Tomorrow is the best Circuit update of them all, preliminary circuit groups!
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Not exactly … several west coasters have indicated to me that they’re “unlikely” to attend the Circuit Final. So the groups will not be as they appear.
no but it’s always fun to pretend
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So your sayin I have a chance…
BUCS - - FINAL EDITION
Yes, now that they’re switching to using WPPRs that Brian [thanks, Shep!] has preprogrammed into the IFPA site, my BUCS reports will not be necessary for 2018, although I may choose to comment on the standings as the year progresses.
INDISC was a blast, thanks to all of you who joined us in non-freezing Southern California. Two new players qualified for the circuit - - our own 
Karl DeAngelo and Timothy Street. The cut moved just two points, to 140 at Eric Destasio. Winner Robert Gagno jumped all the way up to 4th in the standings. Colin Urban went from no circuit points 5 weeks ago to #16. Zach solidified his #2 spot, picking up another Josh-place finish.
Now for the fun part - - possible first round groupings. Several players mentioned that they’re unlikely to go to the Circuit Final since there is no “regular” show or tournament in connection with it. So while I have the top 40 people listed here, I’ve included an expanded list down to position #70 in case there are a bunch of people who opt out. If you’re in that expanded list, you might still have a shot.
I then took some “possible opt-outs” into account and created a “could be” sample of 40 seeds. Notice what this version, or one like it, might produce:
- Group 1 - - top seed Trent getting both Keith and Bowen, plus Adam Lefkoff
- Group 2 - - the Sharpe duel
- Group 3 - - the “PA party” with Alexander, Jon and Pete
- Group 4 - - Battle of the Roberts - Gagno and I in the same group
- Group 5 - - Battle of the Tims - - Sexton and Street - - ditto
etc.
Have fun with your own scenarios!
BTW, anyone who is not going is welcome to email me or post me a message here so I can try to come up with a “semi-likely” set of groups.
Your roving reporter,
BMU
| PLAYER | Circuit Points | Circuit Rank | Sample Seed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Augenstein | 875 | 1 | 1 |
| Zach Sharpe | 603 | 2 | 2 |
| Aleksander Kaczmarczyk | 455 | 3 | 3 |
| Robert Gagno | 369 | 4 | 4 |
| Eric Stone | 364 | 5 | 5 |
| Levi Nayman | 364 | 5 | 6 |
| Raymond Davidson | 357 | 7 | n/a |
| Jason Werdrick | 346 | 8 | 7 |
| John Delzoppo | 344 | 9 | 8 |
| Andy Rosa | 330 | 10 | 9 |
| Colin MacAlpine | 320 | 11 | n/a |
| Steven Bowden | 315 | 12 | 10 |
| Germain Mariolle | 281 | 13 | n/a |
| Donavan Stepp | 272 | 14 | n/a |
| Ed Zeltmann | 253 | 15 | 11 |
| Colin Urban | 250 | 16 | 12 |
| Escher Lefkoff | 237 | 17 | 13 |
| Adam Becker | 236 | 18 | 14 |
| Chris Chinn | 233 | 19 | n/a |
| Fred Richardson | 233 | 19 | 15 |
| Tim Sexton | 228 | 21 | 16 |
| Bob Matthews | 227 | 22 | 17 |
| Jon Replogle | 224 | 23 | 18 |
| Jim Belsito | 221 | 24 | n/a |
| Josh Sharpe | 213 | 25 | 19 |
| Keith Elwin | 200 | 26 | 20 |
| Bowen Kerins | 200 | 26 | 21 |
| Zac Wollons | 191 | 28 | 22 |
| Dave Stewart | 187 | 29 | n/a |
| Sanjay Shah | 183 | 30 | 23 |
| Cayle George | 180 | 31 | n/a |
| Garrett Hays | 179 | 32 | n/a |
| David Riel | 172 | 33 | 24 |
| Brian ONeill | 172 | 33 | n/a |
| Timothy Street | 159 | 35 | 25 |
| Evan Bingham | 155 | 36 | 26 |
| Karl DeAngelo | 146 | 37 | n/a |
| Christopher CJ Smith | 145 | 38 | 27 |
| Alberto Santana | 142 | 39 | 28 |
| Eric Destasio | 140 | 40 | 29 |
| Adam McKinnie | 138 | 41 | 30 |
| Chris Warren | 138 | 41 | 31 |
| Cryss Stephens | 137 | 43 | 32 |
| Nick Zendejas | 136 | 44 | 33 |
| Aaron Grabowski | 135 | 45 | 34 |
| Sunshine Bon | 134 | 46 | 35 |
| Joshua Henderson | 133 | 47 | 36 |
| Phil Grimaldi | 131 | 48 | n/a |
| Greg Poverelli | 130 | 49 | 37 |
| Andrei Massenkoff | 128 | 50 | n/a |
| Pete Hendricks | 128 | 50 | 38 |
| Shannon Stafford | 120 | 52 | 39 |
| Chris Basler | 117 | 53 | n/a |
| Kevin Birrell | 114 | 54 | n/a |
| Adam Lefkoff | 110 | 55 | 40 |
| Robin Lassonde | 104 | 56 | n/a |
| Jeff Teolis | 101 | 57 | n/a |
| Robert DeStasio | 100 | 58 | n/a |
| Kevin Kuntz | 97 | 59 | n/a |
| Nathaniel Gibson | 96 | 60 | n/a |
| Andrew Rosa II | 91 | 61 | n/a |
| Lewis Bevans | 90 | 62 | n/a |
| Phil Birnbaum | 89 | 63 | n/a |
| Jason Scheffelmaer | 87 | 64 | n/a |
| Alex Harmon | 86 | 65 | n/a |
| Will McKinney | 82 | 66 | n/a |
| Nic Stein | 82 | 66 | n/a |
| Greg DeFeo | 82 | 66 | n/a |
| Robert Peters | 82 | 66 | n/a |
| Tony Pierce | 82 | 66 | n/a |
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@raydaypinball isn’t in to defend his IFPA Heads-Up title? Shame!
Great analysis as always, Bob! I hope we can still see your updates from time to time for the 2018 Stern Pro Circuit.
Currently texting a very distraught GPoverelli “hey man check tiltforums. There’s hope!”
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You can add one more n/a spot to get Greg one spot closer, I won’t be there.
If anyone asks, I’m doing it for Greg, not cause there is nothing else attached to it, my wife has scheduled a vacation near it and I have a World Champs to prep for.
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He might, he might not. Many of the NW people were less than dead set on attending. Anyone who’s listed as registered for Heads Up is almost certainly going to play the Circuit Final as well if eligible, all others are tbd, and my “n/a”-s are not official, just guesses. But I would expect them to need to go further down the rankings than when it was held with PAPA since a pretty high percentage of circuit players went to PAPA.
Leave it up to @BMU to add suspense and drama to this circuit - I think I just need to not check this thread and have someone @ me if I end up in!
Excellent work as always!
Man, I REALLY want to play in the Circuit Final… but it’s the weekend after TPF, and no longer attached to PAPA Worlds. Further… Marriage > Pinball.
There’s a remote possibility I’ll attend, but sadly, it’s unlikely at this point.
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Some Circuit stats:
20969 circuit points total
435 players earned circuit points
Trent earned 966 or 4.6% of the total [more than 875, that’s just his best 10 results]
The top 40 players earned more than half the total
Trent’s 13 events with points is a record; so is his 5 wins
Sunshine pointed in 10 events, 2nd most ever
Here’s a table with how many players earned circuit points in how many events:
| # Events | # Players |
|---|---|
| 1 | 278 |
| 2 | 72 |
| 3 | 34 |
| 4 | 20 |
| 5 | 10 |
| 6 | 10 |
| 7 | 6 |
| 8 | 2 |
| 9 | 1 |
| 10 | 1 |
| 11 | 0 |
| 12 | 0 |
| 13 | 1 |
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I have EXACTLY the same situation here… >_>
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I can go but I don’t care about the H2H tournament. Are there any other tournaments going on that weekend or just the two?
Is there a game list for the finals ? Just want to know what to expect generally.
TIA
edZ
Here’s my comparison of the Circuit rankings using the current system and the prospective Stern-IFPA-WPPR system. Note that the top 37 in the current system would all still make the top 40 under the Stern-WPPR system. [If eligible.] Only the bottom 3 [CJ, Alberto and Eric D] would miss out.
Most players’ positions in the standings are similar, too. The big change is that a top finish in a Major will now boost you up further in the standings than under the flatter PAPA system, which is why Josh, Cayle and Keith are much higher in the new system [#'s 9, 11 and 13 vs. #'s 25, 31 and 26].
IFPA rankings added as requested.
| PLAYER | Circuit Points | Circuit Rank | WPPR Rank | IFPA Rank as of 1/17/18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Augenstein | 875 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Zach Sharpe | 603 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Aleksander Kaczmarczyk | 455 | 3 | 3 | 35 |
| Robert Gagno | 369 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Eric Stone | 364 | 5 | 8 | 10 |
| Levi Nayman | 364 | 5 | 21 | 36 |
| Raymond Davidson | 357 | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Jason Werdrick | 346 | 8 | 10 | 15 |
| John Delzoppo | 344 | 9 | 14 | 19 |
| Andy Rosa | 330 | 10 | 4 | 13 |
| Colin MacAlpine | 320 | 11 | 7 | 31 |
| Steven Bowden | 315 | 12 | 18 | 17 |
| Germain Mariolle | 281 | 13 | 17 | 22 |
| Donavan Stepp | 272 | 14 | 19 | 37 |
| Ed Zeltmann | 253 | 15 | 28 | 149 |
| Colin Urban | 250 | 16 | 32 | 69 |
| Escher Lefkoff | 237 | 17 | 12 | 40 |
| Adam Becker | 236 | 18 | 15 | 30 |
| Chris Chinn | 233 | 19 | 20 | 43 |
| Fred Richardson | 233 | 19 | 26 | 67 |
| Tim Sexton | 228 | 21 | 33 | 46 |
| Bob Matthews | 227 | 22 | 27 | 34 |
| Jon Replogle | 224 | 23 | 23 | 27 |
| Jim Belsito | 221 | 24 | 24 | 14 |
| Josh Sharpe | 213 | 25 | 9 | 18 |
| Keith Elwin | 200 | 26 | 13 | 4 |
| Bowen Kerins | 200 | 26 | n/a | n/a |
| Zac Wollons | 191 | 28 | 31 | 78 |
| Dave Stewart | 187 | 29 | 16 | 33 |
| Sanjay Shah | 183 | 30 | 25 | 114 |
| Cayle George | 180 | 31 | 11 | 3 |
| Garrett Hays | 179 | 32 | 40 | 230 |
| David Riel | 172 | 33 | 37 | 16 |
| Brian ONeill | 172 | 33 | 35 | 57 |
| Timothy Street | 159 | 35 | 22 | 128 |
| Evan Bingham | 155 | 36 | 34 | 110 |
| Karl DeAngelo | 146 | 37 | 38 | 21 |
| Christopher CJ Smith | 145 | 38 | 100 | 405 |
| Alberto Santana | 142 | 39 | 48 | 52 |
| Eric Destasio | 140 | 40 | 64 | 279 |
| Adam McKinnie | 138 | 41 | 29 | 74 |
| Chris Warren | 138 | 41 | 36 | 204 |
| Cryss Stephens | 137 | 43 | 50 | 24 |
| Nick Zendejas | 136 | 44 | 51 | 44 |
| Aaron Grabowski | 135 | 45 | 41 | 140 |
| Sunshine Bon | 134 | 46 | 57 | 245 |
| Joshua Henderson | 133 | 47 | 30 | 47 |
| Phil Grimaldi | 131 | 48 | 44 | 133 |
| Greg Poverelli | 130 | 49 | 76 | 122 |
| Andrei Massenkoff | 128 | 50 | 39 | 26 |
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No game list yet. But expect modern and classic Stern games.
Can you show what all these players’ current ifpa ranks are?
Huh? Oh I was just gonna register at the last minute again
Also, waiting on details of the papa circuit so I can book my flights…
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I’m going to make Bob’s prognostication look good. I’ll be declining my invite to Circuit Finals. Going to Nationals instead, plus TPF the week prior. So bad timing for me.
Good luck to the additional player who was going to be bubble boy/girl, and will now get a ticket to the Circuit dance!
Note to Circuit Final directors: it would be good to send out the invites and request replies soon so that people below the current #40 spot who will get in have sufficient time to make travel plans.
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