Vancouver Flip-Out Tournaments
at 2016 Vancouver Pinball Expo

Sept 22-25, 2016
Holiday Inn and Suites, Downtown Vancouver

Vancouver Flip-Out (Main Tournament)

STANDINGS AND RESULTS
IFPA FINAL STANDINGS

This is the main pinball tournament of the event, recognized by IFPA World Pinball Player Ranking system. This tournament structure is graded by IFPA at 100%.

Qualifying Format

VFO is a Limited Best Game Qualifying format that will be played on the main bank of 12 to 14 machines, with a player's best scores on 7 machines counting towards their point total.

The "limited" part is that one player can purchase a maximum of 25 tickets for 25 games total, to spread out as they choose across different machines on the bank. Players can play any one machine multiple times, and do not have to play all machines. Since only 7 scores count, a player can, but does not have to, play more than 7 different machines.

Players register for the tournament for $20, for which they receive an initial 15 tickets. A player is allowed up to two rebuys, at $10 for 5 tickets each. Players must also have a Vancouver Pinball Expo (VPE) pass to participate in the tournament. Those passes are sold separately.

Advanced Registration for the main tournament, and VPE passes, are available here. Maximum 250 players. Advanced registration ensures entry into the tournament, and provides the player with their first 15 tickets.

Important: having tickets does not guarantee availability of machines to play them. Players who play most of their tickets on Thursday or Friday should have no problems getting in up to 25 games. Players who save most or all of their tickets to play on Saturday might not get the opportunity to play all of them, as lines can form on some or all machines, especially in the hours leading to the end of qualifying. Any ticket purchased but not used will be voided when the qualifying round closes. There will be no refunds.

On each machine, only a player's best score on that machine will earn points. Only a player's best 7 games, based on points earned on each machine (see Point Distribution), will count towards that player's total.

Playing an Entry

This tournament will be run using Drains Tournament Manager software. Players must register first, and ensure they have one or more tickets remaining. They may ask either the registration desk or any scorekeeper to add them to the queue for the machine they want to place next. The queue will be displayed so that players know when their turn is approaching. Players are expected to be waiting near the machine when they are next in line. A player not present when their turn is called will not be searched for. Rather, they will be skipped, but remain next in the queue. If they are called a second time and still not present, their name is removed from the queue. The ticket does not get used up, but the player will need to re-queue when they are ready to play next.

Players do not start a game until the scorekeeper has verified they have an available ticket, and that they are next on the machine. Only once given the go-ahead to play by the scorekeeper should the player hit the start button to play their game.

When the game is finished. The player must remain at the machine for the scorekeeper, even if their score will be voided because they have a higher score. Since one scorekeeper will be managing multiple games, patience of the player is very much appreciated by all. The scorekeeper will record score or void score, and provide the player the option to re-queue on the same or different machine. Only at that time should the player walk away. If a player walks away from the machine without waiting for a scorekeeper, they will be provided a warning by a tournament official. If this happens again after receiving such a warning, the player may be disqualified from the tournament.

Please note that scorekeepers are volunteers who usually are not involved in any other way with the organization of the event. Please do not complain or take out your frustrations regarding the machine, the environment, the tournament, the show, or the people to them. If you have any issues with the tournament or the show, please see a tournament or show official and have a discussion directly with them.

Point Distribution

Points on each machine will be normalized, with 200 points for the winner down to 1 point for 186th on the following scale. Click on graph for detailed point distribution.

In case of a tie, the tie will be broken based on number of #1 scores, then number of #2 scores, etc., considering only the 7 games that made up a player's entry. In the unlikely event there remains a tie for a significant position (who gets bye, or who qualifies), then there will be a one-game tie-breaker at the start of playoffs on Sunday, at 10AM. If there remains a tie for seeding only, the tie will be broken randomly.

Playoff Format

A PAPA-Style 24-player playoff will be used for the Open-Division playoffs, while a 16-player playoff used for the Novice division playoff.

The details in this section have been adapted from the PAPA World Championship Official Rule Set 19.1. Section IV, Sub-sections 4 through 8 will apply. Where there is a difference between these rules and the PAPA rules, the rules listed here will prevail.

Playoff Round Machines

The machines used in the playoff rounds will be a subset of about 6 to 8 machines used during qualifying. They will be selected by the tournament directors primarily taking into account logistics such as excluding machines that will be used by other tourneys that day, and possibly eliminating machines that exhibited multiple mechanical issues or exhibited long playing times during qualifying. Note that adjustments to machine setups may be made after qualifying before playoffs. Any such adjustments made will be posted on the backglass. Machine setups will not get adjusted in the middle of the qualifying round unless absolutely necessary to make the game playable or the tournament fair.

The Open and Novice divisions may use a different subset of machines, although there may be overlap. In case of overlap, a player's pick in one division won't affect player picks in the other division, and players might need to wait for the game in the other division to complete.

Playoff Round Scoring

Each group will play three separate four-player games, each on a different machine from among those designated for that division.
– Each four-player game will be scored as 4 points for the winner, 2 points for 2nd place, 1 point for 3rd place, and 0 points for 4th place.
– Three-player games (if any, due to forfeit or disqualification) will be scored as if a nonexistent fourth player received the 4th place finish (i.e., 1st earns 4 points, 2nd earns 2, and last earns 1).
– In the event of two or more scores on a machine being exactly tied, the players with such scores will immediately play a ONE-BALL tiebreaker on the same machine.
– The group that contains the highest-seeded player gets first choice of machine and order of play. The highest-seeded player within each group may choose either the machine to be played, or the order of play. If the highest-seeded player chooses order of play, the remaining players may choose their order, in descending order of seeding, and choice of machine then goes to the next highest-seeded player in the group. Conversely, if the highest-seeded player chooses the machine to be played, then the next highest-seeded player chooses the order of play, with the remaining players choosing order of play in decreasing order of seeding. Once a player verbally announces their game choice, or chooses position, that decision cannot be changed.
– If at any point a high-seed player declines to make a choice, the choice is deferred to the next highest-seeded player, as appropriate. The affected group still retains its order of choice among groups, however. If no player in a group will make a choice, the choice(s) are determined by tournament officials, who may or may not choose randomly.
– Note that the original seeding of players when entering the final rounds from qualifying is used in every round. At no time does a player’s seeding change from round to round; therefore the advantage of qualifying in first place can be significant.
– No group may select a machine which has already been selected by a group in the same division in the same round, nor may they choose a machine on which they have already played in that round (unless machine malfunctions have made this unavoidable; tournament officials may choose to provide additional or substitute machines, however). If the machine selected is currently being played by another group in a previous round of play, the group may wait for that round of play to be completed. For example, if one group is playing a given machine as their first machine, a different group may choose to wait for it as their second machine.

When all games have been completed by a group, each player will have a point total for the round. The players with the top two point totals from each group will advance.

Round of 24

The round of 24 will consist of players ranked 9th through 24th, with the top eight highest seeded players receiving a bye. This round applies to Open Division only.
Group 1 #9, #16, #17, #24
Group 2 #10, #15, #18, #23
Group 3 #11, #14, #19, #22
Group 4 #12, #13, #20, #21

Quarter Final Round

In the quarterfinal rounds, the qualifiers will be divided into four groups using the following relative seedings:
Group 1 #1, #8, #9, #16
Group 2 #2, #7, #10, #15
Group 3 #3, #6, #11, #14
Group 4 #4, #5, #12, #13

Semi Final Round

For the semifinal rounds, the players advancing from quarterfinals will be divided into two groups of four. The groups will be organized according to the original relative qualifying rank as shown here:
Group 1 #1, #4, #5, #8
Group 2 #2, #3, #6, #7

As in the previous round, the players with the top two point totals from each group of players will advance.

Final Round

In each division, four players advance to the final round. The final round for each division is conducted in the same manner as the semifinal round. The total scores for this round will determine the ordering of winners in each division. All ties in the final round are considered significant.

In general, the same machines will be used in the final rounds as the previous rounds. However, the tournament official reserves the right to change or reduce the available machines due to either mechanical or schedule issues.

Prize Pool

All players who qualify for the playoff rounds will earn a cash prize.
The payout for VFO is the following:

Rulings and Malfunctions

Anytime an abnormal circumstance occurs, a tournament official should be notified. To ensure consistency throughout the tournament, PLAYERS SHOULD NOT RESOLVE ISSUES ON THEIR OWN. Except for rules explicitly covered on this tournament website, PAPA/IFPA Tournament Rules will be used to address malfunctions and as the basis for rulings.

Following are some additional notes that are not covered in the IFPA/PAPA rulings and malfunction sections.
– In general, extra balls will be disabled. If an extra ball is earned, and there is no note on backglass to play or plunge, please contact a tournament official.
– In the case of 241 to 250 qualifiers, 24th and 25th position will play a one-game round to establish who gets the 24th spot in the final 24.
– If a qualifying machine breaks down mid-tournament, prior to the start of qualifying on Saturday, the machine will be removed and all scores voided. Players will be given up to three additional tickets based on how many games they played on that machine that got voided. If the machine breaks down on Saturday, then all scores on that machine will stand.

Additional Information

Every attempt is made to keep the rules and information on this website accurate and up-to-date, and to run tournaments per the advertised structure and schedule. However, due to the nature of pinball and the fact that the tournaments are entirely run by volunteers, the tournament officials reserve the right to modify the tournament structure or schedule until the start time of that tournament. Late or last minute changes will be announced as appropriate prior to the start of the tournament. Changes to the tournament structure will not be made mid-tournament unless circumstances make such a change absolutely necessary.

For regular updates and discussion on the tournament, please visit our public Facebook event page.
Tournament Director: Dave Stewart
For questions and inquiries regarding tournaments at Vancouver Flipout, please contact wapinball@gmail.com.



Vancouver Flip-Out Tournaments are sponsored by Nitro Amusements, serving Canada and the Pacific Northwest in Sales, Rentals, Repairs, and Customizations of Pinball Machines.

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