True.
I've never treated four in a row very seriously, but I managed to score 510-520 one day. And mr. Nameless is right, beginning with your score around 500 there is no way to increase it without cheating.
Lower-rated players will take away points from you in 2-4-6 or more game matches.
Higher-rated players will play you with red balls, and escape without a word, taking your *precious* points with them.
And playing fair, high-rated players will end up in a draw matches (mostly) which leads to score change for about 2-3.
PS. And say hi to Garfield - trully good player.