Scoring points for 2nd place

[Bruce Idaho]

I just lost 10-9 to a player who is rated 375 (I am rated 127), and I received one point. That is idiotic.

[joyoy]

it would be sensible to first look into the issue at hand before judging and dismissing it.

it was a 3 player table and you had the lowest Elo - you finshed 2nd of 3 and therefore you gained Elo (and Arena points)

[Meeplelowda]

Also, the margin of victory is not an input to the Elo calculation. A win is a win, and a loss a loss, whether you win or lose by 100 points or 1 point. This makes sense if you think about it. Some games don't even have points, like the game Elo was originally design for: chess.

Here's a link for deeper reading on the subject.

There's also the possibility you aren't even talking about Elo, because this was an Arena game. When you say "one point," do you mean one rating point (Elo), or one of those little shield things that determine your progress within an Arena tier?

If the latter, then BGA in its unfortunate trend to obfuscate things removed the explanation it used to have of how those tier points are awarded. Luckily it has been preserved by forum nerds like me:

I wanted to know why I won some games in memoir 44 arena and I wasn't awarded any "arena" points.

This is [ed.: used to be] explained in the FAQ linked at the bottom of every page across the site:

When you win a game in Arena mode, you gain Arena points. You gain 3 Arena points when beating an opponent from the same league, 2 points when beating an opponent from league N-1, 1 point for beating an opponent from league N-2, and so on (and the same for higher leagues).

So if you are 3 or more levels above your opponent, you won't earn shields (points). You will earn Elite Arena ELO regardless of your opponent's level, but if you haven't reached elite yet it happens behind the scenes.

There has been a change (as of 2025-10-09) that "Victory in Arena games now awards you League Point(s) regard[]less of your opponent's level." So that last part about "if you are 3 or more levels above your opponent, you won't earn shields (points)" is no longer true.