I had this question before and then I was scorekeeping at PAPA this weekend and wondered again. SO on Jungle Queen it will light 100k when you roll the first time. And there were people who got maybe 150k so not too hard to imagine they might roll it again. How do you as a score keeper (or a player) confirm that second roll or on a game like Grand Prix confirm any roll at all?
I thought maybe when you are close and before plunging call a score keeper over to confirm you are about to roll or trap up. That takes care of most circumstances but I could see an instance where you get close to rolling during a ball and trapping isnât a safe option ( like Grand Prix most of the time due to open inlanes)
Itâs nice when a scorekeeper or TD is able to notice these things without prompting, but in my mind, itâs the PLAYERâS responsibility to notify a scorekeeper/TD or any bystanders that they may soon roll a game.
Generally, there are plenty of people around watchingâespecially when someone is having a game big enough that double rolling can come into play but as Snailman says, itâs definitely the players responsibility to alert a scorekeeper while simultaneously gloating to everyone in the queues. And for the TDs out there, if your using Bow and Arrow, having one of those little foosball scoring doohickeys on the lockdown bar would be a good way to keep track of how many times the game has been rolled.
It kind of sucks that right when you are in the groove and are about to roll a game you are supposed to start waving your hands wildly and make sure someone knows you are about to roll the game but I guess I understand it. Iâd think at something like PAPA bystanders will always be able to vouch. I was playing C37 in classics a few days ago and the 100,000 point light didnât engage after the game was rolled, so I had to convince the scorekeeper I actually did roll it and didnât somehow only score 1200 points in 5 balls. Although on C37 at PAPA Classics 101,200 might as well be 1200 anyway.
Would it be practical to just talk to the scorekeeper between balls when your score is >50% of the max displayed value? In other words, bring the scorekeeper over and point out that you are at 60,000 or 80,000 â so if the next time they see your score and itâs 15,000 theyâll know the roll happened.
b. Any player whose machine ârolls overâ to a zero score is responsible for immediately advising the scorekeeper, both when this is imminent, as well as when it happens. The score keeper will then make a note to record the appropriately increased score. If the player fails to notify the scorekeeper, he or she may not receive the increased score.
It does stink to have to stop and ask people to watch, but itâs the safest way. It would be nice if the TDs noted which machines in a bank will do an undocumented roll; I always try to mention that to the scorekeeper who relieves me but it might not happen. Also, other players standing around watching the game are going to be more able to focus on the game than the scorekeeper can, so itâs important that you folks pay attention and do the honorable thing. (Same with watching for any shenanigans like a beneficial stuck ball or an unauthorized game restart.)
Is there a procedural improvement we could make to be better or more fair?
Yeah, thatâs kind of what I was thinking. Iâm not sure about the other divisions (I imagine A would be even worst) but I know C div on Sat night between 10-12 when I was keeping score there were games ending all the time and people were anxious to get back on. So even with 3 scorekeepers covering 12 games it would be tough to always keep an eye on JQ or whatever in the event of a double roll.
If you are on ball 3 or 4 or even 5 and you have 150k raising your hand and notifying someone wouldnât have been that tough. We prided ourselves ( or tried) to make sure people only had to wait ~10-15 secs (tried to be as fast as possible) to get a scorekeeper. I was watching to see when games were ending or had ended and popped up while bonus counted down to get them out and re-qued ASAP. So I think it was possible to just say something.
But in the end the rule says a player needs to notify the TD. Thanks!
In general the scorekeepers did a great job. The only snafu I saw was one guy accidentally recording a Stellar Wars GC (HSTD flash) as a playerâs score. One note - with this software, seems to me it made more sense for players to get their score submitted, and then re-queue themselves up on their phone. This seemed to be more efficient all around than asking the scorekeepers to record a score and then place the player in a new queue.
Every single time Iâve attempted to notify a scorekeeper that Iâm about to roll a game, I brick the next shot and drain without actually rolling it over. Without fail. Every time.
What could be possible is using the amount of replays banked up to indicate a rollover, although that can fall apart pretty easily when specials are introduced into the mix.
LOTS of void and requeue. In general it does make more sense for the player to queue themselves but I normally had a few secs to pop people in. Loved doing it. Iâm doing more!!
Several years ago I was scorekeeping when Jeffrey Neumann put up 700k or 800k on Volley during a best game qualifying. We were using paper scoring so I was fortunately able to make tick marks for each 100k. I also started calling out to him each time he rolled it again, as unobtrusively as possible, just to let him know that it was being watched and for him to just keep playing and not worry about the score.
