Yeah, my best is 3 racks and then screwed the pooch on the 8-ball in that 4th rack and didn't get out. I can occasionally put two racks together, usually I get through one and end up having to duck or I sell out. So, if I were playing him a race to 9, I would need 6 games on the wire to theoretically have a chance to win. That wouldn't be enough though, because I seldom play at a speed where I'm capable of stringing 3.
The only reason I was using APA ratings is because that's something that most everyone is familiar with and should be able to accurately assess their skills against the average player for each APA level, even if they aren't an APA player. It's very difficult for me to assess my own skills as an A,B,C,or D player because to me, those ratings are even more ambiguous than APA skill levels.
I'll tell you one thing right off the bat that an APA 9-ball player would have problems with in a game like that....APA 9-ball players play for points. In "real" 9-ball the only ball that counts is the money ball. In that respect, sometimes I think the APA sort of does a disservice to it's 9-ball players. There's really a different strategy for playing for the money ball as opposed to playing for points. A runout is a runout, but APA players except for 8s and 9s don't really run out a lot, so if one player pockets the 1 thru 8 and the opponent pockets the 9, the one that made the 1 thru 8 actually won the rack even though the other guy potted the 9. The only thing you win with the 9-ball is the break and an extra point. Playing APA rules, I'd rather let the other guy have the 9-ball every time if I can get the other 8. That's not real 9-ball and I've seen people lose matches playing real 9-ball because of the simple fact that the 9-ball didn't seem to bear as much importance to them mentally as pocketing the rest of the balls. They chop all the wood and then let the other guy build the fire.
.....4 or 5 and out puts way more pressure on a shooter
