Concurrent Games Masterpoint Fix In Action

Last month we wrote about the party in the limited game phenomenon. At a physical club, it was not possible for the 0-750 game to pay more masterpoints than the concurrent open game, regardless of the table imbalance*. The open game award includes the table count of the open game AND all concurrent limited games (mid-flight, 750, 49er, etc). That is, the prize pool trickles up to the open game, encouraging everyone to play up for bigger awards. Only open games get the bonus – the 750 does not get any bonus from the 49er.

*ok, there is one theoretical exception which I leave to the reader to figure out. Hint: it has to do with white and yellow…

Virtual Club Concurrent Game Logic

So now we finally have equivalent logic in the virtual club games, and it started this week! Here are some examples. The 12:45pm All-For-One open game had 17 tables. Prior to this week, that would pay 2.55 masterpoints to first overall (such as last week’s 14-table game). Instead, it paid a nice 3.90 because the concurrent 1pm 499er game with 9 tables contributed to the prize.

The 12:45pm open and 1pm 499er are concurrent games, as are the 10:15 open and 10:30 199er games. I don’t know the official cutoff on maximum time gap allowed

Also note the 499er game doesn’t lose anything – they still got their usual 0.1 * (9 tables) * (0.80 limited game deflator) * (1.5 virtual club bonus) = 1.08

Many More Overall Points Paid

The change will net pay many more points to the overall virtual club. The open game is receiving awards as if they had combined all the limited games into one big game. Conceptually, anyone who opts to play in the limited forfeits their ability to win the big prize, competing instead in a standalone, hopefully more friendly field, that will pay out its own award structure.

A Masterpoints Hack

Interestingly, the most socially optimal structure is to have everyone eligible to play in the limited game play there. If you have 40 tables to split between an open and 499er game, you actually pay more total points if 30 tables join the 499er and 10 go open, than if you have an even split, or a lopsided split in favor of the open game. That’s because the open game payout will stay constant regardless of how many tables join the 499er. But the 499er game pays more as more players opt not to play up. An interesting dynamic, but probably good for encouraging newcomer and intermediate players.

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3 Responses to Concurrent Games Masterpoint Fix In Action

  1. Ang Yee Gary says:

    Very good point
    I think it would be good to have some flexibility eg
    1000 open games
    1010 limited games
    They should still be combined together

    • Lee Lin says:

      Hello Gary, are you saying a game held at 10:00am and 10:10am should be considered concurrent? It looks like they are, for games that are 15 minutes apart. I don’t know what the maximum time difference allowed is though. Obviously, it can’t allow someone to play both games, so maybe 30 or 45 minutes should be the most allowed.

      Also, what if they have an open game every hour, and a limited game ever half hour? Does the open game benefit from BOTH adjacent limited games?

      • Ang Yee Gary says:

        Wow thats great news
        It makes open games more tempting
        Now I have 200+ MP, so luckily I can take part in limited games

        I dont think there is any club that can do an open game every hour and a limited game every half hour.

        One suggestion is to have SYC black games as open, limited and this is win win for all
        Lesser players like myself can play limited games
        Better players dont lose out and get same number of MP

        I think they should change SYC games to silver point so as not to compete with clubs or to remove it completely

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