Switch hitting on finals day.

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Little Aussie Battler
Silver Member
Hi Everyone.

Our finals were run and won on the weekend with first prize being a trip to vegas for the 3 man team.

It is a handicaped league with grade 1 being a new player and 18 being a master.

A interesting/disgusting sitution occured where a player on a team, playing off 2 was extremely good,

It turns out he had been playing the 16 week league left handed to be graded a 2, and switched to his natural right side on the finals.

Anyone seen or heard of something like this?

The player was put up to a 6 during the match, though the team went on to win the remaining finals matches and take the cash.
 
That's a trip. Can't trust anyone can you. If I were the league operator I would have DQ'd the whole team. They all took part in the deception. There is no place for thieves or liars in my life.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk
 
I've seen plenty of crap like that playing leagues, I'm not surprised at all.
But seriously, who's running the league? That has to be a disqualification and forfeit.
 
I've heard of "sandbagging"...but this would definitely be "handbagging"!!! ;)

p.s. I agree with the DQ comments...
 
Hi Everyone.

Our finals were run and won on the weekend with first prize being a trip to vegas for the 3 man team.

It is a handicaped league with grade 1 being a new player and 18 being a master.

A interesting/disgusting sitution occured where a player on a team, playing off 2 was extremely good,

It turns out he had been playing the 16 week league left handed to be graded a 2, and switched to his natural right side on the finals.

Anyone seen or heard of something like this?

The player was put up to a 6 during the match, though the team went on to win the remaining finals matches and take the cash.

If that happened to me I'd ask whoever runs the league to either disqualify the team for cheating or at least the player. Don't think I have ever seen anyone cheat that badly but I have seen my share of sandbaggers.
 
None of the three can be trusted. If I were matched up against any of them in a tournament or league match, I would request a referee for the entire match.
 
I did not read through the last line, the team this guy was on won? That should be a DQ for sure then. There is no way that type of crap should be allowed. If it's a national league you should contact their main offices.
 
So, this team still ended up in the top end of the league with a guy who shot like crap all session ??

How does the end of year format work. If you finish in last during our session, there is NO way you can win... you play the team next to you (knock down round) thus, only a team as low as 4 could possibly jump to first if they kick ass (and were very close to the three teams ahead of them) and the first and second place teams beat up each other.

Even then, it's only happened once or twice over 10 years....
 
Sorry, not trying to divert the thread. I personally would ban him/her. Not sure what a good length of time would be. I have no room or time for this type of crap. :(

Al
 
So what rule did he violate again? Is there a rule against playing left handed?

Yep, it's called cheating to get your rating low. If you purposefully play bad to lower your rating, it's against the rules in any league. You can play left handed all you want, if you continue to do so in the finals and maintain the same skill level you showed in other sets you played. Or if you are in a non-handicapped event. For example if you show up at the US Open and want to play left handed if you are a righty, I'm sure Orcullo will not complain much when you play him.

Here is the APA stance on it, it clearly shows that sandbagging is not allowed and if proven it will be dealt with by the league. http://www.poolplayers.com/pdf/ANTI-SANDBAGGING-MEASURES.pdf I like this rule if someone hears someone tell a player to miss on purpose "Report this type of activity to the League Office immediately. League Operators have been asked to raise every member of a team that engages in this practice at least one skill level". If you are on a team that promotes cheating, the whole team would be punished by all the levels going up at least one.

I also like the fact that the APA has asked that the league operators have committees made up of good players that review other players to make sure their know ability matches their handicap. One of the few APA rules I agree with LOL
 
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Hi Everyone.

Our finals were run and won on the weekend with first prize being a trip to vegas for the 3 man team.

It is a handicaped league with grade 1 being a new player and 18 being a master.

A interesting/disgusting sitution occured where a player on a team, playing off 2 was extremely good,

It turns out he had been playing the 16 week league left handed to be graded a 2, and switched to his natural right side on the finals.

Anyone seen or heard of something like this?

The player was put up to a 6 during the match, though the team went on to win the remaining finals matches and take the cash.

What I don't understand about guys like that is spending 16 nights deliberately playing lousy pool just so he can go to Vegas. I'm a boring old man but I'm not bored enough to waste 16 nights doing something like that. If I want to go to Vegas I can catch a flight to Vegas 7 days a week.

Aside from the unethical aspect the guy must have no life whatsoever.
 
So what rule did he violate again? Is there a rule against playing left handed?

Playing left handed is not the issue. He could have played without glasses if he needs them to see properly. It was just a way to play poorly without making errors intentionally while playing right handed. I can see that being a burden for someone trying to play bad.

He probably didn't have to think as much.
 
What was the league director's reaction, and is he/she going to do anything about it?

Does not sound like anything was done yet by the post, but I'd love to know also if anything was done, and if not, it should be and would love to hear abut the results. If the LO does nothing, every team should leave and work on making sure no other teams or players joins that league.

Don't know how the league(s) are in Australia, but there are 3 leagues that I can join within 20 miles of me that all offer a Vegas trip as a reward and plenty others that are cash local leagues. Leaving a system that ignores cheating by players would be a pleasure for me, and you can be sure every player I meet will know about it.

I almost wish I was in that league so I could report that SOB, hope he gets the reputation he deserves in the area.
 
What I don't understand about guys like that is spending 16 nights deliberately playing lousy pool just so he can go to Vegas. I'm a boring old man but I'm not bored enough to waste 16 nights doing something like that. If I want to go to Vegas I can catch a flight to Vegas 7 days a week.

Aside from the unethical aspect the guy must have no life whatsoever.

Note that the OP is from Australia, a trip to Vegas is a bit tougher for them I would guess as far as cost goes. Not that I'm saying that's a good excuse for cheating, but it's a greater incentive to. Like if you find a bag of quarters in the road vs a bag of $100 bills, there will probably be a few more seconds of debating what to do with it LOL. Not saying that the final decision will be different in your or any one else's case, but you would not be human if you did not pause to think a bit :wink:
 
Playing left handed is not the issue. He could have played without glasses if he needs them to see properly. It was just a way to play poorly without making errors intentionally while playing right handed. I can see that being a burden for someone trying to play bad.

He probably didn't have to think as much.

I agree. And thus the LO could have ruled this as "sandbagging" and just DQ'd him, would have been the right thing to do.
 
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