Trying to plan my used agp install ahead a little by asking if anyone here would recommend a bottom main drain. A friend of mine highly recommends it, said it helps a bunch with chemical distribution and helps tremendously with keeping the bottom clean. I like both of those benefits but being devils advocate, I see another hole or two in the liner=greater chance for a leak.

BTW, this is an 18'x33' oval, not sure if that makes a difference.

Thoughts?

There are pros and cons. A bottom drain on an above ground pool is difficult to winterize properly, which may or may not be an issue for you. It is also another place where a leak could develop. On the other hand it does improve circulation and give you somewhere to brush debris to.

I would love to have a bottom drain. I am in South Texas and have no freeze concerns. However, I do have oak pollen that sinks to the bottom and is really hard for me to get out. I have difficulty vacuuming (a skill I have not mastered) and therefore being able to brush fine stuff to a bottom drain would be great. As it is I just brush and stir stuff up and try to vacuum. So, if I were doing it again, I would add the bottom drain.

i am in sw pennsylvania so winters are cold. what kind of winterization issues will i encounter?

I have a 18x33 pool without a main drain and have zero problems. I see no benefits only potential problems.

Will you be having a deep end in your pool? I can see it being good to help circulate the water down in the deep area plus all the dirt and debris will want to naturally gravitate toward that area anyways and it would definitely be easy to suck the junk up through it with a few sweeps of a broom. If no deep end than I really can't see a benefit other than it would still be nice to suck the debris up.