I'll try and explain this to you in another light ok. Lets take bowling for example ok. To be a Pro bowler you have to maintain i believe a 220 or higher pin average, ok? Now lets say you and i went out bowling sometime when we were in our teens one day and while we've both bowled before, neither one of us had given much thought about bowling being in our futures. Though we only bowled one game, you beat me 219 to 82 and it's pretty clear i have no chance of beating you, so i just got a reality check as to bowling not being in my future as a way of making a living....but neither one of us was prepared for that old man that walked up to you and said, "hey kid, you ever thought of going pro?" I've been watching you from where i was sitting....and you have the makings of being a Pro, and with a little coaching you could make a living playing this game!! You respond back, awww man, I'm not that good, not good enough to go Pro....LOL....to which the old man replys back...you was only 1 point short of hitting 220 points, and that's the minimum score you need to go Pro, I'm telling you kid....with some coaching, you can make it into the Pro's, that's half the battle, the rest of the battle is learning how to win against the rest oc the Pro bowlers, but that's up to you kid, and how much you put into this game, the harder you work, the more it pays off!!!
So you see, my skill level test can actually reach that kid that's never played outside of the pool table in his parent's basement, and even though it's not a 9ft, the kid can still take a skill level test, look at his score and say....hey, not bad, I'm up there with the Pro's but it's just a quiet test, no one knows yet, but maybe his dad or mom was impressed enough that just to see for real, they try finding out where the nearest offici table is, so they can see if they have a child prodigy in their family.
While on the flip side of the coin, someone who's been playing pool for 20 years and has beat everyone around where he lives like they stole something, so much so that everyone keeps telling him he should turn Pro. My thoughts are that instead of him being another one of those dead money players....you know those players, they're the ones that put up the majority of the prize money for the players in the tournaments to get paid with, as very little money is actually added to the tournaments in the first place....yeah, the suckers, all those player's that think they have a chance, or the players that don't mind paying the entry fees just so they can get a hardon, and bragging rights because they got the chance to play against some REAL PRO'S, whereas the ONLY other way they'd get to play a Pro is by gambling with them...and trust me, THEN they want the weight of the world when it comes to getting their money's worth, because they're not just going to give it away....THEN they want a chance to WIN!! and will insist on getting a spot big enough to make what they then consider....an EVEN GAME!!!
No, I'd rather that 20 year player save his money by taking the skill level test on really any table, don't really matter at that point, because he may just lost a score right there in the middle of the pack, and get a reality check that didn't cost him a dime, NO he's no where near Pro level, and everyone he has been beating for all those years, just not all that good....and have no idea how good a player really has to play to even consider being a Pro....which unfortunately, is the major majority of the people playing pool today....but they DO have a very...very important role in this sport, it's called...."DEAD MONEY PLAYERS" because WUTHOUT them, there'd NEVER be any pool tournaments held anywhere!!!
So if tou can't see the skill level testing is completely different than the Fargorating system, try and look at it as a bowling score, from 0 to 300....what's YOUR game score big boy!!!
