UK Open 2026, London, May 26-31

[jbart65]

Fedor said on his podcast that Filler only wants to play 9ball. So I don't think that match is going to happen. It would probably be the biggest match of this era though. If Fedor doesn't want to play 9ball, one could assume he doesn't want the smoke with Filler. If Filler doesn't want to play 10ball, one could assume he doesn't want the smoke with Fedor. It's a lose lose.

All I know is Fedor will never agree to play a big money match against Filler in 9ball, because he would be stepping in Filler's domain. There's a higher chance of Filler agreeing to play Fedor in 10ball because he actually has balls and the confidence to do so. It's been proven that Filler is dominating 9ball, it has not been proven that Fedor is dominating 10ball.

Simple solution. Play both!

 

[Swighey]

According to the Fargorate odds calculator, an even race to 11 for two players 13 FR points apart favors the better player by 58% to 42%. While that's not horrible odds for the underdog, I'd bet on the other guy.

Yes, but 11-10 to the higher rated player is still the most likely result. It's that close!

 

[Swighey]

Yes, but 11-10 to the higher rated player is still the most likely result. It's that close!

Another way to look at it is like this:

If Filler and Gorst played each other in 10 matches with (somehow) their current Fargo difference of 13 then the most likely outcome would be Filler wins 6 matches and Gorst wins 4. The second most likely outcome would be they win 5 each. This is based on the 58-42%.

The most likely (although it might not even happen) result would be 11-10 Filler.

Yes, the odds are in favor of Filler and a "gambler" would be wise to bet on him as one of their many bets - but a 13 point Fargo difference really is tiny.

I'd better on Filler anyway against Gorst but this isn't the point.

 

[mikepage]

Yes, but 11-10 to the higher rated player is still the most likely result. It's that close!

Weird subtlety: an 11-10 handicap may be close to fair, but that doesn’t mean 11-10 is the most likely score in a race to 11. Because of the stopping rule, the winner must win the last rack. So 11-10 requires first getting to 10-10, while 11–9 only requires getting to 10-9. Hill-hill has more paths, but it also requires one extra rack from the eventual loser; when that player is below 50% per rack, 11-9 edges it out.

****
Here is another way a small skill difference like 13 points may be more meaningful than first appears. Winning a tournament requires winning many matches.

So imagine two 128-player single-elimination tournaments
The first has Gorst (850) and 127 others all rated 800.
The second has Filler (863) and 127 others all rated 800.

Gorst is 78.9% to win each match and 19% to win the tournament [that match percentage gets raised to the 7th power]
Filler is 84.3% to win each match and 30% to win the tournament-
This is a more meaningful difference than you might guess from just looking at the match numbers.

If the 800s all go for $100 in each of the winner-take-all calcuttas, Gorst should go for about $3,000 and Filler should go for $5,500

 

[skogstokig]

Simple solution. Play both!

so they win one discipline each and split the money

 

[SA96]

They should be playing 10 ball.

That's the truest form of rotation pool.

If Filler wants to play 9 ball rather than 10 ball then that's a cowardly move.

 

[DieselPete]

They should be playing 10 ball.

That's the truest form of rotation pool.

If Filler wants to play 9 ball rather than 10 ball then that's a cowardly move.

That's rather strong language, is it not?

Perhaps they are both avoiding each other and saving face.

One says, "I'll only play X, under Y circumstances."
The other says, "I'll only play Q under J circumstances."

They both go about their business without having to play each other outside of a tournament setting and neither looks worse than the other.

 

[Kris_b1104]

They should be playing 10 ball.

That's the truest form of rotation pool.

If Filler wants to play 9 ball rather than 10 ball then that's a cowardly move.

If it's the truest form of rotation pool, why is 90% of tournaments 9ball?

If that's the case then no one should gamble on barboxes, because 9ft'ers are the truest form of pool.

Why is Gorst not considered a coward for not wanting to play 9ball? Which is what they play throughout the majority of the year...

Most of the legendary TAR matches back in the day were 9ball... Some of the best matches ever.

There are very few big money 10ball matches that I go back to re-watch... It's just too long and boring.