| No. 9 Vol. 1 : December, 1911 |  |
Price 2/6 per annum (Post Free) : Single Copies 2d (2½d Post Free). |
NOTES BY THE WAY
More About the New Method of Handicapping
THE first number of "Billiard Times," published in April last, contained a special Supplement dealing with " The New Method of Handicapping." Signs are not wanting that the innovation is making headway, but at the same time it is manifestly desirable to give the scheme the fullest possible publicity.
The new plan has only to be known to be appreciated and adopted, and we feel sure Billiard players all over the Empire will be glad to have the scheme mentioned again and its latest features brought to their notice. We desire to emphasize the added zest imparted to the game of Billiards when each of the contestants is in possession of an official handicap which is a sure and reliable guide to his playing ability. Many a game which might have been most enjoyable is utterly spoiled owing to the absence of such a handicap. Perfect strangers, or men slightly acquainted with each other meet, and a friendly game of Billiards is suggested. Under such circumstances, it is impossible to anticipate a really sporting contest in the absence of a proper handicap. The usual mutual enquiries regarding scoring ability invariably elicit nothing more satisfactory than a non-committal "Oh, I make a 20 or 30 break sometimes," to which the reply may be: "I am afraid that is a little too hot for me," and after an exchange of inconsequential billiard small-talk a haphazard handicap is arranged, and the players commence with the stereotyped formula: "I do not know how I shall play, as I have not had a cue in my hands for weeks."
Very possibly the result is so unsatisfactory that another game is not attempted, and the beaten man feels that his opponent has not exactly over-stated his scoring abilities, to say the least of it. It is a great pity that such a result should ever occur, and yet what is more common?
This difficulty is overcome by the B.C.C. handicap originated by Mr. Geo. H. Nelson, the present Secretary of the B.C.C. We feel that we cannot explain the matter better than by quoting our original remarks on the scheme, together with the Handicap Tables and Scoring Cards, the whole of which are reproduced accordingly.
"Every player in a handicap, and every player in an ordinary game, should have an equal chance, and this is what Mr. Nelson's scheme is designed to obtain. As a keen golfer, the originator of the new scheme has gone to that grand outdoor game for the basis of the new system of handicapping at billiards."
He remarks rather pertinently that what is practicable in the one game should also be in the other.
His main point is that every billiard-player should have an official handicap; and that, as in golf, this handicap should be fixed in the first instance by the player returning a certain number of cards from which his general form may be gauged. For instance, a player plays say five separate hundreds (the minimum fixed before a player can qualify for a handicap), and visits the table 100 times, then his average would be five.
"The 'scratch' mark player is fixed by Mr. Nelson at 8, for reasons which will bear the closest inspection. This player will give points to all players with lower handicaps, and is owed points by all players averaging over 8 up to 15—the latter figure being taken as representing the general form of the very best amateur players. The table of odds which we publish along with the B.C.C. Cards for the taking of averages, is based originally on the averages. To cite a simple illustration: a player whose handicap is five (one who makes 100 in twenty visits to the table) gives the 'two' handicap man, who takes fifty innings to score the 100, 60 points in a hundred up. Presuming each of these two men plays according to his handicap—and it would surprise a good many people how closely billiard players stick to their average on a given number of visits to the table—when each has been to the table nineteen times the scores will be 98-95 in favour of the 'two' man, and it is impossible to get any nearer than that. The same principle applies all down the table of odds. The '9' man, you will note, begins to owe as well as give points to all with a lower average than '8,' and this process continues to the end, the '15' man both owing and giving 87 points start to the '1' player, but merely owing the 87 to the scratch or '8' handicap man. Although fractional averages are not shown on the table—their absence is explained by a desire not to complicate matters unduly—the same principle governs those, and may be ascertained readily enough by a simple form of calculation. Suppose, for example, your average is 2.50, and you wish to ascertain how many start the '4' average man should give you in 100 up. You simply multiply your average by the '4' man's number of visits to the table. The difference between the multiplication and 100 is your start. Thus: the '4' man has to make twenty-five visits to serve 100. Twenty-five multiplied by your average (2.5) would give 62.5, leaving the difference between the latter figure and a hundred, 37.5, which would be your start if single points could be cut in two on the marking board. But as this is, of course, not possible, your start would be either 37 or 38, according to whatever figure you and your opponent mutually agreed upon. Under the haphazard and purely guesswork method—if method it can be called—of handicapping hitherto in vogue, the limit man probably never enjoyed his game one little bit, for the simple reason that he was never by any chance allowed a real 'sporting' opportunity of winning. Eighty in a 100 up, which would probably have been his proper mark, had 20 lobbed off it because the greater figures looked too fearsome to the man away back at scratch or thereabouts.
A careful study of the handicap table inserted here will reveal the incontrovertible fact that with the Billiard Control system of handicapping, the limit player will stand as good a chance of winning as any of the others on the list."
In addition to the foregoing, Mr. Nelson has devised some attractive auxiliary schemes which enable a man to test his playing ability whenever he may have a few minutes to spare for practice. Once again golf has been laid under contribution, and monthly competitions introduced.
First there is a "Losing Hazard Scoring Card," the equivalent of bogey golf. The card is reproduced below, and it will be seen that the player executes each stroke from a set position. Ten points are reckoned for each hazard scored, and it may be said at once that the man who returns a good card proves himself to be a consistent and accurate performer.
Next we have the "Break Scoring Card," which may be called medal play. The conditions are very simple, only two set positions of the balls are necessary. A player makes five successive breaks off the red ball on the centre spot, and then repeats the performance with the white on the centre spot and the red on the billiard spot. In each case he continues to play ordinary billiards until his break is finished, when the results are chronicled on the card as shown. This is very excellent practice, as it compels due regard to be paid to controlling the balls. We should like to mention that if a sufficient number of these cards are returned, a handicap can be made, and we venture to assume that this will prove a great inducement to those who may not have the time and opportunity to obtain their handicap in the ordinary way. There is also the consideration that a prize, usually a cue and case, can be awarded to the member returning the best cards during a month; and it is scarcely necessary to point out that the charge for the card can be modified to suit local requirements,
