how are ya'll doing in league ?

[StraightPoolIU]

I started APA last Summer, and I got my first 20-0 win in 9 ball last night against a 4 who, probably by his own admission, played poorly. I felt pretty good and had some nice outs and laid down a couple good safes. It was nice to set the tone for my team in the first match. I also played 8 ball against a 4 and I won 5-1. I was a little perturbed that I let him have the first game because I played perfect strategy and got bih with only 1 of my balls and the 8 ball on the table and overran my position traveling the length of the table to get on the 8. I had to bank the 8, missed and then he had an easy 2 ball out. I finally feel like the fundamentals stuff I've been working on with Mark Wilson's book is starting to pay dividends.

 

[justadub]

Got back into the win column for 9-ball last night, been too long. Beat an SL4, 16-4.

I didn't play as well as that score would indicate, my opponent helped quite a bit. Still, I did what I needed to. Plenty of 3 and 4 ball runs, just not getting it together to really string them together.

Funny note, I had the 9 rattle in the back left corner on four breaks in a row. Damned thing wouldnt fall!

Oh yeah, it was a rackless night, so that was kinda cool. Our LO doesn't offer that patch, but the accomplishment is better than the patch anyway. That's the second time I've done that in 9-ball, did it 8-ball a couple weeks ago.

 

[ChrisWoj]

Got back in the Win column with the Thursday night NAPA league. Brought my record for the spring to 7-2 against the races. If I had not followed that 8 ball in on Wednesday night it'd be 8-1, with 8 wins in a row! Damn!

Last night was nice, easy opponent. After a crazy stressful match filled with safety after safety on Wednesday it was nice. Unfortunately I managed to kill what should have been a rackless. 3-2 race in my favor. I won the lag, and the first game handily. Second game I miscued on the break and nipped the rack for an illegal break foul. He proceeded to break weakly and gave us an ugly table. I got myself in trouble early with my one really bad shot of the night (aside from the miscued break) and he took the game. I carefully handled the next two, lots of safeties and setups, to take it easily.

7-2 on the spring so far (across both leagues) is nice, one more match left in this NAPA session next week - next session I think I'll be a regular and not a sub. All 7 wins were hill wins. I need to stop playing down to my competition when I'm better, and I need to take advantage of my race advantages better when I play higher rated opponents. I am underrated without a doubt, and I need to do something more with that than I do. Infinitely frustrating. I want those bonus points! Gotta run some racks and snap some eights!

 

[lorider]

i and my co captain played in a captain- co captain tourny yesterday.

although i have been a captain for 2 years it was my 1st time entering this tourny. my tpartner who has played apa for years and has played in several of them noted its was the strongest field he had ever seen.

we both think the strong field and larger than normal turn out was due to the handicap limit being raised from 10 to 12. quite a few teams had the same handicap as us a 7 and a 5. several teams of 2-6' and a few 7-4'.

40.00 entry fee with 100% payback. not sure what the calcutta went to.

my partner and i are good friends but we have never played partners before. i was nervous and tried to hold up my end and it seemed like he tried too hard to leave me good....same as i did for him. it really showed the farther we went in the tourny.

i told him once just make your shot and if you leave me shit i can make a hellacious shot to get out . i told him i leave myself shit all the time so its no big deal if he does it to me. we both gat a laugh outa that. i left him shit several times my self.

i told him one time i am just gonna sit down and watch you snap the 8 on the break....dang if he did not do it. he told me it was my turn i made the 2nd ball break also and sure enough the 8 headed to the side pocket. about 3'' from it another ball hits the 8 changing its path. he says dang i thought tou was gonna make ti too. told him i was not as good at it as he was and that is why i am a 5 and he is a 7.

last match we were in it was hill -hill with my partner on the last ball after i gave him ptrtty good position. the 8 ball was hanging in a corner and i could just about make it from any where on the table. my partner dogs the shot rattling the pocket. he stands up looking embarrased as hell. i just bust out laughing . he finally regains his composure and but is still kinda dumbfounded. we watch our opponents run out and me still laughing at my partner. finally he turns around and looks at me saying.... you lefyt me shit all tournament long ..then you finally leave me an easy shot and i miss it causing us to lose the match. he said he was sorry but all i could do was remember the look on his face when he missed and just start laughing again.

we went 3-2 in it coming short of getting in the money but we both agreed we enjoyed it and will play together again when given the chance.

 

[leto1776]

Won for the fourth straight week last night in APA 8-ball against a fellow three. Also my third rack less this session.
First place in my division in the lower tier got moved up to a four, so I'm now in fourth place. Now I need to cement it or do better with a win next week, as two weeks from now will be the last week of the regular session, and we have a bye. Gotta maintain 4th or better, as I plan to enter the top gun tourney.

 

[softshot]

We won our VNEA league winning 80% of our total rounds

 

[RunOut Apps]

I beat one of the best players from my old league in 9 Ball. Back in the day, I could never get a game.

 

[RFranklin]

Apa

Havent been able to play 9 ball because of points last two weeks but beat another 7 5-2 and a 6 5-0 respectively. Only one break and run in all ten games which is a bummer cause my kid loves the patches. I also got an invite to join a BCA team as an alternate which is cool becase the competittion here is much stiffer.

 

[7forlife]

What does this say about me

So my first post was about my strong victory in 14.1 against a weaker player giving up close to 70 balls, I went on to gaining two more victories against one good player and against my strongest one and my first time getting balls. I then lost three in a row, two being on the same day " I know why I lost" and another admitting to "nerves" dogging the shot to give me my final eight with him needing four (that one hurt the most).

Well on Sunday past I had another match with me going to 110 and him going to 42, at the half way point it was me 45 and him 29. I dug as deep as I could and with no nerves in site pulled out a 110-39 victory. Well, since moral was high and wanting to keep in stroke I went to my other friends pool hall when I got into some 8-ball and crushed this guy 10-1.

Only being able to play on a Sunday for league or Saturday if time permits I am left hoping that I can perform the same this Sunday and regain my lead in league since I am not expecting to be getting anymore balls and will be doing the giving from here on out.

 

[worktheknight]

I shoot in two vnea leagues and our weds night league was tied going into the last night of league. The tie breaker was games one, we were down by 4 even though we had more team points which is the second tie breaker. VNEA scoring is 1 point per solid or stripe and 3 for an eight ball. I put up a 10-0, 10-2, 10-0, 10-1 and could have had another 10-0 but came up with a huge game on a horrible table that left me no where for the last 8 ball. Put a 47-10 on my opponents, sadly, team mates struggled a little as we were shooting a great master team that is well respected, we ended up splitting the match 3-3 and lost the league in a final tie breaker on games won by 3. Had our chance. My other VNEA league night is Mondays and we had a 3 round lead over another master team. We didn't play them the last league night, but we played the 4th place team, certainly one that can ruin your night. Four rounds in this league instead of five from our weds night league. Our first player stepped up and ran the first table and that set the tone as we ended up with a 197-110 victory and secured the league championship. This was very nice as several years, one of our players left our throw together team to this master's team and coming into this year, we had another team mate jump from us to their team as well. Really, not a problem as this is not my tournament team mates, just another night out shooting in a great 16 team league which is one of VNEA's oldest leagues in their history and fields many very good teams. But, very nice on the inside knowing that losing a great player coming into this year and replacing him with a solid player, wonderful person, who just happened to run the last table of the night played a week ago to secure a 3-2 victory against this other master team to set up this weeks last league night only needing 3 round points was huge and rewarding. Final thought........... Really looking forward to banquet night as the team photo will be missing two who jumped ship and replaced with two solid players who took advice throughout the year. Guess our in tact 4 players toasted it best. " Can't take the heart out of a Champion ".
Personally, got off to a horrible start in both leagues the first month, and I mean horrible. Went to work and it's been a slow process, but, ended up a respectful 2nd overall and 3rd overall in the MVP race's. A step down from # 1 and # 2 from last year, but, solid enough to help carry us to a # 1 tie and a # 1 in teams which is truly more important. My 26th in 28 years of shooting to be part of a league championship. To all my team mates who has shared in each one, Thanks Much. They sure seem to be much more rewarding as the clock is heading towards midnight.
We won at a 84.35 % win ratio for the season to pull off the recent championship.

 

[Banks]

Sounds like everybody's doing pretty well this past week, so I joined the club.

Played against my friends on the other team out of the same bar. My buddy decided to throw himself first. He's their best player, currently a 6/8, I think - recent move to an 8 and had touched on a 7 in 8b a month or two back. We took no time in getting down to business.

We started at 7:06. I win the lag and bnr. Then snap an 8. Break open, he makes a couple of balls and I get a TR. I break open, he gets a TR. He breaks open, I missed a shot and he gets a TR. He breaks open, I miss a shot, he fails his run, I safe up so-so, then I get out. Last rack another bnr. 5-2 in 4 innings, 2 bnr, 3 tr between us, an 8bb and a safety. Not too shabby. It was 7:34 by the time we got outside to have a smoke.

 

[Rackemep]

We got slaughtered last night in BCA 8-ball knocking us from first to 4th with only 3 weeks left in the season I don't know if we can regain the lead...I'm guessing we'll end up in 3rd maybe 2nd overall if we finish strong

 

[hang-the-9]

We got slaughtered last night in BCA 8-ball knocking us from first to 4th with only 3 weeks left in the season I don't know if we can regain the lead...I'm guessing we'll end up in 3rd maybe 2nd overall if we finish strong

If you can drop to 4th in one match, why can't you go up the same in 3? Assuming you can win all 3.

 

[TCo]

Handicap

I love this thread - so I'll join the fray.

I play two VNEA leagues, both small town and two different vendors. We travel 25-30 miles to play one so that we can participate in their year end tournament. We've won that league pretty easily in the past 8(?) years.

It is a 4 person, 4 round match. Over the years the handicapping has changed from the difference in averages to difference * 1.5, but this year it is Difference * 1.5 + 5 if you have 2 AA players or more playing in 1 night - all but 1 of our players is AA or better.

We frequently give up 15, 16, or even 17 balls A ROUND! Consider winning all 4 games and still losing a round. (which we couldn't care less about winning the league just to get another "belt-buckle" trophy)

Its pretty funny too, anyone you talk with face to face tells us how horrible it is, not fair, etc etc but hear things from other friends in the league about how they're laughing when we're not face to face.

Cowards - I would love to be playing against a team week in/week out that is better than we are - what a great way to measure your game.

We already travel and could travel farther, but just not interested in that much windshield time, particularly during the winter.

Anyone else able to match giving that much handicap?

 

[Banks]

If you can drop to 4th in one match, why can't you go up the same in 3? Assuming you can win all 3.

I was thinking the same thing! Though, sometimes you know the teams above you are looking at push-over opponents and that can be pretty tough to overcome.

We frequently give up 15, 16, or even 17 balls A ROUND! Consider winning all 4 games and still losing a round. (which we couldn't care less about winning the league just to get another "belt-buckle" trophy)

...

Anyone else able to match giving that much handicap?

Do the points work like BCA? Ratings go up to 10? I've also played in leagues that went up to, I think, 13. A couple of times I was on a 5-person team that would have to give up something like that, but it wasn't a regular thing. 4 people giving up that? Ouch. Big bully.

 

[hang-the-9]

I was thinking the same thing! Though, sometimes you know the teams above you are looking at push-over opponents and that can be pretty tough to overcome.



Do the points work like BCA? Ratings go up to 10? I've also played in leagues that went up to, I think, 13. A couple of times I was on a 5-person team that would have to give up something like that, but it wasn't a regular thing. 4 people giving up that? Ouch. Big bully.

In the USAPL the rank goes from 30-125. 14 pts for a win, a loss gives you 1pt for each ball you make.

If an A player played a C, the A would have to win 8 or more racks before the C got 3.5 (assuming a C is a 50). I have been in situations where I was winning every single rack, but the other guy got points here and there, he finally won a game, and was on the hill already.

What I like about the league rules is that when the set is hill-hill, the winner of the game wins. It does not matter who reaches their point total first, you have to win a rack to win. Which is nice as you can be behind, claw back to even, then have the other guy make a ball in a rack and win. With the rule that you need a win on hill-hill the other guy can be at 49 going to 50, but would still need to win the rack even if you were at 40 going to 50.

 

[TCo]

Do the points work like BCA? Ratings go up to 10? I've also played in leagues that went up to, I think, 13. A couple of times I was on a 5-person team that would have to give up something like that, but it wasn't a regular thing. 4 people giving up that? Ouch. Big bully.

Its VNEA, and you're correct, it is a 10 point. Pretty sure the BCA is 14.

Until this year we'd always thought of it like playing 4 against 5, now it's almost 4 against 6.

Mid point in the season, there is a positioning night, where 1st plays 2nd, 3rd & 4th, etc. We were in 2nd and gave 15 points a round to the 1st place team.

Over the full year, we've scored 50 more points than any other team (with their handicap points included) We're going to finish in 8th this time around.

...I wonder what color ribbon 8th place is...

 

[hang-the-9]

I'm still in 1st place in Top Shooter in the 10 Ball Wed League, my son is in 3rd.

And I think I smell a sandbagger.

These are my weekly stats, the first one is a bit off, not sure how I got 207 puts when I was an 80 at most hehe.

207 82 81 35 90 84 45 76 67 66 84

This is one of the guys I'm playing. Note the huge swings.
83 one week, then 9 then 31 then 60s then 20s.

83 9 31 62 61 22 23 59 56

I had one match where I dropped to less than 50% of what I needed to win, this guy had 4 of them. His team-mates had 1 and 2 matches where they hit less than 50% of their points.

Seems like someone is trying to keep his average low.

 

[JBB2388]

Seems like someone is trying to keep his average low.

Wait a minute...I thought sandbagging only happened in the APA???

 

[justadub]

I didn't play in our 8-ball match this week. I did do a decent job captaining the team, tho...set up my game plan on who to play, who to throw, and hopefully draw out the opposing teams players that I wanted for match ups. Every throw went exactly as I hoped.

We won all five matches.

We're still in first place. We play the second place team next week, and I'm already stewing on lineup decisions