Originally Posted by: Colesy 
So if I played Blackball county, would I still be able to play local league and also Champion of Champions at Yarmouth?
It's really not very complicated. It all basically comes
down to reading forms before you sign them. And it's not
like the relevant statement is hidden away in the small
print...
If you play Blackball "county" while also being an EPA
cardholder then you are, quite rightly, liable to be
banned from ALL EPA events, because as an EPA cardholder
you will have signed a declaration stating, quite explicitly,
that you wouldn't do that.
If you're NOT an EPA cardholder then you can play in an
EPA-affiliated local league and Champion of Champions
(and Golden Cue), and not risk being banned by the EPA,
regardless of what events you play in, because you don't
have to be an EPA cardholder to play in those things...
and if you're not an EPA cardholder then you won't have
made the declaration referred to in the previous paragraph.
But if you want to be able to play interleague, or county,
or in the national amateurs, or any other comp for which
you do need to be an EPA cardholder, then in order to be an
EPA cardholder you will need to have signed a form saying
that you WON'T play in any other "county" (or international)
comp apart from the EPA's. And if you break the promise
you've make by signing that form then you're liable to
suffer the consequences.
My personal view is that there could be extenuating
circumstances. I have personal experience of people on
the Blackball side of things telling lies about the
above and trying to get EPA cardholders to play in a
rival "county" set-up under the mistaken impression that
it's ok in the eyes of the EPA. That personal experience
was quite a few years ago, before Blackball, so I won't
expand on it. But recent comments on these forums make me
suspect that this kind of deception may still be going on
in some places, and obviously there could be people who
don't have easy access to the truth such as is explained
repeatedly on these forums by EPA officials, and they may
as a result take those lies at face value.
People may disagree with the EPA's policy but it is
at least straightforward and open. Some people criticise
that policy while blatantly trying to con fellow players
into breaking their EPA cardholder declaration - an act
which can damage not only the players themselves but also
their innocent county (etc) teammates.
To be frank, people who attempt this deception are IMO
the lowest of the low. Utter scum.
Sorry to respond to your question with such a rant, Colesy,
I'm sure it's an innocent and honest question. But some
of the shit being written on here by unscrupulous people,
who have a clear anti-EPA agenda and who clearly don't care
if their lies mess up other people's lives, is starting to
get on my nerves.
Edited by user 19 April 2012 23:51:12(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified