Mosconi cup rules?

asmith74

Where I pay homage
Silver Member
I'm thinking about starting a four session Mosconi Cup style tournament as a side thing in my league this fall/winter but I can not find a comprehensive list of the rules. Does anyone have a link??

Thanks for any help,
Andy
 
I'm thinking about starting a four session Mosconi Cup style tournament as a side thing in my league this fall/winter but I can not find a comprehensive list of the rules. Does anyone have a link??

Thanks for any help,
Andy

The playing rules are full WPA rules (see wpa-pool.com) except for a few special rules on the break. I think they are racking the 9 on the spot and require "3 break points" where you get a break point for each ball pocketed or over the head string. I think they were breaking from "the box." All fouls. Jump cues permitted.

Did you need specific rules for the scotch doubles format or how they alternate singles and pairs? In general the matches are to 5 or 6 games -- one year they changed in the middle. The competition is first team to win 11 matches.

I believe the team captains have to submit their match rosters blind each morning.
 
And doubles matches are alternate shot, not alternate inning (you probably knew this).

I'm not sure but I believe teams have a choice of who will break. In other words, the same player can break every game. Someone please correct me if this is wrong.
 
Thanks for the help so far! I guess I was looking for more info on the strategy that the captain would have to employ because of the format of the matches. In other words…what is the format of the matches: 1 – 21?
 
I think, I read once that the same singles can’t be matched up once they’ve faced each other and each competitor has to be involved in an even amount of matches…single and double. Aghhh, thanks for any help :)
 
I did this format for a league at a local bar in LA this past year. It was a lot of fun, but requires lots and lots of score sheets to make sure you keep track of who played who and so on. I did it handicapped. Was a lot of fun!
 
I did this format for a league at a local bar in LA this past year. It was a lot of fun, but requires lots and lots of score sheets to make sure you keep track of who played who and so on. I did it handicapped. Was a lot of fun!

I’m not worried about handicapping, could you shoot me over the basic format? I'll owe you a beer and an hour of table time!
 
I’m not worried about handicapping, could you shoot me over the basic format? I'll owe you a beer and an hour of table time!

Well, some might consider this confusing, but I didn't care - I was determined to do it and it was fun. Here's the gist:

I had only 2 teams of 7 each (odd number is important, you'll see why later)

Each team has a captain that makes decisions and calls as well as coaching, etc.

Each week, when teams play, each player plays 1 singles match, 1 doubles match, and 1 all team play match. The most fun part of the league was the all team play match. It forces players who don't know each other to become friends, learn new techniques, etc.

I created a sheet that has one team's names going horizontally and one team's going vertically, and when player A from team 1 plays player C from team 2, I put an "X" to show they've drawn each other (my league went long, so everyone played everyone twice).

I also created a sheet that detailed the players who played WITH each other in doubles, so that they played with each other only twice as well.

My format for handicapping was simple (in my opinion). This was for EIGHT BALL.

You handicap players based on relative skill. My ranking system went from 1-10. Although it was possible to be ranked higher than 10, those high echelon players wouldn't come near a bar league.

Every ball pocketed legally was worth one point. The 8 ball was worth three points. Instead of spotting balls or games, players spotted POINTS. It was a single game, not a race.

For every level you are BELOW someone, they spot you one point. So, if I'm a 3 playing a 7, I get an automatic 4 points. If I make all my balls legally and make the 8 legally, I win 14 points. He also gets points for however many balls he's made. This is an easy system and worked well.

Hope this helps!
 
Thanks Bob. I looked all over Mosconi Cup site and couldn't find anything on the rules...then came here. I'll check out the wpa-pool.com site. Thanks again!
 
Thanks Bob. I looked all over Mosconi Cup site and couldn't find anything on the rules...then came here. I'll check out the wpa-pool.com site. Thanks again!
There is a small change in the situation in that the official WPA rule is now to rack the 9 on the spot. This is an interim rule in a one-year test phase for ranking tournaments. I think the Mosconi Cup does not use the 3-point break rule because it tends to detract from the flow, but I'm not sure.
 
Off the top of my head the last few years the format has been:
Day 1 : team match (not scotch format, but one shooter per rack), doubles, singles, doubles, singles
Day 2: doubles, singles, doubles, singles, doubles
Day 3: singles, doubles, singles, doubles, singles
Day 4: all singles with a captain's pick for match 21 if needed

Believe you can't shoot a 2nd singles match until everyone on the team has shot 1
Believe everyone has to shoot at least two doubles matches.

Again this is off memory but looking at the mosconi Wikipedia page would prob give you a good idea.
Also races were to 5 last year. The format has changed several times throughout the years (had years with treble matches)
 
Off the top of my head the last few years the format has been:
Day 1 : team match (not scotch format, but one shooter per rack), doubles, singles, doubles, singles
Day 2: doubles, singles, doubles, singles, doubles
Day 3: singles, doubles, singles, doubles, singles
Day 4: all singles with a captain's pick for match 21 if needed

Believe you can't shoot a 2nd singles match until everyone on the team has shot 1
Believe everyone has to shoot at least two doubles matches.

Again this is off memory but looking at the mosconi Wikipedia page would prob give you a good idea.
Also races were to 5 last year. The format has changed several times throughout the years (had years with treble matches)

Pretty close. For the last few years it has been as you said for Days 1, 2, and 4. But Day 3 has been D (doubles), S (singles), D, S, S.

For the other rules (2012 is last write-up I have, but I think it has been the same since then):
• all players must play once in Matches 2-4 (D, S, D)
• the first 5 singles matches (3, 5, 7, 9, 12) must all be different players
• all players must play once in Matches 6-8 (D, S, D)
• all players must play once in Matches 9-11 (S, D, D)
• all players must play once in Matches 12-15 (S, D, S, S)
• all players must play once in Matches 16-20 (S, S, S, S, S)
• no using the same doubles pair twice (there are 7 doubles matches and 10 possible pairings)
 
U.S team must learn the 1 ball in side break and stop telling your partner where to leave the cue ball on every shot. Make the shot and leave cue ball as best you can...but make the shot. Johnnyt
 
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