Rule Amendments:

A. Handicapped Soft Cap (23) with penalties for going over the cap.  The cap is in place to encourage teams to play on a level playing field.  There is no reason the top 3 players in the league should be on the same team.  By doing so it creates an unfair advantage.  The AZPL recognizes the disadvantage this puts other teams in.  If players of that caliber wish to play together they will still be allowed to however, they will be penalized for every point they are over the cap.

Teams that are 23 and under = standard handicap (no minimum win requirement)

Teams that are 24 = handicap+5 penalty points

Teams that are 25 = handicap+9

Teams that are 26 = handicap+13

Teams that are 27 = handicap+17

Teams that are 28 (2 10s & an 8, 2 9s & a 10)= handicap+21

Teams that are 29 (2 10s & a 9)= handicap+25

Teams that are 30 (3 10s)= handicap+29

Every player will be given a rating from the AZPL and it will be posted on the AZPL website.  The AZPL will be assigning ratings to everyone in the league. 

How the handicap works:

1-3 points apart = no handicap

4-5 points apart = 10 points

6-7 points apart = 20 points

8-9 points apart = 30 points

10-11 points apart = 40 points  

12 or more points apart = 45 points

There is No Minimum Win requirement to get handicap points

The ratings will be assigned & manually adjusted for accuracy based strictly on your performance exclusively in the AZPL.  If the league operator feels you are playing above/below your rating it will be adjusted.  These ratings will have NOTHING to do with ANY outside rating source.  Whether you are a 6 in the APA, a 7 in TAP, a 9 in the BCA or a 10 in the Arizona Ratings it will not have anything to do with your rating in the AZPL.  Some of you will have your rating go up, some will go down; the majority will stay the same.  Remember, these ratings are based solely on your performance in this league ONLY.

The ratings scale will range from 4-10.  4 would be considered a beginner with 10 being a top player in the league.  Most of the players in the AZPL are 6-8.

For their first two matches in the league men will be rated a 6, women a 5, unless otherwise determined.  After that the automated rating will kick in.

Your post-season (State Championships) performance will be factored into your rating as well as your regular season performance. 

B. Teams that finish in 1^st & 2^nd place in the State Championships will automatically start in the 9am time slot on Saturday morning in the following Championship regardless where they finish in the regular season as long as they qualify for the tournament.  If a team fails to qualify then they'll start in the Wild Card. 

C. Tournament eligibility will be based on your rating.  The minimum number of matches to be eligible for Championship play is equal to your rating meaning if you are a 7 you must play in at least 7 matches to qualify for your team.  If you are a 9 you must play in at least 9 matches.  No more “minimum match” ringers in the tournament. Occasionally we have a team who for whatever reason cannot meet those requirements. In that situation they can use a player that hasn't met the minimum requirements but has played on their team during the season.  The penalty for this is a half point added to their rating for every match they are short.  Meaning a 7 that has played only 5 matches would be raised to an 8 (half point each for the 6th & 7th match) for the tournament.  However, the team still must be under the 23-cap rule in base ratings or they are subject to the over-the-cap penalty.

D. Players that are rated 9 or higher cannot be on more than one team together.  You can play on more than one night but you cannot have any common members with your other team.  Not even as a sub. 

E. Break & Runs – If you break and run out all of your balls AND sink the 8-ball for the win the opposing player will not receive credit for any balls that YOU sunk whether on the break or accidentally while shooting.  The score will be 10-0.

F. When playing short-handed (less than 3 players) the vacant spot (the forfeit) counts as 4 points toward the handicap total. 

G. Teams that owe money at the end of the season will be automatically dropped from State Championship tournament eligibility and have to qualify via the Wild Card Tournament as long as their past due balance is paid in full before the start of the Wild Card tournament.