Getting a Fargo rating when in area that doesn't use it.

preacherman

preacherman

CPPA Founder
Silver Member
While I do play in a BCA league it is not using Fargo system and doesn't plan to anytime soon. I want to spread out my game and start playing in local and small tournaments but to get a Fargo rating I have to play 200 games (outside of my league play) it will take me a long time. I'm stuck with pool hall I'm at as any Fargo sanctioned pool halls are to far away. Share your thoughts. Some will let me play but will give mean elevated Fargo rating (not fair to me). I live out in the country in Georgia so it's not like I can easily switch pool halls without driving far. Am I the only one in this predicament?
 
Same here. I live in Finland, and my local tournaments don't submit to Fargo. As I don't play in any larger tournaments that do, I'm stuck with no real Fargo rating. My best estimation is that I'm around 620-630, based on the fact that some local players who are 620-630 play roughly equal to my speed.

I rarely lose to sub 500 players and I usually lose to 680-720s, but winning them happens often enough for it to not feel special anymore. Against a 750-800 it's a whole different story, rarely play them but the difference between a 680-720 and a 750-800 is a very clear one.
 
Oikawa said:
Same here. I live in Finland, and my local tournaments don't submit to Fargo. As I don't play in any larger tournaments that do, I'm stuck with no real Fargo rating. My best estimation is that I'm around 620-630, based on the fact that some local players who are 620-630 play roughly equal to my speed.

I rarely lose to sub 500 players and I usually lose to 680-720s, but winning them happens often enough for it to not feel special anymore. Against a 750-800 it's a whole different story, rarely play them but the difference between a 680-720 and a 750-800 is a very clear one.
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It appears you play tournaments anyway. So how to that handicap you when you don't have a Fargo to go by?
 
Interesting...I have often thought about this fairly new (in my 63 years of playing) phenomenon...I've been a 14.1 player all my life, and I used to play in tournaments back in the 70's and early 80's, before 14.1 became virtually obsolete...of course in those days there was no such thing as "Fargo", so therefor I don't have a Fargo rating...if I ever decide to play in an open 9 ball tournament (like at SBE) does having a Fargo rating even matter?...is it a requirement?
 
preacherman said:
It appears you play tournaments anyway. So how to that handicap you when you don't have a Fargo to go by?
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The TDs determine the handicaps. We typically play races to 5, anyone who is half decent and can occasionally run out (500ish or more Fargo) will play with the lowest handicap (0), then around 400-500 get a handicap of 1 and sub 400s get 2. So a 700 vs 300 fargo would start at 0-2. Since we don't use Fargo, the figures are just estimates here, and are loosely judged relative to other players speed.

I personally really enjoy this system of 500+ all having no handicaps, lets the improving 500-700s play semipros and pros with no handicap for good practice.
 
14oneman said:
Interesting...I have often thought about this fairly new (in my 63 years of playing) phenomenon...I've been a 14.1 player all my life, and I used to play in tournaments back in the 70's and early 80's, before 14.1 became virtually obsolete...of course in those days there was no such thing as "Fargo", so therefor I don't have a Fargo rating...if I ever decide to play in an open 9 ball tournament (like at SBE) does having a Fargo rating even matter?...is it a requirement?
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For SBE, I believe the answer is no, but for events that are BCA-sanctioned YES you need a Fargo rating. The BCA would not let me play in tournaments except for mini tournaments and even there, they were going to give me a very high Fargo rating (this is per staff at the Fargo booth). So I didn't play :-/
 
Oikawa said:
The TDs determine the handicaps. We typically play races to 5, anyone who is half decent and can occasionally run out (500ish or more Fargo) will play with the lowest handicap (0), then around 400-500 get a handicap of 1 and sub 400s get 2. So a 700 vs 300 fargo would start at 0-2. Since we don't use Fargo, the figures are just estimates here, and are loosely judged relative to other players speed.

I personally really enjoy this system of 500+ all having no handicaps, lets the improving 500-700s play semipros and pros with no handicap for good practice.
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I am considering playing in local / semi-local tournaments and I know some will take your non fargo rating and try to match it up to Fargo, and others will start you with a high Fargo and adjust in future tournaments as they learn your skill level. I may also play in some non-fargo events that have really good players (includes pros sometimes) just for the experience of playing top players, but knowing it will likely be 2 matches of play one on the winners side and likely one on the lossers side. I'm in my mid-60's and just want to do it for fun and the experience.
 
JasonATX said:
You can use the Salotto app to build Fargo when playing other folks: https://salotto.app/
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Yes, or the OP can possibly go through FargoRate's LMS at https://www.fargorate.com/lms-registration. Possible scenario of registering and requesting what players in his current BCA league that would also like to follow the same route might be the best approach?

Unfortunately, in a nutshell, submitting to FargoRate has always been somewhat of a cryptic challenge (using LMS) and the new Salotto app which doesn't have the best UI and can get spendy...
 
Georgia and the South in general seem to be super anti-Fargo. (I live in Atlanta). You can do Salotto matches. Also perhaps you can run a few small events out of your room as the TD, and use DigitalPool? I started doing that at one room I go to.
 
Play in Fargo reported tournaments.

Unless they are limited to a certain Fargo rating or below you can enter even without a Fargo.

Even so tournament directors usually reserve the right to allow anybody in at their discretion as long as they are reasonably confident that they fall well below the upper level of the maximum rating.

Your initial rating will fluctuate a lot, but you'll have it and it will end up stabilizing over time.
 
If there is anything in your area reporting, even if they give you a higher "tournament specific" rating to start, it's worth going to build your rating. Before FargoRate, if a stranger walked into a new room on their weekly handicapped event, they'd be rated either somewhere in the middle, or near the best players, per the TD's discretion. So it's no big deal if you are temporarily rated higher by a local TD until you have 200 games.

A lot of local TD's will also have conversion tables for APA, BCA, etc, so it doesn't have to be completely out of line.

Or play in Open events that report, where it doesn't matter since there is no handicap.

Go to a few of those events, and play some Solatto matches, and you'll have 200 games in no time.
 
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