The Minor Masters Division is team play (3-4 members per team).
There is a Skill Level Limit of 5 (8-Ball) in Minor league Masters (6 max in 9-Ball,) to enter the league. All players must have an established Skill Level in 8-ball or 9-ball, and be on a current, standard 8-ball or 9-ball team roster. If a player on the team goes up past 5/6 in SL during the year they can still play during the session, however, if they are higher than 5 (6 in 9-ball) when it’s time for playoffs, they will not be eligible for the Local Championship playoffs. (That player will have to sit out, but can still go and play in Vegas.) If more than two players go up, the team will play in the Standard Masters Local Championship.
Minor League Masters follows the U.S. Amateur Championship rules and format, Each match in Minor League Masters Division is a race to 5 and will include 6 games of 9-Ball and 3 games of 8-Ball. Come and play with the sharpshooters…see if you can hang!!
A Night In An APA Minor Masters Pool League…
A coin flip determines which team picks a player to shoot the night’s first match. A player is chosen and announced to the opposing team. The opposing team then decides who on their team is best suited to play that player and the match is set.
Teams play a race to 5 games, six games of 9-Ball & three games of 8-Ball are available. The winner of the lag has choice of game format to start, or he/she can choose the initial break. Once a format has been chosen, the entire set of that format must be completed before playing the other format. 8-Ball is played like it is in regular league, but unlike the regular 9-Ball leagues, it is about pocketing the nine in 9-Ball. In addition, the ‘push out’ is allowed after the break during games of 9-ball and the use of jump cues are allowed in Minor Masters Division play.
Players will earn one point for each game won. The first player to 5 wins the individual match. With the match decided, the process is repeated with teams alternating who puts up a player first in each of the remaining two matches. Once the three matches are completed, points earned are added up with teams being able to earn a maximum of 15 points per night.
In the Minor League Masters format, there are several weeks of play and no playoff weeks. The top 75%, including a Wild Card, based on points won during the session, qualify for the Local Championship (ie. 8 teams in a division=top 5 + a Wild Card=6 teams) There will be one Minor League Masters City Tournament following each session
Minor League Masters will have their own playoff tournament at the end of the session. *Winners will not be eligible to compete in the standard APA Masters division at the National Championship, as this is not a nationally approved APA format, instead it’s yet another chance for our players
to make it to Vegas to experience the largest tournament in the world and to play mini mania and have fun!