Pinball Tournaments

The Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show will be host to three different tournament events during the course of the weekend. Each tournament is designed to enable fair competition among the players, while only consuming a portion of the player’s time, so they can have the opportunity to partake in all tourney and other activities at the show. The Northwest Pinball Championships  WILL NOT be at this year’s NW Pinball and Arcade show though are happening June 21-23 in Marysville, WA.

The three tournaments are:

    - Stern Metallica Launch Party Tourney: Friday night    

    - Main Tourney: Two qualifying rounds to choose from Saturday, finals on Sunday   

    - Classics Tourney: Qualify on Friday or Saturday, finals on Saturday evening

General Rules

WPPR points will be awarded for all  tournaments.

All Tournament Officials decisions are final.

Qualifying ends at posted times. NO REFUNDS will be given on unused games.

Tournament details are subject to change and update prior to show opening on June 7th. Check website for latest info.

Game malfunction rules will generally follow PAPA rules.

Players must be ready to play when their group is called. Failure to appear within 5 minutes of designated time will be grounds for forfeiture.

Bang backs and death saves are NOT allowed.

If a malfunction occurs during gameplay, stop immediately and alert a tournament staff member to assist you.

All finalist in both Classics and Open Knockout tournament will share in prize pool. Prize pool dependent on number of qualifying entries. 

Stern Metallica Launch Tournament

The NW Pinball & Arcade Show is excited to be hosting the tournament for Stern’s latest pinball launch- Metallica!! IFPA sanctioned, earn World Pinball Player Ranking points, IFPA trophy, and of course cash.

Tournament qualifying starts at 7pm and ends promptly at 9:30pm at the Marco Specialties booth.

playoffs: start at 9:45ish 5-8 place first then 1-4. 

cost: 5$ cash due at time of play.

format: single 3 ball play, 1 try per person.

Game settings: difficult

prizes:

PRO 1st: IFPA trophy, Stern translight, t-shirt, 40% of cash pool.

PRO 2nd:Stern translight, t-shirt,30% of cash pool

PRO 3rd:Stern translight, t-shirt,20% of cash pool

PRO 4th:Stern translight, t-shirt,10% of cash pool

NOVICE 5th:Stern translight, t-shirt, $10

NOVICE 6th:Stern translight, t-shirt

NOVICE 7th:Stern translight, t-shirt

NOVICE 8th:Stern translight, t-shirt

Open Tournament

Entry fee: $20

The main tourney consists of two separate qualifying sessions.

Up to eight players from each qualifying round advance to the finals on Sunday morning depending on number of players in the qualifying session.

Tentative Schedule (subject to change), Main Qualifying Rounds:

     - Round A: Saturday 12 noon (40 players max)

     - Round B: Saturday 5:00pm (40 players max)

     - Start of Finals: Sunday 9:30am  

The Main Tourney will be played on a bank of 10 machines. Each round will have a maximum of 40 players. The players will play a 5 games on 5 of the 10 machines with  player groups being reseeded at the end of each game according to score, like a mini version of Pinburgh.

Each game is scored 4-2-1-0. If a round is not full, it is possible there will be  some 3-player groups, in which case scoring is 4-2-1. Points for each game are entered onto a score-card. Players with the highest total points across all 5 games move on to the finals. Actual number of finalists is dependent on total number of players in a session. In case of a tie for 1st place or 4th place and below, tied players will play a one-game tie-breaking game on a randomly selected machine from the main tourney bank.

To register, stop by the tournament desk any time after 2:30pm on Friday or anytime on Saturday. Sign-up is first-come-first-serve. WITH ONLY 2 QUALIFYING SESSIONS, EVERYONE IS ENCOURAGED TO SIGN UP AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE TO INSURE A SPOT. When you sign up, pay your registration fee and select which of the rounds you want to compete in. Once a round has 40 registered players, it is full, and no additional entries for that round will be accepted. The top four-eight  players from each session will compete in the finals, in a 3-strike elimination tournament on Sunday. Qualifiers for Main Tournament will need to purchase show entrance or have a weekend pass to participate in Sunday’s tournament. The Sunday finalists can practice on the tournament bank from 9:00am to 9:30am. Play in the finals begins at 9:30am.

Number of players advancing per session depends on number of players in qualifying session:

35-40 players    top 8 to finals

23-35 players    top 6 to finals

16-22 players    top 4 to finals

SUNDAY TOURNAMENT:

Each player game will include head-to-head competition. The players and machine will be selected randomly, using the Brackelope Tournament Builder developed by Isaac Ruiz. Upon completion of the game, players report the winner to the scorekeeper; the loser gets a STRIKE (X). Once all players completed the first round, the next round begins immediately with another random re-draw.

During finals, players must be ready to start their game within 5 minutes of the start of the round, or they may forfeit the game to their opponent and receive and automatic STRIKE.

A player who receives three STRIKEs will play in one final tie-breaking game, with all other players eliminated that same round, to establish relative order of finish. The game will start at the same time as the next round, and the machine selected among the machines not used by the players still in the tournament.

Play continues until all but one player have  3 STRIKEs.

Prize payout depends on number of finalists but will generally be 1st-30%, 2nd-18%, 3rd-12%, 4th-8%, 5th thru 8th-4%, 9th thru 16th-2%

Classics Tournament

The Classics tournament will implement player packets similar to those originated at the Frazer Valley Flipout  in British Columbia. Each packet will consist of tear out score tickets for each of the five EM pins in the Classics bank. After each pin is played once, a sixth blank score ticket in each packet can be used to better your score on whichever of the 5 you wish.

MAXIMUM THREE ENTRY PACKET ALLOWED. Each packet must be completed before another can be purchased. First packet-$10  Second packet-$10  Third packet-$20

Schedule:

     - Qualifying, Friday 2:00pm until 11:00pm. No game starts after 11:00pm.

       Unfinished entries can resume playing on Saturday.

     - Qualifying, Saturday 10:30am to 5:00pm. No entry sold after 4:00pm.

       No more games start after 6:00pm.

     - Finals begin at 7:00pm; players must check-in at 6:45pm.

       If players don’t check-in by that time, alternates will be selected to play.

Scores for each machine will be tabulated using PAPA-style scoring (1st scores 100 points, 2nd 90 points, 3rd 85 points, 4th 84 points, etc. down to 87th scores 1 point). If a player plays multiple entries, only their best score on each machine will be used. Thus a player’s total score may include games played with different entries.

A player must complete a full entry of six games before they can purchase a new entry.

The top 16 players move on to final round. If there is a tie for 16th, the players who are tied will play a one-game tie-breaker on a randomly selected machine, starting at 6:45pm. Note that if any player does not show up and check-in by 6:45pm, then the next player (e.g. 17th) will be entered instead.

Quarter Finals

The sixteen players will be seeded and separated into four groups:

     - Group T: 1-8-9-16

     - Group U: 2-7-10-15

     - Group V: 3-6-11-14

     - Group W: 4-5-12-13

Ties for any position other than 16th will be broken randomly by the tournament officials. Each group will play 3 games. Machine is selected based on seed, per the table below. A person picking a machine cannot select a game already picked that round. Order of play for each game will be based on seeding, such that highest seed always gets first choice of order, 2nd seed gets next choice, and so on.

Order of machine picks in Quarter Finals:

     - Game 1: V:Seed-3, W:Seed-4, T:Seed-9, U:Seed-10

     - Game 2: U:Seed-2, W:Seed-5, T:Seed-8, V:Seed-11

     - Game 3: T:Seed-1, V:Seed-6, U:Seed-7, W:Seed-12

Scoring for each game is 4-2-1-0.

Semi Finals

The top two from each group will move on to semi-finals:

     - Group X: T1, U2, V2, W1

     - Group Y: T2, U1, V1, W2

Order of machine picks in Semi Finals:

     - Game 1: X-T1, Y-higher point getter between T2, W2 (higher original seed if tied)

     - Game 2: Y-U1, X-higher point getter between U2, V2 (higher original seed if tied)

     - Game 3: X-W1, Y-V1

Order of play for each game is based on original seeding in quarter finals, with highest seed getting first choice.Scoring is 4-2-1-0.

Finals:

The top two from each semi-final group will move on to the finals:

     - Group Z: X1, X2, Y1, Y2

During the finals, four of the five machines will be played; the fifth machine will be the tie-breaker machine.

The player with the highest original seed that makes the final chooses the one game that will be used as the tie-breaker game (and thus not played as part of the first four games). The machines will be played from left to right, skipping the tie-breaker game.

Order of play for each game is based on original seeding in quarter finals, with highest seed getting first choice. Scoring is 4-2-1-0.

If there is a tie after the 4th game, only tied players play the fifth game to break the tie.

Prize payout will be 1st-30%, 2nd-18%, 3rd-12%, 4th-8%, 5th thru 8th-4%, 9th thru 16th-2%.