On the edge of integrity...

During Wednesday's match
I watched my opponent line up on the 5 ball,
but the 4 ball was still on the table.

I was struck with the problem:
Do I tell him he should be shooting the 4 ball?
If I don't tell him, I will get ball-in-hand,
and will have a better chance to win the game.
I needed a win.
He won the last 3 games to tie the score.

It's not like it would be cheating.
After all, it is his mistake.

Do I have any obligation to tell him
that he is shooting the wrong ball?

Wouldn't it be dumb of me to tell him?
After all, it is a contest of skill as well as intellect.
And if he makes a mistake, he should pay the price.

But, wouldn't it be more sportsmanlike to tell him?
Absolutely!
But there is no trophy for sportsmanlike behavior.

Nobody else was watching the game.
The were all watching Tony win 7-0 on the next table.
Even if they were watching,
they could never know what I am thinking.

I have heard it said that character is defined by
what we do when nobody is watching.

All of this is going through my head
as he is lining up on the 5 ball.
Then he stands up, looks around the table,
and then gets down for the 5 ball again.

I can't take it any more.
"Excuse me, 4 ball." I blurt.

I feel a lot better now,
knowing that there was no "asterisk" on my win.
I feel better that I took the high road.
And I also learned that it is possibly even
more to my advantage to advise the other player
that he is about to foul.

For starters, the opponent will be caught being inattentive,
and this will work on his mind,
and his game will be further deteriorated.
Being caught puts him in an inferior position
which can be overcome only by
me doing something equally inattentive.
Not likely.

What would you have done?