My Fargorate progression

Played in my first pool tournament in a dozen years or so on Saturday. Been pursuing other interests plus pursuing what I thought was a decent married life till sh$t got all twisted on me. Was the open division of the KY state 10 ball tournament. Played on bar boxes, which I'm not the biggest fan of, but whatever.

Anyways, so I'm kinda jittery having not knocked the rust of my tournament stroke off in years.... minutes before I was to play my first match my wife messaged me and naturally she wants way more $ out of this divorce and some other very upsetting stuff....now I'm on full tilt.

Started my first match, won the first game somehow, then puked my guts out the rest of the set and got blown out. Now I'm really, really on tilt. F it I said to myself, just play. So I did and next match I blew out the next guy. Started to think I could actually relax and play under some pressure again.

Third match I played a good player and won by breaking and running on the hill, which involved a nice somewhat difficult carom shot....so that felt really good.

Fourth match, played well and was nice and settled down, but lost that match while still playing pretty decent against a rather strong opponent.

I reckon going 2--2 isn't as bad as 0-2, lol. In the end, I was just happy I was able to get the anxiety under control, but it was even nicer to ultimately discover that I could play through it.

Lesson, hang in and try hard...and call the lawyer Monday (which I just did)...lol

Oh yeah.... tournament ended up getting split between Kashton Keeton and Louis DeMarco. I guess that means no official state champ? Lol
 
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Ooh, i made it to the end.
Been reading most of this thread since the begining. Thank you Nick and everyone else that shared information.
I had a few questions after reading all that.
How long has this Fargo system been around? I assume if i did a bunch of local tournaments and league in the early 2000s it wasnt around?
Is there a website or resource for locating fargo events?
And if i've never participated in anything that needed a rating, is there a point in searching it out?
 
jalapus logan said:
minutes before I was to play my first match my wife messaged me
Click to expand...
I put my phone in "tournament mode". Samsung calls it airplane mode, but what do they know. Glad you could play through the tilt, that's a big struggle for me.

Another thing I've noticed, being farsighted, there's a bit of eye strain looking at my phone, and if I look at it for a while, it can be hard to focus on the balls at the far end of the table for a bit. Sort of like how it takes a few seconds to stand up straight after driving a long distance. I don't know that my problem is that common, but being aware of eye fatigue and strain can definitely help my game.
 
tomatoshooter said:
I put my phone in "tournament mode". Samsung calls it airplane mode, but what do they know. Glad you could play through the tilt, that's a big struggle for me.

Another thing I've noticed, being farsighted, there's a bit of eye strain looking at my phone, and if I look at it for a while, it can be hard to focus on the balls at the far end of the table for a bit. Sort of like how it takes a few seconds to stand up straight after driving a long distance. I don't know that my problem is that common, but being aware of eye fatigue and strain can definitely help my game.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I have a ton of nervous energy on a good day with nothing going on. The stress of the divorce and then the self imposed stress of the tournament made for something to overcome. Very glad I proved to myself I could still do that...the experience boosted my wounded confidence. To be 47 years old and going down the rabbit hole of wondering if and why I wasted two decades of life with what turned out was a flawed relationship is, to say the least counter productive.

Far better to live in the moment and enjoy each shot. And don't forget the good times either. Life is short, don't get too attached to it
 
Still want to shoot said:
Ooh, i made it to the end.
Been reading most of this thread since the begining. Thank you Nick and everyone else that shared information.
I had a few questions after reading all that.
How long has this Fargo system been around? I assume if i did a bunch of local tournaments and league in the early 2000s it wasnt around?
Is there a website or resource for locating fargo events?
And if i've never participated in anything that needed a rating, is there a point in searching it out?
Click to expand...
Thanks for reading!

It's been around worldwide since sometime in 2015.

When it went live, some players had games in the system already, because Mike P put in published results from some past events. So there is a chance you might already be in the system.

Go here and click "search for players" and type your name. (you do not need an account). See if anything pops up. The website is not the best, Mike recommends the free phone app instead.

FargoRate - FairMatch

Setup fair matches between players of different abilities.
fairmatch.fargorate.com fairmatch.fargorate.com

For locating events, it's pretty much all on Facebook these days. Join local FB billiard groups in your area, and the local tournament directors will have a flyer with info if they are using Fargo. There is no central location to find tournaments.

The point in searching it out would be to see where you stand amongst your peers, and/or a lot of events are using the Fargo system for handicapping, such as weekly local 9 ball events. Giving game spots instead of ball spots.
 
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iusedtoberich said:
Thanks for reading!

It's been around worldwide since sometime in 2015.

When it went live, some players had games in the system already, because Mike P put in published results from some past events. So there is a chance you might already be in the system.

Go here and click "search for players" and type your name. (you do not need an account). See if anything pops up. The website is not the best, Mike recommends the free phone app instead.

FargoRate - FairMatch

Setup fair matches between players of different abilities.
fairmatch.fargorate.com fairmatch.fargorate.com

For locating events, it's pretty much all on Facebook these days. Join local FB billiard groups in your area, and the local tournament directors will have a flyer with info if they are using Fargo. There is no central location to find tournaments.

The point in searching it out would be to see where you stand amongst your peers, and/or a lot of events are using the Fargo system for handicapping, such as weekly local 9 ball events. Giving game spots instead of ball spots.
Click to expand...
There are also a lot of capped events that use fargo to set the ceiling. Funnily enough, the events I play most don't report to Fargo, I don't know if they think the formats aren't the best data for Fargo, or what. The events are an 8 ball line tournament and an 8 ball double elimination race to 1. I'm going to start focusing on tournaments more, it's the next stage in my development.
 
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I'm up 5 from 562 to 567.

I played a bunch of Salotto sets the past few days. I liked the extra motivation to play well.

vs 494/56 I won 10-4 and 10-7. I went from 561 to 562. He went from 494/56 to 486/87

The next group were all the same day and updated at the same time. I went from 562 to 567.
vs 622/907 I lost 4-11, after he is 624/922
vs 668/4888 I lost 9-11. I played exceptionally well this set. After he is 668/4908.
vs 553/376, streamed match, I won 11-6. After he is 546/400.
vs 553/376, streamed match, (8 ball) I won 5-2. After he is 546/400.

Edit: I added the after's of my opponents.
 
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Going up. All this running around for your fargo rate sounds like it also improved your game some, and some fun for you.
I go out so infrequently, wish i could more often. went out last night and never got into my stride. felt like i was warming up the whole night lol.
Then some T and A showed up. whelp there went my focus.
 
iusedtoberich said:
View attachment 769847

I'm up 5 from 562 to 567.

I played a bunch of Salotto sets the past few days. I liked the extra motivation to play well.

vs 494/56 I won 10-4 and 10-7. I went from 561 to 562. He went from 494/56 to 486/87

The next group were all the same day and updated at the same time. IDK the before/after, this is what they are now (after).
vs 622/907 I lost 4-11
vs 668/4888 I lost 9-11. I played exceptionally well this set.
vs 553/376, streamed match, I won 11-6
vs 553/376, streamed match, (8 ball) I won 5-2
Click to expand...
At one point I went a few months where when I went to practice I Strictly did drills, and only drills. I didn’t play any type of game by myself or play the ghost. I refused to play other players when they asked, and I set a timer to limit myself to 1:30 hours max. This is leaving early for me but I forced myself. This was advice Joe Tucker gave me a long time ago that I completely forgot about. I jumped up 25 Fargo points quickly.

I would like you to try this experiment also to see if it does infact do the same for you.
 
iusedtoberich said:
View attachment 769847

I'm up 5 from 562 to 567.

I played a bunch of Salotto sets the past few days. I liked the extra motivation to play well.

vs 494/56 I won 10-4 and 10-7. I went from 561 to 562. He went from 494/56 to 486/87

The next group were all the same day and updated at the same time. IDK the before/after, this is what they are now (after).
vs 622/907 I lost 4-11
vs 668/4888 I lost 9-11. I played exceptionally well this set.
vs 553/376, streamed match, I won 11-6
vs 553/376, streamed match, (8 ball) I won 5-2
Click to expand...
in the first match above where you played frank they had you at 570 fargo?
 
Your whole journey got me interested in in fargo rate.
I asked at the big pool hall i go to about tournaments. seems they have tourneys but they are apa. and with my health i have trouble commiting to a schedule like apa leagues.
Seems like things are def not like they were 20 years ago.
Was always a lot of local tournaments.
Less places to play pool. and apa sponsers everything.
Oh well. i don't have to have a fargo rate. just thought it would be interesting.
 
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