Buffalo Pinball (BP) and Buffalo Pinball and Arcade Company (BPAC) are two separate entities. BPAC is the entity operating the games. They are collecting as much as the operator did for the past two summer opens. There is a price increase this year on classics, in that they are now $1 instead of 50 cents. We believe this is justifiable as the classics will be in much better shape than they were last year, which was a significant problem with the previous operator.
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Iām going, Kevin and Nick put on a solid event, I got no issues with the fee structure. The only change seems to be an extra $10 for registration which makes sense to me since it looks to be happening at a much nicer venue.
At the previous venue all the pinball machines were on site, Nick and Kevin are going to have to put in allot of work to set this thing up to be pinball tournament ready.
They are being up front about it and have been putting on a solid event for years, Iāll be happy to not have to carry around $10 in quarters in my pockets. Iām happy to support this event.
Freudian slip @bkerins? 
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The percentages are the way they are because we choose to keep the entry cost low so players can play more without having to spend a significant amount extra. This is something that has been received favorably from those who have attended the past two years.
Math checks out. At 100 participants with an average of 20 entries per person, Buffalo Pinball people are looking to net $3900 (before facility costs) while the prize pool is only $2000 (before trophy purchases).
Donāt forget about the toll to get on to the island too!
Serious question, is alcohol allowed or served?
Again, Buffalo Pinball (BP) and Buffalo Pinball and Arcade Company (BPAC) are separate entities. BPAC is providing the machines and techs during the tournament, and will receive $0.50 of the machine fee, with the other $0.50 going to the venue.
Buffalo Pinball is not netting $3,900.
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But the real question on everyoneās mind is, does the lock on the bathroom door work? 
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It does. Thereās even paper towels and toilet paper!
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Thereās even a staff on hand with a set schedule to clean the bathrooms! True yacht club luxury!
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Alright, Buffalo Pinball is taking $1900 and Buffalo Pinball and Arcade Company is taking $1000.
If we have 130 people again this year like last, Buffalo Pinballās cut will be $2,470, which will be used to run the event.
This yearās event is more challenging, as Vengeance pointed out, in that all games will have to be transported to the venue, rather than be onsite as they were in the past. BPAC will also be taking many of the games off route for the event, which is a loss of revenue that may not be compensated from the tournament (the games will be off route longer than just the tournament as they will have to be gone through to be tournament ready. Also, BPAC will only earn $0.50 per game played during the tournament, rather than $1 that they charge on route).
With that said, weāre very excited for this yearās tournament. Our past two tournaments have been major successes based on the feedback weāve gotten. There were issues though, namely that we didnāt have control of the games and venue. By moving to a new location, we now do. Without a doubt, we can now provide a much better experience and address issues such as space, comfort (AC, locked and clean bathrooms, etc), and better working machines (Classics for example was a mess last year b/c of the operator not having the games ready, something we didnāt control in past years).
This tournament will be a much larger investment in time, energy, and effort than the past two years, but I believe weāll be providing a much better experience. The $10 additional registration cost and the 50 cent increase in classics cost is extremely low considering the additional time and effort going into this. Most importantly though, the value in terms of the better experience we intend to provide is well worth the small increase in cost. We canāt wait to see everyone in August!
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Itās too bad that the discussion of this event has started out on the monetary issues, rather than the excitement of the new venue. Nick and Kevin run a top notch event and I plan to be there again this year. Donāt let him bother you, boys. Those that have been to BPSO know what kind of quality event to expect and with lower costs to the player than the majority of other circuit events. Looking forward to it!
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Hope I can make it this year! Fun tournament with a great broadcast. Hope the new venue works out!
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Iām not trying to bother anybody, Chris. I have a lot of respect for any team organizing this type of event, it takes a ton of time and work, and I havenāt said anything personally disrespectful. Iām just surprised by these financials, and I say this as someone who has run tournaments where we must pay for game transportation and operator time and effort.
A tournament taking a $60 entry fee and only putting $20 toward prizes is not acceptable to a lot of players. The detail of who receives what portion of the fees does not change this. Other similar events have higher prize pools and lower fees.
Oh god! Yes, thatās awful! Fixing immediately.
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The way I see it, the fees are 100% transparent and clear as day. Thatās whats important if less than 100% is going to the prize pool.
If there is a large distaste for this I am sure they will see it in attendance and entries and decide what to do differently or not do differently next year. Doesnāt really matter what other events are doing.
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Agreed throughout, and glad for the transparency.
ā¦but do I have to PAY for the drinks? If theyāre free, thatās some money back (for some people)!
The 2018 pre BPSO warmup event is a flip frenzy!
https://www.ifpapinball.com/tournaments/view.php?t=23530
8/16/2018, 5 pm
Sandy Beach Yacht Club 1841 Winter Road, Grand Island, NY (aka Buf-alago)
Cost: $30 per player ($19 to the prize pool, $10 to the operator, $1 to the IFPA)
Tournament Format: Flipper Frenzy!
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Head-to-head play on a bank of machines. Approximately 1/4 of the players will be in the queue area. All available machines will be eligible, but preference will be given to those with the shortest estimated ball time.
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50 players max
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With a full field of 50 players, 12 players will be waiting in a queue and 38 will be playing in 19 heads-up matches on 19 machines.
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At the end of each game, the winner gets one point. The loser stays at the game unless theyāve played on that machine twice in a row, in which case the winner stays. The player staying on the game plays in the same position (1up/2up) as they were already. The player that left the game reports or records the win and loss and goes to the back of the queue. The first player from the queue reports to the machine and plays the player that remains, playing in 1up or 2up depending on the playing order of the other player.
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3 hours of qualifying divided into two 1.5-hour sessions. At the end of each qualifying time period, no more games may start. Finalists are determined via highest number of points, and ties are broken by fewest losses.
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Playoffs will take place following the conclusion of the second 1.5-hour session, with the the top 8 players.
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Playoff format: Heads up (1 on 1), best of 3, top seed picks game or order for game 1, then loser picks game or order.
Schedule:
- Session 1: 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm
- Break: 6:30 pm to 7 pm
- Session 2: 7 pm to 8:30 pm
- Playoffs: 8:45 pm until finished
Pre-registration details TBD.
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Love this format! A couple thoughts though,
The break in the middle probably isnāt necessary. You really want to get those three hours done as quickly as possibleā¦also that 6:30-7:00 scheduled for break will definitely have some stragglers playing through that half hour even though everyone else is getting their break. I would suggest having a longer break in between the qualifying and the playoffs.
Another thought is the highest number of points being the qualifying determiner. We had @BonusLord finish the three hours with significantly less games than most others because he played longer playing games, AND he is freakishly good at pinball. If you put win% as the determining factor then heās not punished for playing well. As an example, a recent PPP we had in Cleveland Andy finished maybe 9-2 but some players had as many as 20 games.
Just my two cents is all 
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