New APA Artisans Format

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lifeloverfl

Registered
The APA in South Pinellas County, FL has started a new format and I'd like to have your input about the idea. And I would certainly like you to contact your LO and start the format in your local area.

The name of the format is the Artisans and it is fashioned after the Masters. It's very simple so I'll give you the differences between this group and the latter group.

1. There are now sevens allowed in the division.

2. No jump cues are allowed

3. The team can only have one SL6 when the team is initially created. If one of the players gets raised to a SL6, the team is allowed to continue playing together until the end of the year, at which time they have to disband and start a team with only one SL6.

4. SL2's and 3's play as administrative SL4's.

5. Matches are a race to 7 but the players are handicapped to some degree. A SL6 gets one game on the wire. A SL5 gets two games on the wire. 7 - your SL = the number of matches you have to play and win to get to 7 points. Another way to phrase it is you have to win your handicap.

6. You have to play in either the 8 ball or 9 ball format to be eligible to play in the Artisans. Your 8 ball handicap is used for the Artisans unless you only play 9 ball and the handicap is used.

Those are the basic differences. We started with six teams last session and have ten teams this session and we're still growing. We anticipate having a full division of sixteen teams for next session.

We managed to get a slot in Las Vegas to play against the Masters in August. Ultimately, we want to get as many LO's involved with their players and turn this into its own National Level Tournament. We just have the grow the teams and get the players involved all around the country and Canada.

You can get more information by going to the www.apapinellas.com website.

Hank Dowdell
 
So when you play the Masters teams in Vegas, do they have to spot you in the race to 7? If so, how is it Masters?
 
lifeloverfl said:
1. There are now sevens allowed in the division.


3. The team can only have one SL6 when the team is initially created. If one of the players gets raised to a SL6, the team is allowed to continue playing together until the end of the year, at which time they have to disband and start a team with only one SL6.
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The division up here allows 7's and my team has a 7 and 2 6's....


R
 
Honestly, Dude to me this defeats the entire purpose of playing Masters to begin with. I wanted to play Masters because I could use my Jump Cue. If I wanted to play a handicapped match why not just stay in regular league.

I play Masters because I want to play the best all out. Win or Loose I'm going to get better. Most of the Higher Level Players in my area don't want to give up games to begin with, that's one of the main attractions of no Skill Levels so that the Races are Even and you have to play your best, hence no Sandbagging issues.

If lower level players simply want to get better then why not just get serious, practice more, drink less, listen to their coaches, & play to win. If handicaps go up because you get better, split off and make more teams, that will create a win/win situation for everybody.

Black Cat :cool:
 
I don't see the purpose of having another handicapped division, especially one that disallows the highest skill level players from playing.

This sounds like peewee football to me


:cool:
 
DelaWho??? said:
I don't see the purpose of having another handicapped division, especially one that disallows the highest skill level players from playing.

This sounds like peewee football to me


:cool:
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This and what the other dude up there said..

format sucks imo
 
I am not critizing the apa or any of your comments. Just bouncing my thoughts off of you guys.
I played in the league with a guy who could easily turn pro if he wanted to. He has a job that pays well, so he just plays for fun. This guy tears up anyone against whom he plays. He has the highest rating in nine ball the apa allows, I think this is 9. It is no fun to play him. It is not a matter of trying to get better by playing better players. You just sit and watch this guy run rack after rack. For this reason I can see why some leagues might want to limit some players.
Another thought is that I am a six in 8 ball. I hated when other teams put of a 2 or 3 against me. I know enough about safeties to know when not to try and run out. It was no fun playing players who could only luck in shots.
 
kaznj said:
I am not critizing the apa or any of your comments. Just bouncing my thoughts off of you guys.
I played in the league with a guy who could easily turn pro if he wanted to. He has a job that pays well, so he just plays for fun. This guy tears up anyone against whom he plays. He has the highest rating in nine ball the apa allows, I think this is 9. It is no fun to play him. It is not a matter of trying to get better by playing better players. You just sit and watch this guy run rack after rack. For this reason I can see why some leagues might want to limit some players.
Another thought is that I am a six in 8 ball. I hated when other teams put of a 2 or 3 against me. I know enough about safeties to know when not to try and run out. It was no fun playing players who could only luck in shots.
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there is a lot to learn from watching someone run rack after rack. and when he does eventually miss, you must learn to take advantage and gain control of the table.
 
I live in North Pinellas County, FL and have not heard of this at any pool hall I play in. Doesn't really matter since I'm a 7 and can't play in it anyways! Doesn't really sound to appealing anyways!
 
God. The APA doesnt have a clue.

Another bastardized version of the game with apparently the sole purpose being to force teams to continually re-populate the league and pad the pockets of the APA. Do they have any interest at all in the PLAYERS wants and needs ? What the heck does the "P" in APA stand for anyway? "PROFIT" ?

It literally kills me that all we have in my area are BS APA leagues to play in. It's no wonder why league memberships are deeper in the toilet every session.
 
kaznj said:
Another thought is that I am a six in 8 ball. I hated when other teams put of a 2 or 3 against me. I know enough about safeties to know when not to try and run out. It was no fun playing players who could only luck in shots.
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How 'bout them 3's that win a match against you in VERY SHORT total innings (and you are spotting them 3 games for crying out loud)? This is what steamed my clams about the APA.

So basically what the OP is saying is that there is a new format APA league with 4's, 5's, and one SL6 on the teams? Kind of like an intermediate Masters league? Unlike some other posters on this thread, I don't see anything wrong with this idea. Like one poster said earlier, a SL7 (8-ball) could actually have the skills of a professional, pretty much assuring that THAT type of SL7 is going to win most of his/her matches. That type of player should be and should WANT to be in the Masters division. This gives the "up-and-coming" players a league to play in without having to deal with those pesky sandbagging 2's and 3's.

If you think this league is discriminating against the best APA players, then you don't have to play in it if you don't want to. You STILL have the Masters division.

Just my thoughts.

Maniac
 
That 'Artisans' format just sounds dumb. What's the point? Are they trying to fill a need where the lower SL's want to play Masters but can't hack a race to 7?
 
This is why i'm beginning to phase out of the APA.

For the same amount of money or maybe a little more ( 10ish dollars ) I can go play a double elimination format race to 7/5 against some pretty top notch competition at the local 9 ball and 8 ball tourneys.

It's that or I can go play with a bunch of skill level 3's and 4's who get lucky to run 3 or 4 balls let alone a rack.

I played in the tri-cup a couple saturdays ago. We won, I calculated the money I made and it came out to 8$ an hour....

13 hours of pool, 90ish dollars roughly a player..... seriously, who gives a f*ck?
 
larrynj1 said:
+1 what's the point???
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I can see y'alls viewpoint too!

IMO this new division would be better served if it just flat didn't let the SL2's and 3's in at all, even if they do have to play as 4's. And there shouldn't be any handicap at all.

Let's face it, a SL4, and 5 don't have a fighting chance of beating a SL7 in a non-handicapped league. Why not have an "intermediate" non-handicapped league???

The simple fact is that many players, no matter how much they practice, or take lessons, or invest in good equipment, etc., will ever be able to improve their game beyond a SL5 or 6 rating. I am one such a player (SL6), although I would rather play in a Masters league and get my head handed to me often than play in an "intermediate" Masters-type league ( I prefer to play players that typically are better than me). All I'm saying is that from an "intermediate" players standpoint, I can see where this aforementioned league could work for many players.

Maniac
 
Artisans is not an APA format!

To all who don't like the idea keep in mind this is just a local format playing in Hank's area. It is not an APA developed product and is not being promoted by the APA as an additional format. It is just something they (Hank and/ or his APA LO) came up with locally to benefit a select group of players. I do not know any other LOs running this format or trying to start it.
 
APA Gene said:
To all who don't like the idea keep in mind this is just a local format playing in Hank's area. It is not an APA developed product and is not being promoted by the APA as an additional format. It is just something they (Hank and/ or his APA LO) came up with locally to benefit a select group of players. I do not know any other LOs running this format or trying to start it.
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Understood Gene, but my question was, since Hank indicated they had a slot in the Masters division for Vegas, if they are going to get weight from the Masters Teams in Vegas and if so how can it actually be called Masters? I think I'd have to respectfully quit APA Masters if they started implementing a handicap system to the races, especially in Vegas at the National Championships. To me if it's handicapped it's the same as the regular APA leagues.
 
jdxprs said:
any format that penalizes or doesnt allow 7's to play, SUCKS imo.
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I agree and will take it a step further. Any league that has a "23 rule" or limits the total handicap of the players sucks and is nothing but a Ponzi Scheme to make Larry Hubbart and Terry Bell (or whoever else empolys this strategy) more money at the expense of the sport of Pool and the league members! JMHO
 
Yeh it's taken me a while to realize it, but i've finally begun to realize that it's much like the casinos in vegas.. the house always wins.

Don't get me wrong, I think the APA is great for pool and I think the system they use is actually quite genious in business terms.

But as a up and coming player looking to ascend to shortstop speed.. there's just nothing there for me.

I'll continue to play on my team, just not every week. I'll get my minimum amount of games in to stay elgible for the singles events etc.
 
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