Thinking of joining an APA Master league

S

SilverCue

Sir Raksalot
Silver Member
I've never played APA but I'm probably at least a 6 at 8 ball.
This is based on several APA players I've played against.
Creamed the 6's and went back and forth with the 7s.
I have all the knowledge I need to step up my game to the next level.

How strong do you need to play to enter a Master APA league?

I've placed 1st in the last 2 seasons at my local Moose league.
 
SilverCue said:
I've never played APA but I'm probably at least a 6 at 8 ball.
This is based on several APA players I've played against.
Creamed the 6's and went back and forth with the 7s.
I have all the knowledge I need to step up my game to the next level.

How strong do you need to play to enter a Master APA league?

I've placed 1st in the last 2 seasons at my local Moose league.
Click to expand...

if a masters division is available in your area by all means go for it. apa masters is the closest thing to "real pool " any league out there offers.

non handicapped race to 7
push outs allowed
jump cues allowed

if you cream 6's as you say ...you will be some what competitive in masters. since 7 is the highest handicap in apa 8 ball you will encounter players from a c+ all the way up to semi pro level depending on your area.

i am only a 5 but i play masters. we went from playing wvery sunday the 1st session i played down to every other sunday and then this session we went to only once a month.....due to low turnout. not very many people want to play a non handicapped race to 7.

this past sunday i played 3 matches ....we play 2 matches when we play but i played a 3rd which was a make up.

my 1st match was vs a 7/8 and i lost 7-1. he won the lag and chose 9 ball....my weak game. we never made it to 8 ball since you play 8 - 9 ball matches and 5 - 8 ball matches. he shot great and i shot poorly.....bad combination lol.

2nd match i played a 7/7 and won the lag and chose 8 ball. i won 8 ball 4-1 and won 9 ball 3-2 for a total of 7-3 win.

my 3rd match i faced the same 7/8 i did in my 1st match. i won the lag and chose 8 ball. i won 8 ball 3-2 and lost 9 ball 2-5 for a 7-5 loss. i shot a lot better this time around and made it a lot closer match.

i wish we played masters more than once a month because i feel it really helps my game.

i play double jeapordy on sunday nights and we start an hour or 2 after masters. i was still in stroke and beat a 6 38-28 in 9 ball that night. did not play 8 ball that night.
 
In my APA masters league there is quite a wide range of skill levels. There are plenty of SL5 and SL6 players. So someone coming in as a SL6 is not going to get blown away every week unless they keep getting matched up against the top talent.

Masters APA offers a lot easier scoring and playing against more serious players. And you don't have the rule of 23 nonsense and headache of giving weight. So I definitely recommend it.

I'm currently playing masters one night and handicap another night.
 
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Thanks for explaining how it works.
I thought it was just 8 or 9, not both.
Is standard APA also mixed?

I used to play both before I quit back in 1997 but since I started back in 2014, I've only played about a dozen games of 9 ball.

I mostly play 8 ball at the senior center or Moose lodge.

Guess I need to practice some 9 ball 1st :)
 
What part of Maryland are you looking to play Masters? Maryland has one of the largest Masters league programs in the country. They have several leagues out of Baltimore, Frederick and Hagerstown area. Plenty of competition.. I personally think its the best format the APA {or any league} offers.
 
I assume the format of APA masters is consistent across the country.

You lag for break. Winner chooses either the starting game (8ball or 9ball) or chooses the break.

If you play 8ball first, you play 5 games. Then you play 9ball until someone gets to 7 wins.

If you play 9ball first, you play until someone gets to 7 wins, but you play a maximum of 8 9ball games. If there is no winner you switch to 8ball and continue until someone gets to 7 wins.

If a match goes hill-hill you will have played five 8ball games and eight 9ball games.

No coaching timeouts; no handicaps; push out ok; jump cues ok.
 
SilverCue said:
I've never played APA but I'm probably at least a 6 at 8 ball.
This is based on several APA players I've played against.
Creamed the 6's and went back and forth with the 7s.
I have all the knowledge I need to step up my game to the next level.

How strong do you need to play to enter a Master APA league?

I've placed 1st in the last 2 seasons at my local Moose league.
Click to expand...

As mentioned, the Baltimore area masters is very strong. Its mostly the pool hall crowd not so much the " regular leaguers ". No idea how you play but by your description you prob wouldn't get laughed off the table and if nothing else it would help you get better playing the caliber of players in this league.
 
BmoreMoney said:
As mentioned, the Baltimore area masters is very strong. Its mostly the pool hall crowd not so much the " regular leaguers ". No idea how you play but by your description you prob wouldn't get laughed off the table and if nothing else it would help you get better playing the caliber of players in this league.
Click to expand...
Baltimore is quite a haul for me I live down in Waldorf Thanks

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
 
SilverCue said:
Baltimore is quite a haul for me I live down in Waldorf Thanks

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Can't remember the name but is that pool hall still open in Waldorf? Also I was just thru there a few weeks ago and was trying to remember the name of a restaurant and wondering if it was still there. It was either on route 4or 5, I believe it was in st Marys county, it was the old restaurant that had all those slot machines that had been grandfathered in since the 50's or something.
 
Howards on Rt5/301 north waldorf. Butch's room. He passed away some time ago. I think it is closed now.

Don't remember the restaurant with slot machines though.


BmoreMoney said:
Can't remember the name but is that pool hall still open in Waldorf? Also I was just thru there a few weeks ago and was trying to remember the name of a restaurant and wondering if it was still there. It was either on route 4or 5, I believe it was in st Marys county, it was the old restaurant that had all those slot machines that had been grandfathered in since the 50's or something.
Click to expand...
 
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