American Poolplayers Association
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The American Poolplayers Association (APA) was founded in 1981, although with roots dating back to the National Pool League (founded in 1979), . The APA conducts a system of franchised-based local amateur leagues of pool competition, including both eight-ball and nine-ball, with a unified APA ruleset, and hosts regional tournaments the winners of which qualify for the national tournament played in Las Vegas, Nevada
The APA employes a handicapping system call the "Equalizer" that allows players of all ability to compete on an equal basis. These systems are explained below for both 9-ball and 8-ball.
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[edit] 9-Ball Equalizer
In APA 9-ball, two players compete until one person reaches a score determined by their respective skill level. The scoring is recorded by awarding a single point for potting the balls numbered 1 through 8 and two points for the 9-ball. For example, if Player A breaks and makes two balls on the break (not including the 9-ball), that player would have 2 points for the rack and continue shooting. If the player "runs the table" (makes all the balls without missing), they score 10 points for the rack (the maximum) as they would have scored 8 points for the balls 1 through 8 and then 2 for the 9-ball.
The match ends when a player reaches the number required for their respective skill level. The table below lists the number of balls needed for a player of each skill level to win their match.
| Skill Level | Points needed to win match |
|---|---|
| 1 | 14 |
| 2 | 19 |
| 3 | 25 |
| 4 | 31 |
| 5 | 38 |
| 6 | 46 |
| 7 | 55 |
| 8 | 65 |
| 9 | 75 |
As the table indicates, the lowest skill level in APA 9-ball is a "1" while the highest skill level is a "9".
Using the table above, you can see that if Player A is rated a "2" and plays Player B who is rated a "6", then Player A wins if he scores 19 points before Player B scores 46 points. Conversely, for Player B to win the match, he must score 46 points before Player A scores 19 points.
As APA 9-ball is based on points and not games won (for example BCA 9-ball is based on games won where the winner of each game is the player potting the 9-ball), a match can end before all the balls of a given rack have been potted. Using the previous Player A (Skill Level 2) vs. Player B (Skill Level 6) example, let's say that the Player B is breaking a new rack leading 44-16. In this case, Player A needs 3 points to win and Player B needs 2 points to win. The match is over at the point where either player acquires the needed points to win regardless of balls still remaining on the table.
[edit] 8-Ball Equalizer
In APA 8-ball, two players compete until one person wins the number of games determined by their respective skill level. The following table illustrates the number of games needed to be won by each skill level depending on the skill level of their opponent.
| Skill | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2/2 | 2/3 | 2/4 | 2/5 | 2/6 | 2/7 |
| 3 | 3/2 | 2/2 | 2/3 | 2/4 | 2/5 | 2/6 |
| 4 | 4/2 | 3/2 | 3/3 | 3/4 | 3/5 | 2/5 |
| 5 | 5/2 | 4/2 | 4/3 | 4/4 | 4/5 | 3/5 |
| 6 | 6/2 | 5/2 | 5/3 | 5/4 | 5/5 | 4/5 |
| 7 | 7/2 | 6/2 | 5/2 | 5/3 | 5/4 | 5/5 |
As you can see, the lowest skill level in APA 8-ball is a level "2" while the highest is a level "7".
As an example to illustrate how to read the table, let's say that Player A is a "2" and Player B is a "6". First locate the row for skill level "2". Then moving across until you find the column for skill level "6", you can see that the "race" will be 2-6; meaning the match ends when either Player A wins 2 games or Player B wins 6 games.
[edit] Affiliations
- The APA has an affiliate in Canada known as the Canadian Poolplayers Association (CPA).
- APA is a major sponsor of the Women's Professional Billiard Association Tour.
