Practice game: FARGO

I just watched the video yesterday on youtube and I can't wait to get my table set up here at home next week and try it out and see where I stand.

Vinnie.......thanks for the link to the scoresheet/rules. I'm printing off a copy right now. :)

mikepage.........many kudos to you and your videos on youtube. :D
 
I shot my first 10 inning game of Fargo tonight on my new 7' Valley and scored 150. I thought I would do a little better but I had one inning with a score of only 7 because I barely missed one shot that I shouldn't have missed. In all ten innings I only missed 5 shots, I was happy with that. I'll be trying this game at least 3-4 times/wk and see how I do on average. It does help you try to stay focused and competitive even though you're just playing by yourself. I'm going to try to get close to the 200 mark in the next few trys. That's my goal anyway.
 
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Nice as always, Mike. One suggestion: if you'd pretend to miss once you could illustrate how an inning ends when you don't run all 15 (I can understand how that would slip your mind).

pj
chgo

(But where's my credit for the name? Can't get no respeck...)
 
Just played this game for the first time in years on my house table. It was quite the mixed bag. It's hard to get good action on the break on my table, I only made 1 ball 3 times on the break which I of course spotted per the rules. Not having a good spread off the break really inhibited my scores as I was shooting upwards of 3 additional break out shots on some runs.

I tried to do too much with the BIH off the break on a couple of racks and got some really low scores. I did manage to make 14 balls twice in 10 innings.

My first 5 racks put me at a low C player and the last 5 at a low B player, for an average of a a C to C+ player, which is very near what I consider myself.

This is really going to help me bear down on my break on my home table.

Thanks Mike!
 
I'm going to have try it out anybody feel good about the scores they got ?
 
Confessions of a Professional Duffer

I stumbled across this old post because someone had bumped it to the top recently. To be honest, I had never heard of FARGO (or Q Skills, which might be equally as good). Anyway, I had some spare time and decided to give it a run. I ran through two sets of ten to establish my "baseline" ~ OUCH. The .pdf file listed in this thread was a dead link, so I created my own scoresheet. As you will see, I started to add "footnotes" in the second set of ten racks. So here goes, chuckle away at my ineptitude, but it is at least an honest accounting (if I understand how everything works and scored correctly).

Rack 1: 8 points
Rack 2: 9 points
Rack 3: 4 points (yes, with BIH and an open table, lol)
Rack 4: 7 points
Rack 5: 13 points (getting better) ;)
Rack 6: 9 points
Rack 7: 7 points
Rack 8: 20 points (first rack clearance, yeah...chuckle)
Rack 9: 13 points
Rack 10: 13 points
Total: 103 points (10.3 points per rack)

Rack 11: 10 points
Rack 12: 20 points (3 balls on break) (rack clearance)
Rack 13: 8 points (2 balls on break) (scratch during run)
Rack 14: 2 points (yes two, lol) (missed combo to open up rack)
Rack 15: 20 points (1 ball on break) (scratch on break) (rack clearance)
Rack 16: 18 points (rack clearance)
Rack 17: 12 points (1 ball on break) (hooked on next ball in rotation to end run)
Rack 18: 17 points (missed last rotation ball due to poor position)
Rack 19: 1 point (1 ball on break) (yes one single point with BIH, yuck) (played shaped for long ball down rail past side pocket and missed)
Rack 20: 20 points (1 ball on break) (rack clearance)
Total: 128 points (12.8 points per rack)

Scratch on break % = 5% (1/20)
Total rack clearance % = 25% (5/20) (1/10 first set, 4/10 second set)
Ball on break % = 70% (14/20)

So, what's the point of all of this? What does it mean to you and your game? Maybe nothing. But I just wanted to illustrate that it was actually FUN practicing (for me). I can hardly ever "get into" practice, I usually like an opponent (and obviously lose a lot). ;) But this was intriguing for whatever reason, and I would say it took maybe 1.5 hours (but I didn't time it...).

Like the video said, it puts a little pressure on the situation, and obviously you want to "do better". And with little creativity, you can create whatever additional statistics you like with footnotes such as I started to add in the second set. With some detail in what went wrong, I think it will give me additional areas to focus on for improvement (for example, I know I need additional time spent shooting over balls, or avoiding those situations altogether).

At any rate, sorry for the long post. Bottom line is if you find yourself in a rut practicing alone, I think this is worth a shot. If you are already regimented in your practice, kudos to you.

And, let's see some more scores from fellow AZ'ers. I want to see how low I really rank. :D

Peace out and Hit 'em straight.

~Razor

FYI: I spotted balls made on the break, I just started noting when I made one (and how many) for statistical purposes ~ and to somewhat gauge my eight ball break.
 
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One thing I like about Fargo over some of the other similar 10 inning games is that there is definitely more strategy - not just concerning when to cross over to rotation, but picking your patterns so that you can cross over earlier in the rack and therefore make more points. So there is a knowledge component to being able to score well in this game.

I've noticed playing this game that a hard break is not necessary and maybe not even preferred. Make more than one ball on the snap and you've created a problem cluster for yourself along the spot line. A good spread is really all you want.
 
For those of you worrying about extra lumber in your case (chuckle)...

I didn't have to use a piece of wood or a quarter to indicate if I was in the "random" phase or the "rotation" phase. :D

Since I was on a Diamond with a ball return, I simply took the balls out of the ball return and set them aside when I switched to rotation. Those in the tray when I was done were simply worth one, and those in the ball return were worth two. I need more in the ball return. ;)

No aiming systems were used, other than PIITP, and no animals were harmed during this practice/experiment. Anyway, peace and good shooting to all...

~Razor
 
DogsPlayingPool said:
I've noticed playing this game that a hard break is not necessary and maybe not even preferred. Make more than one ball on the snap and you've created a problem cluster for yourself along the spot line. A good spread is really all you want.
Click to expand...

Agree wholeheartedly, with the strategy aspect and especially making balls on the break and creating a problem for yourself...not good.

:thumbup:
 
I played this game quite a bit when playpool existed. I played 1 season & I think a season was like 6 or 8 weeks. My average was just over 200 on a 9 footer. The guy that won most of them was Andy. I forget his last name but I think he averaged in the 210 + range. I think Andy passed away but I do not remember his last name. You have to play well to keep your average that high.

As mentioned a hard break is not needed. I broke them just over med speed. Another point worth noting is rack them tight. A loose rack will kill your score so I made sure every rack was tight.

Strategy is king, dissect the rack like a 14.1 player & run out like a 9 ball player. I switched to rotation ASAP but sometimes it can't happen. Of course I had the occasional low score & a few 30 pointers. 30 is not common, a very good break is essential.

Actually I forgot about this game. I might just give it a try tomorrow. I doubt I'll have the time for 10 innings but a few racks before some 1P sounds like fun. Thanks for the game Mike and to Ed and everyone involved.

Rod
 
Thanks, Rod. Wow, that's some average. I was able to eek out 7 randoms and 8 rotations for a single inning 23 today. A perfect 30 seems awful elusive for me right now. :smile:

Peace.
 
Ranjmaz said:
Just played this game for the first time in years on my house table. It was quite the mixed bag. It's hard to get good action on the break on my table, I only made 1 ball 3 times on the break which I of course spotted per the rules. Not having a good spread off the break really inhibited my scores as I was shooting upwards of 3 additional break out shots on some runs.

I tried to do too much with the BIH off the break on a couple of racks and got some really low scores. I did manage to make 14 balls twice in 10 innings.

My first 5 racks put me at a low C player and the last 5 at a low B player, for an average of a a C to C+ player, which is very near what I consider myself.

This is really going to help me bear down on my break on my home table.

Thanks Mike!
Click to expand...
I love when new members dig up good pool information for me. :D

I must have missed this one the first time around, thanks to you and Mike Page for the idea.
 
Patrick Johnson said:
Nice as always, Mike. One suggestion: if you'd pretend to miss once you could illustrate how an inning ends when you don't run all 15 (I can understand how that would slip your mind).

pj
chgo

(But where's my credit for the name? Can't get no respeck...)
Click to expand...

See what this place has done to PJ? He had a sense of humor four years ago. :D
 
This game really kicked the f-ing crap out of me I played 5 sets Becuse I was to stubborn to give up. It's now my new practice drill unroll I can score 110 and up three out of five sets
 
I think it will really help my game, also. I ran through ten racks last night (my new daily minimum) and scored a 125. That was with 6 out of 10 total rack clearances, so I (and now everyone else) can tell that I am switching from the random to the rotation phase too late. And other racks I am just completely butchering (missing) early, netting only a 2 or 3 for a couple of frames really kills ya...obviously.

Anyway, I encourage anyone who hasn't to give it a try, I think it will improve your practice regimen and elevate your game. Or try it with and without your new technique and see if there is any appreciable difference one way or the other. Might validate for you if something new is really working or not (with actual performance statistics). And you can test it over a longer haul if you want to eliminate any possibility of a placebo effect.

That's all for now. Enjoy and peace.

~Razor
 
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I played through ten racks last night and scored a 115. Highest score was 23, lowest was 4. (awesome) I was guilty of switching to rotation too early at least twice, trying to make up for the 4 that I got in the second rack.

You really have to play each rack individually, without considering the ones before, to get your maximum score.

I actually got mad enough to almost kick the wall when I missed, and that for me is great, because I have trouble focusing or caring enough without an opponent.Great mixture of fun and faux pressure.

New goal: Score 130 within the next month
 
Rule Question

I couldn't see the rules link. Came back as a dead end link.

How do you score incidental balls that fall along with your called shot? Or do you spot them?

The concept of playing online with games like this or a standardized rating system from the outcome has it's one major pitfall. My 120 on my diamondized 9 foot gold crown might translate to a 170 average on an 8 foot valley with barbucket corner pockets. For this reason we really can't compare our scores with anyone not playing on the same table as ourselves. To map our own progress however this is a really nice game. Thanks Mike.
 
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