Why do I hate league pool so much?

scsuxci said:
I hate league as well and would never play in another.Maybe some of my reasons strike a chord with you.
1st - I could easily beat 99% of the people in league and found it boring.
2- Alot of the players weren't there for pool but to socialize, which is fine for them but not for me.
3- Never being left alone to enjoy myself.
4- League play hurt my game eventually cause I started getting lazy at the table when playing in a big tourney.In league I knew most would never run out so I actually started playing dumber.
5- Finally, just the thought that I've committed to this weekly torture when I really don't want to be there.
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I've seen my game go down the tubes after 4 years of league griding playing hard, improving really fast to try to become a good player hating to lose. I noticed even most of the "top players" don't run out. Start to relax, lose the drive, playing with people who don't care. Then you start to question yourself why your play is dropping, questioning and thinking about your stance and stroke while your down on your shot then boom....game has disappeared completely and your mental. Mainly play for something to do during the week and to qualify for their tourneys hoping to find a stroke again some day....
 
Sorry guys for my little rant, but I love all the replies I got. So many of you can relate. Thanks for the good advice from all of you. It just ain't my cup of tea anymore. That said, I know I have to put on my best game face because people expect that from me. So I mock it up a little and play the best I can under the conditions. I think I'm a little surprised I can still run out on these little boxes. I think I've got five break and runs, and maybe four more off my opponents break. I know I've played a lot of one inning games, Thank God! :rolleyes:

My preference and what gets my juices flowing is when someone challenges me to a little $50 One Pocket. It doesn't happen that often, but when it does I want to practice and get in stroke for them. After all these years, I can still play a little. Amazing huh!

Of course, when Dennis comes over I get totally humbled. He will give me games like 9-7 and the break or 9-6 and just demolish me game after game. So many games I have the upper hand and he makes an amazing shot and turns it around. Dennis makes my tough ass Diamond look like a bar box.

I'm fortunate in that I get to see the difference between the average good player and guys like Dennis and Shane. Most of us have to work hard to run balls on my table and miss some of the hard shots. Meanwhile Shane and Dennis run out like water, making the pockets look like buckets. I'm constantly amazed watching them practice. My table gets worn out when they are here, eight to ten hours being a slow day for them. :D
 
Once you have exceeded your gameplay , its very difficult to go backwards. It's about self progression and for you and many others including myself, it doesn't work.
How fun can it be if your the only one with no training wheels? Not much is my guess.
 
League for me is a social activity with an annoying luck-riddled race to 2 in the middle of the evening. I'd get 10 times the value staying home and playing 3-4 hours by myself.

I guess it helps to some degree in getting used to playing regularly in a competitive environment.

If it weren't for alcohol, I'd never go, that's for sure.

Colin
 
jay helfert said:
I joined a team for the first time in over ten years, ostensibly as a sub, but now they want me to play every week. UGH! I hate hanging out in a bar for 2-3 hours. I'd rather be home in the comfort of my den watching TV.

The actual playing isn't that hard, winning 3-1, 3-0, 3-1 and 5-0 so far. Everyone is very nice to me, doing their best to make me feel special ("Hey, it's Jay Helfert!"). That is, until we play our match. Then they want to beat me so bad, the same guys who were so friendly minutes before, now very intense and hovering over the table like it's life or death.

The one good thing is it makes me not want to lose, if you get that. I'm afraid to let them come back to the table so I almost always try for the run out, kicking at balls and playing combos, break shots or whatever. I'm not interested in any prolonged safety battles. I want to get it over with as quickly as possible, wasting little time on strategy. Kind of the way I used to play bar pool a million years ago, just get up there and shoot. That way no one can say you hustled them.

That's about it, my rant is over. I just don't know why I really don't enjoy this stuff anymore. It seemed like a good idea a couple of months ago when I agreed to play, but now I wish I hadn't. :o
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I am pretty much the same way. I gave up league play a couple years ago and never did really care for it much, but have subbed for a sick friend the last three weeks. When I was a regular on one of the less talented teams I tried to coach them a bit but gave up.

I got tired of watching them run all the easy balls and end up snookered on the eight ball and giving the games away.

I does get you out and hitting balls and getting the competitive juices flowing, and that is a good thing.
 
Hustler84 said:
I have played in three different leagues, being APA, NAPA, and BCA. Of all of these leagues, I like the BCA format the most. I am at the highest skill level in both 8 and 9 ball in APA, and they always throw a 1 or two on me. So in a race where I have to get to 75 balls, my opponent might need 14. This is not the issue, as I have beaten many of these guys 75-5, 75-6, and so on. The issue is that I have played some players who have a higher skillset than their ranking shows. I had two players have break and runs against me, which takes a little bit of skill. But if they b&r on you, then they only need like 4 balls to win while I need almost 8 b&r's to win. Plus the sitting around all night, staying cold because all of the tables are taken for league. It is tough to get up and just go straight into a match not knowing how the tables are playing, especially if you are playing a player who just got finished playing his other game. Not to mention all of the smoke! It kills me that the place where I play does have smoke-eaters, but they don't help. I had to start carrying eye drops in my case just to get a little relief. I also hate all of the sandbagging that goes on in the local league. I play to the best of my ability every time I step to the table. I would rather lose an honorable set than win a shady one. I am just glad to be done with league. Plus, I was pouring a lot of money into it, only to get nothing back! You can earn a trip to Vegas, but then you have to place so high out there, and my team would not have. I would have been the one too carry us if it did happen, but I joined a team that was there to have fun and didn't care about winning. I like fun, but it is a whole lot more fun winning!!! :D
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I played in a USAPL league where the minimum league rating is 30 and the maximum is 125. I was rated a 101 at the time when I played a 30 I ended up losing even though I won all the games. A couple of dry breaks and incidental hooks with connect the dot layouts really put me in a bind when the opponent would run too many balls. While I enjoyed playing, I would rather play a bit better competition. This fall I am going to play in a BCA league where I will certainly get smoked as some of the competition is very well known in NE. Should be fun.

Al
 
At this time leagues are probably all that's keeping our local small room open. These are in house and it's been an effort to get bar box players on the 9' tables. I do like leagues but really don't try to take it that serious, play as good as I can but it's not the end of the world if I don't win, think a lot of that just comes with age.
 
I must be the only guy around that enjoys league pool. I enjoy it and try to get top shooter or most run outs if I can't make it every week.

I'm on one team full time and sub on two other nights.
 
Bar pool league is the death of pool as an accepted sport worthy of pursuing.

When the pool community unites and plays ONLY inhouse league in billiard rooms the sport has a chance to grow.

Bar league does one thing and one thing only. It promotes alcohol. It prostitutes our sport. Few bar owners have any significant interest in the game....and most have little to no investment in the game.

Not until those who have invested in the game take control of the game, by uniting and forming a Billiard Room Only pool league, will it grow to be a worthy endeavor like golf, bowling, tennis etc.

Ever seen a golf course in a bar? How about a tennis court? Bowling alley? Sure....the course/court/alley all have a bar. But the bar is not their main product. Their product is their sport.

When Billiard Rooms take over league play, the sport will be the product. And at that point great things can happen.

Until then....we will continue to wallow in the gutter.

Go to your next bar league tournament. Observe. The reason why pool can't grow is right before your eyes.

When the first time 95% play a competitive match is in a bar....that means they are 21 yrs of age or older.

What sports start with juniors.....youth....ages 5, 6, 7, 10 etc?

Um.....ALL OF THEM.....except pool.
 
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You should entertain yourself by allowing your opponent to think that they have a chance and then beat them at the end of the game/match.

They would be telling stories about how they almost beat "JAY HELFERT" and you would be the only one who knew differently. They could run around chirping for months, feeling good about their game and you might get some satisfaction for being the puppet master.

It may be more of a challenge than you think; to keep them close, keep them in the dark and you still win.
JoeyA

jay helfert said:
I joined a team for the first time in over ten years, ostensibly as a sub, but now they want me to play every week. UGH! I hate hanging out in a bar for 2-3 hours. I'd rather be home in the comfort of my den watching TV.

The actual playing isn't that hard, winning 3-1, 3-0, 3-1 and 5-0 so far. Everyone is very nice to me, doing their best to make me feel special ("Hey, it's Jay Helfert!"). That is, until we play our match. Then they want to beat me so bad, the same guys who were so friendly minutes before, now very intense and hovering over the table like it's life or death.

The one good thing is it makes me not want to lose, if you get that. I'm afraid to let them come back to the table so I almost always try for the run out, kicking at balls and playing combos, break shots or whatever. I'm not interested in any prolonged safety battles. I want to get it over with as quickly as possible, wasting little time on strategy. Kind of the way I used to play bar pool a million years ago, just get up there and shoot. That way no one can say you hustled them.

That's about it, my rant is over. I just don't know why I really don't enjoy this stuff anymore. It seemed like a good idea a couple of months ago when I agreed to play, but now I wish I hadn't. :o
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I played APA for two sessions right when I quit playing competitive foosball and picked up a cue for the first time in a few years. I literally only played because five teams asked me to join the first night they saw me and I knew I could teach people a lot. I joined the team that seemed like the most fun.

The league director screwed over my team because they added me and he never answered their question of whether they were too late adding a player.

I was also known as a clutch player, so my captain would play me when we needed a win...which meant that I sat around keeping score and drinking for five hours.

I then found a private, cash-based, non-handicapped league and got on a team. The league in which I currently play is awesome. The people are pretty awesome (a couple of jerks, not too bad). The playing level is pretty high. My team are all very close friends, they mostly were close before I joined and now we are very good friends...people we choose to do other things with, we camp, fish, go to concerts together, etc..

I really believe that 98% of the problems with playing league is caused by handicaps. Last year we had a team join our league that didn't have a strong player amongst them. They all finished with between 2%-15% wins (for comparison, I was in the top five with 71%). I am close friends with the captain of that team and she said that there was only one team that ever made them feel unwelcome and that her whole team enjoyed the season.
 
Get 5 Billiard Rooms in each of the 50 states (250 rooms), with 20 in-house teams each, to join in a Billiard Room Only league and we will create a National System that includes a Pro Tour with 10-12 $50,000 added stops per year, a Semi-Pro tour for the working man, a National Junior Program, and the largest League payouts ever seen..... $100,000 for the first place team.

The proof of this possibility already exists. But they are building mansions instead of giving back to the sport.
 
jay helfert said:
I joined a team for the first time in over ten years, ostensibly as a sub, but now they want me to play every week. UGH! I hate hanging out in a bar for 2-3 hours. I'd rather be home in the comfort of my den watching TV.

The actual playing isn't that hard, winning 3-1, 3-0, 3-1 and 5-0 so far. Everyone is very nice to me, doing their best to make me feel special ("Hey, it's Jay Helfert!"). That is, until we play our match. Then they want to beat me so bad, the same guys who were so friendly minutes before, now very intense and hovering over the table like it's life or death.

The one good thing is it makes me not want to lose, if you get that. I'm afraid to let them come back to the table so I almost always try for the run out, kicking at balls and playing combos, break shots or whatever. I'm not interested in any prolonged safety battles. I want to get it over with as quickly as possible, wasting little time on strategy. Kind of the way I used to play bar pool a million years ago, just get up there and shoot. That way no one can say you hustled them.

That's about it, my rant is over. I just don't know why I really don't enjoy this stuff anymore. It seemed like a good idea a couple of months ago when I agreed to play, but now I wish I hadn't. :o
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I no longer play in a 9 ball league but when I did prolonged safety battles were rare because of the skill level involved.
 
Teacherman said:
Get 5 Billiard Rooms in each of the 50 states (250 rooms), with 20 in-house teams each, to join in a Billiard Room Only league and we will create a National System that includes a Pro Tour with 10-12 $50,000 added stops per year, a Semi-Pro tour for the working man, a National Junior Program, and the largest League payouts ever seen..... $100,000 for the first place team.
The proof of this possibility already exists. But they are building mansions instead of giving back to the sport.
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I'd rather have a mansion. With a pool table in it. :smile:
 
I was never happier than the day I quit all league playing.

The moment I quit I started enjoying pool again and the game
at last became the game I fell in love with all those years ago.

Never again.
It's just not worth it.
 
I missed adding why I hate pool leagues in my previous post. Simply put, I don't hate them. All my league experiences are on 9 footers and have been mostly enjoyable except for the occasional D'bag. Not sure I would enjoy playing on a bar table in a bar setting. What I really enjoy is having made a few suggestions to a few players who have improved and have said the improvement was due to my encouragement and my suggestions including the 30 who beat me.

Al
 
jay helfert said:
I joined a team for the first time in over ten years, ostensibly as a sub, but now they want me to play every week. UGH! I hate hanging out in a bar for 2-3 hours. I'd rather be home in the comfort of my den watching TV.

The actual playing isn't that hard, winning 3-1, 3-0, 3-1 and 5-0 so far. Everyone is very nice to me, doing their best to make me feel special ("Hey, it's Jay Helfert!"). That is, until we play our match. Then they want to beat me so bad, the same guys who were so friendly minutes before, now very intense and hovering over the table like it's life or death.

The one good thing is it makes me not want to lose, if you get that. I'm afraid to let them come back to the table so I almost always try for the run out, kicking at balls and playing combos, break shots or whatever. I'm not interested in any prolonged safety battles. I want to get it over with as quickly as possible, wasting little time on strategy. Kind of the way I used to play bar pool a million years ago, just get up there and shoot. That way no one can say you hustled them.

That's about it, my rant is over. I just don't know why I really don't enjoy this stuff anymore. It seemed like a good idea a couple of months ago when I agreed to play, but now I wish I hadn't. :o
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Probably because...like me, you're no youngster...and you figured out long ago that bars aren't going away, and you don't have to check them out every night to see what's happening. Hell, we already know what's happening, and it's boringly repetitive.
 
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