BCA Pool                    League

                  The New England BCA Pool League

In addition to USAPL formats, we also offer BCAPL play.    All USAPL division my be dual sanctioned in both BCAPL and USAPL simply by paying the $20 annual membership fee for the BCAPL.  The membership fee would need to be paid by all of the players in the entire division.

Membership in the BCAPL qualifies teams and players to compete in all BCAPL World Championship team and single events.  A dual sanctioned USAPL/BCAPL may play in all USAPL and BCAPL national and world championships.  

See our League Calendar for links to BCAPL and USAPL events. 

 

The New England BCA Pool League is proud to announce the formation of its first Scotch doubles 8-ball division:

PLAYERS MEETING NEW SCOTCH DOUBLES BCAPL 8 BALL LEAGUE: Join us on Tuesday August 22nd at 7:00pm at the Billiards Café, for our players meeting for our exciting new scotch doubles 8 ball league. League play starts Tuesday Sept 12:
• Teams of three: two players with one alternate
• Play both single matches and scotch double alternating shot formats
• Gender neutral and Fargo handicapped
• Qualify for double and single Vegas championships.
• Singles matches count toward FargoRate
• BCAPL Call Pocket “No Slop” pool
• $10 weekly player dues $20 per team
• High cash payouts: 20 teams play 20 week session payout of $6,400 in time for BCAPL world championships in Vegas
• BCAPL scoring app.



BCA Pool League division are generally operated as CASH divisions  $$$

Unlike the USA Pool League divisions that are designed towards Vegas Championships, the New England BCA Pool League offers Cash division when playing a BCAPL format.   80% of all weekly dues are held for the players fund and returned as prize awards to the teams at the end of each session.

What are the differences between the BCA and USA Pool Leagues?  

Dues:   

There are no yearly dues in the USAPL.  BCAPL has yearly dues in the amount of $20.  The league year is calendar based.  This means that if you start playing in the BCAPL in September, the fall session, you will owe $20 dues in Sept. and again in January for the following calendar year. 

Fargorate:  

       Both the USAPL and the BCAPL use Fargorate.  However, some people confuse FargoRate with a handicap system.  FargoRate is not a handicap system.  FargoRate is a player rating system and it is accurate and well proven.  Professional and amateur players alike are rated against other players all over the world.                                                                                                              The handicap systems for the USAPL and the BCAPL differ in significant ways.  The USAPL uses a ball count point system.  The BCAPL uses a rack race format.  


Playing to win a trip to las Vegas!!!


USAPL members are playing to win trips to Vegas to compete in the USA National team and singles championships.      

  BCAPL members in our league are playing for cash prizes.  Of course, they are eligible to play in the BCAPL national and singles championships as long as they have enough matches played and meet eligibility requirements.      

  Dual sanctioned USAPL and BCAPL players are eligible to  play in all BCAPL and USAPL events. 


BCA Pool League Handicaps vs. USA Pool League Handicaps


FargoRate offers 3 different race to charts:  Mild, Medium, and Hot.  These race charts are used in Singles matches in BCAPL format, including tournaments.   In order to use the charts players calculate the difference between the FargoRates of the two opponents and then find the races in the desired chart #s 2-7.    The R7 chart has the most racks involved and would be used for long single matches or tournaments that do not have time constraints.             For instance, using the Hot R3 chart a player with a 500 FargoRating playing an opponent with a 440 FargoRating would play even in a Race to 3.   In a Hot R4 chart the race would be 4-3.                                                                                             

To  down load the FARGORATE APP log onto our USAPL scoring  page and follow directions.  The FargoRate App will contain the races and the charts and information needed for you to set up matches using this system.  

           For a more detailed explanation of the charts go to

Explanation of the FargoRate Charts                  

How does the USAPL race compare? 

Lets look at a matchup between Player #1 with a 500 Fargo Rating and Player #2 with a FargoRating of 440.   Using the USAPL Race to Calculator, the race would be 54 - 43.   In the USAPL, the winner of each rack wins 14 points and the loser of the rack wins a point for every ball pocketed.   The loser in each BCAPL rack acquires zero (0) points for the loss.  The loser in the USAPL rack collects points for every ball pocketed.   A player can lose more than half of the racks in a match and still win the match on points.  This results in a very high percentage of Hill/Hill Matches in the USAPL league play.           

     In League team play, the team win for the night is determined by the total number of points accumulated by the team.   As for individual matches, extra points are accumulated for every point that you, as a player, keeps your opponent below their targeted point goal.  This provides an incentive against sandbagging or simply "letting up"  when you are ahead.  

Team Formats in BCAPL and USAPL

The traditional team format for the BCAPL is the "Round Robin" play.  In a Round Robin Format, Each player from the team plays each player from the opposing team a fixed number of racks.  The number of racks is defined by the league operator.  For instance, we can have a 5 match format where each player plays 1 rack against each of the players from the opposing team, for a total of 5 racks per player.         

   In our BCAPL 10 ball division at the Billiards Cafe in Ayer, we have 3 match format (3 player teams) where each player plays each player on the other team 3 racks, for a total of 9 racks played.                               

  Because of upgrades to the BCAPL Scoring app (downloadable on google play and the apple store for free) and to the league management software, we now also offer one on one team play.  Common formats would be 4 or 5 match formats where each player plays only one player from the opposing team.  In the one on one BCAPL Team Format, players always play their opponent even.  This means that they win or lose their match in an even race, regardless of their FargoRate.  Team handicaps, based on FargoRate, are awarded to the team at the end of the night and it is this that determines the win/loss for the team.               

    In the USAPL, the winner of each rack wins 14 points and the loser of the rack wins a point for every ball pocketed.   The loser in each BCAPL rack acquires zero (0) points for the loss.  The loser in the USAPL rack collects points for every ball pocketed.   A player can lose more than half of the racks in a match and still win the match on points.  This results in a very high percentage of Hill/Hill Matches in the USAPL league play.  

 In League team play, the team win for the night is determined by the total number of points accumulated by the team.   As for individual matches, extra points are accumulated for every point that you, as a player, keep your opponent below their targeted point goal.  This provides an incentive against sandbagging or simply "letting up"  when you are ahead.