Recent Facebook banter regarding fargo

Positively Ralf

Positively Ralf

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Don't know how many of you are over on Facebook, but with the people at fargo recently posting the top players of each state via fargo, a lot of chat has been happening.

The conversation is concerning high rated non traveling fargo players and how a lot of tournament ban them because of how good they are. This was mainly started by Donny mills(from what I've seen) and it's evolved into many different discussions.

Can the pool community come to an agreement about where does a pro speed player falls under the Fargo rating? What can players/promoters do to create more non-handicapped events? Can there be a national US tour again? Why do players get penalized for getting better?

There's more and like I said, wanted to see if anyone here has been keeping up with the conversations?
 
Headroom. Nobody is obligated to play 100% and I don't imagine anyone actually does. This should be a Fargo number - I suppose like robustness, which I find klunky.

You can also break down the ratings with L, M, H, - light, medium, and hard.
 
Positively Ralf said:
Can the pool community come to an agreement about where does a pro speed player falls under the Fargo rating?
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Of course not. For the men, my number is Fargo 730+ but there is no real definition of a pro in our sport, and it is not clear why having one is critical.
Positively Ralf said:
Can there be a national US tour again?
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When Predator launched its US Pro Billiard 10 ball Series in what I believe was 2023, many of the top American players didn't even support it, and some of the events had pretty small fields and little fanfare. That tour, not surprisingly, disappeared in 2024.

I am sure that some of those that might have considered sponsoring a US tour took notice and will not be so quick to take a step in that direction.

The last great American tour for elite pros was the PBT of the 1990's, and international participation was substantial by the mid-1990s. The UPA took a shot during the 2000s, with some measure of success, but it didn't last. Nobody has really succeeded with a US national tour this century.
 
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sjm said:
When Predator launched its Pro Billiard 10 ball Series in what I believe was 2023, many of the top American players didn't even support it, and some of the events had pretty small fields. and little fanfare. That tour, not surprisingly, disappeared in 2024.
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was that the one with the weird 4 game sets and a spot shot decider?

on bouncy predator tables with weird pockets?

a lack of support and it disappearing is not surprising at all
 
markjames said:
was that the one with the weird 4 game sets and a spot shot decider?

on bouncy predator tables with weird pockets?

a lack of support and it disappearing is not surprising at all
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Yes, that's the one. Still, Predator tried to do something good for American pool, and the players did not give them the kind of support they deserved.
 
Look at my avatar. x99 caps are plain stupid. Caps in general are also counter-productive, IMO. The only way a cap works well is to pick it out of a hat every time.

Instead of caps, just let everyone play and make it handicapped for most of the tourmanmetns.

Then the Open (non handicapped) tournaments, let everyone play. They are to find who is best.
 
Funny that people don’t care that top players play with amateurs in Ultimate Pool events with the excuse that it’s an opportunity to play against a pro, but have problems with it in different events.

Why not let them play and use the FargoRate handicap system?
Maybe because it doesn’t really works?

Why would a 700 player would even want to play in amateur tournaments?
I would rather be a tail to the lions than a head to the wolves.

I saw Donny’s post that was reposted on Pool Life, and he was referring to Florida that have over 200 players with a rating higher than 600.
That’s a lot of players and if they all feel the same, then there shouldn’t be a problem to set up open/pro events. (I responded there with a similar post)

Most amateurs don’t want top players in their leagues and tournaments, it’s understandable, they want a real chance to win.
can’t be dead money on a regular basis.

It’s easier to promote amateur events. They have less demands and they spend more money at the venues.
Maybe the top players should change their attitude.
 
Handicaps in a tournament are for the guys that won't take their skirt off and play anyone even. Years ago if you asked for a spot, they'd tell you to go to the Boy's Club and play.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Did you notice the Predator Pro Series a few years ago which was more or less a US pro tour? Did you notice how it went?
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oh trust me, I'm well aware of how it went down. Tell that to the people it was aimed to bring together to play and they keep quiet.


skogstokig said:
same as with darren appleton's WPS events, most of the top american players didn't show
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and it's a shame it went the way it did as it was a very well ran series of events.
 
Buckzapper said:
Handicaps in a tournament are for the guys that won't take their skirt off and play anyone even. Years ago if you asked for a spot, they'd tell you to go to the Boy's Club and play.
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Sometimes I'd rather play a better player even up for money than go into a top heavy handicapped tournament. If tournament entry is $50 you can waste an entire day waiting to play with no chance to win, or just play a cheap set or two and be onto something else with the rest of your day.

I'm not scared to play better players in tournaments, I actually quite enjoy headhunting, but I hate waiting on ice for 2 hours to play a short race. It really depends on the tournament setup, but I find many are just sitting around in uncomfortable chairs for 10-16 hours to only play 25 games or so. It's boring but the hall/bar owners love having a captive audience for as long as possible.
 
How long are people gonna bitch-n-whine about Fargo? Its got more people playing pool than in at least 30+yrs and its here to stay. Any of the knockers run tournaments? Try running a open 'run whatcha brung' event and see how many people show up. I'm sure there's enuff interest in a open format tour so why hasn't some Fargo hater started one up?
 
Without handicapping, pool would be nowhere in America. The APA and other league operators like it, are the reason so many compete at pool in this country. With handicapping, most will feel that they have a shot to win and that keeps them coming back.

The idea that lesser pool players should "man up" and start playing stronger players even up is ridiculous. At golf, should the 6-handicapper have to play even against the scratch player? In golf or pool, no handicapping system is perfect, but it sets the stage for players of all levels to have a competitive match when competing against each other, and it greatly stimulates interest in the game.

Yes, it's true that the strong amateurs (perhaps Fargo 650 to 730) are, too often, left without sufficient opportunity to compete in events that give them a chance to cash, and something needs to be done about that, but eliminating the use of handicaps is not the solution.
 
Can the state lists be share here, please?
Screenshot_20250822-172900.jpg
 
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