Ranking Info

The World Pinball Player Rankings, created by the International Flipper Pinball Association, are updated upon the completion of any IFPA endorsed tournament. At the end of the calendar year, the player with the most WPPR points will be crowned the 'World's Greatest Pinball Player' for that particular year. All officially endorsed events are taken into account and points are awarded according to the players finishing positions.

Ranking System

Basic Rules

In determining the World Player Rankings, several basic rules were put into place to meet the needs and goals of the IFPA, tournament directors and the players themselves.

  • All regular tournaments start with a baseline of 25 points for the first place finisher, regardless of the number of players in the tournament.
  • Three tournaments will start with a baseline of 50 points. We consider these tournaments the "Crown Jewels" or the "Triple Crown" of pinball. These tournaments are: IFPA World Pinball Championships, PAPA World Pinball Championships and the European
    Pinball Championships.
  • Tournament or leagues that are ran multiple times in a year are treated as one event and are worth the same as a single yearly event.
  • Tournaments can increase in value based on the number of players that compete and what their ranking was during the time of the event. The top 64 ranked players are taken into account.
  • Points will be factored based on the number of people who competed in the tournament and where a player finishes. For example, a player might get 5 points for finishing 2nd in a 10 player tournamnet, but get 30 points for finishing 2nd in a 50 player tournament.
  • The Ranking System will weigh recent results over historical results. Points earned over the last year and worth 100% of their value.  Events one to two years old are worth 75% of their original value and events that are two to three years old are worth 50% of their value.  Any event over three years lose all of their value
  • Side tournaments and events, that are ran in conjunction of the main tournament, are only worth 50% of the main tournament. If multiple side events are held, those 50% points are split among them.
  • Only open tournaments are counted against the rankings. However, depending on circumstances, exceptions can be made.

 

Ranking Calculation

Calculation of the rankings involves many steps.

  • Set an entry ranking for first time players. Currently they are given the same ranking as the 10th percentile ranked person.
  • Determine the tournament weight for this tounament. Currently we are using the top 100 of the rankings to determine this value.
    • Each ranking position (current 1st thru 150th) is assigned a value between .11 and .01.
    • We calculate each players worth based on who they beat in that tournament. So if the #1 ranked player is in a tournament with only the #2 and #50 ranked players and they finished in their ranking order.
    • Ranked player #1 would earn the weight of .11 (#2 worth) and .5 (#50 worth) and Ranked player #2 would earn .5 (#50 worth).
    • This value is added to the base value of the tournament.
  • Determine the tournament base value. Periodic events split the minimum 25 points across all tournaments for that year.
  • Using the tournament weight and tournament base value, calculate what the tournament winner earns.
  • Two ranking values are calculated. One is a a linear value based on the number of players in the tournament. 

(PlayerCnt + 1 – Finishing Position) * 10/100 * (1st place value  / playerCnt)

The second value is a dynamic value using the top 64 players of a tournament.

 (pow(( 1 – pow((( Finishing Position -1) / PlayerCnt),.7)),3)) * 90 /100 * (1st place value)

  • These two values what a player earns for a given tournament.

 

Rating Calculation

For 2012 we are implementing a rating for all players.  Right now, this rating is unoffical and is used for fun, however, we have plans to use this player ratings to help determine tournament strength, at some point in the future. 

  • Currently the rating system is using unmodified version of the Glicko rating system.
  • We are using the tournament finishing results for the rating system and not head 2 head data. (We have enough data entry to do!!)
  • For a given player in a tournament, any player finishing ahead of them is a treated as a loss and everyone they finish ahead of is treated as a win.  Ties are when a player finishes in the same position as other players.
  • RD is limited to a range of 30 to 350 for a given player.
  • A players RD increases daily. It will take them about 3 years to drop out of the ratings.