He’s a good guy, if you get to know him. He has issues, but so do lots of other folks in this hobby.
I mentioned his name here previously and it was edited to remove his name. Will be interesting to see if laughing at banned players is edit worthy.
I don’t mind high stakes tourneys, and as a former poker player $100 is not crazy to me at all. But I agree with Bowen, if you put that much money out there, the home team players are gonna have a big advantage so I’d like to see a neutral party putting the tourney together. If the tourney director is in the top 2 finalists and there’s a malfunction and you have to make a ruling for $4,000 in favor of yourself well, that would suck.
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The player was banned for 1 year by all the local leagues a little ways back. Since he returned I have not heard any accusations of cheating. Ask me about him in person and I will tell you stories and rumours, I just want to be careful with my words on a public forum.
Yes, this happens. It’s even worse on early SS pins where you don’t have to hold down the start button for a second, but merely press it quickly to start a new game.
What a shame. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that people come up with devious crap like that.
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What if there are multiple TDs for situations like this?
At our events, we have three people who can make rulings. That way they never have to rule in their own matches. Ideally the TD isn’t playing, but we usually do participate.
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In any event where an event official is playing, there should be a published hierarchy of officials who can make rulings, and the highest listed official NOT directly involved in the game being ruled on should make the ruling. Yes, this means you should have 5 officials on the list if you’re doing 4 player groups.
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But I could be that the ruling on a game they are not playing decides if they make the finals. Still could be a $4000 ruling for them.
Doesn’t this build the clique mentality tho? Those that are ‘insiders’ and those who are not…
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Oh, for sure, Joe. I’ve not had that happen in my personal experience, but I can totally see that being a problem. Again, the best scenario is that the TD isn’t playing.
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I’m not too concerned about this particular person, but wanted a general idea of how possible problem players were handled. I agree posting names publicly isn’t probably the best idea… OTOH if/when I ever run a tournament that would draw more than just locals, I’ll ask other TDs if there’s anyone I need to be aware of…
An easy ‘clique’ to join… just run a tournament, or even easier, volunteer to help someone else’s event. I have never felt like an ‘outsider’ WRT competitive pinball… everyone involved seems genuinely eager to get more people interested… playing, competing and holding events. If you were running an event, I would think other TDs would be happy to help you out.
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I forgot you’re a moderator. I guess that answers that question. Blast away with all the specific details you want, just don’t name the person. Many here know exactly who you were talking about. Might as well add his name next to the smiley.
Laughing at someone for being banned is childish and inappropriate IMO. Dude knows he has issues and I believe he takes medication to help.
This is true. As @jeff_rivera notes, the best choice is to have the TD not compete. And realistically, this still doesn’t totally resolve the problem, as there’s a good chance that there are players that the TD especially likes, or doesn’t like, and therefore may bias for or against. (BTW, for this reason, when I’m called to make a ruling, I always ask players to not give names when describing the problem, but just talk about “Player 1” or “Player 3”. Sometimes players just jump right in with “OK, Bob was playing and…” – can’t do much about that.)
But until we get the sport to the point where there are independent pinball referees who can be hired for matches, it’s likely that there will be slight imperfections in the system… you just do the best you can.
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I’m not laughing at a person for being banned. I’m just indicating that naming said person is a moot point since he doesn’t travel for events.
Believe me, this is no laughing matter. He single-handedly created very toxic environments at many many (many many) tournaments. I’m completely serious when I say that the Bay Area tournament scene is alive and well with many new players because this person is banned from playing.
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Like @metallik says, if you organize events or are about to organize an event you’ll know exactly what’s what. As for players: Rulings happen in the open so it’s not like there are any secret conspiracies.
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I think you should make it $500. Then you only need 10 people. Sell $5 tickets to others who want to play…1 in 100 wins a free entry.
I wouldn’t pay $500 (or $100) for two reasons: topheavy payout structure, and, more importantly, I would be a huge underdog against the type of people who would show up for a tournament like this.
Maybe it should be $1000. You could sell lottery style tickets…and also local areas could have satellite tournaments where 50 people each pay $20, winner gets a buyin to the high stakes event.
It works for poker!
So far we have about 10 people interested. We will see if this increases at all over the next week and at that time make an ultimate decision.
I highly doubt that anyone is laughing at someone being banned. In my opinion his poor behavior had been tolerated way to long, and it was about time that someone held him accountable for his actions. Enough excuses already! Him taking medication or not has nothing to do with not following basic rules in a tournament.
On a personal level, I hope that he feels better.
Sorry for using this thread for this response, but I had to get it out.