Arizona's equivalent of the Mosconi Cup

[Roger Long]

Mike Bates, the owner of Bull Shooters Billiards in Phoenix, is offering his version of the Mosconi Cup on Saturday, March 17 when one all-star team from the East Valley Masters League will meet one all-start team from the West Valley Masters League in the 2018 Masters Cup. This contest requires no entry fees, green fees, or administration fees from the players. That's one way the contest is like the Mosconi Cup. Another way is that both teams will be paid. The winning team will collect $4,000, and the losing team will receive $1,000.

This event will be totally funded by Mike Bates. He has no other sponsors.

Nothing like this has ever been done for league players before. I hope the Masters League players really appreciate the high honor it is to be able to compete on a team in the Masters Cup.

 

[easy-e]

Mike Bates, the owner of Bull Shooters Billiards in Phoenix, is offering his version of the Mosconi Cup on Saturday, March 17 when one all-star team from the East Valley Masters League will meet one all-start team from the West Valley Masters League in the 2018 Masters Cup. This contest requires no entry fees, green fees, or administration fees from the players. That's one way the contest is like the Mosconi Cup. Another way is that both teams will be paid. The winning team will collect $4,000, and the losing team will receive $1,000.

This event will be totally funded by Mike Bates. He has no other sponsors.

Nothing like this has ever been done for league players before. I hope the Masters League players really appreciate the high honor it is to be able to compete on a team in the Masters Cup.

How is he choosing the teams?

 

[Roger Long]

After 32 players are signed up to play, the top 8 are identified and made captains. That prevents any of the top 8 players from being on the same team. Those captains are then rated by known ability as 1 thru 8.

Then, the remaining 24 players are rated and listed by the league from 1st thru 24th, using whatever sources are available to establish a "known ability." That list is used by the captains on draft night to help them make their picks.

On draft night, the captains pick in the order of their lowest-rated to highest-rated captain in the first two rounds, and highest-rated to lowest-rated in the 3rd, and last, round (#8-#1 in first two rounds, #1-#8 in last round).

All players are charged $100 for the ten-week session, and the full amount is due in the first five weeks of play. This guarantees that every team's money is in the prize fund and that no team will be dropping out near the end of the session if they see that they are not doing well.

The host room then adds $800 to the prize fund, which brings its total to $4,000. At the end of the session, payouts are as follows: 1st-$2,000; 2nd-$1,000; 3rd-$600; and 4th-$400. The bottom four teams get no money back, but they have a great time enjoying the mixture of singles and doubles play in both 8-ball and 9-ball, and they also know that the future promises new hope as the whole process is redone in the following session.

This format has become so popular that there is a waiting list of new players wanting to get in (first choice is given to current players).

 

[Roger Long]

How is he choosing the teams?

The east side and the west side leagues both chose 4 players from each of 4 different rating levels by way of vote from all the players. Then, those 4 elected players in each rating level played a round-robin tournament against each other to see which one from each rating level would be placed on the team.

 

[easy-e]

The east side and the west side leagues both chose 4 players from each of 4 different rating levels by way of vote from all the players. Then, those 4 elected players in each rating level played a round-robin tournament against each other to see which one from each rating level would be placed on the team.

This is the APA thing right? I thought it was from the BCA league I play in. Thanks for the response.

 

[Roger Long]

This is the APA thing right? I thought it was from the BCA league I play in. Thanks for the response.

No, it started out as a totally independent league operated by Bull Shooters. That was when it was just one night on bar boxes. Now, the west side league is a division of Arizona Hot Shots Pool League, operated by Larry Eans, and the east side is a division of East Valley Legacy Pool League, operated by Cathy Kelly, both of which are ACS sanctioned. Both also have two nights of play: each with one night on 7-ft tables, and one night on 9-ft tables. And since there are four sessions per each night of play during a year's time, that means there is a total of $64,000 being distributed to 128 players, annually.

There was never any actual need for sanctioning with the national organizations, but it was decided that it might be a good idea to do it for those players who would like to qualify for one of the national championships in Vegas.