diff --git a/pyfpdb/fpdb_simple.py b/pyfpdb/fpdb_simple.py
index eaada6a9..2c432c75 100644
--- a/pyfpdb/fpdb_simple.py
+++ b/pyfpdb/fpdb_simple.py
@@ -1388,20 +1388,48 @@ def recogniseTourneyTypeId(cursor, siteId, buyin, fee, knockout, rebuyOrAddon):
 #end def recogniseTourneyTypeId
  
 #returns the SQL ids of the names given in an array
+# TODO: if someone gets industrious, they should make the parts that use the output of this function deal with a dict
+# { playername: id } instead of depending on it's relation to the positions list
+# then this can be reduced in complexity a bit
+
 def recognisePlayerIDs(cursor, names, site_id):
-    result = []
-    for n in names:
-        cursor.execute("SELECT id FROM Players WHERE name=%s", (n,))
-        tmp = cursor.fetchall()
-        if len(tmp) == 0:
-            cursor.execute("INSERT INTO Players (name, siteId) VALUES (%s, %s)", (n, site_id))
-            cursor.execute("SELECT id FROM Players WHERE name=%s", (n,))
-            tmp = cursor.fetchall()
-        
-        result.append(tmp[0][0])
-                           
-    return result
+    cursor.execute("SELECT name,id FROM Players WHERE name='%s'" % "' OR name='".join(names)) # get all playerids by the names passed in
+    ids = dict(cursor.fetchall()) # convert to dict
+    if len(ids) != len(names):
+        notfound = [n for n in names if n not in ids] # make list of names not in database
+        if notfound: # insert them into database
+            cursor.executemany("INSERT INTO Players (name, siteId) VALUES (%s, "+str(site_id)+")", (notfound))
+            cursor.execute("SELECT name,id FROM Players WHERE name='%s'" % "' OR name='".join(notfound)) # get their new ids
+            tmp = dict(cursor.fetchall())
+            for n in tmp: # put them all into the same dict
+                ids[n] = tmp[n]
+                
+    # return them in the SAME ORDER that they came in in the names argument, rather than the order they came out of the DB
+    return [ids[n] for n in names]
 #end def recognisePlayerIDs
+
+
+# Here's a version that would work if it wasn't for the fact that it needs to have the output in the same order as input
+# this version could also be improved upon using list comprehensions, etc
+
+#def recognisePlayerIDs(cursor, names, site_id):
+#    result = []
+#    notfound = []
+#    cursor.execute("SELECT name,id FROM Players WHERE name='%s'" % "' OR name='".join(names))
+#    tmp = dict(cursor.fetchall())
+#    for n in names:
+#        if n not in tmp:
+#            notfound.append(n)
+#        else:
+#            result.append(tmp[n])
+#    if notfound:
+#        cursor.executemany("INSERT INTO Players (name, siteId) VALUES (%s, "+str(site_id)+")", (notfound))
+#        cursor.execute("SELECT id FROM Players WHERE name='%s'" % "' OR name='".join(notfound))
+#        tmp = cursor.fetchall()
+#        for n in tmp:
+#            result.append(n[0])
+#        
+#    return result
  
 #recognises the name in the given line and returns its array position in the given array
 def recognisePlayerNo(line, names, atype):