The Hickey Advanced League is a men’s billiards league for full-time residents of The Villages.  We play on Thursdays at Silver Lake Rec Center.

There are four teams with five players on each team.  Each player plays the opposing team’s 5 guys in 2 games of 8-ball and 2 games of 9-ball for a total of 20 games.  Teams play each other twice in a session so it is a 6-week session.  The Top-4 scoring players after the first 5 weeks become captains for the next session. At the end of each session (Week #6) we have a Players Draft for the upcoming session along with a party.

We are off the 3rd Thursday of every month because the Al Parker tournament is held at Silver Lake on that day.

Below are the rules regarding slow play, absences and substitutes, along with a table listing the time schedule and payouts.

SLOW PLAY

First let’s get the ugly subject of slow play out of the way.

*** THIS IS NOT A SOCIAL LEAGUE ***

All matches must be completed by 3:30.  No new matches can start after that time and you only get credit for matches you completed.  You have 4 hours to complete 5 matches of 4 games each — that should be more than enough time!  If a captain lets a player on his team hold up play because that player is talking too much, I will give them ONE warning.

If the player has to be told again, there is no second warning.  He will forfeit the match being played and ALL his remaining ones.

Basically — If it’s your turn to shoot – shoot. If you’re not shooting — sit down and be quiet while your opponent shoots.  Feel free to BS all you want between matches but not when you’re playing.

It is also the captain’s responsibility to make sure play moves along and no player jumps ahead.  This forces others to wait too long between matches.  He should keep an eye on the scoresheet for matches played – particularly by the 3rd or 4th round.  If he sees one player has only played 2 games and another has played 3 or 4, the latter player needs to wait and let the former one catch up.

SUBSTITUTES

We only use subs when players are going to be out for a whole session or more because of health reasons.  If a player is out for health reasons more than 4 sessions (approx. 6 months)s, he goes on the Waiting List and a permanent replacement is voted in.  There are no subs for any other reasons.  As a courtesy to captains, please let me know ahead of time that you will be missing any time in the next session – e.g. when traveling – so that I can let them know when we’re doing the draft.  Absentee scores are based on your player level for the session and are shown below.

ABSENCES

When a player is absent, his absentee score is 1 point less than what he should have scored — “par” on the scoresheet. In order for a team to win half their matches (50 points):

• a captain needs to get 12 wins,
• a #2 player 11 wins
• a #3 player 10 wins
• a #4 player 9 wins
• a #5 player 8 wins

If a player is absent, he receives 1 less point than those above so he is hurting his team’s total score.

EXAMPLES:

• Player #1 (Captain) is out. He gets 11. His opponents (from 1-5) get 2-2-2-2-1 (total of 9 points)
• Player #5 is out. He gets 7 and his opponents get 3-3-3-2-2 (total 13). It always adds up to 20!!

LEAVING EARLY

If a player leaves AFTER starting 2nd match, he gets 0 points for each game missed.  If a player leaves BEFORE starting 2nd match, he gets the absentee score above. If his opponent got more than they would have if he was not absent, the opponent gets ALL that he earned; the player leaving loses them.  When a player leaves early, the max scores he can get is his absentee score above.  If his opponent in a match won more games than he would have received, the opponent gets the games he earned and the player leaving early loses those games.

EXAMPLES:

• Player #1 ties first match 2-2 against a #5. Player #5 gets 2 wins instead of just 1; Player #1 only gets 10 total instead of 11.
• Player #1 loses first match 3-1 against a #5. Player #5 gets his 3 wins; #1 only gets 9 instead of 11.
• Player #1 loses first match 4-0 against a #5. Player #5 gets his 4 wins; #1 only gets 8 instead of 11.
• Player #1 wins first match 4-0 against a #5. Player #5 still gets his Absentee scores above. Player #1 gets 11.