OK Operator, I can buy that, BUT. There was at least 4 months between my qualifing and the tournament. There was about 2 months from the qualifier to the end of the session. Maybe 6-7 weeks. My memory is a little fuzzy on the time. It should not take 4 months to readjust my SL!!!!! And I will also telly you the bumping of skill levels was a common theme at the Vegas qualifier. I spoke to at least 5 individuals who were bumped similarly. Why were there no 3's or 2's at the qualifier? I feel the Tournament Director had some input so's to make the Qualifier simpler.
Good Lord he needed simple. The TD was the single most inept, stupid moron to ever run a tournament. Hell he didn't even show up on time. He was 45 minuits late. That is another sad story in and of itself.
Mark Shuman
There is one more possibility that no one mentioned . There is the chance that the break between sessions is when your local Handicap Review Committee meets . Since it is the session break , they don't have to be at their matches , so this is the ideal time for the local committee (made up of experienced players & div reps) to get together & hash out what they've witnessed/what the sheets say .
Many LOs have great secrecy surrounding who's on their HRC and when it meets - but experienced players can tell when they've met by all the sudden changes on rosters that 'just happened' . . .