BCA or APA for League Play

[Pocket Change]

For me it looks like joining a league is the best way to get me out & playing more often. Right now my best option is a weekly 9-Ball 'chips' tournament but that is not enough for my needs/wants. It looks like I have a choice to join either an APA or a BCA league. I have not heard back from the BCA contact yet. The local APA group has my info.

I've been reading a lot about these leagues here with the pros & cons of each (& league play in general) but I'd like to get some direct input before I make a decision.

So, what do I need to know about the differences to help me make a decision?

 

[justadub]

Th e responses you are about to get are predictable. What I will tell you is that I've enjoyed APA for 15 years. You will find good and bad apples in any group of people. Get to know some of the folks you'll be playing with, and the places you'll be playing at.

Most of all, have fun, that's the point.

 

[Jedco]

It's the people that make the league experience, not the governing body. Find one that's a good fit for you and don't worry about what other people think, as long as it's BCA.

 

[coxcol15]

My guess is that the choice will be specific to your area. I'm in a small community in central PA. Here, the apa is a never ending cycle, session after session, playing the same few teams over and over again in each division. There is a wide range of talent in the league but the great shooters are few and far, as the SL limit prevents good players from being on the same team. Our BCA league is our "premier" league in the area, 17 teams than shoot a 32 week schedule plus a year end tournament. 4-5 of the teams are stacked with the large majority of the talent, 4-5 of the teams are pretty poor in terms of competion, and the middle tier is just that. Overall, "fun" will be determined by who you're playing with and around, as well as the venues you'll be playing out of. But do your research, find out how many teams are involved, figure out the general skill level of each league and choose where you feel you'll fit best. Hopefully you find whats right for you. Play Well!

 

[sbrownn]

I've played both and like BCA much better, given APA does the following (basically more about making money than playing pool, and I've personally experienced all of the below):

1. get as many people in to the bar as possible for as long as possible, which includes up to 8 people per team when only 5 people per team play.
2. as people get better, teams get top heavy and some team members are forced to leave for a new / different team or stop playing that league night. finding new / replacement players gets very challenging once the league night has been well established over a year or more
3. slop counts (favoring low SL players) and match ups between lower and higher SL players do not skew well (favoring higher SL players).
4. you have to qualify to go to the APA Vegas main events (players do not have to qualify to play in mini / side tournaments). any active BCA member can go to Vegas.

 

[Jimmorrison]

Best league format I have experience with is 5 man teams, round robin, race to one. Played on two tables. Every establishment that sponsors a team, has to have at least two tables reserved , at the designated time. It’s fun, fast, competitive. Takes less than two hours. I’ve never played APA and don’t have anything against them. No way I would commit 4-5 hours to play one race, or actually not even play. APA league seems to really depend on the LO, how it’s set up in your area, lots of variables. That could also be said about any league.

 

[Texas Carom Club]

bca is the easier game

open after break
scratch off break bih anywhere on table
scratch while missing the 8 not a loss
single game anyone can win


apa
take what you make on the break
scratch while missing the 8 is a loss
bih in the kitchen off scratch on the break
handicapped races - this is the part most haters dont like the most because its actually HARD to win
slop counts, tell me tho have you not ever shit in a called ball or shit someone into a total lockup safe ?
how many sets do you lose on slop? not a whole lot in my experience

 

[Texas Carom Club]

Best league format I have experience with is 5 man teams, round robin, race to one. Played on two tables. Every establishment that sponsors a team, has to have at least two tables reserved , at the designated time. It’s fun, fast, competitive. Takes less than two hours. I’ve never played APA and don’t have anything against them. No way I would commit 4-5 hours to play one race, or actually not even play. APA league seems to really depend on the LO, how it’s set up in your area, lots of variables. That could also be said about any league.

4 hr race? lol whats the race to?!
4 hrs to get all 5 matches in , which you dont need to be present the entire time

 

[Jimmorrison]

Strawman, I never said what you are responding to.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... So, what do I need to know about the differences to help me make a decision?

I would say to ask them what fraction of the time during a typical league night will you actually be playing. If they tell you it will take three hours and you might only play two games, you may want to go elsewhere if you want to play pool.

 

[Texas Carom Club]

Strawman, I never said what you are responding to.

Best league format I have experience with is 5 man teams, round robin, race to one. Played on two tables. Every establishment that sponsors a team, has to have at least two tables reserved , at the designated time. It’s fun, fast, competitive. Takes less than two hours. I’ve never played APA and don’t have anything against them. No way I would commit 4-5 hours to play one race, or actually not even play. APA league seems to really depend on the LO, how it’s set up in your area, lots of variables. That could also be said about any league.

 

[Chili Palmer]

Depends on what your aspirations are, do you have a FargoRate, do you care about Fargo, do you want to play in other tournaments that require a FargoRate with a certain amount of games? If so, then I'd point you to BCA, if not then I'd point you to APA.

 

[TrxR]

The league we used to have here was 4 person teams each player played each player from the opposing team 2 games . Highest points at the end of the night was the winning team. It was 8 ball only, each of your balls off the table was a point and a win was worth 10. So a perfect night would be 80 points for a player.

 

[Bob Jewett]

The league we used to have here was 4 person teams each player played each player from the opposing team 2 games . Highest points at the end of the night was the winning team. It was 8 ball only, each of your balls off the table was a point and a win was worth 10. So a perfect night would be 80 points for a player.

Would that be on one table or two?

 

[Chili Palmer]

Would that be on one table or two?

I played in a similar league and it depends on the location. Most of the places we played at had at least 2 tables. It wasn't horrible but clearly, 4 tables makes it go pretty quick.

 

[TrxR]

Would that be on one table or two?

2 tables. If we had open tables in the room we would sometimes use them to cycle the games through quicker.

I think the room had 14 or16 tables if I remember right and at the peak it was full on league night but the local mine closed and natural gas drilling slowed down the teams started dropping off. Then Covid hit and the place closed up. The tables weren't perfect but played pretty decent. They were 9 foot Palason Billiards tables. I tried to buy a couple of them cheap when they closed but another pool hall an hour away bought them all as a package deal.

 

[Pocket Change]

Depends on what your aspirations are, do you have a FargoRate, do you care about Fargo, do you want to play in other tournaments that require a FargoRate with a certain amount of games? If so, then I'd point you to BCA, if not then I'd point you to APA.

I would like to have a Fargo rate with enough robustness to play in tournaments when traveling. Right now I only have 22 games in Fargo so it's still a 'P'. Didn't realize APA does not figure into FargoRate.

I think both leagues are finishing up their winter sessions and are in or going to Vegas. That means visiting rooms where they're playing right now is not an option. I should have done my 'shopping' earlier to check out formats and personalities. I live in a rural area and the biggest city within reasonable distance is really not that big, ~140K.

@Bob Jewett makes a good point, I don't want to spend 4-5 hours and only play 2 or so games.

 

[Chili Palmer]

I would like to have a Fargo rate with enough robustness to play in tournaments when traveling. Right now I only have 22 games in Fargo so it's still a 'P'. Didn't realize APA does not figure into FargoRate.

I think both leagues are finishing up their winter sessions and are in or going to Vegas. That means visiting rooms where they're playing right now is not an option. I should have done my 'shopping' earlier to check out formats and personalities. I live in a rural area and the biggest city within reasonable distance is really not that big, ~140K.

@Bob Jewett makes a good point, I don't want to spend 4-5 hours and only play 2 or so games.

Not sure what your skill level is but like I mentioned earlier, the APA 9B handicapping is the best, especially for lower players as they have real chance of winning the match. It's not based on games won but how many balls you make. APA 8B handicapping is based on games won depending on skill - a skill level 7 playing a 2 is a 7-2 race, two 7's and it's a race to 5, etc. BCA, from what I remember, is points driven. The lower skilled team gets a certain amount of points so could technically lose the night in games won/lost but still win the night with the handicap added.

I would suggest you join both for one session (same time or one after the other) and go from there.

You could also join APA and sub on BCA. APA subs can only sub for one team while BCA subs can play on any team in the league (at least that's how it works around here) so it's easier to sub for BCA in my opinion. It would also give you a chance to meet multiple teams and maybe find one you click with.

Good luck either way

 

[sam74]

I preferred APA because you played all your games in one race at one time. So ideally I got my # of beers right beforehand. The BCA based league I played in you played round robin so you played here and there all night. I had a better chance to get in a groove or build momentum in a race.

Plus there was no handicap in the BCA based league I played in so you might get some really strong teams which made the not so good teams more prone to drop out and there goes their weekly dues/fees that was going to be prize money. In APA your total of five players played handicaps can only add up to 23 or something like that which seems more fair to me unless your on the stacked BCA team.

No timeouts in the BCA league I played in. APA has timeouts to provide for player development for less experienced players if you have someone decent to coach. The lower your handicap the more timeouts available.

The BCA based league I played in wasn't a true BCA league so in reality it might have been different

The APA league I played in was before they went to the point system score keeping so I don't know if other rules have changed also since then. I only played 8 ball league as that's all they had in my area back then.

 

[zetetikos]

The league we used to have here was 4 person teams each player played each player from the opposing team 2 games . Highest points at the end of the night was the winning team. It was 8 ball only, each of your balls off the table was a point and a win was worth 10. So a perfect night would be 80 points for a player.

I played in aleague with this structure and really disliked it as it changed the game of 8 ball too much. It rewarded bad play of weaker players, by encouraging players to make easy balls to get points instead of solving problems and playing smart.