The system John Biddle described above is more or less the system I described in a column in Billiards Digest that is also used in several rooms in this area. Some of the details are different but the main idea is the same: players are automatically adjusted up or down in rating according to whether they win or lose their matches. Higher rated players spot lower rated players according to how far apart their ratings are.What is the best and most fair way to handicap a match ?
Thx in advance !
Steve
The system John Biddle described above is more or less the system I described in a column in Billiards Digest that is also used in several rooms in this area. Some of the details are different but the main idea is the same: players are automatically adjusted up or down in rating according to whether they win or lose their matches. Higher rated players spot lower rated players according to how far apart their ratings are.
I don't claim to have the BEST way to handicap straight pool but I do have a way that has worked well for my 14.1 league. We're about to start our 13th season on Monday, so it's had a bit of exposure to the real world and I think it has done well.
Everyone has a handicap, a number from 200 to 1300 (if we get even better players we would just raise the top number). There are 22 Skill Levels within this handicap range, each one 50 points. The names are not tied to actual pro levels or what others may think an "A" is, they're just the names we use.
1250 1300 Ranked Pro
1200 1249 Tour Pro
1150 1199 Pro
1100 1149 House Pro
1050 1099 Open
1000 1049 ShortStop
950 999 AAA
900 949 AA
850 899 A+
800 849 A
750 799 A-
700 749 B+
650 699 B
600 649 B-
550 599 C+
500 549 C
450 499 C-
400 449 Learner
350 399 Student
300 349 Novice
250 299 Tyro
200 249 Beginner
Each person was assigned a handicap when thay first joined the league, in the middle of the most appropriate Skill Level based on what several of the more knowledgeable players (knowledge of people and their skills, not knowledge of 14.1) thought. If players join in a season after having played with us before, they come in at the handicap they left with.
After every match the two players handicaps are recalculated based on a formula, so other than the initial assignment of handicap there is no subjective input. If you win you go up, if you lose you go down. The amount is determined by how much, in percentage terms, the loser missed their target. The bigger the miss, the more the players hcps go up/down. Hcps move more quickly in the 1st 6 matches a player is in the league to help the hcp become accurate if we've not made an accurate initial assessment. There is also a maximum amount hcps can move up/down for any one match (40 & 26 for 1st 6 and after).
Targets are determined based on the two player Skill Levels. The higher skilled player will go to 75, 100 or 125 depending on which Skill Level he/she is in. The lower skilled player will go to a lower target based on how many skill Levels they are below the higher skilled player, with each level worth 10%. For example, say a "B-" plays an "A". The "A" is the higher skilled player, and goes to 100. They are 4 levels apart so the lower skilled player goes to 90%x90%x90%x90% of 100, or 66. We have a table posted at thew pool hall which eliminates the need for anyone to understand the system or do any math, I just wanted to explain how it works.
Over many seasons the system has proven to be quite fair and accurate. To test that I look at how the stronger players do against weaker opponents. If one side is winning most of the matches the handicapping would be favoring them. In our league the percent of stronger player wind varies from 45% to 55% season to season. Give our moderate sample size I don't think we could do much better.
That doesn't mean there are never any complaints about handicaps, that's a perennial hazard of handicapping, but I am confident that our players all feel the system is fair and accurate, except right after they've just lost.
This is all much easier to do than to explain.
We tried the up/down weekly adjustment. And we all feel that it is not fair when even players meet each other and one would have to spot the other maybe a large amount all depending on how there schedule was vs the other.
An all offense "test" along with everyone playing a common known opponent seems like an excellent way to get good starting handicaps, but would take a lot of time.
Many of our players were new to the game but not new to pool. We made our initial estimates for hcp based on their skill in other games, assuming, I think correctly, that they would come up to speed in 14.1 fairly quickly. Not that they would know it as well as their strong game, but their skill would carry them a long way.
It has worked pretty well, although we've made a mistake or two along the way that Seth C's system might have minimized or even eliminated.
An all offense "test" along with everyone playing a common known opponent seems like an excellent way to get good starting handicaps, but would take a lot of time.
Many of our players were new to the game but not new to pool. We made our initial estimates for hcp based on their skill in other games, assuming, I think correctly, that they would come up to speed in 14.1 fairly quickly. Not that they would know it as well as their strong game, but their skill would carry them a long way.
It has worked pretty well, although we've made a mistake or two along the way that Seth C's system might have minimized or even eliminated.