I recently got sent this message "I wana pick ya brains pal, 1 of r lads is terminal ill and hes ask me if i wud do something pool whys wen hes gone. he wants to get a trophy and we play 4 it every year but i want do somthing that everyone as a chance of winning but its hard 2 win at the same time any ideas pal"

Any suggestions would be very welcome, i said I would see what the pool community could come up with.

Sound good, how are ratings determined? Any other ideas?

My tournaments are held in my local area so I know what players abilities are, so it's easy for me to give them the correct handicap. If players from other towns enter then usually I can find out their ability from another player who knows them.

Generally I rank them like this...

Scratch - Devon County standard players.
+1 - Players who are just under the ability of qualifying for the county team.
+2 - Local league players who also play interleague pool for our home town.
+3 - Players who play in a lower division in our local league or have not played pool for very long.

Well as of yet I haven't encountered that problem but yes I think that's what I would do. I usually tell people their handicap before they enter the competition.