Vodka Masse

Here's most of the setup for the shot (the trick shot). I place the vodka bottle on the first diamond, a little bit off of the rail. I freeze a ball to it, so it's aligned to go in the corner pocket. On top of the vodka bottle, I place a shot glass upside down. (Figure 1) You might have to shop around for the right kind of shot glass so you can balance a ball on the bottom of it. For whatever reason, I took the cap of the vodka bottle off first. There's no real secret to balancing a ball on the upside down shot glass on the vodka bottle. If you're masochistic enough to try it, I'm sure you'll find a way. Then I place the cue ball about a balls width away from the vodka bottle. You'll notice I duct taped around the bottom of the vodka bottle to keep shards of glass from spraying everywhere in case the bottle should break. And the hanging ball, of course.

There are a couple ways to make this shot easier. One is to place a rack along the near short rail. This will guide the frozen ball and the ball on the shot glass into the corner pocket. You can also place a rack on the far short rail, or set up a combo on the hanging ball. It's a bit difficult to control the cue ball coming off the vodka bottle.

As for a hit, I try 3:30 english to get it to come back and stay on the long rail. You can make it with straight 3 o'clock if you get a good hit on the vodka bottle. Also, every now and again I would catch the point of the side pocket and miss the shot. It happens.

Video: Vodka Masse

Figure 1