The American Poolplayers Association (APA) is a

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

for

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

(pocket billiards) competition in the United States. The APA conducts pool leagues and

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

s in the disciplines of

eight-ball Eight-ball (also spelled 8-ball or eightball, and sometimes called solids and stripes, spots and stripes or rarely highs and lows) is a discipline of pool played on a billiard table with six pockets, cue sticks, and sixteen billiard balls (a ...

and

nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle of e ...

with a unified ruleset. The organization was founded in 1981 by professional pool players Terry Bell and Larry Hubbart, with roots dating back to the National Pool League (NPL), founded in 1979. The APA bills itself as the largest pool league in the world with a membership of nearly 250,000 players in the United States, Canada, Japan, and China. The organization

franchises Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

its local league operations worldwide; some of these league operators are former professional pool players, including

Ewa Laurance Ewa Laurance (formerly Ewa Mataya, February 26, 1964) is a Swedish professional pool player, most notably on the Women's Professional Billiard Association nine-ball tour, a sports writer, and more recently a sports commentator for ESPN. In 2004 ...

and

Jeanette Lee Jeanette Lee (born Lee Jin-Hee, Hangul: 이진희, July 9, 1971, in Brooklyn, New York) is a Korean-American professional pool player. She was nicknamed the Black Widow by her friends because, in spite of her sweet demeanor, she would "eat peop ...

. The APA is headquartered in Lake St. Louis, Missouri. The APA employs a proprietary

handicapping Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which th ...

system called "The Equalizer" that allows players of all abilities to compete with one another on an equal basis. The normal APA team consist of five -format competitions (similar to matches in the

USA Pool League The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) is the governing body for cue sports in the United States and Canada, and the regional member organization of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA).` Puerto Rico, though a US territory, and Mexico, though ...

, and very different from the format used by the

BCA Pool League The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) is the governing body for cue sports in the United States and Canada, and the regional member organization of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA).` Puerto Rico, though a US territory, and Mexico, though ...

and VNEA). In addition to this team play, APA organizers at the local level often set up non-team tournaments, play, and other formats; the annual international championships feature both individual and team play. The APA hosts several major pool tournaments each year, two of them in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

: the APA Poolplayer Championships for individual players in late April/early May and the APA World Pool Championships for teams in August. The latter event was certified as "The World's Largest Pool Tournament" by ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' in 2010. In November, the APA conducts the U.S. Amateur Championship, representing the highest level of amateur play in the United States. Children and teenagers ages 7–18 may compete in the APA Junior Championships, held every July in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Eight-ball

In APA eight-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 levels in eight-ball range from 2 to 7. In higher-level tournament play, male pool players must compete at a skill level of 3 or higher. As an example of how to read the table, if Player A is a skill level 2 and Player B is a 6, the scorer first locates the row for skill level 2, then moving across finds the column for skill level 6. The intersection provides for a 2–6 race; meaning the match ends when either Player A wins two games or Player B wins six games.

Nine-ball

In APA nine-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 pocketing 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 two points for the rack and continue shooting. If the player makes all the balls without missing ("break-and-run"), they score 10 points for the rack (the maximum) as they would have scored eight points for the balls 1 through 8 and then two 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. Note that APA nine-ball is not a traditional style that is typically played by billiard enthusiasts. Even though it does follow traditional rotation characteristics, it resembles more of a

straight pool Straight pool, which is also called 14.1 continuous and 14.1 rack, is a cue sport in which two competing players attempt to as many billiard balls as possible without playing a . The game was the primary version of pool played in professional ...

(14.1) tradition by opponents racing to a specific number of balls pocketed. Skill levels in nine-ball range from 1 to 9. In higher-level tournament play (except the Junior Championship), male pool players must compete at a skill level of 3 or higher. According to the table above, if Player A is rated a 2 and plays Player B 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 nine-ball is based on points and not games won (contrast with

nine-ball which is based on games won, where the winner of each game is the player pocketing the 9-ball), a match can end before all the balls of a given rack have been pocketed. Using the previous Player A (skill level 2) vs. Player B (skill level 6) example, suppose that Player B is breaking a new rack leading 44–16. In this case, Player A needs three points to win and Player B needs two points to win. The match ends when either player earns the needed points to win regardless of the number of balls remaining on the table.

Tournaments

The APA hosts four major international pool tournaments annually. Participants must be APA members (except in the U.S. Amateur Championship), and qualifying for these events is done through weekly league play and regional qualifying tournaments conducted by APA local league operator franchisees. Two of these events are held at the

Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino is a hotel, casino, and timeshare resort in Winchester, Nevada. Located near the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, it is owned by Westgate Resorts. It opened in 1969 as the International Hotel, and was ...

. The APA Poolplayer Championships (formerly known as the National Singles Championships), held in late April/early May, features individual and competition. The APA World Pool Championships in August showcases team members), doubles, and Masters (three-player non-handicapped) play. Participants qualify for these events through local tournaments and weekly league play conducted by local APA league operators. The Westgate has hosted these tournaments since 2016. Previously, APA held the events at the

Riviera Hotel and Casino Riviera (colloquially, "the Riv") was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada, which operated from April 1955 to May 2015. It was last owned by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which decided to demolish it t ...

from 1994 until the hotel closed in 2015. In the week leading up to the Riviera's closure, the APA held its annual league operators' convention in conjunction with the 2015 National Singles Championship. The final event ever held at the Riviera was an awards ceremony for the APA's 2015 8-Ball Classic on May 3, 2015 at hosted by APA then-President Renee Lyle and Marketing Director Jason Bowman. In 2010, the World Pool Championships (then known as the APA National Team Championships) were recognized by ''

'' as "The World's Largest Pool Tournament". In November, the APA conducts the U.S. Amateur Championship in

Palm Harbor, Florida Palm Harbor is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2016 American Community Survey, the CDP had a population of 60,236. Culture Palm Harbor is located north of downtown St. ...

. Intended for the highest-skilled pool players, this non-handicapped tournament is open to APA members and non-members alike. The APA Junior Championships are held every July in Lake St. Louis, Missouri. This nine-ball singles tournament is the only national event open to children and teenagers ages 7–18 at the time of the event.

Affiliations

As of May 2015, the APA has two international affiliates or branches: the Canadian Poolplayers Association (CPA) in Canada and the Japanese Poolplayers Association (JPA) in Japan. Members of these non-US associations are eligible to compete in the annual APA championships. APA is also a major sponsor of the WPBA Tour, the most-televised pool competitions in North America, and thus a major venue for APA advertising.

References

External links

* * (mostly PDF files) {{Authority control Pool leagues Sports leagues in the United States 1981 establishments in the United States 1981 establishments in Missouri