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Zims Rack

Zims Rack

Promoting the Cueing Arts
Silver Member
If there was a singles 8-ball league available in your area, what would you like it to contain. EXAMPLE: HCP's, night fees, league entry, mid season tourney, end of season tourney, raffles, various awards, how long of a season (weeks) would you want it to last? Things like this is what I'm curious about. Another AZBer DAN D and I ran a singles 8ball league a while back and the bar owner is wanting the league again.
Basically, I want to know what would draw you to play in this type of league?

Thanks for all inputs on this!
Zim
 
Hi Zim, they have an 8Ball league in our area that has been going for at least 25 years. Its a 4 man team Independent league ,playing as singles. It's a money league and everyone get money back at the end of the year, based on the points they accumalate. Probably the most popular league in the area.
 
We have several "team" leagues around here. I'm referring to "singles", just you and your opponent; no teammates!

Thanks,
Zim
 
1. Cash prizes
2. More cash prizes
3. Cash at the end of the league
4. Is this getting redundant?
 
The league that DAN D and I ran years ago had a pretty good payout! We ran the first session and had about 16 players. We played one night a week and had a tournament at the end. Things went so well we had around 32 players the second session (I think that's right, correct me if I'm wrong Dan). Dan has been approached by the owner of the bar and wants the Singles League back. It draws a pretty good crowd one night a week for this little establishment and is a really good time.

Zim
 
Zim...
(in no order)
1.) Low fees..dues..whatever
2.) PAYOUT
3.) Handicap system (OMG, did I say that out loud?? :confused: )
4.) Location
5.) Traveling or in-house

As far as lasting...I'd love for it to last forever, but maybe have seasonal sessions. We don't have a singles league in our area, but we used to have single tourneys on the weekends. However, this ended to do lack of commitment by the TD, lack of an establishment allowing us in (the bars kept shutting down and some of the places were just strait up shady, IMO, and there equipment wasn't the best...heck it wasn't even mediocre, LOL.
 
Zim,

1. regulation/standard equipment
2. no teams!
3. handicap: should not exist at all or beads accross the wire (not balls!) giving the better player a slight advantage
4. prizes: money or something worth money
5. a good 3 months long
6. absolutely no shot-clock and time should be allowed to warm up before the match
7. races to at least 7
8. no talking or music during match-play!
9. tournaments are always good, raffles and awards do not concern me

There you go,
I wish you success.
 
Hey Zim,

I wish I still had literature on what to consider when creating a league. From my own experiences running a league and from the feedback I received from my members, I would say there are a bunch of things you should definately have and even more you should consider based on who's in your league.

1. Handicaps - Keep them simple. They should be simple enough that it would only have to be explained once. Personally, I think a game-spot is best since you don't have to create additional rules.

2. Play-offs - Half the league should make the play-offs. Even though the 1st place guy will ask what it's worth, everyone else will appreciate it. You can seed the play-offs according to standings, even inserting a few byes as an incentive to finishing high.

3. Wildcards - You NEED wildcards. It's the only way you can keep the bottom half of your league interested. The wildcard should be a random selection.

4. Prizes - Cash and/or Entry into a national event (BCA Las Vegas in May). DO NOT give out cues. That's like giving a marathon runner sneakers. What's the point?

5. Mid-Season Tournaments - Almost no need when having an individual league UNLESS there is a change in the format (ie., Scotch Doubles).

6. Fees - That's your call. There is a direct relationship between league fees and prizes. The leagues I play in have a $35 registration and a $12 weekly green fee. The registration fee goes directly to the prize fund while the weekly fee is pocketed by the poolroom.

7. Schedule - 3 or 4 seasons a year. No more, no less. People can see 3 or 4 months down the road but often don't want to commit beyond that and you want people to commit for as much time as possible.

8. Championship Recognition - In the end you need to declare a champion and let the world know. This isn't necessarily a trophy though that's an easy solution. Some poolrooms have been known to put a banner with the champion's name and year over a table, others have a wall plaque. Photos are always good.


I hope this of some help. Please let me know if you have any questions.


Jude M. Rosenstock
 
Sanction with the BCA Leagues and send the winner to play in a singles event in either the spring or fall in Vegas ( or partially offset expenses)
 
Actually, you don't even need to be sanctioned in order to send a player to the singles event. You only need to be sanctioned if players plan on playing in the team events. I've actually investigated this little fact since my gf can't play in the BCA league in the area but plans on going with me to Las Vegas in May. She'll be able to play in the singles.
 
The singles 9 ball league that I play in used to run from mid-late September through until April or May, with a few weeks off through the Christmas season. I believe that participation went up when the league was broken into two session (Sept-Dec , Jan - April), each with it's own payouts and wind-up session/mini-tournament. The 'spring' session tends to be larger than the 'fall' session.

The league is broken into an A+, A, B, and C section, with no handicapping within a section. The winners move up, and the bottom people may be allowed to move down. It seems to work here.

Good luck with your endeavors,

Dave

As a note to SNIPER if he's reading this thread, I see where Steve Cherowick (sp?) is the top dog in one of the VNEA Masters sections in Calgary. A few years back he was in the top part of the A+ 9 ball league I mention above, but he didn't win it ... just to put some perspective on our league using an example of someone you may have seen. Steve also placed very high (2nd, 3rd ?) in the US Bar Box Championship last year or the year before ...
 
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