It doesn’t make any sense to always freeze a player with highest score

[FDHenneberg]

I don't understand freezing based on ELO if all things equal?

Not sure what you mean. Elo can play a role in two ways: In the first round, when you have absolutely no information, so in the situation in which you yourself pick by color, some pick the player with the highest Elo. And later on, it makes sense to optimize the Elo change you get from playing the current game. So when you’re 3rd and don’t have a good chance to win, you might prefer to freeze the runner-up instead of the leader. This ofc only being one consideration of many in that situation. One point you don’t mention is one that I find very important: will the player probably either stop or bust anyway on the next turn? I find it difficult to see this as a decision tree. It’s more like a list of aspects you have to weigh every time (apart from some standard situations that are very clear).

[KharmaScribbles]

I don't understand freezing based on ELO if all things equal?

Not sure what you mean. Elo can play a role in two ways: In the first round, when you have absolutely no information, so in the situation in which you yourself pick by color, some pick the player with the highest Elo. And later on, it makes sense to optimize the Elo change you get from playing the current game. So when you’re 3rd and don’t have a good chance to win, you might prefer to freeze the runner-up instead of the leader. This ofc only being one consideration of many in that situation. One point you don’t mention is one that I find very important: will the player probably either stop or bust anyway on the next turn? I find it difficult to see this as a decision tree. It’s more like a list of aspects you have to weigh every time (apart from some standard situations that are very clear).

That's a good point, I'm very new to ELO rating, don't see it too often in other games I play.

I'll have to give the game, but in one case I came second.. the winner had quite a bit lower ELO than me, but the other two players I beat, 3rd place had slightly higher ELO, and last place had lower ELO.

The winner gained ELO, I neither gained nor won (+0), the third player gained a bit and last place lost a lot. Is it because 1st place beat me with much lower ELO so therefore negated any ELO movement i would have had beating the other two players?

Sometimes when I'm the last player still 'alive' and I get greedy, I actually appreciate the freeze card giving me no choice but to 'stay'.. but it happened one time to me a my first hit after I got a second chance ರ⁠_⁠ರ

[FDHenneberg]

Is it because 1st place beat me with much lower ELO so therefore negated any ELO movement i would have had beating the other two players?

While I have to admit that I do care about my Elo in some games and know what Elo is and how it works in general, I’ve no interest in learning how it works on BGA in detail So I’ll just point you to this (it’s in the Carcassonne forum, but it’s true for every game): https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47454