Can someone explain a typical BCA league play night? One match at a time? Handicapped by games or balls? How many games? Is a player handicapped or a whole team? We do not have BCA in our area and I want to understand how an evening is played out. Thanks for any info.
BCA League Info
- Thread starter BarTableMan
- Start date
bascially, without substitutions, six people on your team will play one game only, straight up, against six people on the other team. total of 36 games. So you are awarded a point for every win.
if one of your team is not playing well and looses his first two for example, you may substitute another team mate in for that player who would play the remaining four games.
We usually play two tables at a time.
Competition is usually much stronger in general than APA league.
Good experience.
Good luck to you
if one of your team is not playing well and looses his first two for example, you may substitute another team mate in for that player who would play the remaining four games.
We usually play two tables at a time.
Competition is usually much stronger in general than APA league.
Good experience.
Good luck to you
In the past, our BCA league was 5 against 5, 25 game format, 10 points for a win, 1 point per ball for a loss, played for 5 round points and the "total" round point.
Truthfully, I believe BCA doesn't care exactly how you run your league. They don't dictate games, hdcps, points, etc. Pay your sanction fee and you can do pretty much whatever you want.
Mark Griffin hangs out on AZ. He'll probably pop on and explain it.
Truthfully, I believe BCA doesn't care exactly how you run your league. They don't dictate games, hdcps, points, etc. Pay your sanction fee and you can do pretty much whatever you want.
Mark Griffin hangs out on AZ. He'll probably pop on and explain it.
Our office number is 702-719-7665.
Call and one of our staff will anser your questions.
jschelin99 is correct.
Truthfully, I believe BCA doesn't care exactly how you run your league. They don't dictate games, hdcps, points, etc. Pay your sanction fee and you can do pretty much whatever you want.
The most common teams are 5 person and play round robin.
Most local leagues are handicapped and most use the 10 point system.
When you play in Vegas, there is no handicap.
There are different divisions (Leisure,Open,Advanced,Master, Grand Master etc).
We have beginners to almost pro level players.
Our rules are accepted as better than most other leagues.
We are involved in (and sponsor) other events that are not league required. (Jay Swanson, US Bar Table, US Open 10-Ball, 8-Ball and One Pocket),
We really are: More Choices for All Players.
It is free to run a league in your area.
Call for details.
Mark Griffin
702-719-7665 (PST)
Call and one of our staff will anser your questions.
jschelin99 is correct.
Truthfully, I believe BCA doesn't care exactly how you run your league. They don't dictate games, hdcps, points, etc. Pay your sanction fee and you can do pretty much whatever you want.
The most common teams are 5 person and play round robin.
Most local leagues are handicapped and most use the 10 point system.
When you play in Vegas, there is no handicap.
There are different divisions (Leisure,Open,Advanced,Master, Grand Master etc).
We have beginners to almost pro level players.
Our rules are accepted as better than most other leagues.
We are involved in (and sponsor) other events that are not league required. (Jay Swanson, US Bar Table, US Open 10-Ball, 8-Ball and One Pocket),
We really are: More Choices for All Players.
It is free to run a league in your area.
Call for details.
Mark Griffin
702-719-7665 (PST)
In Rochester, we have two different BCAPL formats. On Monday evening, we have five person teams. There are five individual matches per round. Four rounds per night. One player does not get an opportunity to play all four. Wednesday evening, we have four person teams. Same format of four rounds. Each player plays all four rounds. The per night cost is the same for each league. The first prize on Monday is a "free" trip to the BCAPL Nationals in July. Wednesday evening is a "cash" payout league.
Our handicaps run from an 11 on the high side to 5 on the low. They are 10 point leagues so the highest handicap player costs their team one ball per round even when they win. Each round win is one point. A perfect night for the team would be a 5 - 0 win. Our BCAPL league in Vegas uses the format of four rounds of play per night. There are five players per round just as in Rochester. Believe this is somewhat of a "standard" for BCAPL. Each team plays their five players. The home team line up remains constant. The visitor rotates their five players based on a fixed pattern for the league. When you reach the Nationals, that format is used except the two teams play a "race" to 13 wins.
No handicap is used at Nationals. If you are unsure of your teams ability to compete at Nationals, contact Bill Stock at bill@playcsipool.com. He will be able to explain your options. If you're competing strictly for fun, the Trophy division might be for you. Better teams compete in the Open and the best in the Advanced. Regardless of your ability, playing in a team event in Vegas during July at the BCAPL will be a great experience. See you there!!!
Lyn
Our handicaps run from an 11 on the high side to 5 on the low. They are 10 point leagues so the highest handicap player costs their team one ball per round even when they win. Each round win is one point. A perfect night for the team would be a 5 - 0 win. Our BCAPL league in Vegas uses the format of four rounds of play per night. There are five players per round just as in Rochester. Believe this is somewhat of a "standard" for BCAPL. Each team plays their five players. The home team line up remains constant. The visitor rotates their five players based on a fixed pattern for the league. When you reach the Nationals, that format is used except the two teams play a "race" to 13 wins.
No handicap is used at Nationals. If you are unsure of your teams ability to compete at Nationals, contact Bill Stock at bill@playcsipool.com. He will be able to explain your options. If you're competing strictly for fun, the Trophy division might be for you. Better teams compete in the Open and the best in the Advanced. Regardless of your ability, playing in a team event in Vegas during July at the BCAPL will be a great experience. See you there!!!
Lyn
Last edited:
Ours is 5 vs 5.
One player plays one game of 8b vs. one of their players.
We never swapped anyone, each guy just played 5 matches.
2 or 3 tables are available to speed things along.
There's a specific order for matches, basically the guy who plays first has
a long wait before his next match. The guy who plays last plays again pretty much
right away. I believe we started around 7:30 and wrapped up around 10:30, it goes much faster than APA and other leagues I've been in. If you want to go home fast, they usually can make it happen.
The handicap is factored as a team at the end of the night, rather than each game. You just go up and try to win, and afterwards count remaining balls to determine the score (Winner gets 10, loser gets one point per ball sunk, regardless of who made it).
Higher level of competition than APA typically, but the indirect handicapping and race to one means that some guys come away with 50 or 40-something every night, and others just don't.
Not that you asked, but the 'feel' of it is a bunch of individual players doing a round robin, rather than our team vs. their team. I didn't care for that part of it, but it's a good league, worth looking into.
One player plays one game of 8b vs. one of their players.
We never swapped anyone, each guy just played 5 matches.
2 or 3 tables are available to speed things along.
There's a specific order for matches, basically the guy who plays first has
a long wait before his next match. The guy who plays last plays again pretty much
right away. I believe we started around 7:30 and wrapped up around 10:30, it goes much faster than APA and other leagues I've been in. If you want to go home fast, they usually can make it happen.
The handicap is factored as a team at the end of the night, rather than each game. You just go up and try to win, and afterwards count remaining balls to determine the score (Winner gets 10, loser gets one point per ball sunk, regardless of who made it).
Higher level of competition than APA typically, but the indirect handicapping and race to one means that some guys come away with 50 or 40-something every night, and others just don't.
Not that you asked, but the 'feel' of it is a bunch of individual players doing a round robin, rather than our team vs. their team. I didn't care for that part of it, but it's a good league, worth looking into.
Wow Creedo, I feel the exact opposite! On my APA nights, the player who plays first rarely stays to the end. They play their match and leave. There are some nights where I don't get to APA league till after my BCAPL match is done. Sometimes 10 PM or later. Doesn't make for much "team" feeling.
The BCAPL on the other hand, all five players are there from beginning till the end. Each format has its good and bad. Frankly I prefer my BCAPL / ACS experience. JMHO.
Lyn
I may have gotten unlucky with my particular team. Maybe we didn't mesh that well. It helps when everyone is friends before they form a team.
I do think the race vs. single game has something to do with it. It makes you feel like your team really cares when one guy is playing and 6 or 7 people are watching, commenting, ready to offer advice in a timeout.
In the BCA, three people are playing, leaving only 2 who might watch, and those two might be called upon to shoot within the next few minutes... they may not even be able to sweat 1 full game.
I agree though, in APA, some guys will finish early and then bail, and that puts a damper on things. And others, knowing they won't get called to play for 45 minutes, will just head to the practice table instead of hanging out with the team.
I guess there's a case to be made for both.
One of the differences between our two leagues is ours only plays on one table. Two in an emergency. Makes for a long evening. That goes for both the APA and BCAPL / ACS leagues.
Lyn
Lyn
There is also the USAPL which I think is also under the CSI/BCA wing. The best part about it is that the handicapping, at least in the New England area, goes from 30 to 125, which makes for a great way to fine tune the handicaps. You don't have an A+ who is a 7 playing a B who is a 7, it would be more like 90 vs 125.
The game scoring is also great, a win counts as 14, in a loss you get 1 pt per ball you make, which makes winning the primary thing, if you run 8 in 9 ball you better sink the 9 or you lose the rack, just like in a real match.
The game scoring is also great, a win counts as 14, in a loss you get 1 pt per ball you make, which makes winning the primary thing, if you run 8 in 9 ball you better sink the 9 or you lose the rack, just like in a real match.
i am not going to bash the bcapl, just state facts as i see them.
i was quite supprised a while back to find out how the bcapl is run haphazzardly at the local level. i guess that is why is seems so popular. just pay your dues and run it any way you want. there was one poster who stated his local bcapl league played under apa rules, wth ?
people complain about sandbaggers in apa but the way i see it is any league that does not attempt to have any checks and balances in their scoring system is ripe for manipulating the handicapping system.
example; a few weeks ago our team played one of the top teams in our league. it just so happened that 3 8's on their team made 3 break and runs in a row on our 8 and 2 7's. when they faced our apa s/l 3 and a 15 year old boy who has not played much at all they somehow manage to only get 5 points in 7 innings against our 3 and 5 points against a 15 year old boy.
in effect they shut out our best players , losing to our worst players keeping their points to around 40 apiece, maintaining their 8 handicap and beating us by 50 points. thats not the only team that pulled that on us. i had 2 players quit over the rampant sandbagging by the 3 top teams.
if being able to run 3 break and runs in a row and only managing to get 5 points in 8 innings against an apa 3 aint sandbagging i dont know what is. the scorekeeping system in apa prevents this kinda stuff from happening.
Our Monday night league in Rochester also has a few quirks. I lead the league in 8 ball runs. The differential between balls I make versus balls my opponent makes is over two to one. Highest in the league.
Two weeks ago I was a nine point five. On league night I had three eight ball runs but lost one game to an eight ball run from the break. This week I was rated a NINE
. Lowest rating in over fifteen years of BCA(PL) play. The computer says so was the answer. Highest rated player is a ten point five. My record supersedes his. Some of my team mates and several of the competing teams have players also rated nine. I laughed. My competitors didn't. Wednesday night I'm the ten point five. There is insanity in every league format. Too much reliance on computers instead of common sense! Computers don't lie. Yaaah Shooooore!Lyn
Our Monday night league in Rochester also has a few quirks. I lead the league in 8 ball runs. The differential between balls I make versus balls my opponent makes is over two to one. Highest in the league.
Two weeks ago I was a nine point five. On league night I had three eight ball runs but lost one game to an eight ball run from the break. This week I was rated a NINE
Lyn[/QUOTE
the apa computer must be on full tilt concerning my 9 ball handicap lol.
this session started 5 weeks ago and i found that i had been lowered from a 5 to a 4. i thought dang, how did that happen ? i had a better record in 9 ball vs 8 ball last session but my s/l in 8 is the same and my 9 ball was lowered ?
well for the last 5 weeks it has changed every week, i mean every week. i went to tri cups last fri night and won my match, go back sat morning and see i was raised to a 5. win all my matches sat, vs 2 5's and a 7.
i go to league sun night and lo and behold..... i was lowered back to a 4 again. i can see being raised to a 5 in the middle of a tournament.... how in the hell can you go undefeated in a tournament and then the next night you are lowered again? just plain crazy lol.
i have contemplated why my 9 ball keeps fluctuating so much and my 8 ball has stayed the same even though i have a better record in 9 . after looking at my lifetime stats i saw where my avg defensive shot ratio is twice as high in 8 ball vs 9 ball. in 8 ball it was 1.09, in 9 ball it was 0.48. i think that may have a lot to do with it.
Don't know how the number is figured but my lifetime def shot avg is 3.81 at the APA site. What does it mean? How does it differ from yours? Only play 8 ball.
BCAPL / ACS does not keep track of defensive shots. Only wins, loses and ball counts.
Lyn
i am not positive but i think it is defensive shots per match. to round it off .. mine is 1 1/2 shots per match or to make it easier to figure. 3 shots per every 2 matches.
yours is almost 4 shots per match. or just over 7 per every 2 matches.
that is what some one who says they are in the know told me. i will verify it with my lo next time i see him.
my 9 ball averages out to 1 shot every 2 matches if that formula is correct.
you gotta remember that is lifetime stats. i currently avg about 4 shots a match in 8 ball now. i never started making defensive shots at all until this last year.
In our league each player has a handicap but these only apply to the team scoring. Each game is played even whether you are playing the top ranked player in the league or the lowest ranked. 10 points for the win with the loser scoring however many balls they made (i.e. 10-7 if both players are on the 8 ball).
We play 5 man teams, 4 rounds of five games each in a match (each player plays one game per round, or a total of 4 games per player). Each player plays 4 of the 5 players of the other team. There are a total of 5 points up for grabs on the night - one point for winning each round and a point for winning the total.
Last edited:
My 8 Ball Division is 4 person teams - no "points", no "ratings" - 16 game match - if tied 8-8 then 1 tie-breaker game to decide who wins the match.
Team standings are decided by match wins (then total games won to decide teams with same match wins - my whole middle section of teams are always only games apart)
My 9 Ball Division (actually playing 10 ball this session) - is 3 person teams - no "points", no "ratings" - each player plays each opponent one race to 3 - 9 matchs played so no possible tie.
Team standings are decided by match wins (games breaks ties)
Bottom line is straight up win or lose - nothing to manipulate :thumbup:
Everybody gets $$$ at the end of session (1st gets a lot more than last but at least everybody gets paid)
Team standings are decided by match wins (then total games won to decide teams with same match wins - my whole middle section of teams are always only games apart)
My 9 Ball Division (actually playing 10 ball this session) - is 3 person teams - no "points", no "ratings" - each player plays each opponent one race to 3 - 9 matchs played so no possible tie.
Team standings are decided by match wins (games breaks ties)
Bottom line is straight up win or lose - nothing to manipulate :thumbup:
Everybody gets $$$ at the end of session (1st gets a lot more than last but at least everybody gets paid)