THE ACBL MASTERPOINT PLAN EXPLAINED

Source: ACBL Web Site, March 2002

The masterpoint plan is the means by which ACBL ranks each member's accomplishments in sanctioned bridge play. The winners of sanctioned events receive masterpoints in amounts consistent with the importance and size of the events. Members who achieve rankings lower than first place, both overall and within their designated comparison group, receive proportionately fewer masterpoints. Generally, the more masterpoints a member has, the more experienced and skilled he or she is assumed to be.

ACBL awards honor titles to members as they amass a sufficient number of masterpoints to achieve predetermined levels of bridge accomplishment. These titles range from the first plateau, Rookie, through Junior Master, Club Master, Sectional Master, Regional Master, and NABC Master, to the highest honor ACBL awards, the title and rank of Life Master. There are several levels of Life Master: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Grand.

There are formulas for computing masterpoint awards for all ACBL sanctioned events. These formulas take into account various factors, such as the class of the event, the size of the field, the number of sessions, and the level of competition, thus ensuring maximum uniformity throughout ACBL in determining masterpoint awards. Additionally, masterpoints are "pigmented" to reflect the level of competition.

1. UNPIGMENTED POINTS

   These points are awarded for success in online play and are colorless.

2. BLACK POINTS

   These points are awarded for success in sanctioned club games and Unit games. There are some special events (usually conducted at clubs) which award points where some portion of the award will be in black points and the remainder in another color.

3. SILVER POINTS

   Silver points are awarded for success in events at Sectional tournaments. Progressive Sectionals and Sectional Tournaments at Clubs (STaCs) also award silver points.

4. RED POINTS

   Regional tournaments and regional events at NABCS award red points except for overall and section tops (see Gold Points below). Grand National Teams (GNT) EVENTS, North American Open Pairs (NAOP) events, and other special games afford players the opportunity to earn red points at their local clubs.

5. GOLD POINTS

   Gold points are awarded for overall placings and section tops in regional and NABC events of at least two sessions. The upper masterpoint limit must be at least 750 masterpoints and applies only to the top two stratifications of stratified or stratiflighted events. In Open Bracketed events (such as a bracketed knockout team) each bracket will award some percentage of the overall award as Gold irrespective of the masterpoint holding of the teams in that bracket). Gold points may be awarded for special games, such as the ACBL-wide Instant Matchpoint Game.

6. PLATINUM POINTS

   Platinum points are awarded for NABC+ events (which are National-rated events with no upper masterpoint limit) and include the national-rated Senior and Women's events.

ACBL's masterpoint plan appeals to members because it permits members to know their approximate overall ranking relative to that of every other member. Although a complete listing of the large number of ACBL members is impractical, the honor titles that members earn as they achieve various plateaus of masterpoint holdings serve as close approximations of their overall standing. Lists of the top players in some categories and masterpoint races are published in The Bridge Bulletin and on the ACBL web site in the Members section.

HONOR TITLES
The honor titles and the masterpoints players must acquire to gain them are:

ROOKIE:

an ACBL member who has fewer than 5 full masterpoints recorded by the ACBL.

JUNIOR MASTER:

a member who has at least 5 but fewer than 20 masterpoints recorded by ACBL. A Junior Master is eligible for most newcomer events.

CLUB MASTER:

a member who has at least 20 but fewer than 50 masterpoints recorded by ACBL.

SECTIONAL MASTER:

a member who has at least 50 but fewer than 100 masterpoints recorded by ACBL, of which 5 must be silver.

REGIONAL MASTER:

a member who has at least 100 masterpoints recorded by ACBL, of which 15 must be silver and 5 must be red or gold.

NABC MASTER:

a member who has at least 200 masterpoints recorded by ACBL, of which 50 must be pigmented, with at least 5 gold, 15 red or gold, and 25 silver.

LIFE MASTER:

a member who has 300 or more masterpoints recorded by ACBL, of which 100 must be pigmented, with 50 silver, 25 gold, and 25 red or gold. A member who held no red masterpoints or fraction thereof prior to January 1, 1969, is required to possess at least 50 red and gold masterpoints, of which at least 25 must be gold. Any new member or player in an inactive status for six months or more after January 1, 1999 will be required to earn 50 black points to become a Life Master.

GOLDEN AGE MASTER:

a member who is age 70 or older and has at least 300 masterpoints of any color recorded by ACBL, or a member who is at least 80 years old and has at least 100 masterpoints of any color recorded by ACBL. On application to ACBL, an eligible member will be designated a Golden Age Master and sent an appropriate certificate and wallet card.

BRONZE LIFE MASTER:

a Life Master who has at least 500 masterpoints recorded by ACBL.

SILVER LIFE MASTER:

a Life Master who has at least 1,000 masterpoints recorded by ACBL.

GOLD LIFE MASTER:

a Life Master who has at least 2,500 masterpoints recorded by ACBL.

DIAMOND LIFE MASTER:

a Life Master who has at least 5,000 masterpoints recorded by ACBL.

GRAND LIFE MASTER:

a Life Master who has at least 10,000 masterpoints and has won a North American Bridge Championship with no upper masterpoint restriction, or an Open Team Trials or its equivalent, or a Women's Team Trials or its equivalent, or any of the following WBF events: Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, Rosenblum Cup, McConnell Cup, Open Pairs, Women's Pairs, Olympiad, Women's Team Olympiad, Mixed Pairs prior to 1990 or Mixed Teams prior to 1990.