| Last Revision: Dec 2 2009 6:55PM |
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League Overview
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A yearly season is comprised of multiple sessions; teams play on Wednesday nights, starting at 7:00pm. A match between two teams consists of 5 individual player-to-player games, with each game requiring participants to win a number of racks corresponding to their skill level (handicap).
Depending on the schedule, occasionally a team may have a night off (a bye). Playoff tournaments are played at the end of each yearly season. A team's position in the playoffs is determined by their average
performance in the current yearly season.
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General Rules/League Bylaws
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Team Captains: A team should elect one person to act as the team captain. The team captain may represent the team at league meetings and is the deciding individual on the team for judgment calls or dispute resolution.
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Start Time: Gameplay will commence at 7:00pm. If a team is not present and/or cannot put up a player, they are allowed a grace period of 15 minutes after which the team must forfeit the game. If an eligible player is present, he or she must play the game, or the entire match (5 games) will be forfeited.
The same rule holds true for each individual game for the match; when it is time to put up a player for a game, a team has a grace period of 15 minutes after which the team must forfeit the game. If an eligible player is present, he or she must play the game, or the remainder of games in the match (up to 5 games) will be forfeited.
Once a team has either 1) put up a player or 2) forfeited a match, that team may not renege on their decision. Switching players after a player has been put up will result in forfeiture of that game. Once a forfeit has been called it is final.
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More About Forfeits: In the event of a team forfeiting a game, the opposing team must be able to put up a player at the time of the forefeit- the player must be present and must not cause the team to exceed the Match Handicap Total (see below); otherwise both teams forfeit the game.
The forfeiting team is responsible to pay any game-related periodic dues for both teams unless the opposing team must also forfeit the game, in which case the teams are responsible for paying their own dues for that forfeited game.
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Identification: If a player's identification is questioned, they should be prepared to display a photo identification at an opposing team's request. Failure to provide adequate identification will constitute a forfeit of the game.
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Beginning Handicaps: All new players in the league are given a starting skill level of 4 unless the player has participated in another pool league. If the player has been a member of another league, his or her handicap will be set to the skill level from their previous league.
If a player starts as a 4 without acknowledging his or her handicap from a previous league, the player's team will be penalized for every game played by the offending player, and the offending player's handicap will immediately be adjusted accordingly.
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Team Roster Size Limit: A team's roster must not exceed 8 players. If a roster exceeds this limit, one or more players will be inactivated until the roster no longer exceeds this limit.
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Match Handicap Total: For the 5 games played in a match between two teams, the match handicap total (sum of all the team's player's handicaps) may not exceed 24. If a team cannot put up a player for a game without this value exceeding 24, the team must forfeit that game.
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Adjusted Skill Levels: To win a game in normal circumstances, a player must win a number
of racks equal to their skill level. In order to best expedite gameplay, games between
certain skill levels may be abbreviated:
- If both players' skill levels are >= 5, their handicaps will be reduced by 1
- If both players' skill levels are >= 6, their handicaps will be reduced by 2
- If both players' skill levels are >= 7, their handicaps will be reduced by 2
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Roster Changes: For teams that are new to the PLA Demo League (not ever having played in the league), roster changes may be made up to and including the 4th week of play. No roster changes will be permitted after this point unless it is for the survival of the team. Roster changes may be made at any point in the session only if the survival of the team is dependent on adding a player or players to the roster. Team survival is defined as maintaining a minimum number of 5 players. Any players that are not a part of the active roster when these roster changes take place are ineligible to play for the remainder of the session.
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For teams that have played in previous PLA Demo League sessions, roster changes may be made up to and including the 3rd week of play. No roster changes will be permitted after this point unless it is for the survival of the team. Roster changes may be made at any point in the session only if the survival of the team is dependent on adding a player or players to the roster. Team survival is defined as maintaining a minimum number of 5 players. Any players that are not a part of the active roster when these roster changes take place are ineligible to play for the remainder of the session.
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Substitute Players Non-league members may play as substitiute players at a fixed and predetermined skill level of 8.
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Adjusted skill level rules will apply to substitute players handicaps.
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Playoff Eligibility: New players (not having ever played in the PLA Demo League before) must play a minimum of 8 weeks in order to qualify for tournament play.
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Existing players must play a minimum of 5 weeks for tournament qualification.
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In order for a team to be eligible for a playoff tournament, that team must have played as a unit for at least 2 sessions in the PLA Demo League.
If a team changes locations and/or is the end result of a spin-off team, any previously played sessions will only count for this eligibility if the majority of players stay on the new team.
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Manual Handicap Changes: If the league operator makes a manual handicap adjustment for a particular player, the change will be displayed on the player's profile page immediately.
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Player Skill Change Volatility: The league operator may adjust the sensitivity of handicap changes, from "very infrequent" to "very frequent".
This league is set to use a normal rate of handicap change (for new players).
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This league is set to use a normal rate of handicap change (for established players).
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Team Ranking
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Points Calculation: When a player wins a game (set of racks) his or her team is awarded points based upon the strength of the win. A sweep is worth 1000 points; allowing an opponent to win half their racks is worth 500 points. The actual calculation is as follows: points = (1 - (racks lost / opponent skill)) * 1000
Below is a chart showing opponent's handicap and the point values awarded when a game is won:
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Scoring
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Ball Count Total: Ball count totals are not used to calculate additional wins/losses in this league.
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Forfeit Scoring (Loss): When a team forfeits a game, their game is scored as a 0 (loss) in the points calculation. Additional points adjustments may come into play (see Point Adjustments).
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Forfeit Scoring (Win): When the opposing team forfeits a game, the winning team's game is ignored in the points calculation (it may be thought of as a bye). Additional points adjustments may come into play (see Point Adjustments).
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Awarded Points: A team's points for a match are calculated as outlined above for each game and then averaged according to the number of games played that night (5).
A team's total points for a session are calculated by averaging all games that session. (Any bye matches are ignored in the calculation).
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Point Adjustments: For penalties and forfeits, point adjustments will be made to a team's overall session score. Point adjustment values are as follows:
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| Bad Conduct | -3 | pts | | Bad Paperwork | -2 | pts | | Forfeit - Loss | -2 | pts | | Forfeit - Win | 1 | pts | | General Bonus | 1 | pts | | Late Payment | -10 | pts | | No Paperwork | -3 | pts | | Starting Skill Fraud | -10 | pts |
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League Dues
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Any yearly dues are to be paid by the 4th play period of the first session. Session dues are to be paid by the 4th play period of the current session. Match dues are due the night of the match. Late payments may incur penalty points for the team involved (see Penalties, under Scoring). Current league dues are as follows:
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| • $100/team per session |
| • $20/player per year |
| • $7/player per game (for players who play) |
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