Jason Jones: Caug By Patrick Sampey
difference. So, therefore, it would appear the higher the ranking, the bigger the distinction point by point. Check out the top 100 Fargo rankings here: https:// www.fargorate.com/top-ten-lists And the Fargo ranking has a “robustness” factor that plays in -- essentially how many matches a player has played to establish their ranking. The more matches played, the more accurate the Fargo ranking. “This APA is supposed to be an Amateur pool league. It gets really ridiculously tough at the top. Listen to these Fargo ratings: there were some players in the APA National Championships (held in Vegas) that had a Fargo ranking over 740...how is that amateur?” -- Jason said.
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unday, October 10th, 2021 -- Jason Jones is a friend of mine; he is around a 700 Fargo ranking; many amateurs may see him play and believe that’s pro level play, and I would argue that’s professional level, but he tells me about qualifying for APA (American Poolplayers Association) National Championships that run out in Vegas each year, how they have many players well above 700 Fargo ranking, and how what many dub “amateur pool” is actually the cream of the crop in many circles. To put the Fargo ranking into perspective, of the top 100 ranked Fargo rated players in the world, Mosconi Cup player Billy Thorpe for team USA is a 773 Fargo; he is ranked 98th in the world. Joshua Filler, the worlds #1 ranked Fargo player is an 831, so that is to say that a 58 point difference in the case from 773 to 831 is a vast
740 is just 33 points below world number 98 ranked Billy Thorpe; keep that in mind here: several players in the APA National Championships within 33 points or better of one of the best of the best in the world, and one of team USA’s top players -- the USA having lost ground exponentially, the level of play other countries players maintain well above their US counterparts in so many cases. Jason tells me to qualify for the Vegas individual tournaments at the APA National Championships, players must be active in the APA on a team, then qualify locally in a qualifying round, then a second round at some location in their home state or nearby region, then if they qualify at the state level, players make it to Vegas. So there appears to be three stages to making it. “First of all, you’ve got to be in the APA active for that year, on a team playing actively. Then, you have to play an eight man qualifying tournament in your area. Now, you’ve got to play the qualifier (first round) 4 months before you play the regional (second round). So, I played down at Starcade (Ft Walton Beach, Florida) for my regional. I had to play in June to qualify for the regionals in October. So, look how far in advance you’ve got to be paying attention to this...you’ve got to 11
