Guide to a Billiards Game

Safety first is doubtless an excellent motto in many respects, but I query it in a billiard sense and I rarely advise it when giving any billiard instruction. Safety play at billiards is something of a paradox. It seems easy, and it is easy within strict limitations. But when it is taken beyond the fairly obvious, safety play is the most difficult and problematical part of billiard playing. Suppose, for example, you are confronted by the following position: the cue-ball is in hand, the white is so close to the verge of the middle pocket that it is impossible to play it without potting it, the red lies tight against the side cushion.