The Mother of All Shots

Ok, so this one I have to brag about. Back when I was a kid, my grandparents had a pool table (which eventuallyfound its way to my parents’ house). Whenever we would visit my grandparents, all the cousins would naturallygravitate towards the pool table.

I shot a lot of pool as a kid there. And one of the few pool tricks I know was a shot that I had discovered,messing around one day.

The trick I used to fuck around with as a kid involved two balls. Let’s say you’re standing at the table, asthough you were going to break. Set one ball right on the lip of the pocket to the right. Next, set thecue ball on the lip of the pocket to the left.

If you aim past the middle pocket to the right, you’ll see two dots on the table. Try to aim for a spot rightin the middle of these two dots and let loose. If all goes well, the cue ball should bounce off that right side,then bounce off the far wall, then bounce off the left wall and make its way towards the far right pocket. Givenenough energy (and luck), the cue ball should then tap in the ball you had set on the lip of the pocket to theright.

Every once in a blue moon, I get the chance to actually attempt this shot in an actual game. For it to work, thereare a few prerequisites (which is why it’s so seldom).

First off, the table has to be fairly clear of extra balls. There are three walls to bounce off of, so if there’ssomething in the way along that path, no dice. A ball also has to be positioned somewhere near the right pocket -this is, after all, what you’re trying to knock in. And finally… your opponent has to scratch. This forcesyou to set the cue ball somewhere behind the second dot (I’m not sure what this rule is called).

Tonight, as luck would have it, I got this chance. The 8 ball was perched maybe 6 inches along the rail bythe far right pocket. I set the cue ball in the left pocket and took a guess at how much adjusting I would needto try to come up short. One bounce off the right wall, one bounce off the far wall, one bounce off the left wall. Thecue ball came up right by the eight ball and bounced off the far right wall again. It kissed the 8 ball enough tosend it going, and sank it in the far right pocket.

I gotta tell you, I threw up my arms and screamed like you wouldn’t believe. What a stroke of luck – and to win thegame on that kind of shot! Woot!