MySQL, Get users rank

Question

I have a mysql table like below:

id     name     points
1      john     4635
3      tom      7364
4      bob      234
6      harry    9857

Answer 1

Solution by @Quassnoi will fail in case of ties. Here is the solution that will work in case of ties:

SELECT *,
IF (@score=ui.points, @rank:=@rank, @rank:=@rank+1) rank,
@score:=ui.points score
FROM users ui,
(SELECT @score:=0, @rank:=0) r
ORDER BY points DESC