Players will be divided into groups of 12 (divided by strength and country). Each player will play a single head-to-head, 3-ball game against all other players in his/her group. The best 4 players in each group, decided by number of matches won, advance to the finals.
If 2 players end up on the same number of points, their head-to-head result will decide.
If 3 players end up on the same number of points, their head-to-head results will decide. If there is no difference between them, a shoot-out will be played. ( 1 match, 3 balls )
Please note that a shoot-out will only be played when itâs about qualification. If all players have qualified already, their position in the group will be decided by draw.
If 4 or more players end up on the same number of points, their matches against all other players will be eliminated and a new ranking list will be made based on the matches played between the 4 ( or more ) players with the same number of points. In this new list the same rules will be applied as mentioned by 1. and 2. Should all players still end up with the same number of points, a shoot-out will be played.
Qualification and finals will be played on machines dating from the 1990âs to present (see this list of machines).
Finals (Sunday)
48 Players advance to the finals on Sunday. These players are divided again into groups of 12. These groups will be made based on the results of Saturday.
Again, the best 4 players in each group advance to the next round.
The quarter finals (last 16) and semi finals (last 8) will be head-to-head matches, best of 5.
The best 4 players will then play the final. In this final each player can choose a machine. You have to start on the machine that you choose. 4 4-player matches will be played. On each machine you can earn 9 points for 1st place, 5 points for 2nd place, 2 points for 3rd place and 0 points for 4th place.
The player
with the most points after 4 matches will be the new champion. In case of a tie a shoot-out will be played.
They havenât run the Sunday finals this way before (grouping the players into groups of 12 and playing head to head games again). They have done it head to head best of 3 winner moves on. It will be interesting to see how it works out, but I have every faith that Albert, Paul and the DPM team will get it right. In my opinion its the best tournament/format that Europe has to offer.
What Bob said.
And the great part is the root cause of having greater demand: interest in pinball and competitive pinball is growing. This is a great problem to have!!
I actually do not mind to have to wait between games in Herb format where Karlâs software is running. CAX or INDISC last year, it gave the opportunity to enjoy the show in case the line I was in was several person deep.
Unlimited qualifier is an interesting format, it has pro/con like all the other format but suffering seating on plastic chairs to queue where a good option is already available and used successfully is just not great.
As much as I think I might like the electronic queueing system, it is weird the number of people I have met while physically in line at PAPA, especially in classics where multiple banks of players are there.
Yes, I do like to say âhow do you know youâre at a pinball tournament? Cause youâre not playing pinball.â
Iâm not sure what the solution is. I trust the PAPA folk to work it out.
I do enjoy Karlâs system at Louisville, INDISC, etc. seconded on the need to kick people out of line fast - as a scorekeeping volunteer, I know itâs hard to be the bad person.
I would personally prefer if the queue was implemented for one or two on-deck chairs placed behind the game, rather than for the player who is on the machine ânowâ. This way, the next player to be on the game is always ready and waiting, with no exceptions and no delay. All of the quick-trigger scorekeeper stuff would still be applied to the on-deck chairs, but it would remove any possibility of a game waiting open, and it would completely alleviate concerns for scorekeepers who are wondering when player-x will return from the restroom or whatever. This also would continue Zenâs âmeet new peopleâ experience to some degree while also allowing players deeper in line to experience things in the facility other than sitting on plastic chairs.