apa would be great if....

I have never played in the APA but the comments here seem to be around slop in pool. I am now finishing my second session of Call shot/Call safety 10 ball in a masters league. I was concerned in the beginning but have found it to be a good way to play. I like it. If your opponent gets a good roll and accidentally safes you on a missed called shot, you can pass it back. Over the course of matches I have played, this rule hasn't really come in play as often as I thought it would. In 9 ball, the rolls are part of the game. I guess one has to learn to deal with it and make lemonade out of lemons. :thumbup:

Al

I love call shot/call safety 10-ball, even when I fall victim to my own unintentional safe. Sometimes they won't even look and pass me back a clean look at the object ball :smile: The only rule I would add to any rotation game is the game ball must be pocketed last. If it gets combo'ed early, it spots and the player keeps shooting.
 
Links to support my opinion...... Links to support my opinion. :scratchhead: LMFAO. Quick and dirty is a "saying", it's a freaking saying! HELLO.. ANYBODY HOME IN THERE? Geez ... wtf .... I feel like I'm explaining things to children.
The "saying", probably came before your time ... just like real pool did, and you have no knowledge of either.
Fear not though ... it's not your fault. It's what typically happens when things are generations removed. They are usually morphed into a shadow of what they once were and then twisted into some kind of bizarro version of normal. (here's your link to bizarro)
There's no way you could relate. You know, a lot like society and moral values in general ..... all evaporating into crap without the possibility of next generations having any chance to experience the strong moral values of the past or passing them on to their kids. You know....... like that.
The word dirty in "quick and dirty" most likely implies without polish ... or something to that effect. It is an old generic saying that can apply to lots of things.
It is "MY OPINION" it fits here simply because luck and uncalled shots count as much as any other shots, allowing the game to end faster (hence the quick) and without necessarily a skillful shot from a polished player. (hence the dirty.)
Like the last card dealt in poker .... "down and dirty" what's dirty about the last card?
OH ... you never heard that before either, did you ... because of course, 7 card stud is no longer played either. The only poker you kids know is the crap on TV now, and .... the last card is no longer dealt face down, with that texas hold em garbage .... so wtf is down and dirty?
sigh> there's no hope ... we're all done. Oh shit .. do I need to research and substantiate that last statement? :speechless: Na ... just turn on the news.
I've played a lot more years than you have played.
Of course, I'm no good at the game at all because I am scared of everybody, have little money, and also I have smelly feets
I have played against a few top straight pool players, and if removing "luck" and replacing it with 'call the balls' is your thing, I'd suggest removing the situations in straights where after making the called ball, other balls happen to luck in.
Gotta' stop that too, you know.
I played more draw on 4th street in SanDiego, LoBall in LaMesa, and stud in ChulaVista than you can imagine.....personal slaps at me don't make the grade, my man.
Your attempts at deflection and avoiding still don't say why 9ball is "dirty".
 
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Everything I have heard and witnessed and read about APA in these threads have absolutely convinced me to never get involved in APA. From sandbagging to slopping to whatever else. I'll keep my in house leagues, tournaments, and games I make on my own to keep me occupied around the game. APA? No thank you.
 
Everything I have heard and witnessed and read about APA in these threads have absolutely convinced me to never get involved in APA. From sandbagging to slopping to whatever else. I'll keep my in house leagues, tournaments, and games I make on my own to keep me occupied around the game. APA? No thank you.

I think it is what you make of it. You can hate it and swear to never be a part of it because you think it sucks, or you can play in it, take it for what it is and try to have a good time with it. I think that many of you that really can't fathom anyone being a part of the APA are the same people that hate Professional Wrestling because it's fake, "I hate that, it's not a sport, it's so fake..." Well, your right, it is fake and it's not a sport. But if you take it for what it is - a mindless place to dismiss your inner snob and let go. Just drink beer, eat hot dogs, scream and yell, put your friend that came with you up in a Russian Body Stretcher and drop him right into a Super Sumo Crunch, right there on the floor in the first row, and just have a good time with it. It's where the Arena Football crowd and the Truck and Tractor Pull crowd meet and work together for a common goal.
Your wife or girlfriend, try to make her into something that she's not. Try this, tonight when you see her tell her her butt is huge and and you wish she was blonde, or redhead or brunette, whatever she isn't, then post from your buddy's house or the Motel 6, or the bus station (or perhaps the hospital) and tell us how far you got because you were trying to make her into something she's not. She's what she is and you love her,and you have fun together (most of the time). Maybe she could use a tweak, but so can each and everyone of us use a tweak
The APA is similar, don't try to make it anything different than what it is, a remedial pool league structured to help the novice so they will maintain interest and pump money into a fractured and failing industry. Face it, pool is broken and the APA, love it or hate it, is a necessary patch. Without the APA, places to play would be even more limited than they already are. Maybe it could stand a tweak here and there, but it's for you ultra competitive players, it's for the novice to the "advanced novice" learning to play. Some of us like it, so we stay and most of us have learned to have a good time with it. If you don't like it, then don't participate in it.
The APA is what it is, just leave it be
 
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Luck is what happens when commitment meets opportunity. I've called shots that went in, but wouldn't be able to do it again in 100 more tries. There is a "luck" factor in every game. I like 9 ball for what it is, but I'm not a fan of short races like in most leagues and bar tournaments.
 
very interesting responses so far....hmmnnn.

i love celophanes anology of tweaking your significant other. as usual most of celophanes reply is full of common sense and logic.

one interesting thing is the amount of responses that seem to have no problem with slop in 9 ball but hate slop in 8 ball.

maybe its just my area but quite a few players take flyers at the object ball and more often than not the outcome favors them. i am not talking about just apa either. maybe its just my attitude towards 9 ball having been a bar player most of my life. the strange thing is i have a higher lifetime win % in 9 ball than i do 8 ball. only 2% higher but still its higher.

i find the same thing happening in napa. there is a young kid...i say young he is in his middle 20's and i am 60. he loves playing 9 ball and is pretty decent at it. its a 4-3 race between us ans he usually wins 4-2 every time.

8 ball its the opposite. its a 5-2 race between us and i usually win 5-0.

we play laggers choice. the 1st time we faced each other my captain said play 9 ball. i said i would rather play 8. my captain says take the spot. so i did and lost 4-2.

next time i won the lag i told my captain i am playing 8. he said you gotta spot him 3 games. i said yea i know. he said do you think you can take him i said yea. sure enough i won 5-0.

i could not get it into my captains had its better to play to your strength vs their weakness . there have been a few 5-1 matches vs him but he has never beat me in 8 ball. i think i have a 30% win record vs him in 9 ball.
 
I think it is what you make of it. You can hate it and swear to never be a part of it because you think it sucks, or you can play in it, take it for what it is and try to have a good time with it. I think that many of you that really can't fathom anyone being a part of the APA are the same people that hate Professional Wrestling because it's fake, "I hate that, it's not a sport, it's so fake..." Well, your right, it is fake and it's not a sport. But if you take it for what it is - a mindless place to dismiss your inner snob and let go. Just drink beer, eat hot dogs, scream and yell, put your friend that came with you up in a Russian Body Stretcher and drop him right into a Super Sumo Crunch, right there on the floor in the first row, and just have a good time with it. It's where the Arena Football crowd and the Truck and Tractor Pull crowd meet and work together for a common goal.
Your wife or girlfriend, try to make her into something that she's not. Try this, tonight when you see her tell her her butt is huge and and you wish she was blonde, or redhead or brunette, whatever she isn't, then post from your buddy's house or the Motel 6, or the bus station (or perhaps the hospital) and tell us how far you got because you were trying to make her into something she's not. She's what she is and you love her,and you have fun together (most of the time). Maybe she could use a tweak, but so can each and everyone of us use a tweak
The APA is similar, don't try to make it anything different than what it is, a remedial pool league structured to help the novice so they will maintain interest and pump money into a fractured and failing industry. Face it, pool is broken and the APA, love it or hate it, is a necessary patch. Without the APA, places to play would be even more limited than they already are. Maybe it could stand a tweak here and there, but it's for you ultra competitive players, it's for the novice to the "advanced novice" learning to play. Some of us like it, so we stay and most of us have learned to have a good time with it. If you don't like it, then don't participate in it.
The APA is what it is, just leave it be

The above scenario has now really convinced me not to get involved in APA and you're right Professional Wrestling is not my thing. Why not get serious and play in the poolrooms and raise your game above novice? I realize not everyone has access to a poolroom but if you have to travel it will be worth your while and you will be glad you did if you love pool but to each his own. Enjoy.
 
The above scenario has now really convinced me not to get involved in APA and you're right Professional Wrestling is not my thing. Why not get serious and play in the poolrooms and raise your game above novice? I realize not everyone has access to a poolroom but if you have to travel it will be worth your while and you will be glad you did if you love pool but to each his own. Enjoy.

Why should APA players get serious about the game? They're having a fun night out with friends; what more do they need?

And I'm not being sarcastic here. I can't see any reason why other people need to (or should) take pool as seriously as you or I do.
 
Why should APA players get serious about the game? They're having a fun night out with friends; what more do they need?

And I'm not being sarcastic here. I can't see any reason why other people need to (or should) take pool as seriously as you or I do.

Your right. I'm a little evangelical about pool. I have pool dreams every night. LOL. By the way, I love your sign off. I use it all the time in the poolroom because it's so true.
 
Luck is what happens when commitment meets opportunity. I've called shots that went in, but wouldn't be able to do it again in 100 more tries. There is a "luck" factor in every game. I like 9 ball for what it is, but I'm not a fan of short races like in most leagues and bar tournaments.

I don't consider it luck when you call a shot and make it. Even if it's a low percentage shot, you saw the possibility and shot with the intention of making it.

Luck is when you shrug and shoot without trying to accomplish anything in particular but still make a ball.
 
Your right. I'm a little evangelical about pool. I have pool dreams every night. LOL. By the way, I love your sign off. I use it all the time in the poolroom because it's so true.

The "problem" with pool is that you have to dedicate a LOT of time to getting better. I'm guessing a lot of people on this forum started when they were kids and so had plenty of free time to devote to pool. A lot of APA players come to the game as adults and have full time jobs, kids, other interests, etc., and simply don't have the time to practice every day AND play league once or twice a week as well.

I think about my signature a lot... especially when I "burn my toast." :)
 
The "problem" with pool is that you have to dedicate a LOT of time to getting better. I'm guessing a lot of people on this forum started when they were kids and so had plenty of free time to devote to pool. A lot of APA players come to the game as adults and have full time jobs, kids, other interests, etc., and simply don't have the time to practice every day AND play league once or twice a week as well.

I think about my signature a lot... especially when I "burn my toast." :)

Hey krupa. I took 40+ years off with school, work, and raising a family after playing from age 14 to 20 and am back a year now. Maybe that's why I'm so fervent. My game is better than it ever was through really hard work, competition, and a few wagers. bitten all over again. Woe is me. Hah.
 
Has anyone unintentionally safed their opponent? Kinda the same as sloping in a ball. Say it is a call shot game. You miss a shot and leave your opponent dead hooked. Do you feel bad and think the rules should be changed for that?
 
The above scenario has now really convinced me not to get involved in APA and you're right Professional Wrestling is not my thing. Why not get serious and play in the poolrooms and raise your game above novice? I realize not everyone has access to a poolroom but if you have to travel it will be worth your while and you will be glad you did if you love pool but to each his own. Enjoy.

I can appreciate your position. As a younger person I was an athlete on a very competitive level and whenever we competed at that level it was all about winning and we were out for blood every time. Well, I'm a little beyond that now, blown knees and ankles, shot shoulders and so on, but the competitive juice never really quite stops flowing but I hope to never be that serious again about any sport. What I miss most is not the competition, but the locker room and the 'fellas', the friends that we made and became and the team atmosphere, it's something special. The APA has sorta given me that back. It's different, but it's a a group of good friends and we like to win, we want to win, but it's more about getting together and having a good time. We participate and compete, we meet other teams and other players and the dynamic is pretty much the same, but on a much lower level and the personalities that we come across are also the same as they were back then.
I love playing pool, I like the bar table though some people don't consider that real pool, I enjoy the friendly competition and knowing that afterwards we can hang out and be friendly. No one wants to hang out with you right after you've beat him out of $1000, and I love meeting the people from everywhere else. My team are all good people, they're family, I have their back and they have mine, and I guess that's how I like it.
 
When I was 17, I could make a 6x12 leak.....not too smart, though. :p
So, I rifled a shot in from a trap, the cue ball kissed off two reds, and went in the side.
....I started whining about my luck....:crying:
An old timer on the bench said "Kid, that pocket's been there a hundred years!"

I've always remembered that
When I was twenty, I would tell my buddies when they gave me a hard luck story...
..Did you ever have a ball go where you didn't hit it?
 
Three things I'd like to see in the APA.

Table open after the break in 8 ball. If not in regular matches most certainly in the Masters.

Allow for pushes in APA 9 ball matches. This is allowed in Masters as it should be.

And lastly, and most unlikely, either raise the total points from 23 or raise the bar for advancing to the next skill level. Seems it's too easy to move up given the low skill level total imposed.

Nothing new here, it's all been said before, but that's my opinion.
 
Three things I'd like to see in the APA.

Table open after the break in 8 ball. If not in regular matches most certainly in the Masters.

Allow for pushes in APA 9 ball matches. This is allowed in Masters as it should be.

And lastly, and most unlikely, either raise the total points from 23 or raise the bar for advancing to the next skill level. Seems it's too easy to move up given the low skill level total imposed.

Nothing new here, it's all been said before, but that's my opinion.

I think if you allowed for the push in a match involving 2 senior level players (S/L 6 - 9) that might work out well, but the push really would give the senior level player an advantage against a lower S/L player. Maybe that's why it's allowed in the Masters division. I do agree that advancing skill levels seems way to easy while moving down can be almost impossible. I have considered the thought of raising the 23 limit but I can see why they do it that way. I think if you put the same limit on a 25 limit as the do in 9 ball - only 2 senior level players can play during a team match that might work. One thing I'd like to see done at the National Team Level, by the time a team advances to The NTC, they are usually at least a little top heavy, or the tournament is at an inopportune time for some and some player can't make the trip. I'd like The APA to expand the rosters to 9 or 10 for the NTC. After you've won you local team championships you'd be allowed to "pick up" an established player (or 2) from the most recent division that you qualified in for your local team championships, if you choose to (no one would have to) and that player would only be able to play in the 4th or 5th matches at the NTC. That way if you have become top heavy you can pick up a much needed S/L 2 or 3 so your power 7 can once again play, or you can get the really good 4 or 5 to round out your roster, or you can pick up a real power player so the medium level teams bring on a strong 6 or 7, or you can just invite a couple of hot girls that play on one of the other teams
 
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