Looking for 9-Ball Leage Format Suggestions

42NateBaller

42NateBaller

AKA "Drambuie Dave"
Silver Member
My local pool hall is going to start an in-house 9-ball league. They have a couple perferences to include in the format:

1) Skill levels will include begginers through strong players (A-D system), and
2) Match play is prefered over ball count.

I was wondering if there is a format out there that says an A player will spot a B player the 8-ball, etc. Any thoughts? Links to league/reference sites would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
We have a Monday night 9-ball money league in my local spot but we don't handicap it so I can't help you there... but I'll explain what we do.

The only limitation on participants is the monsters of the area are excluded... which is likely a non-issue cuz it really isn't worth their time. As a result of the exclusion of the monsters we get a fairly even blend of talent... I'd say, from a (local) B+ to a (local) C+.

We form teams... three persons per... and stats are kept for teams... but there's no team payout... just individual payouts.

Each person plays each of the three persons of the other team a total of three games each. Each win yields $1.00, paid out at the end of the session. Weekly dues are $10.00. Win all nine of your games out get back $9.00 for the night. Also, each person kicks in $20 each session. We play two sessions a year.

The sessions last 14 weeks. We have 14 teams... for a total of 42 players. Each team plays each other team once. The last week, we play our teammates... so, in effect, the whole session becomes a round-robin... everybody plays everybody else the same number of games. On the last night, each win gets you $1.50, since you only play 6 games total (3 against each of your two teammates).

And with the leftover money at the end of the session we have a 2-day double elimination singles tournament where even those who go out-out win cash. IIRC, the total payout at the end of the session was almost $5000.

And there is a payout for the Top Ten shooters as well.

IMO, the single point of why this league is prospering is the somewhat even level of competition. Any league will always have its top player(s) and the bottom one(s) as well... but the closer they are in skill level, the better everybody feels at the end of the session.

FWIW. :)
 
Sounds interesting

Dave,

Thanks for the info! Sounds like you have a good regular crew that makes for good competition.

What would you do if you had a number of true beginners and didn't want to discourage them?
 
I suppose you could deal with the handicap issue in two ways:

a) Make each player race to a different number of games to win, or
b) Make the race even, and give the weaker handicapped player weight on each game based on the handicap differential.

APA goes by ball count, TAP goes by the race (i.e. a) above). My experience with 9-ball leagues is limited to that, so I can't say if any other leagues do the weight bit in b) above or not, and if so, how well it's worked for them.

You could also consider a mix of the two - say a strong player plays against a weaker one - strong player has to play to (just tossing out some numbers here) seven games, vs the weaker player to five, but the weaker player gets the 8-ball.

I imagine coming up with a fair formula for dealing with both would be tricky, and is something that would have to be tweaked over time to get it working as best it can. It's not something you'll nail right off the bat.
 
Thanks Scott

Scott,

Good points. If we come up with something new on our own, I'll be sure to post what it is, and eventually some results.

Take care
 
Why not to try like this: put players in 4 groups and in each group everybody plays against everybody and group winners are then the top 4. Then just normal single KO and pairs are made by draw.

Whats the trick then? Create those groups in a way that each group has players only in quite equal level and then you have all level of players in top 4 and that should engourage also weaker players to join when they know that if playing well in his group he will be in top 4. You can then add some handicaps for those top 4 games and give all players who reached that an equal chance to win.
 
I'll attempt to make a long answer fairly short. In the ABO, they rank people based on skill from 1400 to 2500+. The ABO holds a double elimination tournament (until the final 8 then it is single - which I don't personally agree with but it is all done in only one day) once a month or so.

Now, say a 2100 was playing a 1800, the person with 1800 would get x games (I think 3) in a race to 9. Handicaps go up/down based on the number of games you win. So say you win 9-5, 9-5, lose 8-9, 8-9.. For each game you win, you get +3, for each game you lose, you get -3... (34-28)*3 = +18 this tournament.

Total points over the season are then totalled. (12 pts win, 10 2nd, 8 for 3/4th etc.)

http://www.billardquebec.com/abo/New_page_abo/classement_05-06.htm


2500+ pro
2300+ semi pro
2100+ AAA
1900+ AA
1700+ A
1500+ B
< 1500 C

All in all, this is an extremely well run league with few complaints about handicapping etc. Actually, it is very hard for the top person to win. It evens it out for most players.
 
pete-biker said:
Why not to try like this: put players in 4 groups and in each group everybody plays against everybody and group winners are then the top 4. Then just normal single KO and pairs are made by draw.

Whats the trick then? Create those groups in a way that each group has players only in quite equal level and then you have all level of players in top 4 and that should engourage also weaker players to join when they know that if playing well in his group he will be in top 4. You can then add some handicaps for those top 4 games and give all players who reached that an equal chance to win.
Click to expand...

Just brainstorming off Pete's comment... you could also kinda do it sorta like Valley leagues go. Set up groups of four to six players (based on the total starting field, how many groups you can make, etc.), round-robin. Have everyone play everyone else in, say, a race to 3 (to keep things moving). Total up everyone's wins at the end of that round, and then add points to the each player's totals based on their handicaps. Say if you do an A-D handicap system - A's get no additional points, B's get one, C's two, D's three. (Those numbers I just tossed out as examples - might need to work a system where those values adjust based on the number of players in the group total - add fewer points if there's only four vs. more if there's six.) The player from that round with the highest total moves on.

And perhaps of instead of doing single (or double) elim after that, just toss all the group winners into one final group and do it all over again, same deal with the handicap adjustments, and the player with the highest total there gets 1st, etc.

The great thing about round-robin is that each player (even the outright dead-last loser) gets to play more people than with single/double elim.
 
ScottW said:
Just brainstorming off Pete's comment...
Click to expand...


Feel free to do that, and you did:D

My very quickly created idea was written immediately and one of the main purposes was to give ideas AND create discussion and that way maybe help on matter under discussion.
 
Snorks, Pete and Scott,

Thanks for the info and great suggestions. I think that between round robin and handicapping we can come up with something. We're trying to keep a 5 person team format for the social aspects of league night, but the more competitive players, regardless of skill level, will like the ability to play more games.
 
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