Pool League
On this page: About · This season · Using the site · Rating · Create a Free Account · Guides
About
I began this project as a way to learn more about the capabilities of AI. I started out as a network engineer in the early '90s and have seen many changes in communication technology over the years -- AI is the beginning of another leap in that realm.
My goal was to create a website that fully manages a pool league: from team registration and scheduling, to easy-to-use match management and scoring right at the table, to team and player statistics that are easy to view.
This site is not a substitute for the Hazelwood site -- Hazelwood remains the league's official source for schedules, standings, and results. What this site adds is the statistics: gathering them from each match night and putting them here, where they're easier to see. I'm interested in your feedback.
Last season (Crosslake Mens 25) was rebuilt from Hazelwood's final report: every player's season totals are the real numbers, but the individual game results were reconstructed to add up to them. Those pages are marked "Reconstructed results."
This season: how it works
For the Crosslake Mens 26 season, this is a supplemental site, and the first season it's been used. It is not the official league website: Hazelwood runs the league, and registration, scoresheets, schedules, and standings all go through Hazelwood exactly as before. Nothing you do here replaces any of that.
To get your matches on this site: when you send the photo of your scoresheet to Hazelwood, send a copy to Jeff McMonigal (612-282-0853) or Bart Wallace (763-670-2130) -- or, preferably, both. We'll enter the scores here every week.
Then use this site to check your team's and your own stats, along with every other team taking part: see Player Stats, Team Stats, and the Schedule. Only matches whose scoresheets we receive will show up here.
Scoring on your phone: if both teams in a match are using this site, the two captains can also score that match on their phones -- set the lineups, enter each game as it's played (the other captain sees it appear within seconds), and both sign off at the end. This is in addition to filling out the Hazelwood scoresheet as you normally do -- keep doing that and sending it to Hazelwood. But once both captains sign off, the match is recorded on this site automatically, so you don't need to send that scoresheet to Jeff or Bart. Each captain needs a free account, and the team must be set up here with them as captain. The Match Night guide shows how it works step by step.
Like what you see? If your team is taking part, tell the other teams about this site as you play through the season. As long as they keep a copy of their scoresheets, we can add their earlier matches whenever they join.
Using the site
No account is needed to look around: use the menu at the top to see the Schedule (tap a result to see every game), Player Stats and Team Stats, and the Teams, Players, and Sites lists. The Schedule, Stats, Teams, and Players pages each have a Season list for looking at past seasons. Captains use an account to register their team for a new season and, when both teams in a match are on the site, to score that match on their phones -- see This season above. The guides below walk through both.
On a phone: pages with lots of columns -- Player Stats, Team Stats, Players, and Teams -- are easiest to read on a computer or tablet, where every column fits at once. On a phone, turn it sideways to see more columns, and swipe left or right on the table itself to reach the rest (the page stays put; only the table slides). The name column stays pinned on the left as you swipe, so you always know whose row you're reading.
Sorting: on the Stats, Teams, Players, and Sites pages, tap a column heading to sort by it; tap it again to reverse. (The Schedule is listed week by week instead.) On Player Stats and Team Stats you can also sort by up to three columns at once, like a spreadsheet: open Advanced Sort just above the table, pick a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd column (each high-to-low or low-to-high), and tap Sort. The 2nd column breaks ties in the 1st, and the 3rd breaks ties in the 2nd -- for example, Games played, then Rating, to compare only players who played a full season.
Rating
Average points only tells you how many points a player scored, not who they scored them against. A player who missed the night against the top team, or a sub who only filled in against weaker teams, can end up with an average that flatters them.
The Rating column on Player Stats adjusts for that. It looks at every game of the season at once and gives each player one strength number that best explains all the results:
- Points scored against strong opponents count for more than points against weak ones.
- A close loss to a strong player counts for more than a lopsided loss.
- A missed match doesn't help or hurt your rating -- there's just no result for it.
- Players with only a few games stay near the middle until they've played enough to show where they really stand.
Reading it: 1500 is an average player; the higher the number, the stronger the player. A player rated 100 higher than another can expect to take roughly 64% of the points between them. The full spread in a season is usually only a couple of hundred points, so a 20-30 point gap is meaningful.
Avg Pts is still there -- it's what Hazelwood uses to rank players, and it's the official ranking. Rating is just another way of looking at the same games, one that also weighs who each player played.
The Rating is based on a well-known statistical method called the Bradley–Terry model, from the same family of math as chess ratings, if you'd like to learn more about how it works.
Teams have one too. Team Stats has a Rating column built the same way, with each team treated as one player across all 16 games of every match. Rnd Win % (the official standings Hazelwood uses) counts results as they come; Rating also weighs who each team has played so far, which matters most early in the season, when some teams have happened to draw the strongest opponents. By the end of the season every team has played every other team in its division, and the two mostly agree. They can still differ a little, because Rating counts game points while Rnd Win % counts rounds won: a team that scores well but loses close rounds rates higher than its standing. Team Rating isn't shown for last season, whose matches were reconstructed.
Create a Free Account
You can browse schedules, stats, and standings without signing in. But creating a free account gets you a bit more: a personal stats page with your own games-played, average, wins, and ERO/Ten-Zero counts in one place, instead of hunting for your name in the full league list -- and if you're ever a team captain, your account is what gets you into lineup and score-entry for match night.
Played in the league before? Sign up with your first and last name spelled exactly the way the league has you listed -- that's what connects your new account to your existing stats. Not sure how you're listed? Open Players, pick a season you played in from the Season list, tap View, and look for your name. (More on creating an account.)
Forgot your password? Ask Bart Wallace, the site administrator, to reset it. He'll give you a temporary password that works for 12 hours -- log in with it and you'll be asked to choose your own.
Guides
Registration
Registering a team for a new season, creating an account, what happens after you register, and fixing registration problems.
Match Night
For captains: setting your lineup, using a sub, entering and checking scores, signing off, forfeits, and what ERO and Ten-Zero mean.