Should All Skill Levels Have an Equal Chance to Win a Weekly 9-Ball Handicapped Tournament?

yes, any amateur event should have the payouts strung out far into the field so many can be happy to say hey i got in the money. even if its not high enough to equal the entry fee.
but that still takes away the largest amount of the fund to the top players unless they have to give enough weight to make their matches very uncertain.
 
yes, any amateur event should have the payouts strung out far into the field so many can be happy to say hey i got in the money. even if its not high enough to equal the entry fee.
but that still takes away the largest amount of the fund to the top players unless they have to give enough weight to make their matches very uncertain.

Half should always goes to first in a weekly. Never pay out more than the top 25% of the field except if there are only 10 or 11 players in which case you pay to third.

Praying out less than the entry is ridiculous.
 
Side question, why is the mentality there that you have to have a chance at winning or you wont go? We have all open tournaments and they are always full. I and others lose every week and we become stronger players for it, iron sharpens iron is the general attitude. Could this be why the us is producing weak players?
 
Side question, why is the mentality there that you have to have a chance at winning or you wont go? We have all open tournaments and they are always full. I and others lose every week and we become stronger players for it, iron sharpens iron is the general attitude. Could this be why the us is producing weak players?

Children driven by external reward. They want something shiny from Santa claus.

Competitors are driven by an internal need to test themselves.
 
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I say no. As a mid 500 player I get and give up handicaps. Mostly give them up. At no point have I ever felt I should be handicapped to a level playing field with the opponents better than me. They have put in the time and effort to be at that level. Why should I have an equal chance with them? 60/40 is about right. When they play bad and I play good I can win.
As for giving up the spot, that really doesn't bother me. As long as the opponent is graceful in their win. Nothing worse than giving up a big spot and losing only to hear your opponent bragging about how they beat you. Yeah, no you didn't, you won two games to my 5 in a 6-2 race.
This scenario happen recently in a league match. He is still walking around with a boner crowing about it. Comical really.
 
Side question, why is the mentality there that you have to have a chance at winning or you wont go? We have all open tournaments and they are always full. I and others lose every week and we become stronger players for it, iron sharpens iron is the general attitude. Could this be why the us is producing weak players?
You nailed it.
 
Side question, why is the mentality there that you have to have a chance at winning or you wont go? We have all open tournaments and they are always full. I and others lose every week and we become stronger players for it, iron sharpens iron is the general attitude. Could this be why the us is producing weak players?
Because we have a generation who are now of age that were raised with the ideals everything should be fair, you get an award for just showing up, there are no winners and losers and they deserve everything without putting in the work.
 
Not only is this an "amatueur" event, it's a bar/restaurant locale--it's not the DCC, the Valley, or Vegas. It's not something anyone should have to "git gud" for (look it up).

*Regulars* that show up to local weeklies are mostly drinkers (in my experience), and are interested a little competition, but mostly some fun. At $5-10, maybe not so big a deal to waste the cash, but if the entry is $15-20, I think players would like to not expect to face an overly skilled opponent (considering the location) every week--assuming that player is not really a patron of the venue, and shows up just to run over the field for the cash.

Evening out the cash prizes will hopefully make winning less of an enticement for a ringer (using the term loosely).
 
I say no. As a mid 500 player I get and give up handicaps. Mostly give them up. At no point have I ever felt I should be handicapped to a level playing field with the opponents better than me. They have put in the time and effort to be at that level. Why should I have an equal chance with them? 60/40 is about right. When they play bad and I play good I can win.
As for giving up the spot, that really doesn't bother me. As long as the opponent is graceful in their win. Nothing worse than giving up a big spot and losing only to hear your opponent bragging about how they beat you. Yeah, no you didn't, you won two games to my 5 in a 6-2 race.
This scenario happen recently in a league match. He is still walking around with a boner crowing about it. Comical really.
Yeah, I think you are right. If the lower level player works hard and exceeds his performance, let him have a little reward. And he can be happy about it, but don't get too happy about out running a 6-2 spot.

I actually haven't played in a true handicapped tournament. I play in line tournaments, which I think are a great way the handicap an event, 600 capped tournaments, and occasionally an open event. I probably would not show up every week for an open tournament, I don't need to go up three weight classes to get whipped on a weekly basis. I do like to know that I will not run out of competition in the foreseeable furore.
 
Because we have a generation who are now of age that were raised with the ideals everything should be fair, you get an award for just showing up, there are no winners and losers and they deserve everything without putting in the work.

Right. How many people of any generation would be happy if their skills were handicapped at a job interview?
 
Right. How many people of any generation would be happy if their skills were handicapped at a job interview?
A friend of ours is an executive at Disney. She had an intern who had been there 6 weeks walk into her office (without an appointment) demanding a promotion and pay increase. Her response? “It’s been nice having you here. I wish you well in your career.” That was that. Good for her.
 
I think players would like to not expect to face an overly skilled opponent
I agree. for me, it is a lot more fun to play against people around my same speed or a little higher. as others have stated, you dont learn much by sitting in your chair getting steamrolled.

as for tournaments or handicaps or awards or whatever else, none of it really matters to me, despite being part of the so called “participation award” generation. maybe winning awards used to be a bigger deal to people in the past? the only time i hear anyone talking about trophys of any kind is when people are complaining that not everyone should have one. Who gives a shit about a trophy lol

i just like to roll the balls around and have a good time. the reason i play pool is for the enjoyment of it and i dont need to win anything to get that. i realize that may put me in the minority here, but not everybody can be a winner. maybe if i was better at pool i would care more about this stuff
 
Pretty sure you have to qualify to play in the US Open in both golf and tennis. You can’t just pay your entry and show up.
In golf anyone with a 1.4-handicap or better can try to qualify for the US Open. Roughly 60-or-so make the field of 156 players. The rest are exempt in some way.
 
I agree. for me, it is a lot more fun to play against people around my same speed or a little higher. as others have stated, you dont learn much by sitting in your chair getting steamrolled.

as for tournaments or handicaps or awards or whatever else, none of it really matters to me, despite being part of the so called “participation award” generation. maybe winning awards used to be a bigger deal to people in the past? the only time i hear anyone talking about trophys of any kind is when people are complaining that not everyone should have one. Who gives a shit about a trophy lol

i just like to roll the balls around and have a good time. the reason i play pool is for the enjoyment of it and i dont need to win anything to get that. i realize that may put me in the minority here, but not everybody can be a winner. maybe if i was better at pool i would care more about this stuff
The old pool adage 'you have to get beat on to get better' deal is true TO A POINT. You don't get better by getting 'hammered', you get better by being in position to win against players 'roughly' your own speed and working your way up against the next level players. IMO you learn something at all levels: A. Smoking easier players, B. Dogfights with equal players, and C. Getting tortured by those well above you. Mixing playing both Fargo and open events can't do anything but help you get better.
 
Half should always goes to first in a weekly. Never pay out more than the top 25% of the field except if there are only 10 or 11 players in which case you pay to third.

Praying out less than the entry is ridiculous.
I fully agree with this, IF we were discussing a monthly and competition designed event. Cheap weeklys meant to just keep regulars engaged should just be friendly and those expecting to win shouldn't expect to offset their mortgages with prize money.

During the summer months my LO runs single KO 9b minis. If you happen to win a round, you get your money back. Winner gets 4x entry I think. It's meant to be a cheap night out. If he gets enough players he'll do 2 boards and separate the strong from the weak.

Great format
 
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I agree. for me, it is a lot more fun to play against people around my same speed or a little higher. as others have stated, you dont learn much by sitting in your chair getting steamrolled.
I think those that claim the above aren't being attentive enough. I was steamrolled the other week by a ~715. Dude crushed me 7-1. I learnt several things from how he broke, shot selection and alternative patterns to deal with clusters. Sure that doesn't mean every "steamrolled" situation reveals such knowledge, but I made it a point to watch, and I subsequently learned.
as for tournaments or handicaps or awards or whatever else, none of it really matters to me, despite being part of the so called “participation award” generation. maybe winning awards used to be a bigger deal to people in the past? the only time i hear anyone talking about trophys of any kind is when people are complaining that not everyone should have one. Who gives a shit about a trophy lol

i just like to roll the balls around and have a good time. the reason i play pool is for the enjoyment of it and i dont need to win anything to get that. i realize that may put me in the minority here, but not everybody can be a winner. maybe if i was better at pool i would care more about this stuff
I think you answered your own question. Maybe older generations care(d) more about winning because it was celebrated as unique. Now that we live in the days of everyone being a hero just for showing up. It has dimmed the luster from actually being special on that day...?
 
simple if you dont have a 50/50 chance or better you will be a loser over time for sure. then the bigger your minus edge is the faster and more you lose.
 
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