1. Registration

1. Each season the league registration form will be shared with members by email and social media.  The form will include details such as dates, fees, payment method etc.
2. The seasonal schedule is available here.

2. Divisions and Groups

1. Each league will be organized into divisions (e.g. Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced).  Within each division players will be divided into groups, called pools, of roughly equal size (e.g. Group1, Group2, etc.).
2. The number of divisions and groups, and the assignment of players, will be decided by the league organizers based on the number of participants and their skill level.

3. League portal

1. The New York Cue Club league portal is online at https://leagues.nycueclub.com.
2. The email and phone number provided to the Court Reserve reservation system will be used by the league organizers to create an account on the portal.
3. A temporary password will be sent by email. You can also use the password reset feature to obtain your password.
4. The homepage of the current season of each league can be accessed by navigating to the portal homepage, and then to the appropriate Schedules & Standings section.

4. Schedule

1. A season runs for 13 or 14 weeks and has 2 phases: the regular season and playoffs.
2. The regular season will last 10 weeks. Players will be assigned weekly matches against other players in their group.
3. The regular season schedule will become available shortly after registration closes.
4. Each week players are responsible for coordinating with their opponent to schedule their assigned match.
5. Players must try their best to play their match during the week it is scheduled. Players should not wait until the last weeks to complete many matches.
6. The playoffs will last 3 or 4 weeks. Playoffs are a seeded single elimination tournament.
7. The rules for qualification for the playoffs season with respect to the final standings will be announced at the beginning of the season.
8. The playoffs matches will be announced by the league organizers shortly after the regular season ends.

5. Table Reservations

1. Players must reserve a table on the Court Reserve system to play a league match.
2. The name of both players must be added to the reservation.
3. Select the reservation type “League match - 9-ball” outside of Prime Time (3pm - 7pm). Select the reservation type "League match - 9-ball - PT" during Prime Time.
4. 2 hours is the appropriate length of the reservation for a 9-ball league match.
5. By default, matches are to be played on a 4.50" pockets table. Both players must agree if a match is to be played on a table with other pockets sizes.

6. Handicap

1. Matches will be handicapped based on each player's rating according to the chart below.
2. Ratings remain fixed throughout the season unless an immediate adjustment is clearly needed.
3. For the first season the league directors will make a best effort at determining ratings based on all available information.
4. At the end of each season, ratings will be updated based on players performance during both the most recent and prior seasons.  As much as possible, this will be done objectively by a mathematical algorithm to make relative ratings of the NYCC players pool as accurate as possible.  As the statistics will be limited for the first several seasons, the league directors reserve the right to adjust these new ratings as they deem appropriate.

7. Scoring

1. The scoring will be done on the tablet next to the table using the application Scoreboard Master.
2. It is the responsibility of both players to make sure the score is accurate after each game.
3. Immediately after the match has concluded it is the winning player’s responsibility to record the score in the league portal.
4. The reported score must include the handicap.
5. When using the scoring app several things should be kept in mind:
   1. The “Race to” setting must be set to the number of games the higher ranked player needs to win.
   2. The handicap must be added to the score of the lower ranked player at the beginning of the match.

8. Standings

1. The standings within a group will be determined using the following criteria:
   1. Percentage of matches won vs adjudicated matches.
   2. Average game differential: (total games won - total games lost) / played matches.
   3. Head to head record.
2. By default, for all unplayed matches, both players will receive a loss. Unplayed losses count as adjudicated matches.
3. If a player feels he/she made a reasonable effort to make the match happen and that the responsibility for the match not happening relies heavily on the opponent, a 'no-contest' can be requested by the player for that match by sending an email to the league directors (leagues@nycueclub.com) 3-days before the end of the regular season at the latest. A 'no-contest' match does not count towards the standings, it is not considered an adjudicated match.

9. Rules

Matches are played in accordance with BCA rules found here. The following rules are NYCC additions, changes, or clarifications:

1. Rack your own
2. 1-ball on the spot
3. Break from anywhere behind the head string
4. Legal break is 4 object balls to a rail (or pocketed)
5. If the break is illegal, the opponent can take the break -or- make the player re-break on 1-foul and without the option to push after the break.
6. Pattern racking is illegal. Players should never chose a position in the rack for a ball, except for the 1-ball and 9-ball.
7. Call 9-ball (see Wild 9-ball / Call 9-ball page for more details)
   
   1. Pocketing the 9-ball wins the game only if it is done with intent. To announce intent, the player must point to the pocket and say ‘9-ball’.
   2. If the 9-ball is the last ball on the table and the player pockets it directly in the most natural pocket, intent is considered obvious and the player wins the game.
   3. The 9-ball cannot be called on the break. A 9-ball pocketed on the break is re-spotted and the player keeps his turn at the table.
   4. If the 9-ball is pocketed uncalled -or- called but in the wrong pocket, the 9-ball is re-spotted and the player stays at the table. Exception: if the 9-ball is the only ball left on the table, the player loses his turn.
8. Jump cues are allowed.
9. Template racks are allowed. Use of a specific template rack must be announced at the beginning of the match and it must be made available to the opponent throughout the match.
10. Ball Fouls:
    1. During or after the stroke, if any ball is touched, it is a foul. The balls that were touched are NOT put back in place.
    2. If -one- object ball is touched before the player proceeds with the stroke, the player must inform his opponent of what happened. The opponent then has the choice to
       1. Leave the touched ball where it is.
       2. Put the ball back where it was.
       3. Let the player at the table put it back where it was.
    3. If the cue ball is accidentally touched at any moment it is a foul. If other balls were touched, they are NOT put back in place.
    4. If two or more object balls are disturbed, it is a foul. The balls that were touched are NOT put back in place.
11. If a disagreement cannot be resolved and a league organizer is not present, the decision goes to the shooting player at the table.