THERE IS A CHAMPION! CONGRATULATIONS, DAN COYLE!
These rules are intended to be read and followed by Tournament Organizers, Directors & Players. They are the guiding principles of the Sunshine State Showdown. The more informed you are, the more fun you will have!
SSS - Sunshine State Showdown. In some contexts, this refers to the entire championship series. In other contexts, it refers to one or more of the individual Showdown tournaments to be held in January 2022.
Open - A tournament being unrestricted based on personal attributes and/or location. See greater detail below.
Public - A tournament being advertised to all in a timely fashion using recommended publicity channels. See greater detail below.
Venue - A place where a tournament is held, such as an arcade, pinball dealership, pinball club or a private residence.
IFPA Rules - The International Flipper Pinball Association publishes and periodically updates the generally accepted rules of tournament pinball. You can find these rules in PDF form at www.ifpapinball.com and choose Resources > PAPA/IFPA Tournament Rules. Please remember that these rules are updated from time to time, so always confirm you are following the latest published version.
Publicity Channels - These include, but are not limited to:
A tournament is considered "open" if there is no personal attribute or geographic limitation inherently preventing a player from inquiring to play. Tournaments meant only for females, are publicized only via email, or are only for residents of a certain town are examples of events that are not "open".
Note that just because a tournament is "open" does not mean its attendance quota is unlimited. Some venues are physically unable to handle large crowds or may violate local, state or federal laws if they do. Therefore, all venues are within their rights to limit the number of attendees, as long as limitation is not arbitrarily done with the express purpose of excluding certain players.
Because the Showdown qualifying tournaments are "open", players from outside Florida may participate and win prize money or trophies.
A tournament is considered "public" if it is advertised early and sufficiently to the Florida pinball community through the publicity channels listed above. Any technique used to conceal a tournament from the broader Florida pinball community will disqualify the tournament from being considered "public".
AS OF DECEMBER 19, 2021 ANYONE FROM ANYWHERE ON EARTH CAN QUALIFY AND PLAY IN THE SUNSHINE STATE SHOWDOWNS AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP!
All players are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful, sportsmanlike manner.
A venue reserves the right to exclude a player from any SSS tournament, including the Championship, if there is evidence that the player has caused on-site disruptions or acted with extremely poor sportsmanship at that venue. In most cases, a player cannot be cited or banned because of conduct at a different venue. However, a player may be banned from a venue or from the entire SSS if there is evidence the player has committed recent criminal acts that may put other players' health and well-being in jeopardy.
The Commissioner must be made aware of any negative situations either before or immediately after a tournament so that appropriate action can be taken in a timely manner.
Showdown qualifying tournaments
Championship tournament format
At all tournaments, the Tournament Director's decisions are final.
The top 4 performing players at a Showdown tournament will advance to the Championship, with the following exceptions:
If we must go beyond the "Final 4" to find the top 4 performers, the technique used will be as follows:
The top-seeded player in a Showdown tournament who was not one of the top 4 performers is automatically deemed an Alternate for that Showdown and may only replace a member of that Showdown group of 4 players on the day of the State Championship.
On the day of the Championship, the Alternate must be in the room when his or her name is called, or the Alternate opportunity will be forfeited, resulting in that missing Group player being classified as a Bye in the State Championship.
Tiebreakers will only be used to:
Tiebreakers will not be used to break tie scores on individual machines during SSS qualifying rounds. MatchPlay will handle this, as noted above.
Matchplay.events will be the website used to record scores and track the SSS qualifying tournaments. MatchPlay's rules are final. For example, if two players score a tie during Qualifying as their best game, MatchPlay will reward the higher qualifying points to the player who scored it first. This is what the software does, and we will defer to its calculations in all instances.
If a machine fails before the halfway mark of qualifying time:
If all the alternate games fail before the halfway mark of qualifying time, players will be forced to record their best games on 9 machines or fewer. If fewer than 6 machines remain, then all best games on the remaining machines will count.
If a machine fails on or after the halfway mark of qualifying time:
If an SSS venue draws fewer than 16 players who have not or cannot qualify for the Championship, the tournament may begin at 11am, but the Tournament Director should make every effort to introduce additional non-qualified players before 5pm in order to guarantee 4 players will advance to the Championship.
If fewer than 4 players from that venue can advance to the Championship, we may need to complete that Showdown roster with players from other venues based on their overall performance and participation in Showdowns.
SSS and Championship tournament practice hours are at the discretion of the Tournament Director. Directors should be mindful of some players' commuting time plus the overall duration of the event.
All SSS tournaments must begin and end within the same calendar day. Do not stretch the Finals out to the next day, etc.
Tournament Director decisions during the SSS Showdowns and Championship are final. The Commissioner will not overturn any Director decisions during these critical events.
Due to Norma Jennings' physical health, there is risk that she may not be able to fulfill her duties through conclusion of the Sunshine State Showdown series. Norma will be in discussions with one or more successors and will actively notify the Florida pinball community if there are any significant changes.
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