TAP League

42NateBaller

42NateBaller

AKA "Drambuie Dave"
Silver Member
I'm seriously thinking about joining a TAP 8-ball League next session. It's pretty new to our area. I've played mostly APA and ACS/BCA, so I'd like to better understand the differences between TAP and the others. Also, what should I look for in TAP sandbaggers?

Thanks!
 
The main differences are:

-Team handicap count is 25, not 23

-The table is always open after the break

-all players get 2 timeouts (check local bylaws)

-call ball and pocket, no slop

Otherwise, it's similar to APA rules. And as far as baggers, I've seen 6/7 speed players playing as 4's and 5's in both leagues, locally and nationally.

If it's a handicap league, there will always be people trying to cheat the system.
 
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There will always be sandbaggers in pool I think they used to call them hustlers.... The difference, if any ,is the sandbagger is in a league....
Dan
 
Skess said:
The main differences are:

-Team handicap count is 25, not 23

-The table is always open after the break

-all players get 2 timeouts (check local bylaws)

-call ball and pocket, no slop

Otherwise, it's similar to APA rules. And as far as baggers, I've seen 6/7 speed players playing as 4's and 5's in both leagues, locally and nationally.

If it's a handicap league, there will always be people trying to cheat the system.
Click to expand...

As far as the handicaps, they are not equal; I was an APA SL5 playing as a Tap SL3, competing against an APA SL6 who was a Tap SL4.

Usually SLs are one and more below from APA to TAP. In fact, when we switched, out TAP operator took our APA SLs and moved us down one to start with for out TAP league.

Don't forget the very useful and handy "Safe ball down" rule where you can call safe, pocket one of your own balls, and leave your opponent to shoot. Comes up a lot.

Nice thing about TAP is how easy it is to keep a team intact. I've been shooting APA with the same guys for years now, and NOBODY except for one player is a ringer in any sense of the word; nobody is going to sneak up on someone and blast them running racks. Yet, we still have a hard time fielding a team. It's frustrating with APA. TAP, never happens.

Plus...you avoid long nights...shorter races+better skilled shooters= a short and sweet night.
 
As far as the handicaps, they are not equal; I was an APA SL5 playing as a Tap SL3, competing against an APA SL6 who was a Tap SL4.

Usually SLs are one and more below from APA to TAP. In fact, when we switched, out TAP operator took our APA SLs and moved us down one to start with for out TAP league.
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Yeah, I forgot to mention that. We have solid to strong 4's on my TAP team that have won MVP's as 6's in APA. Yet in TAP, they are competitive week to week, but hardly a guaranteed win.

Don't forget the very useful and handy "Safe ball down" rule where you can call safe, pocket one of your own balls, and leave your opponent to shoot. Comes up a lot.
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This does come up more often than you would think. I used it 2 or 3 times in my match last night.
 
One big diff between TAP and APA is the scoring - it's MUCH more detailed. And that helps keep sandbagging down - the APA scoring system is much more abusable.
 
Our entire APA division switched over to TAP this session and have been very happy with the differences in the rules. For most people here it was not really about the rules but the differences in the two league operators that have made a difference so far. The LO for TAP really seems be listen the the concerns of the players while the LO for APA just seemed to care about collecting his money and not listening to any concerns. The differences in the rules have already been pointed out by most on here so I think that you might try to find out more about the two LO as they can make it a a good league no matter what the rules are.
 
gman_tx said:
Our entire APA division switched over to TAP this session and have been very happy with the differences in the rules. For most people here it was not really about the rules but the differences in the two league operators that have made a difference so far. The LO for TAP really seems be listen the the concerns of the players while the LO for APA just seemed to care about collecting his money and not listening to any concerns. The differences in the rules have already been pointed out by most on here so I think that you might try to find out more about the two LO as they can make it a a good league no matter what the rules are.
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I'd consider that more of a difference between the two LOs as people, not so much the national leagues they operate under. Somewhere else the completely opposite could be true - the TAP LO is a weasel and the APA LO a saint among men. *shrug*
 
TAP scoring

Here's a scoresheet we use in our league. Completions-misses-defense-made on break-early 8-break and run[my fav.]-8 on break-dead balls-won-lost.upper left corner is the race format.Every shot is recorded.Your rating isn't just about your win/loss ratio.Misses,safeties and balls left on table play a big part. If you sandbag on a regular basis you will lose games to lower players. It's real easy to lose quickly.If you lose to many you don't go to nationals. So sandbag all you want. It will catch up to you.
One great thing about TAP nationals is you stay at the rating you came with. You can't be rerated by another team filing a protest like APA [which IMO encourages sandbagging]. The TAP national association calculates your data every 4-6 weeks and you go up or down accordingly or your league manager can request an audit for obvious reasons.
BTW having a 7 rating puts a huge target on your ass. I think I'm going down to a 6 soon.Have fun Don:cool: oops image to small. Sorry
 

Attachments

Tap League

one thing to consider is that APA HAS 700 teams at nationals and Tap only has 150 and the payout for the winner is just about the same.so your chance of winning is extremely higher. also we have whats called titleholders what that is after every session two or three areas get together and all teams that finish 1st,2nd or 3rd play in thier respective brackets(all 1st place teams only play other 1st place teams from other areas and 2nd and 3rd the payout is usually $3500 for 1st $2500 for 2nd and $1000 for 3rd but all areas are different depending on how big they are. also one rule to remember is Tap plays first called ball.so if you shoot and call a ball in and scratch you have them balls!:D :D
 
Thanks everyone! And ...

Thanks for all the good insight. Just to clarify, I'm not looking to sandbag. I'm looking for ways to identify sandbaggers. What would be their tactics?

In the APA, I'm a 6/7 (bouncing). When I play a sandbagging SL4, I just keep the innings down to 3 or less. If they want to win, they're going to have to step it up. Sometimes they do step up in order to get the win. When they do, they usually go up a SL. It's kind of a way to trap sandbaggers and get them up to where they should be.

The group I'll be bringing over are all APA SLs 5 - 7. What I've heard so far is that because this is a new league, there several known players that aren't showing their true speed.
 
42NateBaller said:
Thanks for all the good insight. Just to clarify, I'm not looking to sandbag. I'm looking for ways to identify sandbaggers. What would be their tactics?

In the APA, I'm a 6/7 (bouncing). When I play a sandbagging SL4, I just keep the innings down to 3 or less. If they want to win, they're going to have to step it up. Sometimes they do step up in order to get the win. When they do, they usually go up a SL. It's kind of a way to trap sandbaggers and get them up to where they should be.

The group I'll be bringing over are all APA SLs 5 - 7. What I've heard so far is that because this is a new league, there several known players that aren't showing their true speed.
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If you or your LO know what speed these players should be, the LO can use the known player rule and assign them a number. If you're a 6/7 speed in APA, have your LO make you a TAP 6. Play your way up or down from there.

As always, there will be players that fall on the line between a couple numbers. Try to get them as close as possible to their true number and let things play out. As long as you're making an honest effort, nobody should give you any garbage about it.
 
Gregg said:
As far as the handicaps, they are not equal; I was an APA SL5 playing as a Tap SL3, competing against an APA SL6 who was a Tap SL4.

Usually SLs are one and more below from APA to TAP. In fact, when we switched, out TAP operator took our APA SLs and moved us down one to start with for out TAP league.

Don't forget the very useful and handy "Safe ball down" rule where you can call safe, pocket one of your own balls, and leave your opponent to shoot. Comes up a lot.

Nice thing about TAP is how easy it is to keep a team intact. I've been shooting APA with the same guys for years now, and NOBODY except for one player is a ringer in any sense of the word; nobody is going to sneak up on someone and blast them running racks. Yet, we still have a hard time fielding a team. It's frustrating with APA. TAP, never happens.

Plus...you avoid long nights...shorter races+better skilled shooters= a short and sweet night.
Click to expand...

Just a quick question for ya, if your apa 5's are TAP 3's, what are ur 2 n 3's in apa handicaps in TAP?

Biz
 
poolbiz420 said:
Just a quick question for ya, if your apa 5's are TAP 3's, what are ur 2 n 3's in apa handicaps in TAP?
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The handicap range is the same (IIRC) so no one can go lower than a 2. :P
 
Poolbiz raises a good question. If I am a 6 on bar table 8 ball APA and I play a 3, I give 3 games on the wire. If I play a 2 I give 4 games. Now, in the TAP if I am lowered to a 5 and the 2 stays the same, I am now giving that player only 3 games. I made up a game by joining the TAP. That is assuming, as I was told, that the TAP leagues tend to lower players ranking. I am considering switching from APA to TAP because I don't like the way everyone's rating goes up and down from week to week. I can't field a team because one week I am liable to have too many high ranking.
 
poolbiz420 said:
Just a quick question for ya, if your apa 5's are TAP 3's, what are ur 2 n 3's in apa handicaps in TAP?

Biz
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As said, yes, SL2 is still the lowest rating you can have. SL2, like an SL7, can have a very broad range of skill levels.

You could have a top local shortstop playing as an SL7, or really a guy who should be a SL6.

Likewise, you have SL2s who can't make a ball to save thier life, or an SL2 who can run three or four balls regularly who should be a SL3.

IMO from what I have seen in my local area (your area may differ) the SL2 in TAP would flat out smoke a SL2 APAer.

Most TAP shooters even SL2s seem to have a few years experience.

And, they don't hand out SL7 for TAP too often; I was at a money tournament, with about 25 top qualifying teams, and on the team list there were a total of three SL7. Thank goodness one of them was on our team. And yes, he could shoot lights out.
 
Tap Money

Earlier someone said that the TAP payout and the APA payout were almost the same? Can anyone say how much TAP paid for 1st place at this years nationals? Also, I know that APA paid out over a million dollars at their National Tournament in August, what was TAP's total payout? I can not believe that with so many less teams that they could be anywhere close to the same. One more thing, How much did it cost to enter the TAP national tournament? I heard $700 and APA is $250. That is quite a difference.
 
I just went to the TAP website, to see if there are leagues in my area...
I clicked the link and it brought up what looks to be a link to an email address.
But the page wouldn't load...
is there any other way to find out what pool rooms or bars have TAP Leagues?
 
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