HELL YES!!!! A SL 7 is expected to lose to another 7? If that SL 7 is WEAKER, then he should be a 6. This is the jist of my beef with APA ratings system. Weaker players SHOULD NOT have to play more skilled players even up. Would you gamble with a more skilled player without getting some weight? Not unless your mad at your money. All you’ve stated proves my point; the APA will raise someone’s hcp far quicker than they will lower it.
This will just lead to bouncing around in skill levels all the time, one week you are a 7, then you lose to a 7 go to a 6 then you beat a 6 and go up to a 7. This is really tough on APA since there is a large skill level between the higher ranks. A 7 can be a B player or an A++ player. Plus it's silly to assume that if a 7 loses to another 7 they are worse or need to move down, SOMEONE has to lose that match even if they two players are dead even in skill. And since the 7s in APA are so widely spread out, even if a 7 loses to three other 7s because they happen to be much better, does not mean they should be a 6 when compared to the other 6s in their league area. They can be higher than other 6s but weaker than other 7s, then what happens?
What the skill ratings should do is track your overall long term ratings and not move around so much, and also be more in tune with the real world like Fargo tries to do. Instead of going by hard numbers for the races, they take into account the actual difference between the players. For example a weak 5 vs a strong 5 has a tougher match than a strong 5 vs a weak 6 but one gets a handicap and one does not. Fargo takes care of that by going with differences in skills in 1/100th and ratings between players not just a large range. So if a 599 plays a 601 they don't automatically get a spot because one is in 500 range and other is in 600 range, but in leagues with a lesser value range you can have a guy that is a 6.99 play a 7.01 with a spot, but a 6.01 vs a 6.99 is even, even though the latter is a much greater difference in skill.
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