Old School and New Hotness Tournaments
What's The Deal?
Two tournaments, each for a different era of pinball, each with five games to play. Play in either or both of the tournaments.
The top 16 finishers in each tournament win cash prizes, with higher prizes for higher finishes.In each tournament, the 16 qualifiers will duke it out in competitive match play. Qualify for the finals by playing well on all five games in the bank; you might not even need to play all five to make it to the finals, but it is probably a good idea.
Casual players will also be eligible for a side tournament, the Casual Division. A casual player is someone with little or no tournament experience; more specifically, a player who has never won a cash prize at any pinball tournament. The top six casual players qualify for the finals, and will be joined by two wild-card qualifiers, picked among all casual entries! Stick around on Sunday afternoon even if you don't qualify, since you might be picked as one of the wild cards. A player who qualifies for a main tournament final will not be eligible for the Casual final.
Kids (under 16) will also be eligible for a side tournament, the Kids' Division. The top four kids qualify for the finals. A player who qualifies for a main tournament final will not be eligible for the Kids final.
Special thanks to the folks from PAPA, where the World Pinball Championship will be held in August, with $40,000 in prizes. PAPA is the largest pinball tournament in the US, and we thank them for their support of our tournament. Visit www.papa.org for more information about this amazing event.
Need more details? Keep reading!
Volunteer!
We are always in need of helping hands in the tournament area. If you are willing to spend some time helping us out, we would really appreciate it. Talk to any staff member if you are interested in helping.
Prizes
Prizes are subject to participation levels. All entries in all tournaments will feed the same prize pool. The 16 cash prizes in each division will be awarded as follows:
• 1st prize: 30% of prize pool
• 2nd prize: 18% of prize pool
• 3rd prize: 12% of prize pool
• 4th prize: 8% of prize pool
• 5th-8th prize: 4% of prize pool
• 9th-16th prize: 2% of prize pool
Additionally, all #1 scores on qualifying machines will earn a $25 bonus.
The top 4 players in Casual finals will earn these prizes:
• 1st prize in Casual: $150
• 2nd prize in Casual: $75
• 3rd prize in Casual: $50
• 4th prize in Casual: $25
Although we do not have a set guaranteed prize this year, we expect the total prizes to be about the same as last year, over $6,000! Show up and play!
Timing
The show is not open Friday, but the tournament will be held outside the main show area. We expect players to be able to buy and play entries from 6 pm Friday. Qualifying will not be available later than midnight, and not all games may be available due to setup.
On Saturday, the tournament will be open for qualifying from 10 am (prior to show opening) until midnight. Some games may be unavailable at the start of qualifying due to setup, but we do not expect this.
On Sunday, the tournament will be open for qualifying from 10 am (prior to show opening), until each division closes. The time of closing for each division varies:
• New – 12:30 pm
• Old -- 1:30 pm
Players must be on a machine, playing, at the closing time to be eligible. Play early and often!
Final rounds begin promptly after the closing of qualifying in each division:
• New – 1 pm
• Old -- 2 pm
All tournament finals are expected to be completed by 6 pm.
Entry Fees
Players may buy 1 game for $5, or 3 games for $10.
Your three-game entry may be played in several ways. Play all the games on the same machine; play three machines in the same tournament; split between both tournaments. The choice is yours. As a courtesy, if anyone is waiting to play the game you're on, we'll ask you to step aside for a moment rather than playing another game on the machine.
How To Qualify
Remember first of all -- there are two tournaments being played at once. They are completely separate! Get in there and sweep them both!
Each player's high score on a game will be kept; the top 87 scores give ranking points. First place on a machine is worth 100 points; second is 90; third is 85; fourth is 84; then on down to 87th place worth 1 point.
When the tournament ends, the top sixteen players in ranking points will advance to the finals. The top four seeds receive a bye past the first two rounds of the match-play finals, while the top eight receive a bye past the first round. A coin flip will resolve any ties in seeding for the finals unless that tie is for 1st, 4th, or 8th. In that case, a one-game playoff will occur on a randomly-selected machine in the tournament bank.
Finals Format
The games used in the final matches will be the same as the games used in the banks for qualifying.
The tournament finals will be held using PAPA’s 4-2-1-0 scoring system with four-player games, with three games played per round. The first place finisher receives 4 points, second place is worth 2 points, third is 1 point, fourth is 0 points.
For each game, the highest qualifier entering the round selects the machine or order of play, and subsequent choices are made in qualifying order. Players may not select a game in use by another tournament group.
At the end of three games, the two players with the highest total in each group advance to the next round regardless of their total points. In case of ties, a one-game playoff will be held on a randomly-selected game among the games not played by the group to that point, with the higher qualifying seed given the choice of order of play.
In the first round, Group A is #9, #12, #13, #16 and Group B is#10, #11, #14, #15.
In the second round, Group C is #5, #8, B1, A2 and Group D is #6, #7, A1, B2. Here “A1” is the first-place finisher from Group A, and so on.
In the third round, Group E is #1, #4, D1, C2 and Group F is #2, #3, C1, D2. Here “C1” is the first-place finisher from the second round’s Group A, and so on.
In the final round, the order of the four winners will be determined at the end of three games. Ties will be broken by a one-game playoff on a randomly-selected game among the games not played in the final.
See below for more detailed rules about game settings, rulings and malfunctions.
Casual Division
Casual players may try to qualify in either tournaments, but their progress will also be recorded for a special tournament final among only casual players.
California Extreme reserves the right to declare any player eligible or ineligible for this tournament. Since there are 32 qualifying slots available in the main tournaments, we are fairly strict about eligibility for the Casual Division. In particular, any player who has won any prize at California Extreme or other significant tournament will not be eligible for the Casual Division. Players may be excluded from the Casual Division for other reasons, primarily due to known ability or prior performance in tournaments without cash prizes.
How to Qualify
Casual players' scores will be recorded as they are in the main tournaments. A casual players’ total points in the Old School and New Hotness divisions are added to determine their total points.
The top six players, in total points earned, qualify for the Casual Division finals. Casual players who do not qualify will also be entered in a Wild Card drawing, and two more players will be selected in this manner.
Note that casual players are still eligible to qualify in the main tournaments, but if a player qualifies for a main tournament final, they will be removed from eligibility in the Casual finals.
Finals Format
The opponents for the first round of the finals are as follows:
•1st, 4th, 5th, and Wild Card Qualifier 1
•2nd, 3rd, 6th, and Wild Card Qualifier 2
The Casual Division Finals follow the same format as the main tournaments.
If both Wild Card Qualifiers make it to the final round, the Wild Card Qualifier with more points in the first round of the finals will be given the precedence in selecting their position for the first game of the finals.
Kids' Division
Kids' Division play is identical to Casual Division, except that the top 4 kids will proceed directly to a four-player final. All four finalists win prizes:
1st place: $50 + trophy
2nd place: $35
3rd place: $20
4th place: $15
Only kids under age 16 are eligible for Kids' Division. A kid who qualifies for a main tournament final will be excluded from the Kids’ Division final.
Detailed Rules for the Extremely Interested
CAX reserves the right to make whatever decision seems appropriate should something happen that is not specifically covered by these rules. In any case, CAX's decision is final.
In general, the PAPA rules (www.papa.org/rules) will be used. In case of conflict, these rules supersede the PAPA rules.
All non-EM games will be set for three balls, with no extra balls. If you are somehow awarded an extra ball, stop, and tell us about it. Playing the extra ball would be an unfair advantage. Depending on the difficulty, EM games may be set for three or five balls, and all efforts will be made to shut off or eliminate extra balls.
All efforts will be made to remove random awards from the games. Specials will award points if possible.
At the end of each game, it is the player's responsibility to have their score correctly recorded by a tournament volunteer.
Any attempt to rescue a ball after it has "drained" (fallen below the flippers or gone through an outlane) will void your game's score. Do it more than once, and we'll probably boot you (to the head).A slam tilt will result in a score of zero or a game disqualification during match play. If a player slam tilts during match play with more than one opponent, players whose games are still in progress will have the choice of keeping their existing score as a final score or starting a new game.
This is a family show! Watch your mouth, you. Failure to maintain a family-friendly attitude (including, but not limited to, swearing, kicking, biting, stealing, or tantrums) may result in disqualification, forfeiture of any T-shirts, and ejection from California Extreme.
Interfering (deliberately or not) with another player's ball will result in a game disqualification during match play. This includes causing a tilt or tilt warning on an opponent's ball before they touch the machine. Interfering with another player's ball during qualifying is just plain mean, and may result in us kicking you out of the tournament.
If the ball gets stuck, stop playing and ask for a tournament staff member to assist you. If a ball becomes stuck during multiball (a potential advantage), stop immediately and ask for assistance. If you continue to purposely play a stuck-ball multiball, your game will be voided.
While there is no specific definition of "malfunction", there are several physical aspects of pinball which are not considered malfunctions -- a ball falling out of a hole or getting rejected from a ramp, or flying over a flipper, or rolling off a habitrail into an outlane, or a ball saver not kicking in when it "seemed" like it should. None of these things will be "fixed". Hey, it's only pinball. If such things repeatedly happen, we will act to correct the issue, ideally during the qualifying phase of the tournament. Please let tournament staff know if there are issues with any game and they will be promptly addressed.
If a malfunction occurs during gameplay, stop immediately and ask for a tournament staff member to assist you. We'll try to fix the problem if we can. In cases where the game can be fixed but not immediately, we will record your score in progress then attempt to continue the game where it left off. For example, if the malfunction occurs during Ball 3, we'll write your score down, and give you one more ball on a new game. Tournament staff reserve the right to make whatever ruling seems appropriate regarding a malfunction, including termination and restart of a game in progress. No "progress" in a game feature will be awarded or adjusted in a restart or new game situation.
Players may not take advantage of "positive" malfunctions such as a repeatedly registering switch. If this occurs, we will make whatever ruling seems appropriate, including termination and restart of a game in progress, or a reduction in score to offset the effect of the malfunction.
If a game cannot be repaired, either of these will happen:
• If the game failure occurs early enough in the qualifying, the game may be replaced or removed from the qualifying bank. Affected players will be allowed to replay the additional game on any valid game in the qualifying bank.
• If the game failure occurs late enough in the qualifying, the game will be shut down for the remainder of qualifying, and all scores posted on that game will be considered final.
This decision is partially based on time and partially based on game availability and will be made at CAX's sole discretion if necessary.
Since tournament games are coming from private collections, it is possible that one or more banks may be short by a game, but this will have no effect on the method or number of qualifiers. Please thank the people who brought games! Without them, there’s no tournament.
