William Broadfoot

“ In early life Bennett’s health was indifferent, and his nervous and highly strung temperament was by no means in his favour. One of his peculiarities was that, when in training for a championship or other important match, he would never play with anyone, but invariably shut himself up in a room alone, and played one ball against the other, or simply practised one or two special strokes by the hour together. His contention was that a man required all his nervous energy for the match itself, and ought not to waste any of it in practice. ”

“ It has always appeared hard that if at the end of a stroke fairly made the striker’s ball should touch another ball, his next stroke should be foul. He has not offended, and why should he be punished for playing with exact strength? The only apparent reason for ruling the next stroke foul is that it is a certainty; the striker, if he can play into any pocket or on the third ball, must score, and he cannot give a miss. ”

“ Just as at whist, there is such a thing as playing to the score, so there is a time to be bold as well as a time to be cautious; and many a match has been lost by over-caution. I once saw a game in a club tournament, where one of the players was immeasurably superior to the other, and, although he had given his opponent a long start, he had caught him 100 from home. He then took it into his head that his proper tactics were to play for safety on every occasion. ”

“ If the player have a clearly defined idea not only of what stroke he is going for, but how it is to be made, much of the difficulty is already overcome; but if he go down to his stroke, and then have an elaborate consultation with himself as to what is to be done, the process is not only harassing to his opponent but detrimental to himself. Once having decided on the stroke, he should go for it unhesitatingly, and as though no other stroke were possible. To play one game, at the same time having a lingering partiality for another, is not usually attended with success. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Old-fashioned players are fond of this opening, but it is not sound, as the adversary can easily get safe, or, if he likes, he can smash with four pockets open to him. Whether he be wise to do so is another question; with a weak adversary, to whom he is giving odds, it may be advisable. I have seen no less than five balls disappear after such a stroke; but if a winning hazard is not made, the break of course goes to the other side: it is a matter of speculation, the chances being naturally in favour of the stronger player. ”

“ But as a general rule the striker must play for himself alone, and play not merely for the first hazard but for the black afterwards. At no time is caution so necessary as when the next striker is in hand and there is a ball behind the baulk-line which is likely to be holed. If the black is safe, no danger is to be feared; but if it is anywhere in the middle of the table, some self-sacrifice may be necessary, so that it behoves every player as his turn comes round to think what kind of a stroke the next man is likely to have. ”

“ Matches should not be lighted on the stroke, nor should they be extinguished by being waved about; cues, umbrellas, or sticks, should be kept perfectly still; in fact, every care should be taken to avoid distracting the player’s attention. There are many drawbacks to the game from players smoking; with every care, ashes and tobacco fall on the cloth, the woodwork of the cushions is blistered and disfigured because the ends of lighted cigars are carelessly laid on it, and the striker is often hampered by clouds of smoke poured over the table by his adversary in the line of sight. ”

“ One thing the beginner must remember—that he will have to pay for his experience. He may be a fair hazard striker, with a moderate power of cue and sound ideas about strength and position, but until he has played a good many games of pool and pyramids, with the money up, and has overcome the nervousness incidental to playing in public for a stake, he will never master the game. All must go through the fiery ordeal of the public room, where every shot is fired in earnest and there are no blank cartridges. ”

“ In many instances it requires a man who has mastered the stroke to judge, and in others markers and referees are apt most unwarrantably to make up their minds that, if the push is allowed, any stroke so made, however palpably foul, must be passed; whilst others take precisely the opposite view, and on appeal rule every push to be foul. The difficulty of judging is their only excuse, but to rule any stroke as foul unless they distinctly saw and can name the act which made it so is to prove themselves unfitted for the post of referee. ”

“ After a time they come to accept their game as the best of which they are capable, and when they see really good play they admire it, but never appear to dream of taking a hint from it for their own improvement.
A short time given to private practice would do much for such a one. Here there is no opponent to distract, no dread of consequences. The greatest novelty, even to the playing of a losing hazard at dead slow strength the length of the table, may be attempted fearlessly. ”

“ He who has played a particular stroke in a particular way a hundred times successfully in private practice, not only feels that he can do that stroke in that way in a match, but that it is his best chance of doing the stroke at all. He is in a way compelled into the better class of game.
Probably no amateur is in the least likely to go through the years of continuous labour that the best professionals have given to the game. ”

“ It is curious, by the way, how many amateur players attain this standard of excellence and never get any farther. If a man can habitually make this number of spot strokes, nothing but steady practice is required to enable him to make runs of fifty, seventy, a hundred, or even more; yet not one in a thousand has the resolution or perseverance to take this necessary practice. With Roberts it was entirely different. He at once realised that the stroke must give an enormous advantage to any man who could play it with something like certainty. ”

“ That is to say, a break to be perfect includes not merely making a stroke, but the preparation for another to follow. Hence the difficulty of making any given stroke is enhanced by the need of thought and of modification in play, in order that the balls may be favourably placed for the next attempt; but, on the other hand, making the next stroke, that is, continuing the break, is so much more certain after reasonable preparation, as in the hands of even a moderate performer to more than counterbalance the drawback. ”

“ It is almost a rarity to find a really good baulk-line player, and in some cases it is quite the weakest point in a man’s game. That this should be so seems strange, seeing that the player has such a wide range within which to place his own ball. It is, I think, often this very option of choice of position that causes the stroke to be missed. The player places his ball, perhaps, quite correctly for the first long loser he has, but misses it through hitting his own ball falsely. He does not attribute his failure to its proper cause, but thinks he has placed his own ball wrongly. ”

“ How many men there are who play their two or three hours every day, and yet at the end of fifteen years are little, if any, better! It is because their energies are being entirely absorbed by the immediate contest. If they have a fault in style, they have no time to correct it. They cannot make up their minds to court present defeat for a future gain. They play the same old game with the same bad result year in and year out. The least innovation on their stereotyped game will probably result in failure, and perhaps defeat, and is therefore rejected. ”

“ There is truth probably in both contentions; luck is more likely to be evenly divided between the players in a long than in a short game, yet we think no close observer would care to deny that some men seem habitually lucky at billiards, just as it is generally admitted that certain persons are good cardholders, and, again, that other men appear to be more than averagely unfortunate. The better the player the more ready is he usually to admit his obligations, but as a rule, though no less valuable, they are not so evident as the palpable fluke of the weaker performer. ”

“ It is most important for the players’ sake that spectators should be comfortably seated at a reasonable distance from the table. No man can play his best if he has constantly to turn round and look for a place for his foot amongst a crowd of friends; still less when he is haunted by the fear that the butt of his cues may at any moment come into collision with a whisky-and-soda. ”

“ What is ridiculous is when they pretend to a knowledge they do not possess, and ascribe their failures to playing for position, a crime of which they are wholly guiltless. Beyond these there are an increasing number of persons who have grasped the idea of playing a break, who desire to do so legitimately, and who can give some time and attention to the game, and now and then get a little professional instruction. ”

“ The best safety of all is to leave the adversary far away from a ball and as near to a cushion as possible; but if he can retaliate in kind, not much good will have been done. Watch the score, and play to the score. The leader should play a cautious rather than a dashing game, as a losing hazard not only diminishes his score by a point, but also gives his adversary the advantage of playing from baulk with an extra ball on the table. ‘When in doubt play for safety,’ is a golden rule, but a doubtful hazard may often be tried when one can get safety as well. ”

“ The good player only tries to place the balls about where he means. If he be at all successful, he will have the choice of playing one of perhaps half a dozen different strokes. Not one of these half-dozen strokes is, it may be, difficult; and then he has to consider which will leave him the best break, and if there be three or more leaving an equally good game he takes the easiest. What is deserving of observation is that, whichever he selects, he usually makes the stroke and approximately carries out his idea. ”

“ THE SPOT STROKE Hitherto the theory of the game and the strokes recommended for practice have been such as are required in learning to play a sound and perhaps old-fashioned game, that of an amateur in distinction to that of a professional player. But in dealing with the spot stroke a wholly new field is entered; much more severe and constant practice is needed if any real measure of success is to be attained, and if this cannot be bestowed the amateur would act wisely in never sacrificing an opening at the ordinary game for the sake of the spot. ”

“ If he be playing badly, conscious hurrying over or dwelling on the stroke will not mend matters. The reason for the bad play must be sought elsewhere. Usually the internal machinery has in some way gone wrong. But the last thing a man cares to admit is any failing in himself. It is far more pleasant to attribute his ill success to something else. Still, if his style be not radically wrong, and if during one of these seasons of depression he attempts to vary it, his game will surely suffer when the causes which led to his temporary deterioration have passed away. ”

“ It is generally good policy to star two; many things may happen before it is star’s turn to play again, and he has the great advantage of playing from the D. A glance should also be taken at the position of the other balls, as the next player may have an easy stroke to play, and every life taken is in star’s favour with a view to the pool. A deliberate miss or coup, so as to be enabled to star well, is not chivalrous, perhaps not fair, but there is nothing unsportsmanlike in playing a more open game with a view to starring. ”

“ But before the next game for the championship is played, cannons and not hazards bid fair to exercise too great an influence. If that match were played to-morrow in this year 1896 on a three-inch pocket table, it is safe to predict that victory would be gained by the man who was best at cushion nursery cannons; of this there is no question, ‘no possible shadow of doubt.’ What man in his senses would court constant failure at hazards when success with cannons was within his grasp? ”

“ The amount of consolation meted out to him for having been sold will be the cold comfort of ‘You ought to have played three-pool;’ in other words, ‘You ought, while leaving your ball safe, to have also left A.’s ball in such a position as to make safety fairly possible for C.’ Again, it is only self-defence to leave the object ball near a pocket, in case of a failure to put it in; especially is this advisable when it is very hard for the striker to get safety, for it is clearly to every player’s advantage to have, if possible, a comrade in misfortune. ”

“ Richards is the doyen of all the professional players before the public in 1896, and is a fine player. As in the case of Roberts, increasing age only appears to improve his game, and there is not the smallest doubt that when he had reached his ‘jubilee’ he was playing infinitely better than he had ever done in his life. Nursery cannons form the strong point of his game, and he certainly plays them beautifully and with remarkable delicacy of touch, though it must be admitted that no one makes more use of the push stroke than he does. ”

“ In the first place, such a game is advisable when the adversary is a stronger player; he presumably will give points, and almost certainly will try to force the game, which may often be saved by prudent play. Again, when in possession of a great lead a defensive rather than an enterprising game is to be recommended; whereas, if behind, every reasonable endeavour to score and get a break should be made. It is a difficult matter to say how far a cautious game should be advised, for whilst prudence is praiseworthy, timidity, or cushion-crawling, as it is termed, is contemptible. ”

“ At one club an ingenious architect, ably abetted by an unwary committee, ran some hot-water pipes in front of the platform, and so near to the top of the table did they extend, that the well-known hazard from the top pocket off the spot became exceedingly difficult, because a player was obliged to rest one foot upon these rounded pipes, which afforded, at the best, a precarious foothold. It is of the utmost importance that the player should have plenty of room all round the table. ”

“ To begin with, the question is often debated whether in the interest of the game a stake is desirable. Undoubtedly, some advantages are gained when money, however little, is played for; the rules are more strictly obeyed, and the game is treated as serious. On the other hand, there are drawbacks: certain players, often those most anxious to bet, cannot afford to lose, and the miserable result is that the pleasure of the game is sacrificed to money. ”

“ When this is attained practice with one ball should be commenced. It is of the highest importance; for by means of it alone can the rare qualification of a true delivery of cue be acquired. And this applies not merely to beginners, but to persons who are out of practice, for the commonest of all faults, and the secret of most failures to score, is that the player’s ball is not truly struck. It may seem strange, but it is nevertheless true, that many persons who play what is held to be a fair game cannot truly strike a ball. ”