Stop right there iutbr before you cause anymore FargoRate trouble.
Several years back (around 5) I watched Varner play quite a bit on the bar table and his game was just about perfectly suited for the BB with his tight position, banking, and crafty shooting -- like playing rail first shots. I wouldn't doubt he could play close to that speed on a bar table just a few years back but there's NO WAY he could play anywhere near that speed on a 9 footer then and definitely not now.
I know.. I know... all games and all tables are the same they say.
Despite the claims that FargoRate is equal on the barbox and big box I think there are situations where that just isn't so. This is one of them.
I think Nick on the bar table is an absolute beast. I watched him in that stream and he played flawlessly.
Would I back him against Oscar (similar fargo) on bar table or any table? No.
But if he just showed up at an open bar table 8-ball event like the Texas State or Wyoming Open I wouldn't expect him to do much better or worse than Oscar with roughly the same chance to win. Although I would give the edge to Oscar due to age and stamina. He has the pocketing skills to make everything and the knowledge and craftiness to out move everyone too.
BAR TABLE ONLY.
Big table and he drops way, way down the list IMO because I think that the bigger tables combined with tighter pockets would not play to his strengths. The younger playerss have superior pocketing skills and I just don't think he could keep up with them on 9' tables.
The thing to remember is that Fargo Rate is only a measure of how likely a player is to beat another play in one game/match. Not how likely they would be to win a tournament - although you can get there using statistics.
It specifically doesn't mean that a player with a given FR should make balls at a certain level or be able to play safe at a certain level. It measures how good they are at winning.
You can have a 700 player that can't make balls but somehow gets the job done and a 700 player that makes everything they shoot at but never plays safe so loses games that way. Even though they have different strengths they can have the same rating.
A player like Varner does so many things so well that even if he has slowed down in some ways he can still win his share of games.
And he IS Nick Varner which will tend to pucker anybody's behind when they find out they have to play him so he could win more matches just because of that intangible.