? Is it time for a new Billiard assn.??

Question

How about the -BRBSA-Bar Room Bull S--- Assn?

Once again a plea for standard rules I know it been Hashed and rehashed here but Im tired of haveing to play by 5 or 6 diffrent sets of rules every week their fliers all say BCA rules and everyone agrees on them then act like they never heard of them when play begins

Almost no BCA rule is in effect at any bar I play in has a Vegas League so they think that makes them playing by BCA rules I guess .Most dont even give ball in hand One guy last week at a tourn told me to read the rules and dont argue with him he handed me a peice of notebook paper with hand written rules that were a pure joke .I showed him a BCA rule Book He says I dont play by that stupid S-- Me and Mama just left and went to Bogeys

Lets just let them figure it out And not worry about it How the H they ever play in Vegas I have no idea

In my bar it is BCA And 50 times a week I have to explain it to them One Idiot said the ref. had to quit watching the game he didnt li.

Answer 1

Amen, brother. I know exactly what you're talking about. But I don't think that we need just another association which cannot enforce a standard set of rules. I plea that national tournaments just don't accept players which have not advanced through playing BCA rules, period. There will be always these small town bars in the middle of nowhere where the local sharks make up their own rules, usually to their advantage. If you go there and play on their turf, fine. But don't let them hillbillies getting out of their barn.

Answer 2

Well you know it has been that way forever (remember the road) all you can do is play by some hick variation of the rules or unscrew. It's cost me some games but overall who cares if you leave with the cheese. Now if I was a local league player it would drive me nuts.

Luck

K

PS don't want to be president..........God maybe?!?

Answer 3

I've played BCA, VNEA and now APA....to me, the shittiest of all is APA...at least the one here..the dude that's running it aint worth a ****..he pockets alot of the money, they're always raising the entry fee and we don't get any money back at the end of the session...or even a banquet...SOMETHING at least to give ourselves a pat on the back...the only way you get money back is if your team makes it to the championships(state) or to Las Vegas, Nevada...and that's bullshit, cuz there's only so much that you can do for your team..you can play your best all session, but if the team doesn't show up or plays like an a**, we aint going to State or getting anything back! my fave is VNEA..at least i got my earned patches, trophies, plaques & pins..APA here in this town of Las Vegas(the original Las Vegas) won't send you your awards...you'll see nothing...grrrr......yea...we need something...and i think you, Indio would make a good candidate for the prez... :) :)...............i'll join, if you make it national.........Dre O

Answer 4

Amen Johnny.  It's exactly how you say it is.  People agree to the rules beforehand and then look like a deer in headlights when you say "double-hit foul" or "no cushion contacted foul".  Mickey makes a good point about the limited safety rules that some leagues have.  I've heard that some leagues have some sort of system to catch people missing on purpose after their allotted safeties have been used up.  I don't know exactly how that would work, but like Mickey said, all this wouldn't be a problem if BCA rules were the norm.  Johnny, that made me laugh about the notebook paper vs. the BCA rule book.  I guess you have to consider the source.  BCA rules favor the all-around better player, not just the better shotmaker or better cheat.  Well, there will always be those of us out there to keep the word alive.  I just met a friend of a friend the other night and he asked me if I was familiar with BCA rules and I almost hugged him.  There's hope for the future.  M.D.-BCA Instructor/Referee.

P.S.  Good ideas Lea.  I don't know exactly how much pull I have with the BCA, but I can certainly relay some of your ideas to them.  My own idea is for a pocket-sized rule book with just the equipment specs, general rules for pocket billiards, and rules for 8-ball.  That should cover everything for the average bar player.  I'm not sure exactly how keen most bar owners are going to be about putting up posters even though I think it's a great idea.  If it could be done in a way that's asthetically pleasing, it would be a great marketing tool.  Most owners probably don't even care about the game, so long as people keep putting up their quarters.  I'll see what I can do.

Answer 5

Johnny...only played in a few bar leagues and the same thing happens all of the time...they end up creating new rules that only leads to d**n near riots...problem and don't take this wrong but you have an entirely different type of crowd at these bars that just don't follow the rules as outlined by BCA.....they have always played like this and it will not change......BCA rules make the match too much like a "chess match" you just can't shoot without really thinking and thus the problem....one league for example made the rule that you could only play 3 called safeties.....I thought it was BS.....when I was out of safeties.....I wanted to shoot a safety on on of my balls( playing 8 ball).....I shot it into the corner pocket but I called/named another pocket....when it went in he was really pissed when he found himself behind a wall of my balls.....I just said....Hea I missed the pocket I called...your shot!!......BCA rules would eliminate all of this but they will not change....that is why I stay out of bars and bar leagues.....I will come to yours  and play some day!.....just keep trying and maybe some day it will soak in......do not have that here and the BCA is pretty much followed....I guess the next question should be as to what I consider a "bar".....to me one with only "bar" or coin operated tables....not a pool hall!

Answer 6

Why don't you people with a little pull with BCA suggest they do a little promoting of their rules? Make up decent-sized posters with some kind of ad (beer, pool equipment, e.g.), plus rules for 8-ball and 9-ball? Start off just sending them to places that host BCA leagues with the eventual goal being a poster in every place that's got a pool table in the US. I don't know anything about advertising, so I don't know whether they'd be able to make it worth the expense, but seems possible, anyway.

--Lea