How does this rating system work?

[Jaeger]

I am still trying to figure out this rating system works I know if you win your ratings increase but if you lose your rating decreases. Do you ever gain zero points. I'm asking becuase I am going to BR tomorrow where I figure it will mostly be local players, I'm currently 15th in North America with a rating of like 1865, I expect most of the compitition to be in the 1650's or lower. So can I even gain points? I know many of the top ranked players are sitting BR out than I noticed how Austin Reed jumped ahead of me from playing BR :mad:(JK). So basically I'm asking if I play am I risking 8 points every game with the possiblity of gaining zero? Should I just sit out and judge. I don't want this to turn in to an argument about why the ratings are bad I just want help understanding how they are figured.

[DarthPika]

You can always gain points, but if you lose its gona hurt. ;)

[Sandslash7]

There's a reason the rating points include 2 decimals.

That would be because you'd gain a whole lot less for a win, maybe only a few points at most, rather than 20 or so your opponent might win.

[ninetales1234]

Do you ever gain zero points.
always always always check out the official POP literature on the POP website:
http://www.go-pokemon.com/op/tournaments/docs/2007-2008/Ratings_and_Rankings_FAQ.pdf

[NoPoke]

it is NOT TRUE that you gain less for a win.

You gain less for a win when you are expected to win (compared to when you win against expectation). Big difference!

The system we use is zero sum. Which means that your gain is exactly balanced by the opponents loss. POP refers to this as the STAKE. Some games are high stakes and some low.

[DarthPika]

I never said that you always gain less for a win. Just that if HE lost he would lose far more points then he would get for a win.

[NoPoke]

again that only occurs when you lose to a lower rated player. Lose to a higher rated one and your loss is less than your potential gain.

[yoshi1001]

The maximum number of points that can be won or lost in a game is called the K-Value. Each level of tournament has a K-Value associated with it. Note that the number of points you could win by winning plus the number of points you can lose by losing will always add up to the K-value.

[Time for Pain]

sit on the ranking. You put too much on the line and one loss could lose you a ranking world invite.

[Pidgeotto Trainer]

Search the articles section for Flaming Spinach's article from 1-2 years ago. The formula is there. You will always gain from a win.

http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=42840

[ryanvergel]

ELO might say you only deserve 2 points for beating people at the 1650 range, whereas they'd gain 6 points from beating you. Now, judge whether or not you can beat 3 players for every 1 who beats you and you can easily tell yourself if you should play or not.

If your win percentage were like 78% but you felt you could really get better odds by outplaying or having a new deck it may be in your best interest to play.

(I'd sit out and judge if I were you unless I was positive I could CREAM [like your state's famous yellow mush]some competition and not get donked by anything)

[NoPoke]

I'll echo what Ryan has just said.

Jaeger, if you are a long way ahead of the anticipated field and you cannot risk losing lots of points then providing you don't have to play, sitting out is probably the right thing to do. Only the foolhardy risk without considering the consequences first.

This phenomena affects chess too. Chess Grand Masters frequently choose not to play. Just as it is with us, their motivation for sitting is complex even with our less cerebral but much more fun little game.

[Umbreon777]

I had a rating of 1857.84 and went 6-0 at a Battle Road.
I checked my match record, and it said I gained no more than 2 points each round.

63 805000369 1 1857.84 1609.17 You 1.54 1859.39
64 805000369 2 1859.39 1659.26 You 1.92 1861.31
65 805000369 3 1861.31 1600.91 You 1.46 1862.77
66 805000369 4 1862.77 1663.23 You 1.93 1864.69
67 805000369 5 1864.69 1663.78 You 1.91 1866.61
68 805000369 6 1866.61 1560.73 You 1.17 1867.78

But overall, I gained slightly less than 10 points, putting me at 1867.78 and 16th in North America. (I was at 24th)

Every point counts, just dont lose at a Battle Road.

[hitmonchan93]

Jay, if I were you, I'd play like 2-3 Battle Roads, then watch the rankings and if people jump ahead, play in more. That's my opinion, good luck on your decision though.

[ryanvergel]

Just remember you'll probably need to win at least 75% of your games to make it a "profitable" venture. A 3-2 performance or a 2-2 performance would probably kick you down to the lower top25, but if people gain points from BRs it puts you out of position.

[smacktack15]

I gained zero points from a BR but, I was very high 1700's (1790 something) and they were very low 1500's

[Fireborn]

I gained zero points from a BR but, I was very high 1700's (1790 something) and they were very low 1500's

That's not possible, you can't EVER get 0 points for a match, unless you play outside of your age group. If the difference is like 300 points, you'll still get 1 or 0.7 point for winning or something.

[smacktack15]

Well, here is the good ol' Copy n' Paste:lol: This tourny was recent and I always battle people that are older than me (I am a new Master and I always battle adults).

Match # 59
Tourny ID 805000265
Round 4
Prev. Rank 1778.50
Op. Rank 1604.90
Winner You
Point gain 0.00
Final ranking 1778.50

I guess I was a little fuzzy on the rankings lol, I was off by about 100 points

[Scizor]

That's called an error. It wasn't input right or something. It is impossible to gain 0 or lose 0 points.

BTW, I went 8-1 in two BRs combined and gained 9 points, if you want another comparison. (1825 then, to 1834).

[Fireborn]

Match # 59
Tourny ID 805000265
Round 4
Prev. Rank 1778.50
Op. Rank 1604.90
Winner You
Point gain 0.00
Final ranking 1778.50

Like Scizor said, that's an error. If you're certain you played against a fellow Master player, you need to contact the TO for the event, so they can contact POP. It probably means that the date of birth for the player you played was entered incorrectly in the POP database, so the 'system' thinks you played a Junior or Senior.

[smacktack15]

Ok, I will try to do that soon because I want my points (I have earned them:lol:)