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Mini-manifesto on evils of PR gammon.

Posted By: Jason Lee
Date: Saturday, 30 May 2026, at 12:47 a.m.

In Response To: Mini-manifesto on evils of PR gammon. (Bob Koca)

UBK: I don't know if you will find it satisfactory, but I think it could be done if ALL matches were recorded (or at least all in the sense of those from a certain online platform). Just use an Elo system based on the VR win percentages. Note that the variability of one's rating would be significantly less.

Mathematically, it's very satisfactory. Provided there is sufficient mixing of the population, I expect this to work fine. I already expect ratings (using W/L) to work fine already, with more variability.

Practically, it still has issues. You may still need quite a lot of data before I feel confident about convergence. You also need to ensure population mixing.

One of the main advantages of PR (I've said this before) is that it can give you an excellent proxy for playing strength independent of who you're playing. I could take two groups who never intermingle and get a very good indication of playing skills.

Note my use of the word "proxy" -- I am fully on board with all of the issues you mention. The problems with PR are well known. The point of using PR is that it's (1) easy to understand, (2) objective, (3) doesn't require any assumptions about who you're playing, (4) gives a good result without too much data, and (5) additive.

JLee

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