I finally did it :)

Congrats.

Recently I moved up to a 5 in 9 ball after playing now for a year and 6 months or so. My goal is also to be a 9.

At first I was a little worried about having to shoot that nearly whole extra rack of balls when moving up a rank. I was worried that i wasn't quite a legit 5. But i've been steady for the last 4 weeks winning 3 and losing 2.

One thing at a time.
 
Congrats.

Recently I moved up to a 5 in 9 ball after playing now for a year and 6 months or so. My goal is also to be a 9.

At first I was a little worried about having to shoot that nearly whole extra rack of balls when moving up a rank. I was worried that i wasn't quite a legit 5. But i've been steady for the last 4 weeks winning 3 and losing 2.

One thing at a time.

Congrats to you too!

I remember when I was a 5. The good ol' days. That was back in 2001. My team went to Vegas that year! What a trip!
 
Congrats!

The next steps are:

  • getting barred from the leagues
  • going on the road - getting flush (hopefully)
  • can't get a game anymore so time for the big tournaments
  • then you go broke, quit pool and get a job
The cycle of the ever improving poolplayer. LOL!

If only I were kidding...*sigh*

Glad to hear of your improvement :thumbup:

Exacty! Congrats, your OUT OF THE LEAGE!

We used to shoot with a guy who was nothing but an SL9, and would be higher if the number were avaialbe. It was almost impossible to shoot him without shooting a SL one or two.
 
Exacty! Congrats, your OUT OF THE LEAGE!

We used to shoot with a guy who was nothing but an SL9, and would be higher if the number were avaialbe. It was almost impossible to shoot him without shooting a SL one or two.

hehe, yeah. For the time being, I can still play. The rest of my team is pretty bottom heavy.

2,2,3,4,4,6,9

Any of the 2's go up, were in trouble.
 
Good job. Maybe they have a MASTERS Div.....SPF=randyg

I thought APA has a Masters division? Perhaps its not actively promoted, so awareness is low. Its my understanding that there is no rule 23 limitation, but to maintain the competitiveness, perhaps they should skill floor to keep up the quality of play.
 
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There is a new pool hall in Pinellas County, the Crooked Cue, that is trying to put together a APA Masters league on Tuesday Nights. I havent had a chance to pop into the place yet, but I hear its a nice establishment.

I am going to work on putting a team together for next session.

I like the 8ball/9ball Amateur Nationals format. Race to 7, Lag winner chooses either to break or choose the game.

Speaking of Amateur Nationals, I got my information booklet last week. The local qualifier is at strokers, so I figure I'll make a donation and play. lol :-)
 
Congratulations Bryan on your well earned achievement. I think it shows a strong character when you work hard to be rated as high as you can, rather than sandbagging so you can have a rating lower than you deserve. There's way too much of that in league play.

If your team isn't full for the masters league, I'd be interested in a spot on your team. I currently play at CM's Place in an ACS league on Monday nights. The format is very good, 3 players per team, each player plays each opponent once in 8 Ball and once in 9 ball. 8 Ball is handicapped, 9 ball isn't. The people are friendly, with very limited crying over handicaps, but it's a little too smoky for me so I think I'll be looking for something new when the season ends.

Way to go on the APA 9, and let us know how you progress using the info from Scott Lee's lesson.
 
Masters

There is a new pool hall in Pinellas County, the Crooked Cue, that is trying to put together a APA Masters league on Tuesday Nights. I havent had a chance to pop into the place yet, but I hear its a nice establishment.

I am going to work on putting a team together for next session.

I like the 8ball/9ball Amateur Nationals format. Race to 7, Lag winner chooses either to break or choose the game.

Speaking of Amateur Nationals, I got my information booklet last week. The local qualifier is at strokers, so I figure I'll make a donation and play. lol :-)

Congratulations, Bryan! I don't know if you know, but the Masters division is pretty much the same format as the US Amateur (race to 7, eight games of 9-ball, 5 games of 8-ball, winner of the lag chooses either the break or which game starts)...Same as regular APA rules except 8-ball is call-shot and jump cues are allowed.
 
Congratulations!

Any tips you might have for your move up to a SL9?

I'm stuck at SL8 the only thing I can come up with is that my safety's aren't always recorded so the innings played aren't accurate.
 
Congratulations!

Any tips you might have for your move up to a SL9?

I'm stuck at SL8 the only thing I can come up with is that my safety's aren't always recorded so the innings played aren't accurate.

Get out on open tables.

Thats about my only suggestion, albeit not very helpful! :-)

From what I can gather, the APA 9 ball handicap is loosly based on balls per inning. You need to get that number up to about 3.5-4.0 to slide into the 9 handicap. You need to be winning your matches in roughly 15 innings or less. (total innings - Safes/2)

Win percentage is probably weighed in there too. Since becoming an 8, my record was 27-10, or a win percentage of 73%

Just to give you an idea, here is an excerpt from a spreadsheet where I track my progress. These are the stats from the eight matches prior to me being raised to a 9. The innings I have listed on that spreadsheet do not have the safes deducted. Just like you, my team doesnt catch all the safes I play. Most of the time its a SL2 keeping score.

eight.JPG

Take that with a grain of salt. Good Luck.
 
Congratulations, Bryan! I don't know if you know, but the Masters division is pretty much the same format as the US Amateur (race to 7, eight games of 9-ball, 5 games of 8-ball, winner of the lag chooses either the break or which game starts)...Same as regular APA rules except 8-ball is call-shot and jump cues are allowed.

Hooray Jump Cues and being able to push out in 9ball.

Good lord that no push out rule just murders the high handicap players in the APA.
 
Congratulations Bryan on your well earned achievement. I think it shows a strong character when you work hard to be rated as high as you can, rather than sandbagging so you can have a rating lower than you deserve. There's way too much of that in league play.

If your team isn't full for the masters league, I'd be interested in a spot on your team. I currently play at CM's Place in an ACS league on Monday nights. The format is very good, 3 players per team, each player plays each opponent once in 8 Ball and once in 9 ball. 8 Ball is handicapped, 9 ball isn't. The people are friendly, with very limited crying over handicaps, but it's a little too smoky for me so I think I'll be looking for something new when the season ends.

Way to go on the APA 9, and let us know how you progress using the info from Scott Lee's lesson.

I figure youll be at PP this weekend. Ill talk with you about it then.

I will be there most of the day Saturday.

After this league session ends, I am going to take the 21 consecutive days Scott recommended to fully integrate the items we worked on while he was here. I am really looking forward to it.

Thanks!

-Bryan
 
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Thanks to Bryanpool for your answer. I didn't play this season but I was pretty much the only APA member I knew who wants to improve SL.
 
457.8 b

Congrats on reaching your goal! That shows a lot of character. It's tough to plan and execute.... good job.

But....

I know you're aware of rule 23. But I hope you didn't forget about rule #457.8 subparagraph B. Section 9...

Wherein, any APA member reaching the level of 9 and posting on AZ Billiards on a Tuesday.. prior to 6am must in fact give all AZ Billiards members the 7 out for the rest of the lunar year.

It's an obscure rule but it does come up on occasion.
 
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