Points per game

PPG (or points per game), is a statistic used to determine the average scoring ability of an individual player or team at a tournament. PPG is computed by taking the total number of points scored by a player or team and dividing by the number of games played.

Variations

A common variation for timed tournaments is PPTH, or "points per tossup heard". Because each player hears a different number of questions in timed tournaments, PPG can be outrageously skewed towards players who hear more questions in the same number of games, or players who get lucky playing in many rooms with skilled moderators. PPTH divides total points by the number of tossups heard, to correct for this difference in the number of questions heard.

PP20H, or "points per 20 tossups heard", is a variant of PPTH. This statistic normalizes PPTH to give an estimate of what a player would have scored if the format was 20/20 untimed rather than a timed tournament. NAQT ranks players by PP20H to determine the winners of All-Star scoring awards at its national championships.

Each individual statistic (PPG, PPTH, PP20H) can be converted to a team statistic by replacing the total points scored by an individual with the total points scored by a team. These team statistics are often considered a better indicator of team strength than their individual counterparts are of individual strength. Many tournaments break ties for playoff entry by using preliminary round PPG if time constraints or packet constraints don't allow tiebreaker games to be played.

Criticism

Most individuals in the quizbowl community no longer subscribe to the idea that the player with the highest PPG is the best player at a given tournament. There are a number of reasons why a player's PPG may be artificially inflated; these include non-existent or weak teammates, weaker competition, and vulturing. PPG also does not account for the shadow effect, and so players' PPG may be artificially depressed due to strong teammates or unbalanced team composition. A wackier statistic called PATH was developed by Samer Ismail to help resolve the impact of the shadow effect on perceived player ability.