An answer to an answer?

straight_shooter526 & Vegas Matt: Thanks for answering my question. Both of your text seems almost identical so I'll just address the key points in the "question" side of this format since it will allow me the space to do so.

I do not necessarily agree with the APA rules in their entirety but I do so without argument or confrontation because the organization plays by a standard that does not change regardless of who or where you are playing an APA sanctioned event. I can speak on some APA rules with a reasonable amount of certainty but others I can only offer my humble opinion.

Making the eight on the break/losing by scratching after making the eight. You have to ALWAYS keep in mind that the APA was created and designed for low or average skilled players. This rule falls under the category of having only a limited amount of time to start and finish a match, so both scenarios quickly diminish the amount of time it took to complete that particular game. You also have to remember that there are five matches to be played in an evening with each match ranging from three to nine games each.

I concur with Matt that having to take what you make on the break displaces the advantage to the higher skill level player and prevents them from running racks against the lower skilled players.

Marking the pocket! Now there's an APA rule that was designed just to start a fist fight at the close of an otherwise fun evening. Here's the setting. We started playing at 7:30 and the fourth match didn't start until will after 11:00 and both teams have been drinking...a lot. A shooter is on the eight ball, he points his cue toward the intended pocket and makes the shot. His inebriated counterpart isn't paying attention and swears on his mother's grave that they pointed their cue toward another pocket. The "mark your pocket" rule was designed for nothing more than the sake of clarity and to keep the matches moving...and to cut down on the fist fighting. :)

I think I addressed the slop rule in one of my responses to another question. It falls back on time constraints for one thing. Some lower skill level players can't hit the broad side of a ball with the table, much less have the aptitude to call and make their shot. Secondly and what I think is more important, is the elation and joy of pocketing a ball. Watch a lower skilled player sometime to see how they react to making a ball when there is some complexity to the shot. Never mind calling the shot, it's just such a moral booster toward their game. It gives them great pride and promotes an attitude of wanting to learn more about the sport. Keep in mind once again, the league was designed for them.

I don't have much of an argument one way or the other about slop or having to call your pocket/shot. I'm not as good as some at the game but I'm better than most, so I consider myself a somewhat accomplished player. From that vantage point, I usually know what your next three shots are going to be before you do. Meaning, I play a gentleman's game. I know what your intentions were and it is of no import to me if your ball clipped my ball on the way into the pocket. I'm happy at leaving it at calling your pocket. If you arbitrarily "slop" a ball in, well, what goes around comes around.

THE IS NO PENALTY FOR THE NUMBER OF DEFENSIVE SHOTS in the APA! You can have five or fifty innings in a single game. After your first ten matches and up to the current date whether you've been playing APA for two years or twenty years, you have an established a profile, as does your opponent. So let's say you have an odd game where you have shot (literally) thirty safety shots and that's what the score keeper marks down. When the League Operator inserts those safety shots from the score sheet information into the system, the system will automatically apply the "average" number of safeties you normally shoot in a game. i.e., If your profile says you shoot an average of five safeties per game, that's what goes into the the system. The system recognizes flukes or unusual games.

The ball counting is simply the method a league uses for handicapping their player. I think it's an inaccurate system at best, and one of which the APA does not use in calculating player handicaps. They system is far more complex that most players know. It is not a simple matter of wins/losses and innings. (contact me directly and I have some information that should intrigue you about the APA handicap system)

I was amused about the scenario of a playing getting a pat on the back for running seven balls and missing or getting stuck on the eight. I am quite certain that the accolades come from lower skill level players that were just impressed by a great performance. It's a moral booster for everyone. We, conversely, know that the player just sold the farm and hope that they learned something from the