Difference between revisions of "Circle of death"

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A strange, archaic term for "three-way tie."
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<onlyinclude>A '''circle of death''' is a three-way tie in which each of the three teams has beaten one of of the other two teams and lost to the remaining team. Such ties cannot be broken by a [[head-to-head]] result (not that any ties should be) and require a relatively complicated tiebreaking procedure (or the use of [[statistical tiebreakers]]). The term sometimes refers to other types of three-way ties and occasionally to five-way (or even higher-order) ties that are analogous to the original meaning.</onlyinclude>
  
Occasionally you can get a five-way tie, where everyone is 2-2 among the tied teams.  The latter has happened during a [[Penn Bowl]] and a [[David Scott Hamilton Invitational Tournament]] ([[Maryland]] [[juniorbird]]).
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==Resolving a circle of death==
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In general, it is not necessary to break a [[tie]], and it is common for ties that do not involve first place to be left unresolved. However, some formats (or participant preferences) require the breaking of ties. If three teams are tied for one spot, the best procedure is to have the teams ranked by a [[statistic]] (typically [[points per tossup heard]]) and then the lower two teams play each other for a chance to play the upper team, the winner of which takes the top spot. If three teams are tied for two spots (e.g., in a preliminary pool the top two spots of which go to a specific playoff pool), the best procedure is for the top two teams play each other and the winner gets one of the better two spots, after which the lower of that game plays the originally lowest team, the winner of which gets the other better spot. Frequently, [[half-games]] are used instead of full games.
  
A variety of tie-breaker methods have been proposed.  It is considered [[good quizbowl]] to avoid paper tiebreakers like head-to-head, [[PPG]], or [[bonus conversion]] when possible. But when time or the number of questions is limited, they are used.  The current [[ACF]] rules provide for the use of PPG and then bonus conversion if there are not enough packets to play off the tie.
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Sometimes [[statistical tiebreakers]] are used instead of additional gameplay, which is not ideal but is sometimes necessary for reasons of time, question availability, or other constraints. Very occasionally, a game is played with all three teams playing at once, which is very much not a best practice.
  
[[Category:Quizbowl lingo]]
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==Other uses==
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The term "circle of death" is also used by the [[NAC]] to designate the double-elimination playoff at the end of the tournament.
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{{c|Quizbowl lingo}}

Latest revision as of 21:32, 6 January 2022

A circle of death is a three-way tie in which each of the three teams has beaten one of of the other two teams and lost to the remaining team. Such ties cannot be broken by a head-to-head result (not that any ties should be) and require a relatively complicated tiebreaking procedure (or the use of statistical tiebreakers). The term sometimes refers to other types of three-way ties and occasionally to five-way (or even higher-order) ties that are analogous to the original meaning.

Resolving a circle of death

In general, it is not necessary to break a tie, and it is common for ties that do not involve first place to be left unresolved. However, some formats (or participant preferences) require the breaking of ties. If three teams are tied for one spot, the best procedure is to have the teams ranked by a statistic (typically points per tossup heard) and then the lower two teams play each other for a chance to play the upper team, the winner of which takes the top spot. If three teams are tied for two spots (e.g., in a preliminary pool the top two spots of which go to a specific playoff pool), the best procedure is for the top two teams play each other and the winner gets one of the better two spots, after which the lower of that game plays the originally lowest team, the winner of which gets the other better spot. Frequently, half-games are used instead of full games.

Sometimes statistical tiebreakers are used instead of additional gameplay, which is not ideal but is sometimes necessary for reasons of time, question availability, or other constraints. Very occasionally, a game is played with all three teams playing at once, which is very much not a best practice.

Other uses

The term "circle of death" is also used by the NAC to designate the double-elimination playoff at the end of the tournament.