As we look forward to the Summer Session and the 2023-2024 league year, we are pleased to announce a new path for teams to reach Las Vegas and a new qualifying structure that will allow teams greater flexibility.

The most exciting change, however, is that starting in the Summer Session of 2023 with our Summer City Tournament (now called Tri-Cities), you will no longer have to be “the top” team to advance to Vegas. In an effort to align our League with the other APA Leagues around the world, we’ll be moving to a multi-tiered qualifying structure.

What does this multi-tiered qualifying structure look like? It’s very similar to what we do currently, which means our Cities (the tournament following each session's playoffs) will be run in a very similar way. The difference is that, instead of playing down to ONE team for 9-Ball or ONE team for 8-Ball, we’ll instead play down to the top eight (8) teams in each format. We will do this for our Summer Cities, Fall Cities, and Spring Cities (2024), giving us a total of 24 qualifying teams in 8-ball and 24 qualifying teams in 9-ball. Each team that qualifies through a City Tournament will advance to the new World Qualifier which will be held in June of 2024. At the end of our World Qualifiers, three (3) 8-Ball teams will advance to the 8-Ball World Pool Championships in Vegas, and three (3) 9-Ball teams will advance to the 9-Ball World Pool Championships in Vegas. Each team earning a World Pool Championship slot will receive $6400.00 in travel assistance and a paid entry ($250.00) into the tournament of that format.

New progression from league night to World Pool Championships in Las Vegas, see cover image.

In addition, we are excited to announce an additional opportunity for teams to qualify for a trip to the World Pool Championships in Vegas, the “Backroad to Vegas''. Backroad to Vegas will also follow the multi-tiered qualifying structure. Teams that make it to the finals during our Tri-Cities but do not advance to the World Qualifier will qualify for the Backroad to Vegas tournament to be held in July of 2024. Both 8-ball and 9-ball Tri-Cities will play into the Backroad to Vegas and one winning team will receive $6400.00 in travel assistance and $400 in entry fees to participate in Mini-Mania tournaments during the APA World Pool Championships. Teams that have qualified for Backroad to Vegas through a prior session Tri-Cities are eligible to participate in future Tri-Cities in the same league year to try for a slot in the World Qualifier. If a Backroad to Vegas qualified team earns a slot into the World Qualifier, they forfeit their Backroad to Vegas qualification in order to play in the World Qualifier. No team may be qualified for both tournaments in the same league year.

In order to further align local tournaments with APA leagues around the world, we will be implementing the following changes:

City Tournaments (Tri-Cities) will no longer be an extension of the World Pool Championships, but rather an extension of playoffs. What this means is that with the exception of Sudden Death, City Tournaments will follow the rules of local playoffs not tournament rules for the World Pool Championships.

• Skill level 3 and below will receive 2 timeouts per game.
• Tournament boards will be single-elimination.
• Winners (8 teams) advance to World Qualifier
• 2nd place teams (8 teams) advance to Backroad to Vegas Tournament.
• All players are required to have 6 matches prior to playoffs
• There is NO minimum lifetime match requirement for City Tournaments but you must meet the session’s match requirements to participate
• Teams that are already qualified for the World Qualifier are not eligible for future City Tournaments during the same league year.
• Once a team is qualified for a World Qualifier, the team must remain active each session leading up to the World Qualifier with at least 4 original members

World Qualifiers will no longer be held at the end of each session. There will be one World Qualifier held after the Spring City Tournament for 8-ball and one for 9-ball. All allocated slots to the World Pool Championships will be awarded during these tournaments. Slot counts will not be altered by this new qualifying format!

• All players are required to have 10-lifetime matches in the format they are participating
• All players receive 1 timeout per game
• Tournament boards will be modified single elimination
• Winners (3 teams) advance to World Pool Championships
• 2nd place teams (3 teams) advance to Regional Tournament
• Spring Rosters are World Qualifier Rosters. Teams that qualify for the World Qualifier in Summer and Fall lock their World Qualifier Roster with the players on their Spring Roster, not the players that were on the roster when the team qualified, NO EXCEPTIONS.
• Any player being added to a qualified team in the Spring Session should have a skill level based on at least 20 scores. Players with less than 20 scores must be approved prior to adding them to a qualified team
• All teams must have a minimum of 4 original players to play in the World Qualifier, NO EXCEPTIONS.

To recap:

2023 Summer & Fall Sessions

• Cities will be single elimination
• Playoff rules apply to Cities
• 8-Ball – Eight (8) teams advance to World Qualifier in June
• 9-Ball – Eight (8) teams advance to World Qualifier in June
• 8-Ball – Eight (8) teams advance to Backroad to Vegas in July
• 9-Ball – Eight (8) teams advance to Backroad to Vegas in July

2024 Spring Session

• Cities will be single elimination
• Playoff rules apply to Cities
• 8-Ball – Eight (8) teams advance to World Qualifier in June
• 9-Ball – Eight (8) teams advance to World Qualifier in June
• 8-Ball – Eight (8) teams advance to Backroad to Vegas in July
• 9-Ball – Eight (8) teams advance to Backroad to Vegas in July

2023-2024 League Year World Qualifier

• Held in June 2024
• Modified Single Elimination Tournament
• 9-Ball – 24 total teams, (3) three teams will win a trip to the 9-Ball World Championships in Vegas & (3) three teams will advance to either a regional tournament or Backroad to Vegas Tournament
• 8-Ball – 24 total teams, (3) three teams will win a trip to the 8-Ball World Championships in Vegas & (3) three teams will advance to either a regional tournament or Backroad to Vegas Tournament
• Each team qualifying for the World Pool Championships will receive Travel assistance of $6400.00 & paid WPC entry fee $250.00

2023-2024 League Year Backroad to Vegas Tournament

• Held in July 2024
• Modified Single Elimination Tournament
• Team Captain Format* (3 players, Max combined handicap 15)
• Qualified 8-ball and 9-ball teams participate for a Trip to the World Pool Championships in Vegas
• Winning team will receive Travel assistance of $6400.00 & paid Mini Mania entry fees of $400.00

*Everything you need to know about the new Backroad to Vegas tournament

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please do not hesitate to call the league office (919) 578-4758 or email us at info@apa-raleigh.com.