What is a typical league night like?

us820 said:

You will meet mostly nice regular people,make new good friends,and run into some cheater sandbaggers who think a trip to vegas is the pinnacle of pool.

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Las Vegas is on my list of places to never visit again, the golden days of Las Vegas being a place were you could go for a weekend, or week, and not break the bank are gone.

Reasonable Rooms, Reasonable buffets, and Reasonable Breakfast Specials have been replaced with High Dollar Resorts, and Resturants with Celebrity Chef's Names attached. All this cost big bucks.

Everything today is expensive Rooms, Shows, and Food. Plus even if your "comped" you have a $45.00/Nite Resort FEE.

Honeslty I am in Arizona within an hours drive of 5 or 6 Indian Casinos if I want to gamble, and yes they still offer food, rooms and buffet deals. NO REASON to go to Sin City.

Last thing I will say Las Vegas is not the place to have or attend a trade show, as it is a UNION TOWN, and something as simple as hanging a banner above your booth could set your company back 4 - 5 for the Union people to do your work. Friend is a MFG's Rep for a large Cigar Co., out of the DR. His company does the Las Vegas Trade Show Event ever year. Last year it was a $500,000.00 Expernce to cover everything.

Think if you do the BCAPL, or APA Event even if your a winner, you still in the Red with Enrtry Fee, Bar Box Fees, Trasportation, Room, Food, etc. They only one making any money are the people your paying for everything.

My favorite 9 ball league no handicap and open to call out first round so you could settle last week’s grudges right out of the gate
This had the biproduct of making the first 30 min or so much more entertaining then we had winners and losers brackets so more playing less watching
Met some very good people from varied ages and backgrounds

My least favorite was all handicapped and rules bickering

Most somewhere in the middle and learned more from playing so many different skill levels that mostly worth any aggravation caused by the occasional bad apple

Usually you’ll know which type you have joined fairly quickly

I’ve also found an open tournament at a given hall to be fairly representative of their league play YMMV

Brizzle said:

I did this alot in my younger days. Before wife and kids.
I honestly use to make fun of league players. Come in with pool logo shirts, gloves, and expensive ques.
After there matches some would gamble. The most difficult time i had was to convince them away from doing points and racks instead.

But now my time is more valuable wife and 6 and 2 year old at home. If im away from house at pool hall. I just want to shoot. I may have to go gamble route. I hate the back and forth on balls to spot or racks to give up. Which goes both ways. Only guys that want to gamble with you are truly better than my self. Like some one else posted expensive lessons to be learned.

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Time is always valuable. Same thing with the tournaments. Find out how much 1st through 3rd winnings are and a lot of guys don't have a problem gambling with that money. You could win that money in about an hour, when those guys spent several hours working to win it. Work smarter, not harder. lol

Brizzle said:

How much time do you get on the green for your matches vs how much time you watch others shoot?

I realize that this can vary on game type and location.

Im interested in a 9 ball league.

Just looking for rough estimate on time and experience.

I never did like league play in my younger days. I never did like to watch others shoot unless it was my opponent even then i didnt like that either.

I really want to improve my competitive play. I shot in my first local tournment last month and did not do as good as i hope for. I was really nervous and under estimated others skill level. In order to be competitive if i cant beat the ghost more than %50 of the time i dont have a shot at winning. The guys i was playing it was basically who ever missed first and sometimes got out of line than the other person run the rack out.
Not interested in trying to gamble straight up with some one.

I have a table at home. Just get bored running drills and practice.

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Ill give you my lifetime league experience.

I played for 30+ years before I got talked into playing BCA league.
It was in the toughest league competition wise in Alaska at the time, the Muldoon league. Out of maybe 30ish teams or so, better than half were actually competitive, while the rest were bar regulars looking for something to do on Monday nights.

It was a traveling league, going to different bars every other week as we were the home team playing out of the Anchorage Billiard Palace on the even weeks. Some of the bars we played in were loud and annoying, but not super bad. The worst was a bar that featured dance music and a "twerk" wall. Unfortunately, there wasnt much twerking on Monday nights.



Overall, was fun, as I was good friends with the other guys on the team. We won the championship that year, and tried to repeat the following year, but only managed 3rd place.



Then moved to Oregon, and got hooked up with a BCA league with Banks from the forum. Played out of a bar I hated, and hated trying to get to, especially in after work traffic. Didnt last a full season before I said fook this.

Then started playing out of another bar, which at the time was pretty quiet on league nights, had 4 diamonds, and a pretty mellow crowd.



Then the owner expanded, and put in more tables, I think there are 8 now. This meant 8 more people for each new table, as the league expanded too.

So the nice quiet league night evolved into IMO a clusterfook. Cues everywhere, this was one tables worth.



My PTSD started kicking in and I had to leave several times as to not cause problems. So I quit that one too.

I said all of that to say this. Beyond the personalities you will encounter, you also need to consider the population around the tables, and if that will bother you or not. If youre a freewheeler who likes crowds, then no problems. If you dont like to bump into people, problems. :thumbup:

Time consuming at best.

League is like talking about best Bagel place in NYC, everyone has their opinion, everyone is right. Love, hate, or no opinion thing.

CocoboloCowboy said:

League is like talking about best Bagel place in NYC, everyone has their opinion, everyone is right. Love, hate, or no opinion thing.

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As are most of the topics on this forum.

Maniac

Jimmorrison said:

Best league format I’ve seen is, 5 man teams, round robin, two tables, no handicap. Takes two hours, no *****ing, no drama, good competition.

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I agree. This is our local BCA format as well. Good competition.

Our local BCA 8ball league is a good format. 5 players per team, round robin of 25 games, each player playing 5 games. You play once a week, about 2 to 3 hours for the match, which isn't a huge commitment, but then again you're only playing 5 games within that time frame.

The BCA competition is typically very good, at least in my local league. It is very competitive. League night is not a social event where everybody gets hammered and bangs balls around. It's more serious. Our local apa league is the funsy league for socializing. I don't care much for that.

If you're the type of player that doesn't enjoy watching others play, I don't think any league would be enjoyable. For anyone wanting to compete against players of varying skill levels (from C to A++ caliber players) for about $15 a week, and you're willing to watch and learn and appreciate your teammates games as well as your opponents games, a league can provide great opportunity and a good experience.

Im a casual pool player a APA 4 ( just got bumped out last month)...A typical league night starts like this. I usually arrive around 615. Depending on the bar they usually open up the tables. I either shoot around some balls until a teammate arrives. Practice is about 30 minutes. So this doesnt leave much time before its the other teams turn. Match starts at 730. There is some occasional bickering but this is limited. As pretty much we know the other teams. There is lot of waiting around and you may not get too play. There is also having to travel across town to play a match. Which is kind of a drab but they to try their best to make the scheduling and who traels to where fair. Then you may not get to play. Although i do see the need to carry extra players because one person cant make it or one person has to drop out. So the attrition is built in to the roster. Its ok but not perfect. Most times its over at around 1100-1115 however there have been a few times its been over after a midnight. Tough if you are the team captain an have to get up early or havent played it. I think a in house league might be better.

APA Operator said:

Leagues (any leagues) are more about people and less about pool. If you only want to play pool and that's all you're paying for, play tournaments. In a single-elimination tournament, the average on the night is two matches played. Double elimination is twice that. In a league it's one match or four or five games, depending on format. I'm assuming equal opportunity for practice in all formats.

If your primary goal is to improve, the fastest way to do that is to match up and play for money. Unfortunately, it's also the most expensive way.

My suggestion is to give each a try and see what you prefer. There's no sense in anyone doing something they don't like, but you don't know if you like it until you try it.

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I've played in several leagues, have to say if leagues are about people there are a lot better ways to hang out with people LOL From what I see leagues are to say your team went to *insert league trip here* and to have a night out.

CocoboloCowboy said:

Honestly it was 5 or 6 years ago I tried a local 8 ball league. What I found was the women who ran it was totally disorganized, it was run with not much effort on her part, the venues she used had horrible equiptment. After two weeks, and being move 3 times in the second nite. I said thank but no thanks.

Returned to local Bar Tournment that were better organized, and the nightly money posts cover expenses even for a third place win.

Most people who play in league do it for fun, as the only one making money is the league operator. Some leagues even do trophies at end of season. Trophies are for collecting dust, nothing else. Need no more stuff to collect dust.

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They arent even offering the trophies in the tiers like they use to. They cheaped out on that to.

hang-the-9 said:

I've played in several leagues, have to say if leagues are about people there are a lot better ways to hang out with people LOL From what I see leagues are to say your team went to *insert league trip here* and to have a night out.

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Which of those two things is not about people? My point was to do what will accomplish your goal depending on what your actual goal is. If you're not interested in the other people, there's no reason to be part of a team. If people are most important and the pool is secondary, a league might be a good choice.

APA Operator said:

Which of those two things is not about people? My point was to do what will accomplish your goal depending on what your actual goal is. If you're not interested in the other people, there's no reason to be part of a team. If people are most important and the pool is secondary, a league might be a good choice.

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League may not be for you if...

Our league nights here are as described by others, 5 matches over the course of the night, anywhere from 2-3 racks up to several per match, depending on the skill levels involved.

The main room we play out of usually has between 1-3 tables open for practice, until it gets later in the evening and we have to start doubling up matches so we can get out of there. Basic stuff, name on a list, winner hold the table. One of the other rooms we play in has more available tables (fewer teams at those locations) so you can get a lot of table time in if you want.

Fortunate

Been playing league since 1973-74. Took 2 years off in the mid 90's but for the most part I've played at least two nights a week and up to four. What can I say, I love playing pool!

This year I'm playing two nights (VNEA) but am fortunate in that we have changed over to a two man, 8ball, 9ball, scotch doubles format. I get really tired of four man team play because of the wait between matches but this format is great. We play 8 games of 8ball, 8 games of 9ball (Texas Express), no handicaps one point per game win, then a game of scotch that is worth two points. You only have to wait for two games (when your partner plays his double set) but to offset that you also get a double set later so you then get to play two in a row. Other than those two, you play every other game.

The added benefit is it usually gets over early starting at 7:30 and most times being done by 9:30, 10:00 at the latest. But we do have an inordinate amount of great players here compared to other cities I've played in (Portland, Seattle, etc.) When I moved here I thought I was going to clean up since I was shooting pretty strong in the big cities but it didn't take me long to figure out that I was maybe in the top ten here. :sorry:

I love this format in that I get to play with my daughter (on Tuesday) without a bunch of other players interrupting our weekly visit/fun.

If I had to go back to a four man or five man format I'm not sure I'd keep playing league. We have a weekly Friday local tournament which would probably keep the pool jonesing at bay for me.

So I'm still playing three nights a week and probably will until I can't see the balls any more!

My advice, if you really love the game, would be to give it a try for one season. It's the only way you'll know for sure if it's something you'd enjoy.

Good luck and keep knocking those balls around!

If you love playing team sports, you'll most likely enjoy playing on a 3-5 person team. If your lucky enough to play in a room that has open practice tables, it will be well worth your time.