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The 2021 Sunshine State Showdown
THERE IS A CHAMPION!

The 2021 Sunshine State Showdown THERE IS A CHAMPION!The 2021 Sunshine State Showdown THERE IS A CHAMPION!The 2021 Sunshine State Showdown THERE IS A CHAMPION!

Sunshine State Showdown Rules (v. 2.01)

Please Read!

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!

Glossary of Common Terms

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:

  • The Village BBS website
  • The Florida Tournament Pinball group on Facebook
  • The IFPA Tournament Calendar

The definitions of "open" and "public" tournaments

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".

Player Eligibility

AS OF DECEMBER 19, 2021 ANYONE FROM ANYWHERE ON EARTH CAN QUALIFY AND PLAY IN THE SUNSHINE STATE SHOWDOWNS AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

Player Conduct

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 Tournament & Championship Details

Tournament Formats

Showdown qualifying tournaments

  • Best game (HERB-style) lasting from 11am-5pm Eastern Time
  • 10-machine bank
  • Limit of 7 attempts per machine
  • A player's best 6 machines' scores will be considered in qualifying round
  • PAPA-style scoring (100, 90, 85, 84, 83, etc. per game) to determine qualifying position
  • Top 16 players go to the Finals round (See below for tiebreaker information.)
  • Finals round is head-to-head, based upon seeding from qualifying round
  • Head-to-head match-ups are Best 2-of-3 games, based upon seed (1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, etc.).
  • Higher seed chooses machine or position for the first head-to-head game.
  • Lower seed chooses machine or position for the second game.
  • Higher seed chooses machine or position for the third game (if necessary).
  • Players may only choose from the designated tournament machines.
  • A player may not choose the same machine twice during a Finals round. A player may choose a game again if he/she advances to the next round.
  • Best 4 players who have not qualified in any previous tournaments will advance to the Championship. (More details below.)


Championship tournament format

  • Seeding of the 16 players from the four Showdown tournaments will be based on a random draw on the day of the Championship. The first player drawn is the 1 seed, etc.
  • Size of machine bank to be determined on the day of the Championship
  • Head-to-head match-ups are Best 4-of-7 games, based upon seed (1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, etc.)
  • Higher seed chooses machine or position for the first game. The loser of every game gets to choose machine or position for the next game. Players may only choose from the designated tournament machines.
  • Players may only choose from the designated tournament machines.
  • A player may not choose the same machine twice during a Finals round. A player may choose a game again if he/she advances to the next round.
  • The tournament ends when there is only one winner standing.


At all tournaments, the Tournament Director's decisions are final.

Advancing to the Championship

The top 4 performing players at a Showdown tournament will advance to the Championship, with the following exceptions:


  • If a player in the "Final 4" (Semifinals) of a Showdown tournament has already advanced to the Championship, that player obviously cannot advance again. That player will be "skipped over" when analyzing the top 4 performers.


If we must go beyond the "Final 4" to find the top 4 performers, the technique used will be as follows:


  1. Examine the "Round of 8" (Quarterfinals) bracket and choose the highest seeded player who did not advance to the Semifinals.
  2. If the top 4 performers roster is still incomplete after examining Quarterfinalists, examine the "Round of 16" bracket and choose the highest seeded player who did not advance to the Quarterfinals,
  3. If the top 4 performers roster is still incomplete after examining the "Round of 16", start with the 17th ranked qualifier and continue down the list to complete the Showdown's top 4 roster.

Showdown Alternates

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.

Handling Tiebreakers

Tiebreakers will only be used to:


  1. Break a tie in Top 16 total qualifying points in an SSS qualifying tournament. Players will face off on one randomly selected game by the Tournament Director. A coin flip will determine choice of position. The winner of the game receives the higher seed. (Note: The player winning the coin flip may choose to forfeit the game in order to receive a lower seed for strategic purposes.)
  2. Resolve a tie score in either an SSS Finals round or in the State Championship. Replay the game with identical player positions.


Tiebreakers will not be used to break tie scores on individual machines during SSS qualifying rounds. MatchPlay will handle this, as noted above.

MatchPlay Rules

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.

Machine Substitution

If a machine fails before the halfway mark of qualifying time:


  • The machine will be replaced with a designated alternate machine (of the same genre and time period if possible).
  • All scores for the failed machine will be voided in MatchPlay.
  • Players will either play new games on the alternate machine or will rely on their scores from the other 9 games.


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:


  • Qualifying on that machine is closed.
  • All qualifying scores up to the point of failure count, as long as a score was not obtained due to a major or catastrophic malfunction. (Such games are voided.)
  • Players must compete on the remaining machines. An alternate machine will not be introduced!

Lack of attendance at a SSS venue

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.

Tournament Practice and Duration

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.

No Appeals

Tournament Director decisions during the SSS Showdowns and Championship are final. The Commissioner will not overturn any Director decisions during these critical events.

Succession

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.


Copyright © 2021-2022 Norma Jennings - All Rights Reserved.

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