joined a APA TEAM, but it didn't work out for me

judochoke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
my first night with my new team, and I get there half hour early to practice. I win all 4 practice games against my team mates and two other guys. so we start the match, and a new girl on our team is up first. she is a 3, and the other player is a 3. so I sit on the nastiest bar stool watching these two beginners play for 45 minutes of the worst pool I have ever seen. so im expecting to be up next as the new guy, but nope, now our 7 plays a 5, which takes another 30 -40 minutes or so. finally I get to play and I play a guy thats just learning???? im like what is going on here. (and my teammates are out smoking weed in the parking lot, so they came back in all high) so I win two games and thats it. im done??

so I paid my 10 dollars and basically got in 4 practice games, two regulation games, a sore back, smelling weed smoke getting me high, and hung out in the nastiest bar I have ever been in.

at 62, the APA aint for me. (went to my 9 ball team tonight, same pattern, would of had to wait a hour to shoot, sitting on a nasty bar stool, and my teammates are all in there 20s.)

I will stick to shooting at the moose lodge. at least they have better stools. :grin::grin:
AND THEY PLAY SLOP RULES, ANYTHING GOES?????
 

NathanDetroit

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
67 years old. In my second season of APA. The other five guys are under 30. Two in their first and two in their second, and they do it for the game.

I will be there as long as they want me.
 

jeffj2h

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm 49 and have been playing APA for about 5 years. A few thoughts:

If there is APA Masters in your area, play that. The players are better, more serious about the game, older, and there is less drama (although you didn't mention seeing any soap opera drama)

If you won your match by winning just 2 games, you must have entered APA at a low, default, Skill Level. I joined an 8-ball team as an SL3, won my first two weeks, and was suddenly an SL5 and soon SL6. So once you establish you are easily winning at the lower Skill Level, you will get bumped up, which in turn means you will need to win more games to win the match.

You need to find a team with people you enjoy hanging out with. That's #1. They might be experts or beginners, but as long as they are fun to hang out with you will have fun too.

-Jeff
 

Straightpool_99

I see dead balls
Silver Member
my first night with my new team, and I get there half hour early to practice. I win all 4 practice games against my team mates and two other guys. so we start the match, and a new girl on our team is up first. she is a 3, and the other player is a 3. so I sit on the nastiest bar stool watching these two beginners play for 45 minutes of the worst pool I have ever seen. so im expecting to be up next as the new guy, but nope, now our 7 plays a 5, which takes another 30 -40 minutes or so. finally I get to play and I play a guy thats just learning???? im like what is going on here. (and my teammates are out smoking weed in the parking lot, so they came back in all high) so I win two games and thats it. im done??

so I paid my 10 dollars and basically got in 4 practice games, two regulation games, a sore back, smelling weed smoke getting me high, and hung out in the nastiest bar I have ever been in.

at 62, the APA aint for me. (went to my 9 ball team tonight, same pattern, would of had to wait a hour to shoot, sitting on a nasty bar stool, and my teammates are all in there 20s.)

I will stick to shooting at the moose lodge. at least they have better stools. :grin::grin:
AND THEY PLAY SLOP RULES, ANYTHING GOES?????

I'm not from America, we don't have APA here. I have played on a pool team, though. It's important to have good chemistry With your teammates. It's supposed to be fun. Maybe you can form your own team With some friends? Even if the players are good, if they don't support you, it will be a chore to play. Trust me on this. I had the misfortune of playing an important event with one teammate who was being quite nasty to me and everyone else, and putting undue pressure on everyone. On the other hand, even watching terrible pool can be exciting when you're rooting for your friend who's just learning, and whom you've maybe coached. Just saying.

As for weed and bad bar stools, I'm not a fan.

If you're serious about the game and want to improve, I suggest playing tournaments (singles) against better players. The Whole team aspect hinges on liking your teammates and wanting to be around them. Age doesn't have to enter into it. You can have fun with both juniors and seniors on the same team. But if you don't like the People you play with or against, team pool is not going to be a good time for you.
 
Last edited:

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That sounds like a you problem not a them problem. I’m sure you were a beginner at one time to. Good thing you didn’t give up because some old man was on his high horse huh if your as good as you think how did you only have to win 2 games?


my first night with my new team, and I get there half hour early to practice. I win all 4 practice games against my team mates and two other guys. so we start the match, and a new girl on our team is up first. she is a 3, and the other player is a 3. so I sit on the nastiest bar stool watching these two beginners play for 45 minutes of the worst pool I have ever seen. so im expecting to be up next as the new guy, but nope, now our 7 plays a 5, which takes another 30 -40 minutes or so. finally I get to play and I play a guy thats just learning???? im like what is going on here. (and my teammates are out smoking weed in the parking lot, so they came back in all high) so I win two games and thats it. im done??

so I paid my 10 dollars and basically got in 4 practice games, two regulation games, a sore back, smelling weed smoke getting me high, and hung out in the nastiest bar I have ever been in.

at 62, the APA aint for me. (went to my 9 ball team tonight, same pattern, would of had to wait a hour to shoot, sitting on a nasty bar stool, and my teammates are all in there 20s.)

I will stick to shooting at the moose lodge. at least they have better stools. :grin::grin:
AND THEY PLAY SLOP RULES, ANYTHING GOES?????
 

RichSchultz

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That sounds like a you problem not a them problem. I’m sure you were a beginner at one time to. Good thing you didn’t give up because some old man was on his high horse huh if your as good as you think how did you only have to win 2 games?
APA new players start at skill level 3, no matter what.

So he only needed 2 games in week 1, before they raise his skill lvl
 

Buckzapper

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
my first night with my new team, and I get there half hour early to practice. I win all 4 practice games against my team mates and two other guys. so we start the match, and a new girl on our team is up first. she is a 3, and the other player is a 3. so I sit on the nastiest bar stool watching these two beginners play for 45 minutes of the worst pool I have ever seen. so im expecting to be up next as the new guy, but nope, now our 7 plays a 5, which takes another 30 -40 minutes or so. finally I get to play and I play a guy thats just learning???? im like what is going on here. (and my teammates are out smoking weed in the parking lot, so they came back in all high) so I win two games and thats it. im done??

so I paid my 10 dollars and basically got in 4 practice games, two regulation games, a sore back, smelling weed smoke getting me high, and hung out in the nastiest bar I have ever been in.

at 62, the APA aint for me. (went to my 9 ball team tonight, same pattern, would of had to wait a hour to shoot, sitting on a nasty bar stool, and my teammates are all in there 20s.)

I will stick to shooting at the moose lodge. at least they have better stools. :grin::grin:
AND THEY PLAY SLOP RULES, ANYTHING GOES?????

Just wait until the big one at the bar with one tooth gives you her smile.
 

Buckzapper

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If you quit, you can't wear the jacket patches.

Consider your choices carefully.

I wear the jacket patches and twirl my cue like an airplane propeller and I never have a problem getting a game for cash. It helps too, to hold the chalk in your left hand and violently rotate the cue with your right hand when chalking. Make believe you're on your cell phone and say "Mom, I cashed the check and I promise I won't lose it playing pool again."
 

logical

Loose Rack
Silver Member
My wife and I had another couple over. We had dinner, the women watched a movie and the men drank a few beers and played 9 ball non-stop for 4 hours. A table at home is the only reason I am still playing.
 

Chili Palmer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That sounds like a you problem not a them problem. I’m sure you were a beginner at one time to. Good thing you didn’t give up because some old man was on his high horse huh if your as good as you think how did you only have to win 2 games?

Agreed.

APA new players start at skill level 3, no matter what.

So he only needed 2 games in week 1, before they raise his skill lvl

That would be wrong. If the player is known then the captain should start them at a skill level they believe the new player belongs in, if the captains says "All APA players start at 3" then I'd call BS if I knew the player was better than a 3.
 

JessEm

AzB Goldmember
Silver Member
You need to find a different team. The differences out there between personalities and team dynamics runs the gamut...

Maybe try mentioning to your operator you're not down with the pot. He/she should get your drift, and hopefully find you a better fit, if available.

The other comments are correct about only needing 2 games as a beginner. This is subject to change, however, as early as next week... Your rating will fluctuate a lot until you have around 10 matches, then it stabilizes. Particularly if your skills are above a "beginner."

And, as your rating increases, so too does the number of games you will play/ be required to win.

At this point, one night is far too early to throw in the towel. No offense, but you don't even know the proverbial half. Good luck.
 
Last edited:

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
All leagues are like this, 3,4,5 players per team, 3,4,5 matches a night. You need to wait for the other matches to play.

Once you get to higher levels you can play more games.

Places you play at of course you can't do much about, unless you pick a league and then ask where they play.

My son and I quit leagues several times and probably the biggest reason was we did not like the places they were playing out of. More so than rules or time spent going to matches. Once players get past beginners, having proper equipment gets more and more important since you are relying on cueball control to win games, not luck.
 

justadub

Rattling corners nightly
Silver Member
It is a team environment. Everyone doesn't play at the same time, its not possible. If you were led to believe you wouldn't have to wait to play, well...take that up with those who misled you.

Part of the team experience is, well...being part of a team. Encouraging your teammates, spending time with them and any others in the room that you choose to. If you are a solo person, without any care to interact with others, then APA team play isn't going to work out well for you. Likely most team-base leagues won't work well for you, either, if that is the case.

Slop. It is a beginners league, tho there are many, many, many very good players, that play APA. The league has chosen to use the "slop" rules for 8-ball, and the league has prospered, for many years, so it obviously works. I can tell you that if you choose to stick it out, you will find that slop doesn't affect many matches between skill levels 5 and up. I think I slopped one ball last week in 6 games, don't think my opponent slopped any. (And I apologized to him after it happened. He grinned. It happens.) You complained about the time it took to play matches between lower skilled level players during your first week? Imagine them having to call their pockets...

APA may very well not be for you. You may wanna take another week or two to see, or maybe not. If you're not enjoying your experience, you certainly shouldn't do it. I enjoy my leagues, as do the 100-150 people playing in our divisions in our small little town each session.
 
Last edited:

Tony_in_MD

You want some of this?
Silver Member
Did you know any of your team-mates prior to joining up?

Not sounding like it.

my first night with my new team, and I get there half hour early to practice. I win all 4 practice games against my team mates and two other guys. so we start the match, and a new girl on our team is up first. she is a 3, and the other player is a 3. so I sit on the nastiest bar stool watching these two beginners play for 45 minutes of the worst pool I have ever seen. so im expecting to be up next as the new guy, but nope, now our 7 plays a 5, which takes another 30 -40 minutes or so. finally I get to play and I play a guy thats just learning???? im like what is going on here. (and my teammates are out smoking weed in the parking lot, so they came back in all high) so I win two games and thats it. im done??

so I paid my 10 dollars and basically got in 4 practice games, two regulation games, a sore back, smelling weed smoke getting me high, and hung out in the nastiest bar I have ever been in.

at 62, the APA aint for me. (went to my 9 ball team tonight, same pattern, would of had to wait a hour to shoot, sitting on a nasty bar stool, and my teammates are all in there 20s.)

I will stick to shooting at the moose lodge. at least they have better stools. :grin::grin:
AND THEY PLAY SLOP RULES, ANYTHING GOES?????
 

JC

Coos Cues
League play isn't for everyone...............

It's not league pool's fault though.

It just is.

JC
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
my first night with my new team, and I get there half hour early to practice. I win all 4 practice games against my team mates and two other guys. so we start the match, and a new girl on our team is up first. she is a 3, and the other player is a 3. so I sit on the nastiest bar stool watching these two beginners play for 45 minutes of the worst pool I have ever seen. so im expecting to be up next as the new guy, but nope, now our 7 plays a 5, which takes another 30 -40 minutes or so. finally I get to play and I play a guy thats just learning???? im like what is going on here. (and my teammates are out smoking weed in the parking lot, so they came back in all high) so I win two games and thats it. im done??

so I paid my 10 dollars and basically got in 4 practice games, two regulation games, a sore back, smelling weed smoke getting me high, and hung out in the nastiest bar I have ever been in.

at 62, the APA aint for me. (went to my 9 ball team tonight, same pattern, would of had to wait a hour to shoot, sitting on a nasty bar stool, and my teammates are all in there 20s.)

I will stick to shooting at the moose lodge. at least they have better stools. :grin::grin:
AND THEY PLAY SLOP RULES, ANYTHING GOES?????
I'd rather have a root-canal with a butterknife than play league again. I feel ya bro.
 
Top