The players that really know how to sandbag, it hasn't grossly affected. Some players are simply very good at knowing when and how to miss and how to disguise those such that they are hard for the opposing scorekeeper to spot. For these people, it really comes down to the league operator and his/her people manually watching players to ascertain their true ability. That takes both knowledge and an extra layer of work.
So, while it may be harder for some to manage their handicap, I don't believe it has thwarted the true offenders (those which tended to be manually spotted to begin with). However, the change has facilitated another intended effect; helping lower level players feel like they contributed. In the 3 of 5 system, they were fillers. They played only so better players could play under the 23 rule.
But with the new scoring system these lower players provide significant points, even while losing. They can even be played in situations where before they are big underdogs, because they now could get a point for winning as little as one game. Lower level teams can actually exist and be competitive by selectively throwing players in games where losing well is a good result.
The system has a number of holes in it, not the least of which is the rule book. While APA 9 ball is often criticized because it isn't really 9 ball (and it isn't), there is a reason other leagues use ball count in 8 ball rather than game count for handicapping purposes....it is far easier. It is common for a skill level 3 or 4 to be able to make balls but not run out and be consistently beaten by a better player in 8 ball. It is hard to offset that difference in player ability systematically as much of it is the player simply learning to play better (like not running into one ball hell to begin with). But in APA 9 ball, with a ball count system, that lesser player an easily be given a fair spot based on the number of balls pocketed. It isn't an all or nothing system. That better facilitates the casual player that makes up the lower handicaps, and a great deal of the bulk of the playerbase.
APA 9 ball is a better handicapped system, even though APA 8 ball better represents the game. In games where only the game ball counts, such as these two games are, both solutions are problematic.
