Tougher tables did not help USA pros for 20 years

The US needs to copy Europe/Taiwan for player development and the Philippines for seasoning as both seem to work quite well with completely different approaches that have similar results for dozens of top tier players.
Yes, let's add China to the player development discussion, but your comments are right on the mark.
 
Which, again, leads me to believe that those Pocket Reducers are just about the best training aid going today.

If/When I ever play in another big tournament I am going to practice on those 3.5" pockets a great deal first.
The only way is reduced size pockets - pocket reducers - no thanks
 
I live in Okla and the casinos had a huge effect on pool, especially the action part of it. Soon after that they changed the smoking laws to where you had to have a full bar to smoke and that killed a lot of places too. Its not just one thing but a bunch of little things that killed big table pool.
Except for in FL after a little bit eve the smokers agreed that smoking outside was better
 
I understand that the barbox might effect the ameture player, but all the pro's have 9' tables and thats what the practice on all day every day so I dont think barbox play is the reason for the decline of play in the pro ranks. Will big table play make a comeback...,
If anything, you would think the best BB players would or do play on the BBs
 
sjm. i dont defend the practice of splitting. i just dont care if they do it or not. and i see and understand why players do it.

one, is they dont want the money swings that large.
two, as said it takes all night and they want it over with.

and if the t.d. cares then he needs to announce all winnings will be physically handed to the winners in the order of finish, and in a check, and so will the 1099. in their name for the payout.
 
sjm. i dont defend the practice of splitting. i just dont care if they do it or not. and i see and understand why players do it.

one, is they dont want the money swings that large.
two, as said it takes all night and they want it over with.

and if the t.d. cares then he needs to announce all winnings will be physically handed to the winners in the order of finish, and in a check, and so will the 1099. in their name for the payout.
That's asking a lot.

Some tournaments don't even report to Fargo, even though they ask for your fargorate before entry and claim they report to Fargo.
 
Speaking of,

Does anyone think they should have separate Fargorates for 7ft vs 9ft tables?

Sometimes I see an amateur player on stream and they have a decent FR (high 500/low 600) but will completely dog it on a 9ft table. Then the commentator will mention that the player mostly plays on barboxes, which explains the high fargorate.

A 600 FR on the 9ft table is completely different from a 600 FR that got their entire robustness up from playing on 7ft tournaments.

I feel like it creates too much of a disparity and not very accurate.

For example, let's say I'm a 600 and all my matches have been on 9ft tables.
My opponent is also 600 but all their matches have been on 7ft tables.
Our match is on a 9ft table.
I will be the clear favorite but according to FR it will be an even matchup.
 
Diamond bar tables are the only major change in the past 20 years, that and real estate prices have both pushed out a lot of the 9 ft tables with what pool rooms still exist. Before that casinos and after that what action wasn't stealing already that wasn't ruined was completely gone after Fargo became established. Once the action dried up then stakehorses would follow and surely a small % of their staking was to tournaments even if the primary objective for attending was action.

There's not even half as many players in the 30 - 40 range as are in the 40 - 50 range and the 20 - 30 age range is gonna be even less. What if SVB was 21 years old in 2026, would he still be an 800 Fargo player in 5 years or a US Open champion?? He'd have virtually zero action to get seasoned on although tournaments would be plentiful but he was a gambler before he was a dominant force in major tourneys.

but svb also practiced / practices alone, and a lot. he's a lonewolf outlier in my opinion, most people can't do what he does and get those results. is/was there even one other 700+ player in south dakota?
 
but svb also practiced / practices alone, and a lot. he's a lonewolf outlier in my opinion, most people can't do what he does and get those results. is/was there even one other 700+ player in south dakota?
Screenshot_20251227_013056_Samsung Internet.jpg

I see Danny Olson but he's only 32. Shane's got him by a decade.
 
If anything, you would think the best BB players would or do play on the BBs

The best BarBox players are also th best big table players, there no difference when it comes to players in this country. They just can't keep up with the rest of the world.
 
Why spend anything on a stick or even have to get to a hall to practice when you can head casino or to a card room and just buy in and go. Most people like the path of least resistance. In poker, for example, you can lose most of the time, but still get shine (based on the $ you are entering into tournaments or playing cash games with). In pool, after the internet, if you shined too bright, nobody’s going to play you for money, because that notoriety became a liability.
Im not sure you've ever played poker in your life at a poker room
 
There have been a lot of dumb posts on AZ, but I think this thread has so many it might be in the running for dumbest thread ever because of the responses
 
sjm. i dont defend the practice of splitting. i just dont care if they do it or not. and i see and understand why players do it.

one, is they dont want the money swings that large.
two, as said it takes all night and they want it over with.

and if the t.d. cares then he needs to announce all winnings will be physically handed to the winners in the order of finish, and in a check, and so will the 1099. in their name for the payout.
If im Filler, Gorst, Shane, ko's, Im not splitting anything EVER!
 
Speaking of,

Does anyone think they should have separate Fargorates for 7ft vs 9ft tables?

Sometimes I see an amateur player on stream and they have a decent FR (high 500/low 600) but will completely dog it on a 9ft table. Then the commentator will mention that the player mostly plays on barboxes, which explains the high fargorate.

A 600 FR on the 9ft table is completely different from a 600 FR that got their entire robustness up from playing on 7ft tournaments.

I feel like it creates too much of a disparity and not very accurate.

For example, let's say I'm a 600 and all my matches have been on 9ft tables.
My opponent is also 600 but all their matches have been on 7ft tables.
Our match is on a 9ft table.
I will be the clear favorite but according to FR it will be an even matchup.
🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️
 
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