THE HISTORY OF STRAIGHTSHOTS

Straightshots Pool League was formed on 24th January 2002. The person responsible for bringing SS into Yahoo Pool was an Englishman called Carl whose ID was Clubberx20. He was the League’s first Head Admin and held the position for 8 months before handing over to Darlene (XxKittyKatxX), from the USA, on 14 August 2002.

She remained HA for 5 months until 18 January 2003 when New Zealander Clint (ClintEvenbly) took over. His spell at the helm lasted just a couple of months before Roy (JUDGE1474) from Australia came into the hot seat on 22 March 2003, followed by the American ‘Maj’ (majestic_099) replacing him on 17 June 2003.

The rest of 2003 saw another four changes; on 1 August 2003, Dan (happy_guy_who_smokes) from the USA lasted a month in the role, handing over to Tony (sticcmove) also an American on 22 September 2003. Dan returned on 28 September 2003 for another short stint but one month later, the American handed the role back to Tony who, in his second spell as HA, went on to outlast all previous Head Admins by staying a commendable 17 months or so.

On 1 March 2005, another American, namely Shirley (flatbrokeagain2825), grabbed the reigns and she remained in the position for 9 months, leaving after a controversy regarding SS finances. One of the League’s admins, Laura (LAURA1315), took over on 7 December 2005. She became the first HA from England since the League’s founder in 2002 and served in this role for just over 5 years.

The League has had a chequered existence, enduring times of inactivity and controversy, with numerous intended breakaway leagues. However, Straightshots has always remained strong and defied those who tried to ruin the League. When Laura took over as Head Admin, SS was in a poor state and was lucky to generally reach 30 tourneys a day. But hard work by her and her team of Admins and TDs increased the figure to around 70 a day, and at its peak the figure often topped the century, making SS one of the most active pool leagues at the time.

In the Yahoo Pool era, there have been many Admins, HTDs and TDs who have contributed to SS’s continued existance over the years, too numerous to mention here. With apologies to those missed out, notable dedicated members towards the SS cause include Andrea, Ash, Bee, Chad, Chris, CJ, Deven, Don, Eric, Greg, James, Jason, John (irish_wolf), Jon, Karen, Kimberley, Laura, Michele (Angel_of_Darkness), Nicki, Roy, Sassy, Shelle, Shirley, Steven, Steve (lvlr_licky), Tia, Tony, Tracey and many more, all of whom gave an enormous amount of time and commitment to ensure that SS remained a top active league.

Straightshots has been a part of interleague competition since January 2003, originally participating in IPC (Interleague Pool Competition) and WIP (World Interleague Pool) individual inters, in addition to PLC (Pool League Championship) as the League’s first team inters. In March 2003, SS won the PLC divisional trophy and Cases Cup – captained by Nicki (on Nicki_598) of Wales – in the first season. The League was founder member of the new MLP (Major League Pool) and won the Pacific Division in MLP’s inaugural season. SS dominated MLP in season 2, winning four trophies in April 2004, and also was successful in the inaugural UIC season in August 2005, taking the Regular Season title and Premier trophy, captained by Roy.

SS continued to take part in several individual interleague competitions, including IPC, ILT (Interleague Tournament), NPA (National Pool Association), PIT (Professional Interleague Tournament), WIP as well as MLP. The first SS player to achieve notable success in inters was Richie (ss_goodriddance) of England who won a WIP competition in January 2003. Downwithyour-rating (name unknown) won the League’s first MVP (Most Valuable Player) award in MLP Season 2 in April 2004.

Roy was instrumental in most of SS’s early interleague team successes, helped by Nicki as co-captain. The Judge was effectively the first SS interleague coordinator, a role which Steven (steven.rules) of the USA later took on in 2005. Steven endured a spell where interleague success dried up considerably and he was eventually assisted in a difficult role by Marie (milly_molly03) from Northern Ireland as his co-captain.

It was Marie who ended a two-year stretch without success by leading SS to the UIC5 Emerald Consolation Cup in June 2007, turning a 0-7 season into 11-11. Soon afterwards, Nigel (e_n_d_i_k_a_y), an Englishman from London, was appointed UIC captain with Marie as deputy captain and the pair took SS to two trophies in UIC6. Finally Steven stood down and was replaced by the British pair who became joint coordinators in 2008. They changed the face of inter-leagues in SS by introducing an improved organisational structure and the trophies started to roll in, notably in UIC, UIC Swiss, WPC Expo and IPA.

During 2008, the SS Cam Cup was started and was originally run by Jonathan (crazy_canuck) using a website designed by Laura. He ran it for 6 seasons with the help of Steven (steven.rules) before Nish (xlx_nish_xlx) took over for one season. Jonathan returned in 2010 to run a further eight seasons, finishing a year later.

In April 2010, Marie and Nigel stood down after 2 years of success which included an incredible 24 trophies, and Shelle and Nicki took over. With Shelle then doing the job on her own, Nigel (now on en_dk) returned to SS to become coordinator for a second spell in November 2010. He had a spell in International Cue Addiction (ICA) where he led them to the UIC Swiss title in Season 6.

On 7 January 2011, Shelle (shelle4461) from Florida, USA, took over as the League’s 12th Head Admin after the long-serving Laura decided to step down. Straightshots continued to be widely recognised as one of the biggest names in interleague pool, a meritable profile of which the League is extremely proud. Founder members of several prestigious competitions, such as PLC, MLP and UIC, the League’s team trophy count since first entering interleagues in 2003 made SS the all-time leading team with over 60 trophies.

In 2012 the League was affected by room locking and bots, in addition to a breakaway league called New Era, which reduced activity for a while and struggled as a result. Also during 2012, Nigel (en_dk), the League’s new Deputy HA, restarted the SS Cam Cup, renaming Divisions A and B as the Gold Conference and Silver Conference respectively. He introduced a Bronze Conference as the Consolation Plate.

SS had a period of running in conjunction with Sexy Poolerz (SP), taking on two new admins and about half a dozen members, but the venture was short-lived. The League continued to exist albeit at a lesser level of activity until Yahoo Games decided to phase out all parlour games, including pool, on 31st March 2014, forcing all leagues to look for new gaming sites. After an unsuccessful period in Pogo, SS decided to become a Multi-Gaming League and moved to GameDesire in July 2014, sharing a room with Pool Sharks (PS), although this did not last too long due to PS’s demise.

SS carried on hosting tourneys in the GameDesire room called Morocco before moving to a new room labelled League 02. But it was the SS Cam Cup which at times kept SS ticking over during the quiet periods, with games being reported as SS leagues to help activity. Two further Cam competitions called SS Cam Timed and SS Cam BankQ8 were formed.

On 14th December 2015, Shelle, who ended just short of 5 years as HA, passed the League to Nigel, now the League’s 13th Head Admin. He was HA for five months before giving the League back to Shelle in May 2016. During 2017, SS won the UIC Swiss championship, which was the only interleague competition being run in GameDesire, for the 14th time out of 20 seasons. Room moves saw SS take League 11 before changing to League 07.

In July 2017, Roy Sheppard, one of the League's first Head Admins, sadly passed away aged 76. In January 2019, Shelle handed the League to long-serving Marie, the 14th person to hold the Head Admin position. On 8th September 2019, with the League enjoying a revival in activity, SS moved to League 01 to avoid overlapping with UIC Swiss in League 07. On one Friday the following month, a day full of 'fast fours' brought an incredible 100 tourneys being played. However, a turbulent week of comings and goings saw three changes of Head Admin – Marie was briefly replaced by Shelle who handed the League to Nigel two days later for safeguarding. He then gave it back to the returning Marie in October 2019.

Through the hard work of many dedicated individuals, the Straightshots Pool League continues to exist in League 01 (Pool 8 2009) in GameDesire; not as fervently as in the League’s hey days of unrivaled activity but members can still enjoy playing under the well-established and popular SS banner.

COMPETITION MATCH SUPERVISORS' GUIDELINES – this information is for Match Supervisors ONLY

The duties of a designated MATCH SUPERVISOR are as follows:

1. To supervise the playing of competition matches as per the schedule. This may include contacting players with reminders, arranging matches and attending matches.

2. To have a sound understanding of the competition Rules and how they apply to the relevant competition.

3. To have a sound understanding of the competition format and be in a position to advise players with the correct information.

4. To check the Daily News on the SS MyLeague website for matches being reported correctly and to advise players who have not reported.

5. To conduct oneself orderly and courteously, and to promote sportsmanship and good-will between players, at all times.

6. To report any relevant matters using the ISSUES form where appropriate so that the competition can maintain standards.

If you have any problems whatsoever, please contact Nigel who will be happy to help you. Thank you for your time and commitment to helping the League.

COMPETITION REPORTING GUIDELINES – this information is for Competition Admins ONLY

In accordance with the rules in every SS Cam event, games played as part of each competition will be reported as 'SS leagues' onto the Straightshots ladder. These games help activity in the League and therefore benefit SS considerably. NEVER give your Admin to another person – this is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.

There is a set procedure to follow when reporting games as SS leagues. Please DO NOT deviate from the procedure. For the purpose of demonstrating how to report, we will take the following match as an example: en_dk v shelle4461 – shelle4461 wins 8–5.

1. When logging into the Admin page, scroll down to 'REPORT MATCHES' under the heading 'User Maintenance' (purple band). 'Report Match' is listed fifth.

2. Always report the MATCH LOSER'S games as WINS first. So, in our example, enter 'en_dk' (who lost the match) as the 'Winner's name' and 'shelle4461' as the 'Loser's name'. Copy and paste from the Standings list on the SS website if need be for accuracy. The system only allows IDs which are 100% accurate.

3. In the 'Comment' panel, type 'SS Cam Cup Gold 24' or 'SS Cam Timed 4' or 'SS Cam BankQ8 2' (one of these three competitions with the correct season number, of course!). It is important that we know the competition and season number because this info is shown on the results page.

4. Click on 'Submit Report' and the game will be shown as reported. Hit the Back button to take you back to the 'Report Match' page. In our example, you need to report FIVE games as wins to en_dk. Remember that SIX is the maximum for ANY result.

5. After reporting 5 games, return to 'Report Matches' and now, do the same as item 2 but in REVERSE. Enter 'en_dk' (who lost the match) as the 'Loser's name' and 'shelle4461' as the 'Winner's name'. Make sure that the competition is showing in the 'Comment' panel.

6. Click on 'Submit Report' and the game will be shown as reported. Hit the Back button to take you back to the 'Report Match' page. In our example, you need to report SIX games as wins to shelle4461. Again, remember that SIX is the maximum for ANY result, irrespective of what the final score may. So, had shelle4461 won 28-26, you STILL report 6 games to her and 6 games to en_dk!

7. From time to time, the page defaults to an ERROR message, often mid-way during your reporting. Do not panic! Simply hit the Back space and click on the ADMIN link, which takes you back to the original Admin list. Scroll down to 'REPORT MATCHES' under the heading 'User Maintenance' and return to the 'Report Match' page. Unfortunately, after a while the error message comes up so please be patient, and make sure you COUNT the number of games reported because you may have to continue once you get back to the 'Report Match' page! This error page DOES happen from time to time – never give up and never leave a match unfinished.

8. You can always keep a check on how many games you have reported via the 'Daily Buzz' page. Click on 'Standings', 'Daily Buzz' and 'Results', making sure the current day has been selected first. Every game you reported will be shown in the correct order, from the most recent (at the top) downwards.

9. The reason why the Match Winner has his or her games reported SECOND is that he or she gets the STREAK in recognition of his or her WIN! So always follow this reporting procedure otherwise you may get a player chasing you in annoyance saying "I won so why is it showing minus 6?"

10. Reporting SS leagues DOES take time so be careful and accurate in counting the games reported. When you have finished reporting a match, log into the SS Cam competition page and place 'Reported' after the match. Example: SHELLE 8 v NIGEL 5 – Reported.

If you have any problems whatsoever, please contact Nigel who will be happy to help you. Thank you for your time and commitment to helping the League.