Poker League - Calculating Player Ranking

[Slacker13]

Here is a copy of our Q&A and also our point system formula.


2004 Tournament Point Details



Q. What is the Tournament Leader Board?

A. The tournament leader board is used to determine the best and most consistent player on the tour. It rewards both good play and frequent play.



Q. Why do I care about the Leader Board?

A. First of all, it can win you money. The top finisher(s) will receive a cash award, a keepsake item like a hat or bracelet, and/or an entry into the final event. In addition, it gives you bragging rights over everyone else.



Q. How are points awarded?

A. In 2004, we will use a modified point award system. The formula will value some tournaments more than others.



Q. What contributes to the weight of a tournament?

A. The following are all part of the formula.

Is it the main event? The premier event will count for 50% more points.
How many players? The more players, the more the win is worth.
How much is the entry fee? The higher the stakes, the more the win is worth.


Q. Am I out of the running since I can’t make every event?

A. No. We will only use your 7 best point finishes towards the final ranking. This means you can take the top spot without even playing half the planned events. Of course, the more you play, the easier it will be.



Q. How many people get points each event?

A. Points will be awarded based on the formula listed above to the top 25% of a tournament's finishers (rounded up). For example, 25 entries would give points to 7 finishers.



Q. What is the exact formula?

A. The early and late game have a different factor:

Early Game Points = 3 * [sqrt(n)/sqrt(k)] * [1+log(b+0.25)]
Late Game Points = 2 * [sqrt(n)/sqrt(k)] * [1+log(b+0.25)]
n is the number of entrants
k is the place of finish (k=1 for the first-place finisher, and so on)
b is the buy-in amount in dollars


Q. Can you show an example?

A. Sure, here is a realistic example

Player Event Number Entries Entry Fee Finish Points

Brian G 1a 25 $40 1 39

Rick F 1a 25 $40 2 28

Adam M 1a 25 $40 3 23

Phil Hellmuth 1a 25 $40 4 20

[Sacramento Kevin]

For our league, we have monthly tournaments, and 4 of them are "majors" to make those more interesting. The point structure is based on the pokerstars ranking, and takes the # of players into account. The formula is:

((SQRT(# of players)/SQRT(Finish Position) -9) * 10)

For the majors, we double the points.

Top 8 players can play in our tournament of champions, and chip count depends on total # of points.

Here's the website if you want to see more:

sacramentopokertour.tripod.com

[stevea]

Compared to homepokertourney.com's easy method, what is the advantage of using a fancy formula like this?

[Lottery Larry]

One important thing that no one has mentioned yet is cost ratio vs. stack ratio.

If I'm contributing the same cost to get into the tourney (that results from player ranking points, if you're doing that), don't talk to me about the fairness of 4:1 or 5:1 differentials in starting stacks!

[Lottery Larry]

See my other comment- I hope this is a freeroll.

[stevea]

Yes I am doing that. It isn't fair but it isn't supposed to be fair - if you play shitty all year, you're going to have to play REALLY good to win the championship tourney.

[Lottery Larry]

You're not taking the luck factor into account enough. It's too easy for one hand, one suckout, to make a big difference in results each week.

For example, if AK and AQ mix it up on the first hand, and a Queen falls on the river, did the AK play "shitty"?

If you bet top pair for 90% of a player's stack on the turn, with a flush/straigh draw, and he catches on the river and leaves you crippled, did you play shitty, or did he?

When the stacks are largely different, especially at the start, it becomes tough to use skill differentials to overcome that fact. I make a big mistake or get unlucky, I'm still in. You make a big mistake, you're out of the tourney.

But do what you like.

[sct]

We just set up a system for calculating points. Since our games are winner take all, we needed a way to give credit to consistant high finishers. This is the formula we came up with:

30 * (SQRT(N)/P)
where N is the number of players and P is the place finished.

We removed the buy in amount from the formula since our games all cost the same. I have tracked it for 4 weeks now and it looks really good. We are running a 7 week trial Tournament Leader Board with an invitational in week 8. We'll see how it works out from there.

[stevea]

[ QUOTE ]
You're not taking the luck factor into account enough. It's too easy for one hand, one suckout, to make a big difference in results each week.

For example, if AK and AQ mix it up on the first hand, and a Queen falls on the river, did the AK play "shitty"?

If you bet top pair for 90% of a player's stack on the turn, with a flush/straigh draw, and he catches on the river and leaves you crippled, did you play shitty, or did he?

When the stacks are largely different, especially at the start, it becomes tough to use skill differentials to overcome that fact. I make a big mistake or get unlucky, I'm still in. You make a big mistake, you're out of the tourney.

But do what you like.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK I see your point here. However...

In the long run, crappy but lucky play like this will not prevail. That being said, the person with the most points over a season will be not be a crappy lucky player, and will start the championship tournament with a bigger stack than the lucky crappy player.

Don't you think it's better for the lucky player to start with a smaller stack?

[stevea]

[ QUOTE ]
We just set up a system for calculating points. Since our games are winner take all, we needed a way to give credit to consistant high finishers. This is the formula we came up with:

30 * (SQRT(N)/P)
where N is the number of players and P is the place finished.

We removed the buy in amount from the formula since our games all cost the same. I have tracked it for 4 weeks now and it looks really good. We are running a 7 week trial Tournament Leader Board with an invitational in week 8. We'll see how it works out from there.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you have a website for your league?