How it works
Three numbers on the rails and one subtraction. Start (gold): the cue ball's line, traced back to the rail behind it. Arrival (cyan): the number on the third rail the ball must reach. Aim (white): where to send it on the first rail. Aim = Start − Arrival.
Start 50 to arrive at 20: aim at 30. Start 70 to arrive at 30: aim at 40. Move the aim 10 towards the corner and the ball arrives about 10 further along the third rail — the numbers are that regularity written on the rails.
The corner behind the cue ball is 50. Up the short rail the start grows — 60, 70, then 80, 90 and 100 packed closer together; along the long rail it falls by 5 a diamond — 45, 40 … 20. Whichever of the two rails the line reaches first gives the start.
The start is always the cue ball's own line, extended back to the rail — whether the ball goes to the first rail directly or touches a ball on the way. Same numbers, same subtraction either way.
Two tips of running side, medium speed. Each position also shows a correction — how far this table differs from the paper numbers. A real table has one too: measure it before you trust the formula.
Reading the numbers
Start Where the cue ball's line, as it leaves the red, runs back to the near rails. On the short rail behind the cue ball it reads 50 in the corner, 60 and 70 at the first two diamonds, then 80, 90 and 100 at 2½, 3 and 3½ — the numbers close up towards the middle of the rail. On the long rail, from the same corner, it reads 5 a diamond down to 20: 45, 40, 35 … 20.
Aim On the first cushion, the far long rail: 0 at the far corner, 10 a diamond back to 50 at the third diamond, then 10 every half diamond up to 100.
Arrival On the third cushion, the near long rail: 0 at the far corner, 10 a diamond up to 40, then 10 every half diamond up to 100. Pick the number the ball must reach to go on and make the second object ball.
Step by step
- Choose the arrival: where on the third cushion the cue ball must land to make the second object ball.
- Read the start from the line the cue ball leaves the red on, traced back to the short rail.
- Aim = Start − Arrival. Start 50 to arrive at 20 aims at 30.
- The new aim moves the line, so re-read the start and work it once more. Then add the table correction.
The stroke
Medium speed, a touch of follow, two tips of running side, level cue.
Speed
Forgiving. For 10% of power the ball meets the first cushion about 0.2 of a diamond away and finishes about as far, and only the steepest starts move it as much as a diamond. Nine positions in ten still score 5% either side of the reference, two in three at 10%.
On a real table
Steep lines — starts of 80 and 90 — reach the first cushion at a sharp angle and are the most speed-sensitive: play them with an even, medium stroke.
If the cue ball is close to the first cushion it arrives still sliding and the side hardly takes: expect it to come out short and aim a little longer.
Starts below 50 follow the formula closely; from 50 upward this table plays a few units short — about 4 from 50 to 80 and 6 around 85. Printed correction tables (+3 at 60, rising to +13 at 100) come from other tables and differ even in sign, so trust the correction the game shows for the position and measure your own.