League: The Diet Coke of Pool?

[Pelican]

Makin' do

Sometimes we have to accept what we have as our only option. For folks in my area it is over an hour drive to the nearest "pool hall". All we have available is bars, bar-boxes, and APA. Kinda like when the old boy was told that the card game he was in was crooked, he said, "I know they are cheating me, but it's the only game in town".

Our local league does not seem to suffer from many of the problems described here. Even so there are some changes I would make were I running APA. They have some good rules and they have some that are strictly for the benefit of the APA, but hey, nobody ever said it was a not for profit organization. As far as complaints about the quality of some of the players, face it, the APA is geared for the amateur player that is looking for more of a social night out. Anyone that plays APA and wants to complain about that aspect should just drop their membership.

I think APA should be considered a stepping stone for someone that just past the beginning shooter stage and is now in need of competition to aid in reaching the next level so that they may continue to advance and improve. Then there are those such as myself that just can't quite seem to advance much past the beginner stage. Oh well, say-la-vee.

Pel

 

[Sweet Marissa]

I don't know about your area, but in the areas I've played in I find a lot of APA players don't want to play in pool rooms. They like the barroom atmosphere with cheap drinks (relative to pool rooms) and a less serious attitudes. Many also prefere 7/8 footers over the 9 footers.

Another comment about the leagues here... They play in a room of bar tables above the rest of the pool hall. When they want food or certain drinks, the bartender up there has to rush up and down the stairs for them (oh, by the way, they need something else, so the girl has to run up and down the stairs again) for these people who never tip and leave the place and the bathrooms a wreck, which she also has to clean. That girl is lucky to make $20 in a night.

 

[efirkey]

I played in the APA several years and went to Vegas once. I decided to quit for several reasons. I had only a couple of nights a week that I could play pool and I didn't want to waste one of them playing five games against a rated 2 player. I am a 7. I also didn't like playing 2s everytime because I was the strongest player in the league. I wanted competition. And lastly I prefer to hang out in a real poolhall with 9 footers over barrooms with crowded bar tables. Oh and we had to split up the team every year because somebody would improve and increase our rating too much.

 

[vader93490]

So what does everyone think about league pool? I do not play league but there is an APA team that shoots out of the poolhall I play in. Most of the people here that play league pool are quite rude to the regular customers in the poolhall and seem to have an inflated sense of how well they play. The 6s and 7s come in thinking they are world beaters and make comments about how everyone in the place plays but are scared to play $10 sets.

Is this typical of how league play is in your area or is this a rare occurance? It seems like league was made for socializing and nitpicking rules not for playing good pool.

skippy

Admittedly I'm coming into this discussion late; however I wanted to express my opinion on league pool based on my own personal observations of it:

I've always had mixed feelings on this subject. On the positive side, I feel it's a good social experience. It allows beginners and amateurs to get out, meet & play other players of various skill levels. It also allows said beginners and amateurs to experience a variety of pool playing conditions. It can help develop the player's savvy about the game and that's always a good thing.

On the negative side, I've always noticed there's quite a bit of sneakiness & competition sabotage. The constant and persistent sandbagging I've noticed endlessly is one of the things that constantly puts a black eye on league pool. Some die-hards might argue that's just part of the strategic aspect, but I personally look at it as being totally dishonest & un-sportsmanlike.

Also on the negative side of league pool, there's the bloated egos of the higher ranked players and/or teams to contend with that think they're God's gift to the pool world and heaven forbid if they lose a match to a lesser ranked player... more times than not I've observed they act like spoiled brats about the whole affair.

I feel that I should point out that not all the higher ranked players and/or teams act like someone's pissed in their cereal when they lose: there are league participants and teams who are truly nice people and indeed do play good pool. However it's been my observation that those types are starting to become less and less prevalent and that's truly a sad thing IMO.

To summarize, it's my opinion that league pool should be treated as a social affair and that's it. It's the people that take it WAY too seriously to give themselves a false sense of security or other form of falsely elevated or otherwise bloated ego that will wind up destroying it & ruining the experience for those pool players who genuinely want to learn & improve their games.

 

[pete lafond]

I played in the APA several years and went to Vegas once. I decided to quit for several reasons. I had only a couple of nights a week that I could play pool and I didn't want to waste one of them playing five games against a rated 2 player. I am a 7. I also didn't like playing 2s everytime because I was the strongest player in the league. I wanted competition. And lastly I prefer to hang out in a real poolhall with 9 footers over barrooms with crowded bar tables. Oh and we had to split up the team every year because somebody would improve and increase our rating too much.

I believe the APA is introducing a new format which now allows for stronger players. It is a different league format and yes, 99% of the players are not going to be strong. But they benefit from you being on their team. You should consider hopping from team to team each year, you get to meet lots of players which I'm sure will appreciate you being there.

 

[efirkey]

I believe the APA is introducing a new format which now allows for stronger players. It is a different league format and yes, 99% of the players are not going to be strong. But they benefit from you being on their team. You should consider hopping from team to team each year, you get to meet lots of players which I'm sure will appreciate you being there.

I played on about 3 distinctly different teams and I always felt appreciated and very much enjoyed the company of all my teammates and a lot of the competitors. We had a lot of fun. I just felt like I didn't get enough actual playing time in an evening of pool and I wanted to play more. It isn't much fun playing wise when you show up to a league match as a stronger player (6 or 7) and have to play against a skill level 2 player, because they are sacrificing a point which they should do.

 

[efirkey]

I believe the APA is introducing a new format which now allows for stronger players. It is a different league format and yes, 99% of the players are not going to be strong. But they benefit from you being on their team. You should consider hopping from team to team each year, you get to meet lots of players which I'm sure will appreciate you being there.

does anyone have more information about this new format?

 

[pete lafond]

does anyone have more information about this new format?

Someone posted it in one of the threads in this forum. Also let me do some checking where you can get more detailed info. I initially heard from someone at the APA.

 

[Chilifide]

APA Triple Play

does anyone have more information about this new format?

The new format is called Triple Play, from what I understand league directors will start gradually rolling this out in their areas if there is a demand for it. Triple Play is a "scratch" league with teams of three, maximum of four on the roster. Our area just started a division about a month ago.

Steve

 

[Pelican]

Also on the negative side of league pool, there's the bloated egos of the higher ranked players and/or teams to contend with that think they're God's gift to the pool world and heaven forbid if they lose a match to a lesser ranked player...

Excellent point evil lord. Besides, where are all these 2s at. Seems like everybody that has posted here is a 6 or 7 and mostly 7s. Cheez, how do they make their 23. Maybe they rent a couple of piss-poor players like me.

Pel

 

[Pelican]

Appears Triple Play does not use skill level. All matches a race to 5. Found this using a Jeeves search:

Non Handicapped. For High Skill Levels

Main Street Billiards-In House

Starts Tuesday night January 13th. Ends May 25th.
Must pay $20 annual APA membership fee.
$30 team fee per week + $5 per person greens fee. ($15/wk.)
3 man teams. Up to 4 on the roster.
No coaching allowed.
Male/Female open.
No limit on skill level. Amateur status only. (APA 5's to 7's)
Individual Race to 5. One point earned per match win.
Top three teams + wild card qualify for playoffs.
Winner of the playoffs will be sent to Las Vegas to play in the Triple Play Tournament during the National Team Championship in August. This trip will have airfare and lodging paid for by your APA League Operator (LO) with an 8 team minimum in the division. Otherwise it’s travel assisted.
First place prize money $7,500 with a full field.
The tournament is Friday August 20 & Saturday 21.
Fly in Thursday night, leave on Sunday.
Modified single elimination (minimum 2 matches)
Team race 2 out of 3.
Must have at least 10 match plays in before tournament.
$150 entree fee paid by APA League Operator
100% payback to the top 25% of field.
Pre-registration done by APA LO.


Reckon this is kinda like what we did in drag racing back in the '60s - Run What You Brung

Pel

Oh, some of the links were from 2003 so it must not be way too new.

 

[pete lafond]

The new format is called Triple Play, from what I understand league directors will start gradually rolling this out in their areas if there is a demand for it. Triple Play is a "scratch" league with teams of three, maximum of four on the roster. Our area just started a division about a month ago.

Steve

Thanks for explaining it Steve.

 

[vader93490]

Excellent point evil lord. Besides, where are all these 2s at. Seems like everybody that has posted here is a 6 or 7 and mostly 7s. Cheez, how do they make their 23. Maybe they rent a couple of piss-poor players like me.

Pel

Pelican, I'm sure that there are quite a few lesser ranked league participants that read these forums. Perhaps they're not able to articulate themselves correctly on the subject of pool due to their relative inexperience or perhaps they fear they'll be ridiculed if they ask a question that the more knowledgeable participants feel is ridiculous, stupid or other derogatory term. However I'm sure that as time goes along and they get experience they'll be able to make useful contributions via posts or pictures. Along the same token, I hope that they don't look down on the lesser players as all of us were beginners or amateurs at some point... we weren't born with cues in our hands.

I must confess that I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "23" as it's been quite a long time (decade +) since I did any sort of league stuff. I'm hazarding a guess that's some sort of league (APA?) thing, correct?

 

[pete lafond]

Pelican, I'm sure that there are quite a few lesser ranked league participants that read these forums. Perhaps they're not able to articulate themselves correctly on the subject of pool due to their relative inexperience or perhaps they fear they'll be ridiculed if they ask a question that the more knowledgeable participants feel is ridiculous, stupid or other derogatory term. However I'm sure that as time goes along and they get experience they'll be able to make useful contributions via posts or pictures. Along the same token, I hope that they don't look down on the lesser players as all of us were beginners or amateurs at some point... we weren't born with cues in our hands.

I must confess that I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "23" as it's been quite a long time (decade +) since I did any sort of league stuff. I'm hazarding a guess that's some sort of league (APA?) thing, correct?

Everyone begins with a handicap, men begin with a 4 and women begin with a 3. Over time each player achieves a moving handicap average from 2 to 7. There are 5 players on each team that can play on a league night. If the sum of all averages exceeds 23, then one player must drop out for the night and you have to take a one match loss.

 

[KBP]

I played in an APA 9-Ball league one season. It had its good points and bad points for me. Of course owning the pool room I played out of at that time kind of helped since I already knew everyone. I had a good time and ran across a lot of nice people. I think we only had one bad incident and it was from a visiting team but all in all it was ok. I, maybe I'm partial, like the tournament playing. I feel I always got more out of it than I did the team thing. I gues because I am doing it on my own. But that's just my opioion.
Kay
KBP Fury Amateur 9-Ball Tour

 

[efirkey]

This failed miserably in Rockville, MD. Why? Everyone saw that the team with the best players would win just about automatically. The APA members aren't stupid .

Yes it would be pretty easy to stack a team, but it wouldn't automatically guarantee a winning team. Most of the wiser players wouldn't match up a bunch of B players against a bunch of A players straight up and expect to win. They would need a way to split up the best players and the APA 23 rule works well for this.

 

[vader93490]

Everyone begins with a handicap, men begin with a 4 and women begin with a 3. Over time each player achieves a moving handicap average from 2 to 7. There are 5 players on each team that can play on a league night. If the sum of all averages exceeds 23, then one player must drop out for the night and you have to take a one match loss.

That's interesting, Pete. If I remember correctly when I started new players were ranked as a 2 and gender was of no consequence.

I do remember now that there was some team discussion of a point total but I never paid that much attention to it as I was there to play my match and socialize with friends. Practice time was free as well so that was a welcome bonus.

Someone else told me a few months ago that jump cues are banned now in APA (they're the predominant league operation where I live), so if that's indeed the case then that's another change from when I played.

In any case, thanks for the refresher. It certainly seems like things have changed since I was a participant.