Why do you play in your pool league?

APA - See people I've known for years through league, get extra play time, chance to play in singles, help lower players, some other things

BCA - get free table time for the night, better competition, more regular matching-up after it's over, my one night a week to play on the big tables, more friends and people I know there
 
blah blah said:
I ask myself this not only every season, but every play night.

It comes down to both: 1. I really like my teammates, and 2. I really like annual summer vacations in Vegas for the BCA Nationals.

We're a strong team of seasoned tourney players in a league of mostly bar players who are only there for the laughs and the booze. And for the drama. The endless petty he said she said namedrop namedrop what's the rule on that pool is supposed to be fun let's call the Board we need another vote and we demand a rematch praise the league president you guys just don't know how to have fun freaking drama.

We found when we took a season off, though, that we just didn't get out together anymore. So we're back, doing it again.

If my team ever started in-fighting, or if the BCAPL Nationals changed to a date where I couldn't get to go, I'd quit league in a mobile minute.
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Capt', here - yes LOVE MY TEAMMATES - for me that's the primary reason. How rare is it that you can get 8, yes EIGHT women together and have a great time, doing what we all love to do. It is something that I really look forward to - shooting, maybe a bit of drinking and lots of awesome camaraderie. Secondary, I believe that league is a really good practice for other tournaments. Where else could you possibly get so much practice at not letting distractions ruin your game or the often ridiculous accusations and comments incite you to a level of frustration you are actually ashamed to admit to. lol. Our team is very competitive, not with each other, but we are a force to be reckoned with. We like to win, but we strive to present our opponents with a fair, fun match, and to represent our homeroom proudly and hopefully to affect attitudes of opponents that are not necessary or conducive to advancing their games or team play. Often tough to be an ambassador for the cause, in which case - we turn to each other :) Let's just play pool!
 
I'm not given a choice. My friends put me on their roster whether I want to play or not. I show up most of the time because they are great people and we have fun. I would never sign up on my own because I don't particularly like bar table pool.
 
I play in an English 8 ball league here. 5 man team and were all good buddies which is the only reason I play.

We can all play, and compete against the best teams, but that has more down sides than up sides. We don't see each other nearly as much as we should. Wives, jobs and kids kinda get in the way of that! So this is our one chance a week to hang out and have a few beers.

The last 3 matches we've played have been against teams that love nothing more than taking 5 minutes discussing a shot, then the next 2 minutes walking around the table. 1 game of 8 ball takes an average of 10 minutes. 10 minutes! The standard is high so its rare you get more than 1 visit to the table, so why should it take 10 minutes to put 8 balls into 6 holes? The fun has been zapped out of it and the *****ing that goes on between grown men is embarrassing.

Next season we are dropping out and entering as a new team. It means going from division 1 all the way down to division 17. But the teams down there are like us, they play for fun. Honestly can't wait for next season.
 
Pool is fun to play. Extremely fun to play. I like to have fun. I like people. I like to make new friends/acquaintances. Reclining chairs can be bad for your health if you overuse them. I have a pool table at home. I live there with only my wife to play pool with. I need to play pool with people other than my wife (as much as I enjoy playing her, it does become tiresome to have the same opponent day-in, day-out). So, that said, pool leagues are a natural fit for me. Gets me out of the reclining chair and into a pool hall where I can meet new people and shoot pool with someone other than my wife. Win or lose, I still have fun with it.

I am not a competitive person at heart. I play for the fun of the game itself. Sure, I like to win, but winning is not what drives me. It's the camaraderie, the fellowship of human interaction that I enjoy. I told my Straight Pool League Operator last week that although I was new to his league, I thought he had me handicapped to low, that he should probably raise me (which he did) so there would be no conflict with other players. I told him that I was there to have fun, meet new friends, have a cold drink and shoot some pool. I told him that I didn't care about the winning and losing aspects of it.

IOW, I have never, nor will I ever take pool league seriously. Would I be a good teammate? I never had any complaints in 8 years of league play. I still try my hardest to win, it's just that in the grand scheme of things it matters not either way to me.

YMMV.

Maniac
















i
 
Maniac said:
Pool is fun to play. Extremely fun to play. I like to have fun. I like people. I like to make new friends/acquaintances. Reclining chairs can be bad for your health if you overuse them. I have a pool table at home. I live there with only my wife to play pool with. I need to play pool with people other than my wife (as much as I enjoy playing her, it does become tiresome to have the same opponent day-in, day-out). So, that said, pool leagues are a natural fit for me. Gets me out of the reclining chair and into a pool hall where I can meet new people and shoot pool with someone other than my wife. Win or lose, I still have fun with it.

I am not a competitive person at heart. I play for the fun of the game itself. Sure, I like to win, but winning is not what drives me. It's the camaraderie, the fellowship of human interaction that I enjoy. I told my Straight Pool League Operator last week that although I was new to his league, I thought he had me handicapped to low, that he should probably raise me (which he did) so there would be no conflict with other players. I told him that I was there to have fun, meet new friends, have a cold drink and shoot some pool. I told him that I didn't care about the winning and losing aspects of it.

IOW, I have never, nor will I ever take pool league seriously. Would I be a good teammate? I never had any complaints in 8 years of league play. I still try my hardest to win, it's just that in the grand scheme of things it matters not either way to me.

YMMV.

Maniac
















i
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Does it make you a good team mate? I'd have you on my team any day of the week.
Unless you intend to play this game for a living there is no need to take the game too seriously. Even when you play for money. Some of the best money matches I've had have been where I've lost, but I've had fun doing it.
I see it as a social sport and should be played as such.
 
I think many play leagues because it's a requirement for them to do so if they want to qualify to play nationals where the bigger money is at. One of them being me.
 
i play in 3 leagues.

apa; i play in 3 divisions.

tue night.... a fun night out where we all laugh when we miss easy shots, usually they laughing at me.

fri night scotch doubles. run by the same captain as my tue night team. fun night with my gf.

sun night double jeapordy. team i am captain of. wanna be serious team. finished 2nd in 8 ball cities and automatically qualified for next years cities. went to vegas in 9 ball this year.i say wanna be serious because i have trouble keeping good low level players. maybe too serious ? i dunno ?

bcapl points based money league. with the open break rules it makes me think i am a better player than i really am. love getting those break and runs at least one every night. :smile:

nap league. no b.s. , no drama. just play serious pool every week. best run league in town in my opinion.i am captain of the team here also.

in other words i just like playing pool and have no problem playing in any league as long as every body goes by the same rules.
 
Wish I could...

Mikey Town said:
Is it for fun and relaxation?
Is it because you want (or need) to win?
Do you only have fun while you are winning, or are you able to have a good time with your friends/teammates regardless of the outcome of the matches?

I am in a BCA league with a few friends... It's bar box 8-ball, only 7 teams in the league. I joined so I could spend one night a week having some fun with a good group of friends. We are a fairly strong team that has a pretty good chance to win the league, but that doesn't mean all that much to me. Splitting $1500 between 5-6 people for a league win doesn't exactly get my "juices flowing," if you know what I mean. Over the course of 12 weeks, and after paying $10/week, it kind of turns into pocket change in the grand scheme of things.

I digress...

The reason that I bring up the question is because a couple of my teammates are really competitive (one more so than the other) and they place their main focus on winning. When this was brought up in conversation, I was told that "winning is fun" so when we win, they do have fun. I said something along the lines of "Anyone can have fun when they win, but your true character shows when you loose." I was then met with a very clever response of, "No it doesn't."

The thing is... these guys are pool players. For me, pool is what I do when I am not on the golf course, so it's not my primary competitive outlet. Maybe that is why we feel differently about this. However, if I loose on the golf course, I'm still able to have a good time, so maybe we just aren't on the same page when it comes to this.

I would love to get the forum's take on this and see why you all play in the pool leagues that you are a part of. Is winning really that important to you, or is it an added bonus to the good time you are already having?


Looking forward to your thoughts...[/QUOTE

Since 1966, I've played over 70 seasons in various pool leagues. The main reason I enjoyed it was that you get to share the joy of success with your teammates. Another is that you can improve with the help of your teammates.

I don't play league now because there's only one league system in my area and I don't care for it.
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rellek said:
I play pool league because I like the competition, and there are no pool halls around here, only bars. If I am going to play in a bar there might as well be rules involved.
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lol

I was just in Cedar Rapids this weekend at 2nd Ave Corner Pocket. What a nice place! 3 9' Diamonds, 8 Valleys, all with simonis. Michelle even worked the tables as well as behind the bar, getting drinks, etc. In a pool hall...good service! wow!

(It's just a few blocks west of the river.)

fyi,


Jeff Livingston
 
I quit league when I asked myself the same question.

I typed up the positives of shooting league and the negatives... the negatives far outweighed the positives.
 
I've played regularly for about 25 years around here in almost all of the, now 11 or 12, leagues (lucky us, eh?)

I start a new season tomorrow night. Here's my reasons:


I get out of the house ("get the stink off")

I get to compete with a variety of playing styles

It's an excuse to drink (& another chance to get in trouble)

Friendship

Bullcrap is fun sometimes...better than Idol

I get to qualify for bigger venues and those are real challenges for my level of play.

I get to visit strange little bars that I'd have never even known existed and meet new folks

It's fun fun fun

Ditto all the others' reasons.


Jeff Livingston
 
I play league only because my wife JuicyGirl wants to play in league. I like playing pool, and I'm moderately good at times. But playing in a league seems like a drag at moments. I'm spending 5-6 hours at a pool hall to get a half hour to hour of play time in. Lately been playing double jeopardy league (both 8 + 9 ball same night) which helps.
 
For decades, winning was key to my enjoyment of the Green Game. While I could tolerate a certain level of losing, too much losing caused clinical depression. During those years, my mind was "on the table" - that is, all of my focus was on following the concept of "playing the table".

These last few years, my attitude has modified somewhat. Now, I play "above the table". Each table layout is evaluated as if looking down on a chess board. Each analysis includes the following factors: table conditions, ball layout, my competence, my opponent's competence.

From these factors, I can develop a wide variety of playing options. These vary from "total offense" at one end and "total defense" on the other. In between these two are the two-way options.

Now my rationale and pleasure of the game is in how well playing decisions are executed.
 
Winning isn't everything or more to along your line of thought. It isn't whether you win or lose, its how you play the game.

I have always put more emphasis on putting a team together that gets along with each other and has a good time before playing ability. I have just been lucky that I have gotten both for the last three seasons. And we are still together. We won a Vegas Trip last year. We paid our dues and it was finally our turn.

A couple of years ago, I fired one player off the team on his first night out. He proceeded to drink 25 Irish Whiskeys, take high percentage shots instead of obvious
shots over a pocket. Then as drunk as he was, he started talking snotty to our opponents and our team. I told him that he was playing for the team and not himself
and to save his fancy shots for practice. Then I said, Good Night.


We are very competitive but don't lose any sleep over losing a night or two.
One of us usually forgets to bring our game with us and leaves it at home. We are strong enuff to be able to cover for a player for one night so no biggy.

Other than that, its a sociable evening out which also includes beer and wings for me. Its a requisite.
 
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