Reply To: Virtual Snooker
I did it!
Despite losing a few more matches, first 12-18, then 14-18, and finally 17-18 (squandering a 14-10 lead) 🤦♂️, I felt that I was improving with each game, and I was finally able to find my “groove”, improve precision and even find some positional play at times (although to be honest, nothing to write home about).
In addition to that, I got lucky a few times, and somehow all the little things that were against me in the previous matches, went my way, and I was able to “crush” Able Shooter 18 frames to 9, in a match where I never trailed. Proof is attached. 😎
The game does not keep frame scores, so here they are. Individual frame scores are followed by running match score in parentheses.
51-43 (1-0), 61-23 (2-0), 13-59 (2-1), 24-81 (2-2), 49-13 (3-2), 41-31 (4-2), 29-74 (4-3), 55-10 (5-3), 57-3 (6-3), 61-54 (7-3, won on respotted black), 58-1 (8-3), 46-33 (9-3), 43-34 (10-3), 56-31 (11-3), 46-48 (11-4), 31-69 (11-5), 62-25 (12-5), 54-45 (13-5), 33-63 (13-6), 35-54 (13-7), 41-67 (13-8), 55-45 (14-8), 32-84 (14-9), 57-18 (15-9), 63-46 (16-9), 58-25 (17-9), 56-32 (18-9, victory!)
You can observe a few things. First – that the frame scores are rather low. Neither me, nor ‘Able Shooter’ can actually string meaningful breaks. I think I never had a break over 40, and the CPU opponent may have had 1-2 of these, but rarely.
At this level, the CPU’s positional play is much better than mine, and it can from time to time string series of 4-5 reds with black/pink, but eventually misses or runs out of position. On the other hand, I am better than it in sinking long pots, which, as I said, is much easier on the PC than at a real table. In fact, real-life snooker players would not even attempt these shots 95% of the time, because they are easy to miss, and professionals are much better with setting themselves up with easier shots to begin with.
Together all this means, that many frames end up being decided on the colors, often as late as the pink or the black, with scores that are pretty close. Overall – at my current level of play, ‘Able Shooter’ AI level is a near-perfect match to my skill, which leads to close games, and dramatic finishes.
Things I’ve done better this time around, which ultimately helped me win:
– Not give up even if the opponent runs off at the start of the frame and goes up by 20-30 points. Once I got better and stringing pots, I was often able to claw at the advantage and give myself a winning chance towards the end.
– Careful play when down to the colors. With just a few balls at the table, the AI’s potting seems to improve, and if I am sloppy and don’t leave one or two ‘safe’, he could frequently sink 3-4 in a row to win the frame.
Last question (that no one asked) – why playing such long matches, and not the default (3 frames to win)? Well, because “best of 35” is the current format of the World Championship final 😁 and because I wanted to be sure that I can win consistently, and not just due to luck. It’s hard to maintain concentration for so long, so I was breaking the matches into sessions, much like is done at real tournaments.
