You are playing winner stays on 9 ball in a local pool hall and the game has died down to you and one seemingly capable regular, who has been able to run out strings of 4-6 balls so far when needed, although you suspect he might be holding back as he has rarely lost. You are decent(ish) yourself, having 4 career break and clears at nine ball, a few 30 breaks at snooker and a solid understanding of positional play and tactics.

He asks you if you want to play for $50 a game with him only able to pot balls into the three pockets on the left hand side of the table when looking down towars the racking spot. You can use all pockets.

The below assumes each game is played on the regulation table for the game. He offers:

a) 9 ball
b) US 8 ball
c) UK 8 ball
d) Snooker

Which - if any - should you accept and why?

If you have 4 career break and runs at 9 ball, I would wager a great deal that you do not have a solid understanding of positional play and tactics.

That's my two cents.

Bottom line, I think I would prefer to play him 8 ball (I don't know the difference between UK and US), 9 ball, and snooker in that order.

I think that the guy offering the odds (left pocket only guy) is a big favorite in this game since he knows a lot more about pool and is making the offer.

It would be tough for even a very good player to beat an average player at UK 8-Ball if handicapped in this way.

I would think it a very bad bet to take him on at 9 Ball or Snooker.

I suspect that US 8 Ball is between the two, but still a bad bet for the weaker player.

you play 9 ball. you would be able to make him shoot impossible shots over and over just by focusing on the leave.

you could also play snooker and only leave the cue-ball on the rail on his side forcing him to bank nearly every shot.

8ball is definitely the wrong game to play this way.

So my answer is play snooker and 9-ball vs him and do not play 8-ball.

would prolly pick Snooker , 9ball, UK 8 , US 8 in that order. although if you suck (as described in the op) I would just decline the offer altogether

edit: banking in snooker is so much harder than the other options, as well as being limited to playing all the colors in just one side of the table. So unless the guy is a total killer at snooker and you completely suck and can't hold a cue ball to the left side of the table for most of your shots, than that would be my first option. Clearly him playing on one side means forcing yourself to play the other side most of the time so, in fact, that's not much of a handicap , if any at all, for someone as described in the OP

Interesting problem. As I wrote this I changed my mind a couple of times.

UK 8-ball over US 8-ball. Much smaller pockets and 2 shot rules make running out harder and defence easier, particularly with the ability to effectively block 2 of the 3 pockets. A US table using 1 shot rules is a metric f**ktonne easier for your opponent.

9 Ball strikes me as more evenly matched even with that handicap. Good safety from your opponent leading to free balls, while you aren't running racks seems a leveller.

Snooker is probably the worst I think. I've seen 100 breakers do drills using only corner and centre pockets on one side and make 50s from a 'spread' set of reds and only pink and black. Smashing the pack open from the break effectively prevents safety.

UK8>9>US8=Snooker in my humble opinion.

Out of curiosity was your opponent a lefty or righty? The side the pockets are on could make a big difference, particularly on a snooker table.

you are already playing on the table you would use. the pocket size would be the same for all the games

No.

Apologies I should have added this. Assume your opponent is right handed.

my bad, reading comprehension ftw