With homework and studying a major pastimes on campus, the Game Room has become a favorite stress-free zone for Allegheny students. One of the more popular games in the Game Room is pool. With its surging popularity, it is no surprise a pool league was created.

Put together last semester, the Allegheny Pool League continues to gain more recognition into the spring semester. While last fall was more of an experimental stage for the club, it seems to have only benefit from time and the support of the students. Last semester, the pool league started off with 16 members, and has gained four new members as of this semester.

“Our adviser, Trisha, loves that we’re getting more people in consistently and more often,” Vinny Carone, ’19, said.

Carone is in charge of the pool league and creates the game schedule. The pool league functions a lot like a baseball bracket, featuring two different divisions—Gator and Allegheny—which are then split into East and West. They split the semester into the regular season schedule with about 30 games, followed by their playoff series. Each player plays against everyone in their specific bracket at least once and a couple interdivisional games before the playoff games begin.

The playoffs, which could be about five to seven games, is where the winners of each division play for the championship. A few wildcard players can also compete in the playoffs. Wildcard players  are usually the best record players in their respective division.

Pool nights are usually Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, taking up the last two hours the Game Room is open. The Game Room also holds a pool tournament separate from the league during the semester. Though the tournament is not officially affiliated with the pool league, Carone comments that a lot of pool league members participate in the tournament.

Despite the league’s competitiveness, the group has created a friendly environment for players. Often members of the league meet outside of game time just to hang out or play a game of pool on their own time.

“People get to know each other through the pool league and then they’ll meet up here and play their own matches outside of the league,” Carone said.

Like many other clubs, the pool league creates a space where students with a similar interest—specifically pool—can meet and compete in a casual setting and make new friends.

“It’s super fun and it allows you to meet new people. And I think the best part about it is, if you come into the Game Room and you see someone who is in pool league you can always be like, ‘Ay wanna play a game?’” Kris Smeal, ’19, said.

Both Smeal and Aaron Arden, ’20, are members of the league and have commented on how the league has given them the chance to make friends they usually would not have met. Through the pool league, Arden met his now-roommate and other students he has become close with.

“We play it all the time … It’s become sort of a release for me,” Arden said.

The pool league has not only become a rather successful club on campus, but has also become a pastime that helps students relax and make new friendships. Though it is only the beginning of the semester, league members are expecting a great semester of competition and fun.