Category: News

The official signup for the general public concluded with 16 teams enrolled.  The season will end on 25Jun2026’s Party night. Also, because we’ll have more than 14 teams playing each week, there will be 7-foot tables included in this season’s schedule.

If any other individuals or teams are interested to join in, please notify the venue (Shooter’s Sports Bar and Billiards, Grayslake Illinois)  before Tuesday, 10Mar2026:7:00pm.  The venue will, in turn, notify the league operator by the final deadline of 8pm on the same night.

The season’s match play officially begins on Thursday, 12Mar2026 at 7:30pm.

The captains/delegates at the meeting participated in a rule change discussion and vote.  Summary of the discussions and changes:

1. Rule 02: All Captain’s voted for no ACS Sanctioning again this year.
2. Randomizer vs tickets -There was a suggestion to return to the randomizer. The vote was to stay with tickets.
3. Magic Rack – There was the question to use the magic rack for the 9-ball break and run. The answer was no magic rack.
4. There was a suggestion that the winning team gets 5 additional points as a Bonus for winning and that was quickly voted NO.
5. Bonus for Missing (Ghost) Players – There was a couple of suggestions for the Bonus rule for a missing (ghost) player. One was to get rid of the Bonus and the other was that the last night of the season, there should be NO missing (ghost) players as it has affected teams in the standings because of the Bonus points. Either play the games early if it is known ahead of time or possibly the next night. These suggestions went back and forth a bit, but the Bonus for a missing player still stands (with a 16pt maximum cap). It is highly suggested that the last night of the season, players/teams do their best to have a full team play.

RAFFLE Status:

There were 171 chances invested in this evening’s raffle opportunity.

1. Nancy K was picked for the first time this season, Table 8; She sank the 3-ball in the top right corner. She had a slight angle on the 1-ball into the bottom right corner and slid over nicely for the 2-ball. However, she was not confident using the bridge, so she cashed out for 2/9ths of the available pot.
2. Ricky R was picked for the first time this season, Table 5; He made the 4-ball and the 9-ball in the same top left corner pocket and the 1-ball was a duck in the bottom right pocket. His dilemma was the that 3-ball was all the way on the opposite side about an inch from the rail toward the middle of the rail. He had a great stroke shooting the 1-ball to try to get back for the 3-ball, but was a little too short and he had too much of an angle and opted to cash out with 3/9ths of the available pot.
3. The remaining raffle pot rolls over to 2026 Spring’s Week 01.

OTHER:

1. Two teamless individuals signed up and were taken as subs.
2. It doesn’t apply to this season, but next season, 23Jul2026 will be a BYE for a tournament that will be held here at Shooter’s.

Outstanding outing(s):

1. 20 individuals were paired into 10 teams for the Scotch-Doubles tournament.  The two teams that earned the finals match agreed to split the pot evenly.  Romy G & Kevin L was one team and John W & Sultan S was the other.
   • Romy & Kevin were victorious in the preceding two matches against:
     • Ramiro G & Braxton L
     • Julian F & Dave G (Goose) in the semi-final
   • The team of John & Sultan won their preceding three matches against:
     • Joe L & Primo
     • Ricky R & Jim McC
     • Mona T & Sharon W in the semi-final

RAFFLE Status:

1. Mike K was selected for the 1st time this season. He had a dry break on Table 15.
2. Mona, also selected for the 1st time this season and also breaking on Table 15, had a monster break making 3 balls on his break! The 2-ball nicely waiting in the corner pocket with an easy shot, came over nicely for the 3-ball but didn’t have an angle to break out his 4-ball. So, he made the 3-ball and cashed out for 5/9ths of the pot!
3. The remaining raffle pot rolls over to next week’s official 2026 Spring Season sign-up night!

OTHER:

1. By night’s end, 8 teams were listed on the signup sheets for the 2026 Spring season. Next week is the official sign-up night to the Open Public, so we’ll expect at least a few more teams to join in then. Then play will begin 12Mar2026.
2. The end of season ceremony included the following announcements:
   
   1. Larry P was the league’s official Top Shooter with a 9.108 points per game average. (Scott C was just ahead but only played 10 games- 13 games needed).
   2. Mike K was recognized with the greatest average-per-game percentage improvement (13.9%) when comparing final average to the average heading into Week 01. Roberto E was 2nd at 13.09% and Alex O third at 09.73%.
   3. Larry P was the player whose final average points per game was closest to what it was at the season’s onset – finishing with a 0.08% change! Quite a feat to consistently keep that high of an average!!!
   4. Other stats from this season:
      • 88 of our 97 rostered players had at least one week played, and 26 people played all 16 possible weeks.
      • We had 3 players make their league debuts.  One was from the Sharp Shooters roster (Leynard D), one with the Chalkoholics  (Casey J) and another with Racks and Ball (Mark A – who replaced for Jon K for the last two weeks).
      • Counting tonight-there were 38 raffle selections this season. 28 different people were selected in the raffle draws this season.
        • Kyle B and Sean B had the most with three (unable to cash out).
        • Goose, Steve VD & Tim B each picked two times and unable to cash out, but Jimmy S, Norberto E and Scott C were also picked twice and able to cash out once each!
        • Bill T, Bryan W, Ed S, Kevin D, Larry P and Mark H only needed one time to cash out!
        • Tonight’s picks were Mike K who broke dry and Mona, as mentioned above, cashed out with 5/9ths of the pot!
        • Including tonight, there were 10 different cash-outs totaling over seventy-eight hundred bucks. Scott C had the largest prize after sinking four balls in Week 03 and Mona next sinking his five balls tonight.
3. The league operator has no prize money left over, so contact your team captain if you didn’t collect your prize money yet.
4. Twelve 18″ pizzas were served and none remained at the night’s end.
5. A Scotch Doubles Tournament was conducted and was much improved with our modified rule 24 limiting one timeout per game per team.  There is still room for improvement though to figure out a way to get the tourney started earlier.
6. End of season standings in reverse order:

1. Racks and Balls
2. Conniving Chupacabras
3. Bob Would Have Made That – Riiiiight!!!
4. Scorpions a team greatly admired by the League Operator for having paid their full weekly fees before the 2^nd half of the season even begins.
5. Racking My Brain– WHAT!!!!
6. Chalkoholics – I think they missed you Mike!
7. The Butchers 
8. Pocket Rattlers
9. Alv Hielo
10. Wolff Pack – also highly regarded by the League Operator for getting the full fees paid early!
11. Sharp Shooters
12. The Bull Shooters
13. PhaCues – Happy Thursday Immer!
14. Behind the 8-Ball
15. Free Agents 
16. Big Slick – in 1st the previous 3 weeks!
17. Road Warriors – finishing with an average of 311.19 points per week.  The team members were captain Julian F, Top Shooter Larry P, Mona T, Bryan W and Lito G.

Congratulations to all!!

Outstanding outing(s):

1. Scott C (had his 4th), Bryan W (his 3rd) and Immer H (with his 1st), all had perfect 80s!
2. Mona T shot 77.
3. Kevin J and Julian F each tallied 76.

RAFFLE Status:

1. Kyle B, Table 8; (was picked for the third time this season) Strong break, but like his previous 2 tries, was unable to cash out, as he broke dry!
2. Braxton L, Table 10; (picked for the first time this season), also broke dry!
3. The entire pot is available for Week 18’s party night.  

OTHER:

1. Chalkoholics had a BYE week and couldn’t add to their point total, however, they still moved up from 13th place to 12th place! Nice move!
2. Racks and Balls had a missing player which caused an 8pt HCP decrease, which awarded Racking My Brain an 8pt Bonus.
3. Pocket Rattlers had a missing player which caused a 32pt HCP decrease, which awarded Wolff Pack the 16pt (MAX) Bonus.
4. Conniving Chupacabras also had a missing player (Sean & Cristina are in Vegas!! Hope doing well!) causing a 32pt HCP decrease which awarded the Road Warriors the 16pt (MAX) Bonus.
5. NOTE: 2025-26 Autumn Week 18 (next week) is our party night and will include pizza, another 9-ball runout raffle, sign-up sheets will be out, the Scotch Doubles tournament ($10 entry fee), and season-end prizes… all for league members only.
6. NOTE2: Wishing Jerry W a speedy recovery!!! We missed you!

Outstanding outing(s):

1. David K (his 1st!), Bryan W (his 2nd) and Scott C (his 3rd) scored perfect 80s.
2. Fermin A and Julian F both had 77.
3. Craig P, Kevin C and Ed G all shot 76.

RAFFLE Status:

1. David K, Table 15:  Another first for David!  But unfortunately, he broke dry.
2. Sean B, Table 08:  Picked for the 3rd time this season, and 2nd time in a row, but also broke dry 2nd time in a row!!
3. The entire raffle pot rolls over to the Final Week 17.  

OTHER:

1. Chalkoholics had one absence which had no HCP impact.
2. One more week to go!! Then PIZZA night and scotch doubles for fun, fun, fun!!!

Outstanding outing(s):

1. Kevin J (his 1st for this season), Craig P (his 2nd) and Larry P (his 4th!) achieved perfect 80s.
2. Jimmy S shot the only 77.
3. Alex O tallied 76.

RAFFLE Status:

1. John W was picked for the first time ever!  He made the 7-ball in the top right corner pocket and the 5-ball into the right side pocket on his break on Table 2. Had an easy shot on the 1-ball and came up nicely for the 2-ball, but unfortunately, he missed the 2-ball in the top corner pocket, voiding his 3 balls!
2. Sean B, Table 7; (picked for the 2nd time this season) broke dry!
3. The entire raffle pot rolls over to week 16.  

   OTHER:

1. Mark A replaced Jon K on Racks and Balls due to a medical issue which caused him to be unable to play the rest of this season. Speedy recovery to Jon!
2. Two more weeks to go!!!

NOTE: (edited 2/7/26 5:09pm)

It was called to my attention (thanks Mark) that since Pocket Rattlers had a missing player which caused a 32 pt HCP decrease, awards The Butchers the maximum Bonus of 16 pts.

Outstanding outing(s):

1. Teammates Steve VD, Lisa L & John R each scored their 1st perfect 80 for this season, along with Ben W (his 1st), Kyle B (his 2nd) and Kevin C (his 3rd).
2. Teammates Ed S & Jimmy S, Steve G and Alex T each shot a 77.
3. Mona T finished with 76.

RAFFLE Status:

1. Sharon C, picked for the 1st time this season, had a strong break but broke dry.
2. Steve G, also picked for the 1st time this season, also broke dry.
3. The entire raffle pot rolls over to week 15.

OTHER:

1. Racks & Balls had one absence, causing an 8pt HCP increase. Therefore, no Bonus was awarded to their opponents PhaCues.
2. The Butchers also had one absence which had no HCP impact.
3. Two “original averages” (also adj’d on Week 10) were retroactively adjusted this week as follows:
   • Leynard D of Sharp Shooters decreased by 0.19 which awarded Sharp Shooters an additional 8pts.
   • Casey J of Chalkoholics decreased by 0.25 which award the Chalkoholics an additional 8pts.
4. We wish Racks & Balls Jon K a speedy recovery!
5. There are exactly three remaining match weeks in this season.  Then comes Party Night!

Outstanding outing(s):

1. NO perfect 80 again this week!
2. Zane E and Romy G each shot a 77.
3. Nancy K and Larry P each finished with 76.

RAFFLE Status:

1. Ed S, Table 10; (Picked for the 1st time this season) Quickly made the 8-ball & 4-Ball in the same top left corner pocket and left himself  a great straight in shot on the 1-ball. But he didn’t like the 2-9 combo along the rail and cashed out for 3/9ths of the pot.
2. Kevin D, Table 6; (Picked for the 1st time ever)
   1. 1. The 8-ball slow rolled into the top left corner pocket.
      2. Had a nice angle on the 1-ball in the same top left cornerpocket to slide over for the 2-ball in the top right corner.
      3. Got some nice draw to come up for the 3-ball in the left side pocket.
      4. He didn’t like the 4-7 combo and cashed out with 4/9ths of the pot.
3. The remaining raffle pot rolls over to week 14.

OTHER:

1. Nice to say NO absences again this week!
2. Missed saying Happy Birthday to Cristina C!! Happy Birthday!!!
3. Second week in a row for Racks & Balls with a straight up win!! Congrats!
4. Everyone please be safe with this crazy below zero weather!!

Outstanding outing(s):

1. NO perfect 80s this week!
2. Tom K and Roberto E both registered a 77.
3. Alex O scored a 76.

RAFFLE Status:

1. Roy S, Table 6; (1st time picked this season) Made the 3-ball in the left corner pocket but also made the cue ball in the right side pocket.
2. Norberto E, Table 12; (Picked for the 2nd time this season) Made the 2-ball in the right corner pocket. Was left with a long, 45 degree cut on the 1-ball. He missed the corner pocket by about 2 inches, but hit it hard enough to bank it into the opposite corner pocket. He quickly quit with 2/9ths of the pot!
3. The remaining raffle pot rolls over to Week 13.  

OTHER:

1. Big Slick had one absence, causing a 16 pt HCP decrease, therefore, award their opponent Conniving Chupacabras a 16 pt Bonus.
2. Racks and Balls won their first match of the season!! They were very excited!! Nice job!
3. Five more weeks to go for this season!!!

Outstanding outing(s):

1. Julian F (his 4th!) and Craig P (his 1st) each accomplished perfect 80s.
2. John C, Larry P and Bryan W each shot a 77.
3. Roberto E and Alex O tallied 76.

RAFFLE Status:

1. Kyle B, Table 7: (second time this season) made the 3-ball in the corner on his break shot. The 4-ball kissed the 1-ball just enough to make the 4-ball sit on the cue ball. He measured for a kick at the 1-ball and just missed making it by an inch or so!
2. Bill T, Table 9: (first time picked this season) also made the 3-ball in the same corner pocket on his break. He had a much better shot at the 1-ball and made it with ease, but the 2-ball was in a bad spot, therefore, he elected to take 2/9ths of the pot!
3. The remaining raffle pot rolls larger over to Week 12.  

OTHER:

1. No absences this week! Everyone came to play!
2. Jon K scored his highest score of 72! Nice!
3. Hope everyone had a great Holiday Season!! Welcome back and hope everyone has a happy, healthy, prosperous 2026!!! We have

Outstanding outing(s):

1. Larry P (his 3rd), Zane E, Mike B, Scott Cohen (their 2nd) and Bryan W and Jerry R (their 1st) each scored perfect 80s.
2. Mona T shot a 77.
3.  Dennis S finished with 76 points.

RAFFLE Status:

1. Steve VD, Table 12, was picked for the 2nd time this season.  He made the 5-ball in the bottom right corner pocket. He had a fairly decent shot on the 1-ball and was planning on just making it and not worrying about shapes on the 2-ball, but…..did not make it.
2. Scott C, Table 10, also picked for the 2nd time this season, broke dry this time.
3. The entire raffle pot rolls over to Week 11.  

OTHER:

1. Cam R made his Scorpions season debut shooting 45.
2. John R made his season debut with PhaCues scoring 59.
3. Chalkoholics had one absence causing an 8-point HCP decline thereby awarding an 8-point bonus to their Wolff Pack opponent.
4. The 2nd set of weekly fee envelopes were distributed.  Thank you all for checking and making sure all is correct.
5. New player Leynard D’s original average was adjusted prompting 16 additional points to the Sharpe Shooters.
6. New player Casey J’s original average was also adjusted awarding 8 additional points to the Chalkoholics.
7. James W was in for another appearance, glad to see you again!!
8. Jerry R had a successful knee surgery and was back shooting after 1 week!!! Amazing Jerry! Don’t overdo it though!!!
9. We are off the next 2 weeks! Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy 2026. See you all NEXT YEAR!