Stated simply:
Every player has a rating. Higher players have higher ratings. Matches are determined by the difference in player ratings from the handicap charts. After each match, the ratings are adjusted: if you win, your rating goes up, if you lose, your rating goes down.
There are lots of details, such as how the charts are constructed, but it's not really important to understand those details.
It's pretty straightforward once you get started. Here are a few comments and a few simply modifications to Bob's format.
Starting ratings: You can always start everybody at 500 and go from there. Or you can make guesses at initial ratings. For a little consistency on what the ratings mean, the following may be helpful
300 will have a high run after a half dozen matches to 100 of 6 to 8 balls.
400 -- After a half dozen matches to 100 will have a high run between 10 and 14. This person can run some open balls, but it is unusual for this player to successfully navigate the transition between racks.
500 -- will have a high run after a half dozen matches to 100 of 18-25. This person will navigate a rack transition several times but probably not twice in the same run
600 --will have a high run after a half dozen matches to 100 of 28 to 40 or so, i.e., will transition two racks a few times
700 -- will likely exceed 50 in those half dozen matches --has run 100 several times...
800 -- strong pro-level player
Format suggestion
Bob's charts attempt to get a fair handicapped match. For example the charts might say Bob goes to 120 and Mike goes to 80, and the two players are equally likely to win.
Our players have enjoyed a slight modification to this handicapped format. All matches are a straight-up contest to 120 (or whatever), and the
winner gets a "point." A second point is awarded to the player that exceeds his or her
expectation. Here Mike is expected to get to 80 when Bob gets to 120. So Bob exceeds his expectation if he holds Mike below 80, and Mike exceeds his expectation if he reaches 80. So if
Bob wins the match 120-88, each player gets a point, i.e., they split. If Bob beats Mike 120 - 48, he gets two points. And if Mike beats Bob 120-117, Mike gets two points.
Rating updates: We recommend a slight modification here as well. Rather than a blanket update of 3 points (or 2 or 1) for winning the handicapped match, we suggest a rating update of 1 rating point for each 5 balls away from the expectation.
So in the above, Bob was supposed to win 120 to 80, so he was supposed to be up by 40 balls at the end. In the three scenarios, the rating changes would be as follows
120 to 88 (Bob wins by 32 balls instead of 40 [difference from expectation is -8]. Bob goes down a point, Mike up a point)
120 to 48 (Bob wins by 72 balls instead of 40. [difference from expectation is +32] Bob goes up 6 points, mike down 6 points)
117 to 120 (Bob "wins' by -3 instead of 40. [difference from expectation is -43] Bob goes down 8 points, Mike up 8 points)
