Overview of the APA
Cost
There is a annual fee to join the APA (currently $20.). This fee makes you a member of the APA and allows you to play in any APA league anywhere in the country.
The cost of weekly play averages about $10. per night, which includes league fees and table time. At Diamond Eight, practice before league play is included.
How Weekly Play Works
Each team has five to eight players. Five players play on league night (once a week). Captains flip a coin to decide who will “put up” first. The winner of the coin flip then names a player to play the first match. The other captain then names a player who he or she thinks can defeat that player. The captain takes the handicaps of both players into account, as well as other factors (who is available that night, who is shooting well, who has to leave early, etc.) . The two players play their match to their handicaps. In 8-Ball, for example, a player with a skill level of 5 would have to win 4 games before his/her opponent, who is a skill level 3, wins 2 games. Two skill level 4s would race to 3 games. In 9-Ball, the race is to a number of balls pocketed. (Each ball is worth 1 point, with the 9-ball worth 2 points. Each rack, then, is worth 10 points.) A skill level 3 would have to make 25 points before a skill level 4 made 31 points.
After the first match is over, the second captain then names a player for the second match. Captains alternate naming players for each match.
Five matches are played in 8-Ball and 9-Ball. Teams “win the night” in 8-Ball if they win at least 3 matches (each match is worth 1 point in the team standings). In 9-Ball, teams are victorious if they win 51 points (out of a possible 100 points; each match is worth 20 points). Teams can tie 50-50; then the winning team is the one that won 3 out of the 5 matches.
The Rules
The rules only vary slightly from what you may be used to playing in a bar. Some of the major highlights are listed below. You can read the rule book at the APA web site.
- Fouls result in “ball-in-hand” - the incoming player can place the cue ball anywhere on the table. A foul is a scratch, hitting or moving the cue ball illegally, or if the shooter fails to hit his object ball first or, if after contact, no balls are pocketed or hit a rail.
- Scratch on the break is ball-in-hand “behind the line” (in the kitchen).
- 8-Ball on the break is a win
- 8-Ball on the break and scratch is a loss of game
