Before we delve into the nitty and gritty of the two questions, it's worth looking at some general considerations we should me making in the two scenarios.

Cash games vs capable amateurs.

Just like in poker, against weaker players we want to create an environment of action that interests them and keeps the game running. In poker this takes the form of playing more hands than is optimal, and in pool it takes the form of taking on some higher risk shots than you would against very high level players, and trying to maintain an unthinking and carefree approach to the table.

However you phrase it, playing safe, or calmly making thoughtful run outs and controlled finishes is not interesting to a fish – sitting there trying to work out angles to get out of an obscure snooker or sitting in there chair and watching methodical play is just not what they play for, and safe/conservative play should basically always be your last resort in such games. In fact, common to what many people would think, playing bold, aggressive shots is just what capable, gambling amateurs want to see from you – even if they do go in the pockets – as they at least know that there will be action down the line and chances for them to win.

However, all of this has to be balanced with not just throwing games away, which leads us on nicely to the general theme of question b).

Tournament games vs skilled pros.

In these games keeping up the action is the least of our priorities. We are being forced to play a certain distance, and really could not care less about what happens afterwards. We know our opponent is good, and we don't want to give them anything. Good safeties and controlled run outs become the order of the day, and we simply want to maximise our EV over all other considerations.

With all this in mind, onto the solutions.

a) We have to play for the ten here. It is the action shot, carries a decent chance of winning the game at this visit, will often move it away from the pocket if we miss leaving the game still far from over, and is the exact sort of shot that fish routinely go for (much like how bad poker players react to ace king every time they look at it, basically all amateurs instantly over play situations where money balls are over pockets), which keeps them from suspecting we are many levels above them. That being said, it's still a high risk shot, so is there any way to balance this risk and get our EV a little higher?

In this spot, yes, and it involves a shot like this:



By playing the screw from the one into the ten, we give ourselves a great chance to sink the ten, but by also playing the one half ball off the black, we frequently also sink the one – a nice way of hedging our bet a little if the movement to the ten goes wrong, while also maintaining the action style so crucial against amateur gamblers.

Solution: Screw up and try and sink the ten, while shooting the one half ball onto the eight to send it into the corner pocket.

b) Here, we can forget playing for the ten directly, and simply move on to the highest EV shot over all. This is basically broken down into two possible routes, both starting with the plant from the one to the five. Personally I just play to run out from there, but to players comfortable with plants and cannons and/or weaker at running out, taking the one onto the ten next shot is probably the higher EV shot.

Either way, we can forget the risk needed to preserve our unthinking and action image, and simply go for the game. We should also look to play aggressively here – we are a good payer, and although there are many solid safety options on, we already have more than a good enough opener to attack and try and take the game down without our opponent touching the table - which is always the key priority against highly skilled players.

Solution: Plant the one onto the five, and depending on your skill set, leave the white so you can either run out, or simply cannon the one onto the ten.