Acs and bca league play life long struggle

trob

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The main league I enjoy playing in now is apa masters. for those of you who aren’t aware it’s straight up. No handicap . Jump and push outs allowed. You play 5 games of 8 ball and 8 games of 9 ball. First to 7 wins.

I’ve also been playing acs and bca on and off for more then 25 years. Last night was acs 10 ball . We play 5 sets of 4 games . So you can play 1 game per set and only in the last set can you play the same guy twice It’s a skill I don’t have for sure. I consider a night out for fun with my friends because win or lose what does it mean. if you sit out a set or someone breaks and runs on you you can easily sit on average 30 to 45 mins between games (especially if it’s an 8 ball league) to 2 hours in between games. Last night was a typical night. solid runs early plus a break and run but until you get to the last set or two I start getting tight. Start trying to force balls in or force position . I did go 4 and 1 on the night but the last 2 games were definitely a struggle. Nationals isn’t to bad. your playing on 2 tables at the same time so your done within 2 hours. Honeslty I try not to take acs very serious because of this. A night out with the guys. because honestly anyone can win one game especially 9 or 10 ball where you can run the rack and dog the case ball and lose. but being a guy who plays daily always trying to get better it’s difficult for me to just play and not care.

I haven’t really seen anyone post about this before but Just wanted to get others experience. Do any of you struggle with it? How do you deal with it? Last night all 4 tables were in use so playing on another table isn’t an option.
 
trob said:
Do any of you struggle with it? How do you deal with it?
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I do. I don't do leagues short of occasionally subbing for someone. It's downright dumb to sit in a pool hall for 3 hours or more to play 5 games. I'd rather do a tournament or just play with a friend.

If a league had you do sets then it would be different, but single game playing 5 different people is dumb, all I can say is get good at lagging or calling coin flips.
 
The group leagues are not really for me. I play in a sunday doubles, set of 7 games ballcount for end of session standings and i play in a singles, two sets of 5, against two opponents, ball count end session standings. Average player is 400-500 fargo, a few 500-600, and the occasional 600.

I tried a group league to support a friend and i treated like you said, boys night out in dec-may. I struggled so much. 4-5 games a night 2-3 hours. No rythym. It was just not my thing. If i am at the hall, i want to be playing, not sitting.
 
trob said:
The main league I enjoy playing in now is apa masters. for those of you who aren’t aware it’s straight up. No handicap . Jump and push outs allowed. You play 5 games of 8 ball and 8 games of 9 ball. First to 7 wins.

I’ve also been playing acs and bca on and off for more then 25 years. Last night was acs 10 ball . We play 5 sets of 4 games . So you can play 1 game per set and only in the last set can you play the same guy twice It’s a skill I don’t have for sure. I consider a night out for fun with my friends because win or lose what does it mean. if you sit out a set or someone breaks and runs on you you can easily sit on average 30 to 45 mins between games (especially if it’s an 8 ball league) to 2 hours in between games. Last night was a typical night. solid runs early plus a break and run but until you get to the last set or two I start getting tight. Start trying to force balls in or force position . I did go 4 and 1 on the night but the last 2 games were definitely a struggle. Nationals isn’t to bad. your playing on 2 tables at the same time so your done within 2 hours. Honeslty I try not to take acs very serious because of this. A night out with the guys. because honestly anyone can win one game especially 9 or 10 ball where you can run the rack and dog the case ball and lose. but being a guy who plays daily always trying to get better it’s difficult for me to just play and not care.

I haven’t really seen anyone post about this before but Just wanted to get others experience. Do any of you struggle with it? How do you deal with it? Last night all 4 tables were in use so playing on another table isn’t an option.
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Great post. I played ACS for a few years in the Chicago suburbs and thought it was the best league pool I’ve ever played. My handicap floated from 54 to 57.

Now I live in N.C. and the only leagues here are APA and TAP. They both suck IMO. But Masters APA is the best of what’s available here. If ACS was here I would join instantly.
 
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boogieman said:
I do. I don't do leagues short of occasionally subbing for someone. It's downright dumb to sit in a pool hall for 3 hours or more to play 5 games. I'd rather do a tournament or just play with a friend.

If a league had you do sets then it would be different, but single game playing 5 different people is dumb, all I can say is get good at lagging or calling coin flips.
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Exactly why I have learned to look at it as just a night hanging out with my friends Where you occasionally play some pool lol Specially at this point Since I’ve been high average on every league in town and been on a championship team in everyone as well.
 
That sounds brutal. The one-game-at-a-time round robin format actually CAN be good, though.

We played it with 4-player teams on two tables. Play everybody twice, so 8 rounds. Takes around 2 hours. So (with home-team rotation) at any time, you're either playing or on deck for one of the tables. What I like about it is the intermediate drama, meaning because it is scored by 4-game "rounds," every few games is something that matters and BOTH teams are watching the games whether playing or not.

It could be games 3&4 being played. Bill just got ball in hand, and you're saying if Bill gets out and Jack gets 4 balls we cynch the round. Or it could be we need to win both games. That kind of drama happening several times during the night is fun.

The other thing that's nice is they don't fool around with the payouts. 10-team division, and LAST place gets $1,050. 1st place gets $3,200. This is BCAPL at Fargo Billiards. Sadly (concerning that at least) I moved away and now I I'm not sure there is pool league within 60 miles of me in any direction.
 
mikepage said:
That sounds brutal. The one-game-at-a-time round robin format actually CAN be good, though.

We played it with 4-player teams on two tables. Play everybody twice, so 8 rounds. Takes around 2 hours. So (with home-team rotation) at any time, you're either playing or on deck for one of the tables. What I like about it is the intermediate drama, meaning because it is scored by 4-game "rounds," every few games is something that matters and BOTH teams are watching the games whether playing or not.

It could be games 3&4 being played. Bill just got ball in hand, and you're saying if Bill gets out and Jack gets 4 balls we cynch the round. Or it could be we need to win both games. That kind of drama happening several times during the night is fun.

The other thing that's nice is they don't fool around with the payouts. 10-team division, and LAST place gets $1,050. 1st place gets $3,200. This is BCAPL at Fargo Billiards. Sadly (concerning that at least) I moved away and now I I'm not sure there is pool league within 60 miles of me in any direction.
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Agree, this can be good format, when played on two tables. On One table its too much sitting.
 
League is not my cup of tea. That being said, playing leagues with intent helped me.
What is your intent?
*Competition
*A night out with friends
*Relaxing
*Networking

In my experience when I tried to blend them, I struggled.

Having one highly competitive team one night and one fun team on a different night.
Separation of church and state might make a difference.
 
mikepage said:
That sounds brutal. The one-game-at-a-time round robin format actually CAN be good, though.

We played it with 4-player teams on two tables. Play everybody twice, so 8 rounds. Takes around 2 hours. So (with home-team rotation) at any time, you're either playing or on deck for one of the tables. What I like about it is the intermediate drama, meaning because it is scored by 4-game "rounds," every few games is something that matters and BOTH teams are watching the games whether playing or not.

It could be games 3&4 being played. Bill just got ball in hand, and you're saying if Bill gets out and Jack gets 4 balls we cynch the round. Or it could be we need to win both games. That kind of drama happening several times during the night is fun.

The other thing that's nice is they don't fool around with the payouts. 10-team division, and LAST place gets $1,050. 1st place gets $3,200. This is BCAPL at Fargo Billiards. Sadly (concerning that at least) I moved away and now I I'm not sure there is pool league within 60 miles of me in any direction.
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That’s why nationals isn’t as bad. They use 2 tables.
 
I played in a "wildcat" league. We were the only team from a pool hall, and every other team was from a bar -- serious players v. serious drinkers. I initially did it because folks from my pool hall asked me to, and ultimately, I really enjoyed the weekly nights out with my friends -- with the drunks, not so much.

I met a few decent "bar" folks, but they were few and far between. I felt bad for some of these folks because they would have preferred more pool and less beer but it was not in their team's DNA. I also felt bad for me and my team because we would have preferred the same and found ourselves fantasizing about "all pool hall" leagues. In fairness, there were some long-time bar players who really enjoyed interacting with their cohorts, but that was not me -- I was many years beyond all the drinking and smoking and bullshitting (although years earlier and a lifetime before . . . ).

I only played one season -- Hurricane Katrina and houses filled with five feet of ocean provided me with plenty else to do. (Plus, the storm took a serious toll on my pool hall and most of the bars. There was not much that was not affected, and long drives became the rule.) In retrospect, the league I played in was just not made for me.
 
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Biloxi Boy said:
I played in a "wildcat" league. We were the only team from a pool hall, and every other team was from a bar -- serious players v. serious drinkers. I initially did it because folks from my pool hall asked me to, and ultimately, I really enjoyed the weekly nights out with my friends -- with the drunks, not so much.

I met a few decent "bar" folks, but they were few and far between. I felt bad for some of these folks because they would have preferred more pool and less beer but it was not in their team's DNA. I also felt bad for me and my team because we would have preferred the same and found ourselves fantasizing about "all pool hall" leagues. In fairness, there were some long-time bar players who really enjoyed interacting with their cohorts, but that was not me -- I was many years beyond all the drinking and smoking and bullshitting (although years earlier and a lifetime before . . . ).

I only played one season -- Hurricane Katrina and houses filled with five feet of ocean provided me with plenty else to do. In retrospect, the league I played in was just not made for me.
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Good post.. I don’t drink at leagues or tournaments. I‘m there to play pool . To make up for it and so the bar makes money.. which is the reason they have pool teams... I take my wife who makes up for it lol
 
I have read your post twice and I can't really figure out exactly what you're having problems with and seek advice about, perhaps you can explain further?

Is it how to cope with the sometimes long waits in between playing a game?

Is it how to cope with the very short (sometimes to 1) races?

Is it how to care more (or less) about league play?
 
trob said:
The main league I enjoy playing in now is apa masters. for those of you who aren’t aware it’s straight up. No handicap . Jump and push outs allowed. You play 5 games of 8 ball and 8 games of 9 ball. First to 7 wins.

I’ve also been playing acs and bca on and off for more then 25 years. Last night was acs 10 ball . We play 5 sets of 4 games . So you can play 1 game per set and only in the last set can you play the same guy twice It’s a skill I don’t have for sure. I consider a night out for fun with my friends because win or lose what does it mean. if you sit out a set or someone breaks and runs on you you can easily sit on average 30 to 45 mins between games (especially if it’s an 8 ball league) to 2 hours in between games. Last night was a typical night. solid runs early plus a break and run but until you get to the last set or two I start getting tight. Start trying to force balls in or force position . I did go 4 and 1 on the night but the last 2 games were definitely a struggle. Nationals isn’t to bad. your playing on 2 tables at the same time so your done within 2 hours. Honeslty I try not to take acs very serious because of this. A night out with the guys. because honestly anyone can win one game especially 9 or 10 ball where you can run the rack and dog the case ball and lose. but being a guy who plays daily always trying to get better it’s difficult for me to just play and not care.

I haven’t really seen anyone post about this before but Just wanted to get others experience. Do any of you struggle with it? How do you deal with it? Last night all 4 tables were in use so playing on another table isn’t an option.
Click to expand...
For the last few years I have played in both the APA Masters and the ACS.

Masters is competitive but purposely done only for the trip. I don't support the APA juggernaut besides this. ACS is my night out with the boys. Like any other team league, you really can't count on the outcome so I don't sweat the team record. We play on 2 tables in each league. The 3 sets of Masters I play each session always take longer than the 5 round robin racks of ACS. Including the wait for opponent.

In the end, if I was only concerned about serious play. I wouldn't do league at all.
 
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