APA Scorekeeper App: Complete Guide for Players & Captains

The APA Scorekeeper App is the official digital scoring tool of the American Poolplayers Association. Most local league operators have already rolled it out or are in the process of doing so. Every player on a team is expected to be able to use it, and on a match night with multiple tables running at once, one person can't handle all the scoring.

This guide covers setup, how to score a match from start to finish, what each stat means and why it matters, and the things that tend to go wrong. It's written from experience playing APA 8-ball and 9-ball as both a player and a team captain.

First: There Are Two Separate Apps

A lot of players show up to their first app-scored match not knowing there are two different apps involved. You need both, and they serve different purposes.

APA Pool League app (also called the Member Services app) handles your account, stats, schedule, standings, roster, and scoresheet downloads. It's where you create the login you'll use to access Scorekeeper. If you haven't set up your online account yet, start here.

APA Scorekeeper app is the live scoring tool used during matches. It uses the same login as your Member Services account. Once you're in, you'll see only the matches scheduled for your team. Find yours, tap it, and go.

Scorekeeper won't let you in without a Member Services account. Set that up before anything else.

Download Links

APA Scorekeeper

APA Pool League (Member Services)

Getting Set Up Before Your First Match Night

Do this at home, not in the parking lot of the bar right before your match starts.

1. Download both apps.
2. New members need to join and pay membership at join.poolplayers.com before they can be added to a roster. Unpaid members won't show up in the app search.
3. Open the APA Pool League app and claim your online account. The APA needs a valid email address on file for this to work. If your account isn't appearing, your email is likely missing or wrong in their system. Your league operator can sort that out.
4. Log into Scorekeeper using those same credentials.
5. Find your team's scheduled match so you know where it will be on league night.

Charge your phone before you leave the house. Bring a portable charger if you have one. Keep a blank paper scoresheet in your case as a backup. Your league operator can provide them, or you can download one through the APA Pool League app.

The One Warning Every New User Needs to Hear

How to Score a Match: Step by Step

Once both teams are at the table and ready to go:

1. Open Scorekeeper and find your team's scheduled match. Tap it to begin.
2. Set the table size. Easy to overlook at the start of a busy night, and the app does not prompt you about it before you submit. Set it up front.
3. Assign players and confirm the lag winner. The lag winner is placed on the left side of the scoring screen. Fix any wrong assignments before the match gets going.
4. Score each turn. When the shooting player's turn ends (miss, foul, or intentional stop), tap the Turn Over button to pass to the other player.
5. Mark defensive shots as they happen. Use the plus button next to the Defensive Shot area when a player plays safe intentionally. Record them as they occur, not from memory at the end of the game.
6. Record special events in the game block where they happen: 8-on-the-break, break-and-run, early 8, 8-ball scratch, 8-ball wrong pocket.
7. Mark time-outs per player per game as they are called.
8. Hit Submit when the match is done. The score goes nowhere until you submit. Do not close the app first.

What Every Stat Actually Means

Every number entered into Scorekeeper feeds into the APA's Equalizer handicap system, which is how skill levels are calculated and adjusted. Sloppy scorekeeping distorts skill levels for both players, sometimes for multiple sessions. Teams that chronically score inaccurately can lose bonus points or be disqualified. It's worth understanding what you're actually tracking.

Each team tracks their own side of the match and submits it separately. The two records don't need to be identical. When there are gaps between what each team submitted, the league operator reviews both scoresheets.

Common Mistakes on Match Night

These come up regularly, especially with teams that are new to the app:

• Testing the app in a live match. Covered above. Don't do it. The match gets consumed.
• Skipping table size before submitting. No warning from the app. Set it when you open the match.
• Not hitting Submit. Closing the app without submitting means the score may never reach your league operator. Finish the job.
• Only one person on the team knows the app. When that person is at the shooting table, nobody can score the other match. Get at least two or three people per team trained up.
• Catching up on defensive shots at the end of a game. Memory is not reliable under match conditions. Mark them as they happen.
• Trying to add a member who is not in the system yet. New members need to complete the join process at join.poolplayers.com first. Unpaid members also won't show up. Their match may need to go on paper.
• Dead phone. Charge it before you leave. Bring a backup charger.

When the App Goes Down

The APA had a widely reported outage in March 2026 that knocked out Scorekeeper for leagues around the country. If the app stops working during your match:

1. Stop play and wait a few minutes before switching to paper. Short outages often resolve on their own.
2. Close the app fully and reopen it. Check your phone's signal and Wi-Fi connection.
3. If it's still not responding after 5 to 10 minutes, pull out a paper scoresheet and continue the match from where you left off.
4. After the match, contact your league operator. Paper fallback scores are reconciled at the office.

Frequently Asked Questions

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