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59-515: The Valley National 8-Ball League Association ( VNEA ) is one of the world's largest amateur pool leagues . As of 2020, there are nearly 100,000 individual members in some 1,400 weekly local leagues playing in over 10,000 pool halls , bars and other venues in around 400 different cities, towns and suburbs in 36 U.S. states , and abroad. The organization was founded in the United States in 1979 by equipment manufacturer Valley-Dynamo as

118-469: A bet (the "juice" or "vig" taken by the house). For example, Book 1 has Team A as a 3-point favorite, and Book 2 has team B as a 3-point favorite. If a player bets Team B at Book 1, and Team A at Book 2, he will win both bets if either side wins by 2 or fewer points, and will win one bet and lose the other (known as a "side") if either team wins by 3 points. Another strategy, known as arbitrage, or an "arb" or "scalp", involves finding different moneylines for

177-751: A diameter of 2.25 inches (57 mm), plus or minus 0.005 inches (0.13 mm). Modern coin-operated pool tables generally use one of three methods to distinguish and return the cue ball to the front of the table while the numbered balls return to an inaccessible receptacle until paid for again: the cue ball is larger and heavier than the other balls, or denser and heavier, or has a magnetic core. Modern cue sticks are generally 58.5 inches (148.6 cm) long for pool while cues prior to 1980 were designed for straight pool and had an average length of 57.5 inches (146.1 cm). By comparison, carom billiards cues are generally shorter with larger tips, and snooker cues longer with smaller tips. These are games descended from

236-463: A formula using advanced statistical techniques that has shown consistency correctly predicting NFL winners. Handicapping, as a profession, is very similar to being a stock analyst . Like Wall Street did in the 1970s, the sports handicapping industry is undergoing a quantitative revolution. Many successful handicappers also use money management systems similar to financial investment professionals. The most popular, and mathematically superior, system

295-432: A live chicken, and the person who successfully hit the chicken first would win the pooled money. Alternatively the term could derive from the verb to pool in the sense of combining objects or stakes. The oldest use of the word "pool" to describe a billiards-like game was made in 1797 in a Virginia newspaper. The OED defines it as generally "any of various types of billiards for two or more players" but goes on to note that

354-522: A player to start a certain number of games ahead or behind in the match. The calculated match average is a handicap calculated for every motorcycle speedway rider. Handicapping in competitive cycling is most commonly used in track cycling and road racing in Australia and New Zealand. Handicap events are rare outside these two countries. In track cycling, distance-based handicaps are typically used. The highest-profile example of this racing format

413-400: A set number of shots of varying difficulty. Cowboy pool and bottle pool are games involving only a few balls which are placed at specific spots on the table. Elements of their games go back to the eighteenth century before balls needed to be racked. Bottle pool shares traits with pin billiards games such as Danish pin billiards . Cowboy pool is a descendant of English billiards . Kaisa

472-423: A slight modification of continuous pool , another offshoot of fifteen-ball pool. The shooter may attempt to shoot at any object ball on the table. The goal is to reach a set number of points determined by agreement before the game. One point is scored for each object ball pocketed where no foul is made. A typical game might require a player to score 100 points to win. In professional competition, straight pool

531-402: A system wherein players placed bets or money into the cap of a neutral arbiter to reach an agreement as to the relative values of items sought to be traded. In a 'result adjustment' style handicap event, the outcome may be adjusted by some factor determined by the handicap. Some forms of car or yacht racing. In this case, the winner, on elapsed time, may differ from the fastest competitor when

590-800: A team might lose the main competition but may have a chance to win against other eliminated competitors in a "Hard Luck" division a few days later. The Internationals also provide a Classic division for seniors . Singles play is divided into open and women's subdivisions; women are not required to play in the women's division, but men are prohibited from it. The organization's flagship event is held in Las Vegas annually and draws around 6,000 players each year. The week-long event uses upwards of 300-tables and also features numerous vendors and training sessions, as well as internal league training seminars for referees and instructors. The tournaments begin with singles eight-ball competition followed by doubles and finally

649-468: Is a series of cue sports played on a billiard table . The table has six pockets along the rails , into which balls are shot. Of the many different pool games, the most popular include: eight-ball , blackball , nine-ball , ten-ball , seven-ball , straight pool , one-pocket , and bank pool . Eight-ball is the most frequently played discipline of pool, and it is often thought of as synonymous with "pool". The generic term pocket billiards

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708-846: Is a similar game played with different equipment. As a competitive sport, pool is governed internationally by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), which has multi-national, regional affiliates comprising the All Africa Pool Association (AAPA), Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU, including the Middle East), Billiard Congress of America (BCA, Canada and the US), Confederación Panamericana de Billar (CPB, Latin America and Caribbean), European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF, including Russia and

767-542: Is a strategic game for two players in which each player is assigned one of the corner pockets on the table. This is the only pocket into which that player can legally pocket balls. The first player to pocket the majority of the balls (8) into their pocket wins the game. The game requires far more defensive strategy than offensive strategy, much unlike eight-ball, nine-ball, or straight pool. Most times, accomplished players choose to position balls near their pocket instead of trying to actually pocket them. This allows them to control

826-637: Is a surviving member of this group of games. The second and more influential game was pyramid pool . By 1850 a variant called fifteen-ball pool became popular. Both games were supplanted by continuous pool in 1888, the immediate forerunner of straight pool (1910). New games introduced at the turn of the 20th century include Kelly pool and eight-ball . The distinctive appearance of pool balls with their many colors and division between solid and striped balls came about by 1889. Prior to this, object balls were uniformly deep-red and differentiated only by numbers. English pyramid pool and life pool players were

885-413: Is achieved by removing one or more pieces from the stronger player's side. Shogi (Japanese chess) and many of its variants have handicaps . The polo handicap is an estimation of the player's worth to his or her team. It is an overall rating of a player's horsemanship, team play, knowledge of the game, strategy and horses. The difference between the total of the polo handicaps for the players on each team

944-512: Is coordinated by an exclusive franchisee . In VNEA terms, these are "Charter Holders". All VNEA Charter Holders are authorized Valley-Dynamo distributors. All venues participating in the Charter Holder's area VNEA leagues must rent or lease their tables from the Charter Holder. As a consequence, VNEA leagues are mostly found in areas where bars and other establishments tend to rent tables from Valley distributors, whereas in other areas where

1003-577: Is headquartered in Bay City , Michigan . As of 2020 the president of the VNEA is Marshall Kohtz. Unlike most leagues, VNEA is tied to a specific brand of pool table, namely those of the Valley-Dynamo company of Richland Hills, Texas . As with most leagues, the league activity in any given geographic area (such as a city and its suburbs, a quadrant of a very large city, or an entire suburban county)

1062-421: Is sometimes also used, and favored by some pool-industry bodies, but is technically a broader classification, including games such as snooker , Russian pyramid , and kaisa , which are not referred to as pool games. There are also hybrid games combining aspects of both pool and carom billiards , such as American four-ball billiards , bottle pool , cowboy pool , and English billiards . The etymology of "pool"

1121-484: Is that vehicles have the normal performance on track, so better drivers will be able to recover time and overtake slower drivers. Contrarily, horse race handicapping is implemented using extra weight. A handicap race in horse racing is a race in which horses carry different weights, allocated by the handicapper. A better horse will carry a heavier weight, to give him or her a disadvantage when racing against slower horses. The handicapper's goal in assigning handicap weights

1180-539: Is the Melbourne Cup on Wheels . In road cycling, pursuit-style handicaps are most common, and are mostly restricted to grassroots amateur events. In the past, higher-profile national events such as the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic were run as handicaps, but with larger entry numbers and a preference for scratch racing among elite-level national competitors, these are no longer run as handicaps. Because of

1239-440: Is the most popular and the predominant professional game with ten-ball as the second-most prominent. There are many local and regional tours and tournaments that are contested with nine-ball. The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) publishes the world standardized rules. The European professional circuit has instituted rules changes to make it more difficult to achieve a legal break shot. The largest nine-ball tournaments are

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1298-757: Is then used to determine the minimum score difference for the better team to score to enable them to win. In polo, every player is awarded an individual handicap depending on performance. Handicap commissions of the national associations meet several times a year to decide players’ handicaps. Argentina: 0 to 10 USA: C (-2), B (-1), B+ (-0.5), A (0), A+ (0.5), 1.0, 1.5, 2 to 10 England: -2 to 10 Handicaps for sailing vessels in sailing races have varied throughout history, and they also vary by country, and by sailing organisation. Sailing handicap standards exist internationally, nationally, and within individual sailing clubs. Sailing race handicaps may be based on vessel capability and-or crew experience, and today typically adjust

1357-530: Is to enable all the horses to finish together (in a dead heat). The skill in betting on a handicap horse race is in determining which horse can overcome its handicap. In addition to the Daily Racing Form , other data sources include Brisnet, Equibase, The Ragozin Sheets, and Thoro-Graph. In rugby, one of the teams will start with a points advantage, and one will start with a deficit to make up in

1416-526: Is uncertain. The Oxford English Dictionary speculates that "pool" and other games with collective stakes is derived from the French poule (literally translated "hen"), in which the poule is the collected prize, originating from jeu de la poule, a game that is thought to have been played during the Middle Ages. Supposedly, participants would put an equal amount of money into a pot and throw stones at

1475-454: Is usually played to 125 points. Straight pool is a call-pocket game, meaning the player must indicate the intended object ball and pocket on every shot. The most commonly played pool game is eight-ball, which appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is often thought of as synonymous with "pool". The game has numerous variations, mostly regional. It is the second most played professional pool game, after nine-ball , and for

1534-625: The US Open Nine-ball Championship and the WPA World Nine-ball Championship for men and women. A hotly contested event is the annual Mosconi Cup , which pits invitational European and U.S. teams against each other in one-on-one and scotch doubles nine-ball matches over a period of several days. The Mosconi Cup games are played under the more stringent European rules, as of 2007. Also known as 14.1 continuous , this game originated as

1593-532: The Valley 8-Ball League Association . It was later known as the Valley National 8-Ball Association , a name the league still uses sometimes Despite its name, it is no longer just national, having leagues in eleven countries, nor limited to the game of eight-ball , as nine-ball is also sponsored. The annual, week-long VNEA International Pool Championships are held in Las Vegas , Nevada . The organization

1652-596: The World Pool-Billiard Association International Standardized Rules. But tavern eight-ball (also known as " bar pool "), typically played on smaller, coin-operated tables and in a "winner keeps the table" manner, can differ significantly even between two venues in the same city. The growth of local, regional and national amateur leagues may alleviate this confusion eventually. One-pocket owes its origins to 18th century cramp (handicapped) games. It

1711-609: The 9 by 4.5 ft (2.7 by 1.4 m) regulation tables used by professionals and in some other amateur leagues. Regular VNEA league matches are, like those of the BCA Pool League , played in round-robin format between two teams of either five or (less commonly) three players each, with each player on the home team playing one game ( frame ) versus each player on the visiting team. VNEA playing rules were originally derived largely from informal American " bar pool ", but have become increasingly consistent with

1770-650: The Near East), and Oceania Pocket Billiard Association (OPBA, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific islands). The WPA represents pool in the World Confederation of Billiards Sports , which in turn represents all forms of cue sports (including carom billiards and snooker ) in the International Olympic Committee . Handicap (sports) Handicapping also refers to the various methods by which spectators can predict and quantify

1829-811: The United Kingdom the game is commonly played in pubs, and it is competitively played in leagues on both sides of the Atlantic. The most prestigious tournaments including the World Open are sponsored and sanctioned by the International Pool Tour. Rules vary widely from place to place (and between continents to such an extent that British-style eight-ball pool/blackball is properly regarded as a separate game in its own right). Pool halls in North America are increasingly settling upon

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1888-419: The early 19th century games of pyramid pool and fifteen-ball pool which required balls to be racked due to the large number of them on the table. Of the other pyramid traditions of Continental Europe, only Russian pyramid survives. Snooker , originally known as snooker's pool, can be considered a member of this family. Rotation games require players to make legal contact with the lowest numbered ball on

1947-441: The fastest starts last, making the end of the race (hopefully) close. An ideal handicap race is one in which all participants finish at the same time. The winner is the person who beats his or her own time. Similarly, physically staggered starting positions can be used, for example, in greyhound racing a handicap race is where greyhounds (based on their ability) start from different starting traps set at different measurements from

2006-565: The finish line, and in human foot racing, for example, the Stawell Gift . Some motorsport events, especially in sports car racing , demand teams to stop the vehicle in the pitbox a fixed period of time depending on the drivers' classification, thus giving advantage to less skilled drivers. An example of a championship using this system is the International GT Open . The advantage of this system over ballast weight systems

2065-520: The first specific meaning of "a game in which each player uses a cue ball of a distinctive colour to pocket the balls of the other player(s) in a certain order, the winner taking all the stakes submitted at the start of the contest" is now obsolete, and its other specific definitions are all for games that originate in the United States. In the British Empire for most of the nineteenth through early twentieth century, pool referred specifically to

2124-405: The first to adopt balls with different colors. The stripes were the last addition. Pool is played on a six pocket table . Modern pool tables generally range in size from 3.5 by 7 feet (1.07 by 2.13 m), to 4.5 by 9 feet (1.37 by 2.74 m). Under World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) official equipment specifications, pool balls weigh from 5.5 to 6 oz (160 to 170 g) and have

2183-441: The game by forcing their opponent to be on defense instead of taking a low percentage shot that could result in a loss of game. These low percentage shots are known as "flyers" by one-pocket aficionados. Bank pool can be played with a full rack (can be a long game), but is more typically played with nine balls (frequently called "nine-ball bank"). The balls are racked in nine-ball formation, but in no particular order. The object of

2242-443: The game is simple: to be the first player to bank five balls in any order (eight balls when played with a full rack). Penalties and fouls are similar to one pocket in that the player committing the foul must spot a ball for each foul. This must be done before the incoming player shoots. Artistic pool is the competitive discipline of trick shots inspired by its carom equivalent . Played on pool or snooker tables, players must complete

2301-443: The game of life pool . Although skittle pool is played on a pocketless carom billiards table, the term pool later stuck to all new games of pocket billiards as the sport gained in popularity in the United States, and so outside the cue sports industry, which has long favored the more formal term pocket billiards , the common name for the sport has remained pool . The OxfordDictionaries.com definition no longer even provides

2360-519: The game. The first very well known sports handicapper in American culture was Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder . During his career he worked for CBS on their Sunday morning show, The NFL Today . Because sports betting had a social taboo at the time, Snyder was not allowed to mention betting on games specifically. Instead, he would predict the score. Over the years the attitude towards sports betting, and handicapping in general, has changed. Billy Walters

2419-435: The importance of drafting in cycling events, riders are usually grouped into a limited number of "bunches" based on previous results, with the bunches containing the weakest riders leaving first. Prizes are typically awarded to the first finishers, first female finisher (in mixed events), and fastest time recorded (who may not have crossed the line first due to the handicapping). There are strategies that involve differences in

Valley National 8-Ball League Association - Misplaced Pages Continue

2478-511: The last several decades ahead of straight pool . The goal of eight-ball, which is played with a full rack of fifteen balls and the cue ball, is to claim a suit (commonly stripes or solids in the US, and reds or yellows in the UK), pocket all of them, then legally pocket the 8 ball, while denying one's opponent opportunities to do the same with their suit, and without sinking the 8 ball early by accident. In

2537-416: The lines on the same event at different books. One bet is called a "middle", which when a player finds two books that offer different point spreads for the same event. They will bet the more favorable spread at both books, and if the final score falls between the two, the bettor will win both bets. On the other hand, if the total falls outside the range of the "middle" the bettor only loses a small percentage of

2596-426: The majority of venues own their pool tables outright other leagues are more common. The VNEA has active leagues in several countries other than the United States, all of which send teams and individual competitors to the annual International Championships. VNEA matches must be played on Valley- or Dynamo-brand 7 by 3.5 ft (2.1 by 1.1 m) " bar box " coin-operated pool tables , considerably smaller than

2655-464: The match. If a team starts with the advantage, as long as they finish above the points different covered in the handicap, then your selection will win. The points handicap will be greater due to higher point scoring nature of rugby. With a basketball handicap, you will be backing a team to start with a points advantage or deficit to make up in the match. Basketball handicapping is often seen in matches that are predicted to be one-sided. Handicapping in

2714-473: The obsolete meaning found in the print edition, and refers only to the typical game "using two sets [each] of seven coloured and numbered balls ... with one black ball and a white cue ball" on a table with pockets. With the exception of one-pocket , games typically called "pool" today are descended from two English games imported to the United States during the 19th century. The first was English billiards which became American four-ball billiards , essentially

2773-812: The one of the premier NBA handicappers in the world. He claims to have developed a system that uses advanced statistical analysis to predict the outcomes of games. In the past, very few people did any mathematical calculations when handicapping sporting events. Predictions were usually made from hunches or information not readily available to the public. However, with the advancement of technology computers powerful enough to run advanced simulation models now frequent homes and offices. Advanced statistics such as DVOA, Win Shares and Points per Possession are talked about in mainstream media. Brian Burke, author of The Fifth Down blog featured in The New York Times , wrote

2832-428: The results of a sporting match. The term is applied to the practice of predicting the result of a competition, such as for purposes of betting against the point spread . A favored team that wins by less than the point spread still wins the game, but bets on that team loss. In either case the handicapper is the person who sets the handicaps for the activity. The term handicap derives from hand-in-cap , referring to

2891-484: The same charter. Teams eliminated from the competition early may be eligible to compete in secondary, tertiary and even quaternary competitions (the Sportsmen's, Hard Luck and Extreme Hard Luck divisions). There are other side events, such as 16-player mini-tournaments in eight-ball and nine-ball, trick shot challenges, instructional seminars, a grand opening party and a closing banquet. While they are not always held at

2950-410: The same event. In this case, the bettor will bet the more favorable line at both books, and have a guaranteed profit. For example, if Book 1 considers Team A to be worth +200 (2-to-1 underdog), and Book 2 considers Team B to be worth +200, a bettor can bet Team A at Book 1, and Team B at Book 2, and guarantee a 100% profit. This is a no-risk bet, as the player is guaranteed a profit no matter the result of

3009-403: The same game but with an extra red object ball to increase scoring opportunities. It was the most popular billiards game in the mid-19th century until dethroned by the carom game straight rail . American four-ball tournaments tried switching to carom tables in the 1870s but this did not save it from being doomed to obscurity; the last professional tournament was held in 1876. Cowboy pool

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3068-420: The same times and venues as adult events, VNEA has a large and active series of youth tournaments. In some areas (especially the very VNEA-active Midwest ) these are backed by youth training programs and even entire youth leagues. As of 2020, there are around 5,000 youth players in 14 U.S. states and 3 other countries, forming around 100 leagues using a total of about 500 venues. Pool (cue sports) Pool

3127-463: The sport of golf enables players and teams of varying abilities to compete against one another. A golf handicap is a numerical measure of a golfer's potential or "average best". Better players are those with the lowest handicaps. Types of chess handicaps include: Handicapping in go includes the weaker player being given an advantage by placing a number of stones before the stronger player commences, and by final points adjustment. Handicapping in shogi

3186-736: The standard rules promulgated by the World Pool-Billiard Association , and used by some other major leagues, including the BCAPL and American Poolplayers Association . Local VNEA charter holders have a great deal of leeway in how games are handicapped, how players are sorted into skill-based divisions, and even in a few cases as to which rules apply. Charter holders often hold regular individual, non-team tournaments and other special events. Many tournaments have three skill divisions (Regular, Intermediate, and Masters), and provide for individual, mixed-gender scotch doubles , and team play. The Internationals provide for multiple levels of awards and trophies;

3245-410: The table or a foul is called. The earliest rotation game, originally known as 61 , started off as a variant of fifteen-ball pool during the mid-nineteenth century. The name "rotation" came from how the balls were placed around the table in its unracked offshoot Chicago . 61 has spawned many variations of its own such as American rotation , nine-ball , ten-ball , and Kelly pool . Of these, nine-ball

3304-845: The team championships. Singles and team competition are divided into divisions based on previous performance in prior years' championships, with most teams (including first-time participants) being placed in the Open division, with the Intermediate and Masters divisions being progressively exclusive. There is no other form of handicapping at the Internationals, a marked difference from the championships in many other leagues including BCAPL and APA. Men's and Women's singles are separate championships. Doubles must be one woman and one man from any team in any charter. Five-person teams may be mixed-gender, and must be composed of at least three players from

3363-419: The time a vessel takes to reach the finish point of the race. The ATP, WTA, Challenger, and ITF events have plenty of matches which can be one-sided, which results in short odds being offered with various betting sites. Therefore, there is not ever much value in backing a specific player to win, which is why handicap betting is often popular. Handicap betting in tennis often means that you are wagering funds on

3422-442: The times have been adjusted for the different competitors' handicaps. In a 'pursuit' style handicap race, all participants are clocked in a time trial before the race. When this takes place at the same event as the main race, it is known as the handicap. In the race itself, the participants do not all start at the same "Go"; the starts are staggered, based on the handicaps. The slowest swimmer, or cyclist, for example, starts first and

3481-491: Was profiled by 60 Minutes because of his handicapping abilities. Billy Walters, and other unknown members of the Computer Group, developed a system for handicapping games and beating Las Vegas sportsbooks. The Huffington Post covered Jon Price a reclusive sports bettor that hires Ph.D's and works off of algorithmic information for his predictions. ESPN wrote an article on Haralabos Voulgaris naming him as

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