APA love it or hate it?

[railfirst]

slop is exactly why i prefer BCA rules 8 ball to any 9 ball game. Make 9 ball call pocket/ball.


Ben
Doesnt enjoy losing to crappy players when the luckily slop the 9 in on their first shot playing BCA rules 9 ball at league and it has happened on numerous occasion i can recall at least 5 just from last session.

 

[Rich R.]

lol, i thought the first choice covered it, if you love apa you love slop imho.

No, it doesn't cover it. I play APA and I see very little slop, especially among upper level players. None of the players, regardless of skill level, like slopping in a ball, but it is what it is.
The other day, I was watching a 9-ball match on ESPN Classic and Efren Reyes slopped in a ball. I guess he is nothing but an APA player, in your mind.
Usually, when this type of post comes up, it is posted by someone who has been beaten by a lower level player and the poster would like to think it was a slop shot that beat them.
If you are playing good, one slop shot shouldn't beat you. It would take a series of slop shots in a row and that is virtually impossible.

 

[Rich R.]

slop is exactly why i prefer BCA rules 8 ball to any 9 ball game. Make 9 ball call pocket/ball.


Ben
Doesnt enjoy losing to crappy players when the luckily slop the 9 in on their first shot playing BCA rules 9 ball at league and it has happened on numerous occasion i can recall at least 5 just from last session.

9 ball is a game where slop has always been allowed. If you are playing a race, and one slop shot beat you, you weren't good enough to win, period. The rules shouldn't be changed because you lost a match. Stop complaining and play better.

 

[railfirst]

ok but at league we dont play races, but thanks for the condescending tones i appreciate it.

Ben

 

[RackRunner]

Alright...here we go...if you're joining the APA to get a night out to socialize and meet some new friends and maybe learn how to play pool a little better than it's a good thing. If you're trying to put together a team that can compete on a national scale...you're in trouble. The APA is a brilliant business plan. It is designed to jack up your team's handicaps so that your team has to split up if you want to continue to play. One team becomes two, two become four, four become eight, etc. etc. etc. There is no denying this fact. They keep track of all your innings, your winning percentage, and yet...nowhere is there a column to keep track of the slop shots. If you had to call your shots (and you missed one) your turn at the table would be over, and you would have to mark that as an inning. But because it's a slop league...on paper it looks like you're actually better than you are. Keep a running tally of all the slop shots and you wouldn't be as good (on paper). Also, even if you continue to play at a skill level 4 (innings per game) but you continue to win...you're skill level will be raised based on your winning percentage.

I have won the LTC (local team championship) three years in a row with three different teams. I have taken the trip to Las Vegas three times just to see the top teams remaining all have sandbaggers on their teams. I witnessed a skill level 3 in the finals run a rack and run six balls in the next rack and you could see the light go off in his head...OH, I BETTER MISS THIS SHOT ON PURPOSE BEFORE I EXPOSE MYSELF AS BETTER THAN A SKILL LEVEL 3. It was the easiest shot he had in the second game, and he missed it on purpose...no doubt about it. I leaned over and asked the watcher what he thought and he said "I'd have him rated a little higher than a 3." But nothing was done about it.

When in Rome...do as the Romans. So I came home and built a team full of 6's and 7's, but on paper we were sandbagging. The only problem was...
everyone in my area knew all my players and *****ed about it. We still won
the LTC and went to Vegas but the last two years I went I didn't even get to chalk a cue because we ended up over the 23 limit with me playing.
So I got to keep score and coach my team. That's it...So for some, the APA will be fine...but for myself. I hate it. I look at weekly play like the movie the Shawshank Redemption...in the end Andy crawls through several hundred yards of sewer to get free...the APA's sewer is the weekly play you have to endure, and to get free is winning the trip to Vegas. Just my opinion...

 

[Rich R.]

ok but at league we dont play races, but thanks for the condescending tones i appreciate it.

Ben

Maybe you should join the APA, where real matches, and real races, are played. That one rack here and one rack there is total BS.

BTW, your original poll was condescending to all APA players. I just returned the favor. You are welcome.

 

[railfirst]

Maybe you should join the APA, where real matches, and real races, are played. That one rack here and one rack there is total BS.

BTW, your original poll was condescending to all APA players. I just returned the favor. You are welcome.

APA love or hate it.
Just like the title says answer the question is condescending?

Ben

 

[JDB]

APA love or hate it.
Just like the title says answer the question is condescending?

Ben

Yes, the poll is condescending if you like the APA.

 

[Rich R.]

Yes, the poll is condescending if you like the APA.

Most APA players don't like slop. It just happens to be that the APA allows it. Actually, I see very little slop in my APA league.
The way the poll is worded is totally condescending to all APA players because it implies that APA players only play slop.

All leagues have problems, including the APA. This slop issue is way over blown by idiots that don't even play in the APA.

 

[railfirst]

well i guess im not an alcoholic so i cant enjoy APA or take it seriously, sorry Rich R.


Ben

 

[accustatsfan]

Where I live you can't fill a 5 or 10 dollar tournament but the APA leagues are filled with people to the bursting point.

This may or may not be the appropriate thread but I've been an 8 for two years any general ideas about what to look for to be a 9 (I might be the only APA player in exsistence looking to raise my skill level)?

I noticed my safeties aren't always recorded could that alone be the difference between a 8 and 9?

 

[JDB]

Most APA players don't like slop. It just happens to be that the APA allows it. Actually, I see very little slop in my APA league.
The way the poll is worded is totally condescending to all APA players because it implies that APA players only play slop.

All leagues have problems, including the APA. This slop issue is way over blown by idiots that don't even play in the APA.

I think all of my posts have supported exactly what you are saying.

 

[JDB]

Where I live you can't fill a 5 or 10 dollar tournament but the APA leagues are filled with people to the bursting point.

This may or may not be the appropriate thread but I've been an 8 for two years any general ideas about what to look for to be a 9 (I might be the only APA player in exsistence looking to raise my skill level)?

I noticed my safeties aren't always recorded could that alone be the difference between a 8 and 9?

I don't think you are the only person who wants to increase their skill level; however, we are probably in the minority...lol.

I have noticed the same problem in APA leagues that I have played in where safeties are not recorded correctly. And yes, this could be the difference between being an 8 or going up to a 9. I used to mentally keep track of my safeties and then make sure that they were recorded after my match, as well as my opponents.

 

[DelaWho???]

In APA 8 ball, I think the BIH rule goes a long way to negate the slop factor. When slop happens it is usually an unintended consequence. IE shooting at a corner pocket and hitting the point and the ball going into the opposite corner. The intended ball falls on a rare occasion and the run continues. The other slop which is intentional involves slamming the CB and hoping something will fall. When you turn the CB loose like that often you get a scratch. The player who isn't playing slop (me) gets BIH and severely punishes the slop artist.
You can always tell, in my neck of the woods, the player's mentality. In the apa you have the "I'll take luck over skill" crowd who are playing because they are allowed to slop them in. Then you have the majority of players who will tell you that they slopped one in and they (me) feel a twinge of guilt for continuing the run. For the players like me who outnumber the slop artists, slop is a part of the game, everyone gets a lucky break once in a while and it usually doesn't effect the outcome of the match. If I slop one in during a match I'll tell you I slopped it. It's a rare occasion when one slops in for me.

B

 

[JimL]

Don't Incite

well i guess im not an alcoholic so i cant enjoy APA or take it seriously, sorry Rich R.


Ben

C'mon Ben, while you know how I feel about APA (it is a "bar league") you only turn your thread into a flame war by making those comments.

Jim

 

[dgam]

Love It

Growing up doing a little hustling, I wouldnt consider playing. Now I'm all grown up love the friends and getting a chance to play with my wife. Also gives me a chance to share a little knowledge. I take it you dont like slop so I guess you never played 9 or 10 ball.

 

[Rich R.]

well i guess im not an alcoholic so i cant enjoy APA or take it seriously, sorry Rich R.


Ben

You make an awful lot of condescending remarks about the APA for someone who admittedly doesn't play in the APA. These remarks just show how absolutely ignorant you are concerning the APA.

Not that it is any of your business, but I don't drink alcohol whenever I am playing pool and the same goes for about half of my APA teammates. My other teammates drink very responsibly.

Now, before you make any other condescending remarks, without any basis, let me tell you that I happen to play in two APA leagues in one of the largest APA areas in the country. Both are played on 9' Gold Crowns, not bar boxes. Many APA leagues are not bar leagues, in the strictest sense. Also, in my region, there are a number of pro caliber APA players. I have seen local APA players, playing in regional tournaments, beat pro players.

I don't know why you chose to attack the APA, when you don't even play in it, but you really should stop. You are just making a fool of your self.

 

[Bamacues]

Not that it is any of your business, but I don't drink alcohol whenever I am playing pool and the same goes for about half of my APA teammates. My other teammates drink very responsibly.

Now, before you make any other condescending remarks, without any basis, let me tell you that I happen to play in two APA leagues in one of the largest APA areas in the country. Both are played on 9' Gold Crowns, not bar boxes. Many APA leagues are not bar leagues, in the strictest sense. Also, in my region, there are a number of pro caliber APA players. I have seen local APA players, playing in regional tournaments, beat pro players.

I play and have played in APA leagues in Germantown, Frederick, and Hagerstown (all in Maryland). All of these leagues were strong leagues, and all of the leagues are played on 9 foot tables. In the past 8 or 9 years, I have only seen two occasions where someone got out of hand due to over-drinking. Almost all of the players that I have played around really enjoyed the game, and only a few were somewhat heavy drinkers. This is a highly competitive area. Eight teams out of Frederick are going to Vegas for Nationals in 10 days.

If a league is having trouble with heavy drinkers, the league is much better served to lose those players, IMO, because they are probably keeping many new players out of the game.

Joe

 

[Rich R.]

I play and have played in APA leagues in Germantown, Frederick, and Hagerstown (all in Maryland). All of these leagues were strong leagues, and all of the leagues are played on 9 foot tables. In the past 8 or 9 years, I have only seen two occasions where someone got out of hand due to over-drinking. Almost all of the players that I have played around really enjoyed the game, and only a few were somewhat heavy drinkers. This is a highly competitive area. Eight teams out of Frederick are going to Vegas for Nationals in 10 days.

If a league is having trouble with heavy drinkers, the league is much better served to lose those players, IMO, because they are probably keeping many new players out of the game.

Joe

Joe, we obviously play in the same APA region.
My APA Masters team, from Laurel, recently played, and lost to, a team from Germantown at the Las Vegas Qualifier.
It's nice to know that not everyone believes the APA is full of drunken ball bangers.

 

[Dave Nelson]

Apa

If APA brings in the money needed to keep the room open then hurray for the APA.

Personally, the APA means to me heavy smoke, stale beer, lots of noise, and no pool worth watching, so I exercize my freedom of choice and leave. Just this past Saturday the promoter offered to pay my entry if I would play. I said thanks but no and left. Went to another room and played some straight pool.

Dave Nelson