Diagram VII. stroke A suggests a method of making a winning hazard which, though in itself easy, may be dangerous when the player is in a cramped position. Ball 2 is close to the pocket, and ball 1 is in a straight line with it, but so hampered by the cushion that a stab shot is out of the question. The hazard may easily be made by playing off cushion 6, as shown, and ball 1 may be left in the direction of the spot. This type of stroke, by the way, is capable of much development and should be studied. The strokes marked B1, B2, and B3 suggest three methods of play in case ball 1 should be angled, ball 2 being in the jaws of the middle pocket. Fortunately such an occurrence is rare; but I once saw it happen at pool, and the player—a very good one—played the stroke marked B2 and brought it off. Experiment gives the best results with B1 and the worst with B3; but which of the three should be essayed depends on the exact position of ball 2 and the chances of making a loser. The point Q is about six inches below the baulk-line, but a few trials will show the exact place. B2 is of the nature of a massé, and even if ball 1 strikes the cushion above the middle pocket, there is still a chance of success. Should ball 1 be angled for ball 2, the latter being in a corner pocket, the massé stroke is the only chance; in fact, there is a very old trick stroke, made when balls 1 and 3 are in the jaws of the corner pockets and ball 2 in the jaws of the middle, all on the same side; by a similar species of massé ball 1 curves round and outside ball 2 and holes ball 3.
Diagram VII.
A propos of stroke A, there is a useful method of getting position at the top of the table, if ball 1 can be struck freely. If plenty of follow is used, and ball 2 is struck nearly full, the striker’s ball will rebound towards the middle of the table and then spring forward towards the top cushion again. The stroke requires much freedom, and the explanation of it is to be found in Chapter VI., On Rotation.
Stroke C may be found useful at some time or another. The object ball is resting against the upper jaw of the middle pocket, in such a way that it is impossible to cut it in from baulk; but with a kiss the stroke is absurdly easy. By playing from the end of the Ｄ with No. 1 strength, and hitting the red about three-quarters right, the kiss will send it into the pocket and leave ball 1 in the middle of the table.
The question of occasionally giving a miss may deserve a word, but, as a matter of fact, the opportunities of playing such a stroke with profit are very rare. To begin with, the penalty is a very heavy one, and can only be afforded by a player who has a most commanding lead and whose adversary cannot dare to follow suit. With a score of, say, nine to one, when the leading player has the game in hand, he may, if he please, sacrifice a ball in the hopes of getting a break afterwards; but when the scores are nearly equal, it is clear that if it is worth A.’s while to give a miss, B. can hardly do better than follow his example.
The highest possible break at pyramids (unless the striker owes one or more balls) is, of course, fifteen; this number has frequently been taken by fine players, but the chances of finding a full complement of balls on the table and of being in a position to take advantage of the opening are very small, always presupposing that the ability to clear the table exists. In the quickest game I ever played, my adversary managed to take a ball after the opening stroke, and, gradually breaking up the pyramid, secured ten, and the last five fell to me in the next turn, so that we had but three innings between us, one of them being the break. A capital performance was once done at Cambridge by an undergraduate whose adversary broke and apparently left everything safe; however, eight balls disappeared, nearly all very difficult strokes, in which the player had to consider safety as well as the hazard. In his next turn he cleared the table by a series of similar shots, all, or nearly all, so difficult that once more safety was his main object. This was a very great feat; but the reader need hardly be reminded that at pyramids, as at billiards, the art to be cultivated is the art of leaving a series of easy strokes. I once saw a man who had just made a break of 30 or 40 at billiards turn round and say, ‘What a good break! There wasn’t a single easy stroke in it!’ The real billiard-player would have described it as a series of well-made strokes, but as a break, never.
SHELL-OUT
This game is practically the same as pyramids, but more than two take part in it. A stake, so much a ball, is agreed upon. The balls are set up as at pyramids, but under no circumstances is a ball ever put up after a miss, or when a ball has been forced off the table, or when the white has run in. If any of these things has happened, a point is added to every one’s score except the offender’s, who thus pays the stake to the other players. The score is most conveniently kept on the slate, each ball counting one, except the last, which is generally reckoned as two; all penalties incurred off it are also double, but with the exaction of the penalty the game is at an end. There is no single pool, white always playing upon red. If a player plays out of turn, he has to pay all round; he can gain nothing if he takes a ball, but the ball is not put up. If he makes a foul when only one red ball is left and takes that ball, he cannot score, but the game is at an end. The rules for foul strokes are the same as at pyramids. At the end of the game each player pays or receives the differences. Thus, if the scores stand A. 9, B. 3, C. 4, A. receives 6 from B. and 5 from C., while C. receives 1 from B.
Everything that has been said about pyramids applies equally to shell-out; but as it is a game of all against all, safety is not so much an object as hazard striking, it being clearly useless for A. to leave B. safe so that C. may profit by it. It may also be remembered that if, say, four are playing, the individual has practically a bet of three to one about each stroke. The game, in fact, is more for amusement than for scientific play, though naturally the scientific player will in the long run get more pleasure and profit out of it.