How Slate Club rankings work

Every player has a single number — a rating — that says how strong their results have been. Win a match and the number goes up. Lose and it goes down. That's the whole idea.

Everyone starts on 1000. A higher number means you've been beating good players; a lower number means the results haven't gone your way yet. There's no ceiling and no floor — it just follows your results.

After each rated match the winner takes points off the loser. Exactly how many depends on how the match was expected to go. An even match is worth about 20 points to the winner, and the loser drops the same 20.

The score line doesn't matter — only who won.

The bigger the upset, the bigger the swing:

• Beat a higher-rated player → you gain more.
• Beat a lower-rated player → you gain less.
• Lose to a higher-rated player → you lose less.
• Lose to a lower-rated player → you lose more.

The most any single match can move you is 40 points, and that only happens in an enormous upset.

You're on 1000. Your opponent is on 1200 — one of the better players around.

• You win: you pick up roughly 30 points and they drop 30.
• You lose: you only drop about 10, and they gain 10.

Two players both on 1000? Whoever wins takes 20 from the other.

Singles knockout matches, money matches and team-match games all count, one match at a time in the order they're played — so each result is worked out using the ratings both players had at that moment.

Byes don't count (nobody played). Doubles and Killer don't move individual ratings. Players have to be on the Slate Club player list to be rated.

Every rated match nudges it. It's not a permanent grade — it's a running picture of how you've been going against the people you've actually played. If an organiser corrects a mistake, the points from that match are taken back too.

It's not just how many you win — it's who you beat.