I firmly believe a tournament or league handicap should NOT be enough to make the players "equal". That totally penalizes the player that has worked hard to improve, and saps the incentive for the weaker players. It is what the big leagues like APA and USAPL etc try to do, because they are totally geared to the weaker players and the idea of playing pool as a "fun night out". In those leagues, you get "penalized" for seeing your handicap rise because you play hard all season long -- the whole idea is to "have fun" all season long, and then try harder (and get coached up) in the playoffs, when it matters.
Whatever we come up with (onepocket.org) for any ranking system for our local One Pocket leagues and tournaments, if my hand is involved, the math is going to shoot for no higher than 75% of what the weaker player would actually need to be "equal". Playing at 50% the weaker player will only win short races, but at about 75% it depends a lot more on which player is playing either closer to their good days or closer to their off days. I'm just guessing at those percentages, but I think they are probably in the ballpark. I refuse to endorse anything that attempts to make things "equal" -- because that rewards laziness and carefree play and penalizes honest effort to learn, improve and excel. Our whole onepocket.org website reason for being is to promote learning, improvement and excellence!!