Rating Systems
- Thread starter ottersbro
- Start date
I think you are confusing a rating system with a handicap system.
Card Slinger
Registered
Bob Jewett's NPL system is the best. Simple and the best. Fargo is closely related (based on similar theory), works for 8-ball and I consider it an evolution of those types of systems.
Systems like the APA that count innings don't work. Systems like BCA/ACS that count balls don't work (but are better than the APA) - including all their derivative systems. Referring to 8-ball with the above. APA 9-ball system works, but they're not playing 9-ball, their playing rotational straight pool with 9 balls.
9-ball is an easy game to handicap due to the near endless combination of games on the wire and balls spotted. Also, because both players are working on the same set of balls. It's an inherently easy game to handicap.
8-ball is an inherently difficult game to handicap because you cannot spot balls directly (indirectly via BCA style systems), and because players are working on different sets of balls (strips vs. solids), games on the wire limit the ability to handicap players to those who are relatively close in overall skill level. 8-ball handicapping becomes unworkable or falls apart when two players of vastly different skill levels match up. That is not the case in 9-ball, where a professional can be equalized with a beginner given a combination of games and balls. Sure, the spot would be absurd - but it can be done. The same cannot be done in 8-ball because the beginner is always faced with completing the same amount of work as the professional, on a different set of balls - yet in the same environment (table).
That is why win/loss performance based systems are best for 8-ball. The end result and verdict on skill is winning or losing. How one gets there doesn't matter. Other 8-ball systems try to quantify the abstract nature of bi-product factors in performance. How many balls are left, how many are made, innings etcetera. That doesn't measure anyone's skill, since those who know 8 ball know that some times a rack may require many innings, and also getting run out by someone doesn't mean you're worse than someone who managed to make a ball or two before losing.
Systems like the APA that count innings don't work. Systems like BCA/ACS that count balls don't work (but are better than the APA) - including all their derivative systems. Referring to 8-ball with the above. APA 9-ball system works, but they're not playing 9-ball, their playing rotational straight pool with 9 balls.
9-ball is an easy game to handicap due to the near endless combination of games on the wire and balls spotted. Also, because both players are working on the same set of balls. It's an inherently easy game to handicap.
8-ball is an inherently difficult game to handicap because you cannot spot balls directly (indirectly via BCA style systems), and because players are working on different sets of balls (strips vs. solids), games on the wire limit the ability to handicap players to those who are relatively close in overall skill level. 8-ball handicapping becomes unworkable or falls apart when two players of vastly different skill levels match up. That is not the case in 9-ball, where a professional can be equalized with a beginner given a combination of games and balls. Sure, the spot would be absurd - but it can be done. The same cannot be done in 8-ball because the beginner is always faced with completing the same amount of work as the professional, on a different set of balls - yet in the same environment (table).
That is why win/loss performance based systems are best for 8-ball. The end result and verdict on skill is winning or losing. How one gets there doesn't matter. Other 8-ball systems try to quantify the abstract nature of bi-product factors in performance. How many balls are left, how many are made, innings etcetera. That doesn't measure anyone's skill, since those who know 8 ball know that some times a rack may require many innings, and also getting run out by someone doesn't mean you're worse than someone who managed to make a ball or two before losing.