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Bridge masterpoint system explained

Posted By: dc-ohio
Date: Friday, 13 March 2015, at 10:59 p.m.

In Response To: New points system (Stick)

Hey all, used to post here a long time ago, still read it now and then. After getting back into bridge, BG took a back seat and I really don't play competitively anymore.

I can try to explain how masterpoints are awarded and how ranks are determined.

In the ACBL (US bridge league), there are several types of points which you can receive. They are usually determined by the level of the tournament you are playing.

Web points: Points won online (BridgeBaseOnline)

Black points: Points won at local club games

Silver points: Points won at sectional (local) tournaments

Red points: Points won at Regional (larger) events, and at regionally rated national tournaments

Gold points: Points won at Regionals/Nationals for section tops, Knockout victories, and 2-session overalls.

Platinum points: Points won at national (NABC) events with no upper masterpoint limit.

To attain certain ranks, you need X number of points, and you need specific colors of points. For example, to get to "Life Master" you need 500 total points with 50 gold, 50 red or gold, 75 silver, and 75 black. So you can't just rack up 500 points online or at the local club and be a life master. You have to get enough points at tournaments too.

The ACBL's entire business model is about the sale of masterpoints. They try to figure out how to get the most number of people the most points possible. This keeps their playerbase happy and coming back for more tournaments. One way they accomplish this is with stratification. There are usually 2-4 "strats" in every event and while you compete against everyone, you are compared only with the people in your strat and the strats above yours. For example, a common stratification for a club game or sectional is:

A= 2500+ B= 500-2499 C= <500

At the same time, there may be a NLM (non life master) session going on with the following strats:

D: 300-NLM E: 50-300 F: <50

The people in this event would not play against the people in the open event. However, the open event would be credited with the number of tables that are running concurrently in the NLM session.

The above is for pair events or swiss teams. The most popular event however is bracketed knockouts. The way this works is each team of 4-6 is placed in a 8-16 team bracket. The brackets are based on average masterpoint holdings of the team. So in large national events or big regionals, you will only be playing against teams that have similar masterpoint holdings as your own. This isn't to say they will be the same quality player, just that they have the same points.

Is this system flawless? No. Masterpoints earned do not equate to quality of player. There are several life masters who really have no idea what they are doing, and there are players with <100 points who can play the spots off the cards. I wish the ACBL kept track of masterpoint efficiency (total masterpoints won divided by total possible masterpoints) as this would show how good a player really was.

Messages In This Thread

• New points system
  Trunky -- Sunday, 23 November 2014, at 7:32 p.m.
  • New points system
    Stick -- Sunday, 23 November 2014, at 8:28 p.m.
    • New points system
      Trunky -- Sunday, 23 November 2014, at 9:04 p.m.
    • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
      Phil Simborg -- Sunday, 23 November 2014, at 11:06 p.m.
      • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
        Trunky -- Sunday, 23 November 2014, at 11:17 p.m.
        • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
          Phil Simborg -- Sunday, 23 November 2014, at 11:43 p.m.
          • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
            Bob Koca -- Monday, 24 November 2014, at 12:21 a.m.
            • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
              Jason Lee -- Monday, 24 November 2014, at 2:15 a.m.
              • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
                lenny -- Tuesday, 23 December 2014, at 4:47 a.m.
            • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
              Jake Jacobs -- Monday, 24 November 2014, at 3:21 a.m.
          • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
            Art Grater -- Friday, 13 March 2015, at 7:34 p.m.
        • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
          Jakob Garal -- Sunday, 28 December 2014, at 1:00 p.m.
          • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
            Leonardo Jerkovic -- Sunday, 28 December 2014, at 1:29 p.m.
      • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
        sita -- Monday, 22 December 2014, at 7:42 p.m.
        • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
          Phil Simborg -- Monday, 22 December 2014, at 9:21 p.m.
        • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
          sita -- Friday, 13 March 2015, at 7:59 a.m.
          • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
            Phil Simborg -- Friday, 13 March 2015, at 3:24 p.m.
      • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
        Daniel Murphy -- Wednesday, 24 December 2014, at 3:58 a.m.
        • Backgammon should be modled completely like bridge
          Jake Jacobs -- Wednesday, 24 December 2014, at 5:00 a.m.
    • Bridge masterpoint system explained
      dc-ohio -- Friday, 13 March 2015, at 10:59 p.m.
  • New points system
    Bob Koca -- Monday, 24 November 2014, at 1:28 a.m.
    • New points system
      Trunky -- Monday, 24 November 2014, at 6:46 p.m.