Pool leagues and how to join one.

The APA

The American Poolplayers Association started in 1979 as the National Pool League, founded by Terry Bell and Larry Hubbart, and took its current name in 1981. It is headquartered in Lake St. Louis, Missouri, and calls itself the world's largest amateur pool league, with more than 285 leagues in the United States, Canada, Japan and Singapore. Its own pages give different membership figures ("nearly 250,000" and "more than 275,000"), so we do not quote one. Local leagues are run by franchised League Operators.

APA play is weekly team play in eight-ball and nine-ball at host bars, restaurants and pool halls. A standard team match is five individual one-on-one matches. Membership covers up to three sessions of league play plus discounts and online stats. Local details such as roster size, formats and fees vary by area.

The APA Equalizer handicap

The Equalizer is the APA's own handicap system, designed so players of different abilities can play each other evenly.

• Eight-ball skill levels run from 2 to 7, and your skill level is the number of games you must win. Races come from a chart that crosses both players' levels; for example, a 2 playing a 6 is a 2-to-6 race, and two 5s race 4 to 4.
• Nine-ball skill levels run from 1 to 9 and set the points you need. Balls 1 to 8 are worth 1 point each and the 9 is worth 2.

Skill levels are set by the APA National Office from match results, scores, innings and defensive shots, and are considered established after 20 or more matches. The system counts your best scores first, so one bad night usually does not lower your level. Intentional misses must be marked on the scoresheet as defensive shots for the system to stay accurate.

The "23-Rule" keeps teams balanced: the five players a team puts up in a night cannot have combined skill levels above 23. A team that cannot meet that plays four players totaling no more than 19 (16 in Ladies leagues) and forfeits the fifth match. Breaking the limit costs the team all its points for the night.

APA championships

The top teams in each local area advance to the APA World Pool Championships (eight-ball and nine-ball) in Las Vegas each summer, held at Westgate Las Vegas. Guinness World Records recognized it in 2010 as the world's largest pool tournament. It uses a modified single-elimination format in which every team plays at least twice. The 2026 edition was listed for 4 to 15 August. Each spring the APA also runs the Poolplayer Championships in Las Vegas for individual and doubles events.

How to join the APA

Sign up online at join.poolplayers.com, and use the league locator on poolplayers.com to find your local league. After you join, local league staff place you on an existing team or help you start one.

The BCA Pool League and USA Pool League

CueSports International runs two leagues: the BCA Pool League (BCAPL) and the USA Pool League (USAPL).

• Membership. Every BCAPL player must be a member, at $20 per player per league year.
• Formats. Operators can run nearly any format: eight-ball, nine-ball, ten-ball, one-pocket, straight pool or American rotation, usually once a week per division.
• Handicaps. CSI leagues handicap with FargoRate, built into CSI's league management system.
• Operators. BCAPL operators pay no franchise or license fees, and BCAPL takes no share of weekly league fees.

The season ends at the BCAPL World Championships (called the National Championships for 41 years until 2018). The 2024 edition drew more than 7,000 players on more than 300 tables. To qualify for it a player needed the previous year's membership and at least eight weeks of league play in one division session. The 2026 BCAPL World Championships were held at the 50th CSI Expo, which ran 18 to 28 February 2026 at Westgate Las Vegas after 13 years at the Rio.

TAP and other leagues

TAP is another national amateur league organization, based in Little River, South Carolina, running team and singles events with handicap divisions. Unlike the leagues whose finals are in Las Vegas, TAP's national tournament has moved between cities.