Unknown APA rule enforced at LC

TheNewSharkster

TheNewSharkster

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just got back from Lincoln City. They put on a great tourny. I did run into a interesting rule I had never heard of before.

I lagged with my opponent. I admit I am not a quick lagger. I get into my stance and like to do a couple practice strokes. I am just about to pull the trigger and my opponent gets down and lags. I lag a second or two behind him. Not so much as to gauge the speed of his lag.

I leave the ball about an inch from the rail. My opponent declares my lag illegal. I asked why and he explains that I need to start my lag before his ball contacts the bottom rail. Apparently I didn't do that (it must have been close though). I told him I have read the manual and played APA for years and that I knew it wasn't a rule. I call over the ref.

The ref says it is the rule and that we must re-lag. Fine no problem. However, I was curious how many undocumented rules were being enforced.

So after my match I went and asked the LO for clarification. She explained that some people will wait to see how close the lag will be and abuse the system and that the rules do say both players lag at the same time. She also told me this is enforced at vegas.

That is fine with me. I agree with the logic. I do not agree with something like that not being in the rule book or the bye laws.
 
This came up in another thread today. It's a WPA rule for sure I'm not sure about the APA though.


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Not sure where it's at, but I do know of it. Hope you did well and enjoyed the weather out there.
 
The APA is where I first heard this rule. Makes sense in that one person shouldn't be able to wait and then lag in reaction to how well the first person lagged, but all it would do is force the players to lag again. I don't remember if it was in the rulebook, maybe i still have the old captain's manual around here somewhere.

Regardless, remember that this is the same league where the "lay your cue on the table and lift it to avoid a double hit" method is acceptable. It's full of stupid rules.
 
I think it is a good 'common sense' rule for lagging.

It's akin to 'common law' in the courts.....it's too unwieldy to have
everything covered by statutes...we'd need a wheelbarrow to carry
around the rule book.
 
Have any of you ever lagged against someone who's big ass took up the entire table and left you no space? Maybe this is a local rule? I've read that team manual front to back several times, I've been to the NTC in Las Vegas several times in several different capacities. I've never heard of this rule before, never seen it called and certainly never seen it enforced. That being said, no one ever tells me anything, so it's reasonable that I may have totally missed this one.
 
So I have to rush my shot because the other player bends over and hits it quick? It's a nit league rule that I personally would never call..but then again I don't need silly stuff like that to win.
 
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The rules state you have to lag "simultaneously". There is nothing in the rules about needing to hit your ball before opponents ball hits end rail. You got bs'ed by a sore loser...I mean lagger.
 
trob said:
So I have to rush my shot because the other player bends over and hits it quick? It's a nit league rule that I personally would never call..but then again I don't need silly stuff like that to win.
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It's not a league rule it's in the WPA rules.


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PETROBOY said:
It's not a league rule it's in the WPA rules.


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it was an apa rule in this instance that in 25 years of playing I've never heard called in any league or tournament lol I agree with the above poster...it's a sore lagger haha
 
The APA rule book needs to be revised. There are tons of "grey areas" that are results of players bending and twisting the rules.
 
The rules of pool should be the same all across the board, no matter what league or tournament you play in. I also never seen this rule enforced in anything I have played in, but I knew the rule. It depends on the situation if the player was a little slow in hitting then no but if he waits for the other guys ball to stop and see what he has to beat then yes it should be called.


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PETROBOY said:
The rules of pool should be the same all across the board, no matter what league or tournament you play in. I also never seen this rule enforced in anything I have played in, but I knew the rule. It depends on the situation if the player was a little slow in hitting then no but if he waits for the other guys ball to stop and see what he has to beat then yes it should be called.


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In my case it didn't make a difference if I was waiting for him to lag or not. I left the ball an inch from the rail. Now that I have had time to reflect on this I think he was being a nit.
 
The Saw said:
Let the big guys lag from the left side if they're righty's. Problem solved.
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Anyone who would call this a foul would invariably have a huge ass and would always plant themselves on the left side of the table and refuse to move. Not their lucky side and like that...
 
trob said:
So I have to rush my shot because the other player bends over and hits it quick? It's a nit league rule that I personally would never call..but then again I don't need silly stuff like that to win.
Click to expand...

That's not just a league rule, if the guy shoots too fast just wait and tell him you were not ready or simply hit your lag whenever and see if they say anything.

Although if they wait to see who won the lag and THEN say something, I'd be a bit suspicious about the timing. If someone waited to lag till after I did and I wanted to re-do it due to the rule, I'd say something before the balls stopped rolling not afterward. I'd just hit my ball away and say "lets do it again the right way".
 
We have a guy in our APA league that takes the "simultaneous" definition a little too far. The first time I played him, he looked at me before the lag and asked, "do you want me to count, or will you?" I didn't know what he was talking about, but my teammates said that he thinks you have to lag at the exact same moment. So he starts counting, "1, 2, 3."
The next time he does this, I'm going to offer to count and count to 10. See if he hits it on 3, then I'll just keep counting to 10 and hit mine then...:thumbup:
 
Yes, my curiosity got the best of me, so I addressed this with the folks in St. Louis. The OP was treated like a tourist and the guy he played was treated to a little home town cookin'. This ain't a rule. I hope in the end you smoked that cheatin' bastage.
 
It all it takes to disqualify the other guys lag is to hit the end rail before he shoots... lag with break speed.
 
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