I have an extra mean Magic that I’m willing to loan… if you take a dive in round one of CPL finals. 
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I told Zach I’m waiting for the behind closed doors Total Annihilation pick from you that knocks me out!
Don’t think I’ve forgotten how our SCS match went a few years back … I’m quite scared 
Why are the 2017 - 2018 PAPA Circuit Finals held in Chicago when the Stern Pro Circuit doesn’t start until 2018? I assume PAPA 21 is still happening based on their press release from April. Wouldn’t it make sense to have them at the same time?
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PAPA staff would have to answer this one.
I haven’t seen it submitted to the IFPA calendar yet, so I have no idea where/when/if it’ll be. PAPA staff would have to answer this one too
It depends on what the goal is. If the goal is to make Circuit Finals as convenient as possible for people that plan on attending PAPA anyway, then sure. If the goal is to try and start a ‘new event’, and leverage the power of the Circuit Finals to bring people together for a new big event, then hosting it in conjunction with PAPA doesn’t solve that goal.
I can only speak for what we’ve done on the IFPA side with Nationals, which is use Nationals as a way to motivate player interest in Pin-Masters. There was a plan way back when to have Nationals at PAPA in conjunction with Circuit Finals as well. IMO if that ended up happening, the Pin-Masters would be a shadow of the event it is today with respect to interest.
So is that the goal? What big event is it going to coincide with?
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Do I dare try to convince my wife that it shouldn’t count as a “weekend away” if it’s at our house?
If I never post again it means that I asked her … And that the answer wasn’t a good one … And that I’m probably now dead
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Josh, do you have the top 20 average tournaments for the last 2 years to get an idea what tournaments might make it in? If MAGfest makes it, to make it work I’d have to setup an optional cash price pool with pre-registration required to be included in circuit/IFPA results. Since MAGfest starts before the first weekend of 2018, lead time would be needed to pull it off. I was already planning on this due to papa and ifpa fees per player, but knowing if IFPA gets $1 or $5 is a big difference for fees and marketing.
If PAPA ever happens again I would be glad that circuit final is detached regardless. 5 days of pinball is a bit much.
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My wife agrees! The TUESDAY night flight out is a much harder sell when we use to always fly out Thursday night.
Well of course I now recall seeing this, but like then I’ve had a few 
@pinwizj @chuckwurt No excuses anymore. Create a group knockout tournament on MatchPlay and select the “progressive strikes” option under “number of strikes in four-player groups”. Don’t forget to increase the number of strikes as well!
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yes. I remember the “good old days” when it was perfectly reasonable to fly out to PAPA on Thursday or even Friday morning, lol. There was no Thursday Classics yet, and qualifying on Thursday was ghost town-ish. Even on Friday, the lines weren’t too bad yet… And now there’s Wednesday morning Circuit Finals and “Saturday-like” lines on Thursday morning, lol, so yeah, I for one am thrilled that the Circuit Finals is moving to some other place and time!
And while the get-it-all-done on a single trip might work out well for some of you single folks and folks on a budget and folks who live far away, I would much rather do two, short, separate manageable pinball trips than one long one! The PAPA “week” has become just too much, and that year of IFPAPA ? oooof. #NeverAgain.
Thank you IFPA and PAPA for working together on this! I am excited to see how the new plan works out, and Escher and I look forward to being grateful participants in your awesome tournament!
How about the pro circuit finals in SoCal a few days before INDISC!
Us west coast people can dream, yes? 
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I DOUBLE that! A roaming circuit finals would be great!
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To clarify, the Finals event will be a true Sternament, but the season events will have the usual assortment of games from different manufacturers, correct?
Also, on the surface using WPPR values to determine which events make the circuit seems like it could stagnate things a bit since won’t events already on the circuit have a “squatters” advantage? Meaning more good players are likely to attend because it’s a circuit event, even if they’d rather play a different, perhaps better run event that isn’t on the circuit?
Seems like there should be some path for an up and coming event to make the circuit besides just WPPRs. By the same token, an established event that ranks poorly in surveys shouldn’t be completely protected due to its WPPR ranking either. Perhaps some calculation that incorporates WPPRs, survey results, and/or votes??
Sometimes the ‘simplest’ solution lacks nuance, and there needs to be ample opportunity to introduce diversity into the mix to keep the circuit ecosystem healthy. 
http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/episode-48-humongous-bolus_107930
Give a listen as Ron and Bruce ask pretty much all the questions you have … I provided my answers on their podcast
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So the EPC isn’t eligible?
IMO there’s no continuity in the event year to year. With a different group taking control of that event each year I look at them as individual one time events with the same 'brand name’s attached to them.
I’m still mostly curious if any of the Euro events are interested in paying the Circuit Fee. My guess is no.
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