Announcing: The annual Pre-Papa Flipoff in Fairfax, VA

Announcing:

The annual Pre-Papa Flipoff, sponsored by FSPA, will be held at on
July 26, 2008, at John's Place Restaurant in Fairfax, VA. We are
unable to use the VolleyBall House for the flipoff this year, due to
the summer scheduling of PAPA and the lack of A/C at VBH.

This is a great little one-day tournament with low entry fees and
valuable prizes. The flip-off is a good warm-up for PAPA, and a
chance to Win free PAPA entry as well as some WPPR ranking points.

The flipoff prize fund is supplemented by prizes supplied by PAPA and
ongoing FSPA reserves from last year, so we expect to pay out more
value in prizes than we collect in entry fees.

Full Details will be posted very soon on the FSPA web page at www.fspazone.org

Format, entry fees, and prizes will be similar to last year. I have
pasted the announcement from last year and the rules at the bottom of
this message.

Here are links to the regular John's Place league page, giving
location, direction and current game list. More games will come in
for the flip-off in July.

http://www.fspazone.org/gotojohns.html

Here is a link to the flipoff results from last year, showing winners
and prizes:

http://fspazone.org/flipoff/

More info below:


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Copied from HTML page from last year's tournament and rules:



On September 8, 2007, from 1:00PM til 10:00PM
The Free State Pinball Association will sponsor
a pre PAPA Flip Off Pinball Tournament.
At the Volley Ball House in Elkridge, MD.

Directions to the Volley Ball House
LIVE UPDATES

Come play pinball on a variety games, all practice games are set for
50 cents per game.

The pre PAPA Flip Off Pinball tournament will consist of "A" and "B"
divisions.
Qualifications using modified PAPA style points opens at 1:00PM and
closes at 7:00PM.
Playoffs between the top qualifiers start right after qualification
closes .

Qualification entries are $6.00 each.

You may attempt as many qualification entries as time allows.



Prizes:
Our Thanks to the PAPA organization for donating these prizes

For the A Division Winner:
1 PAPA Registration(*) plus $200 in cash,
plus 3 Division entries, and 1 mini-tourney entry.
For the B Division Winner:
1 PAPA Registration(*) plus $50 in cash,
plus 3 Division entries, and 1 mini-tourney entry.

A Division Runner Up:
1 PAPA Registration(*) plus $50 in cash
B Division Runner Up:
1 PAPA Registration(*)

(*)Registration is usable for ANY PAPA Division.

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Tournament Rules
The rules have been tweeked this year so please read the
Official Flip-Offs Tournament Rules.



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WPPR Points WPPR Points are available for A Division players.

First place gets 25 points
Second place gets 15 points
Third place gets 10 points
Fourth place gets 5 points
Other Final qualifers get 1 points



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Machine lineup
will be updated below as we get closer to the event.
possible machines include:

Jack*Bot, Baywatch, Demolition Man, Bram Stoker's Dracula
The Shadow, Hi Speed, Amazing Spider-Man, No Fear
SkateBall, Special Force, Mousin' Around, Doctor Who
Medieval Madness, Attack from Mars, Congo, Fathom, Lord of the Rings



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Make it a weekend, we're only 15-20 minutes from downtown Baltimore
with all the amenities at the Inner Harbor, see the Volleyball House
web pages for hotel details and specials.


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Previous Flip Off's FSPA Main Page PAPA Main Page VBH Main Page

Copyright © Free State Pinball Association 2006. All rights
reserved.

info@xxxxxxxxxxxx



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-- How's it work?? --
The tournament will have two division's, "A" which is considered
advanced to expert and "B" which is considered beginner to
intermediate. The tournament will be open for qualifying on Saturday
from 1:00 pm until 7:00 pm. You must start the first game of an entry
before 6:30pm for it to be considered valid. After qualifying we will
take the top five finishers in each division for competition in the
playoffs. Prizes will be awarded to the top two players in each
division after playoffs.
For the A Division Winner:
1 PAPA Registration(*) plus $200 in cash (gas money!)
plus 3 Division entries, and 1 mini-tourney entry.
A Division Runner Up:
1 PAPA Registration(*) plus $50 in cash
For the B Division Winner:
1 PAPA Registration(*) plus $50 in cash (gas money!)
plus 3 Division entries, and 1 mini-tourney entry.
B Division Runner Up:
1 PAPA Registration(*)
(*)Registration is usable for ANY PAPA Division.

-- Which Division Should I Enter? --
We believe that B Division should be reserved for more casual players.
If you are not sure which division you should enter, you should
probably enter A Division. If you play in a league and have won A
division in any given season or regularly compete in A division, then
you should obviously play in A division. The Free State Pinball
Association (FSPA) reserves the right to "bump" a player into A
Division at their sole discretion, before, during, or after any
qualifying run. In doing so we will void any B Division entries by
that player and offer them A Division entries as a replacement. Don't
let this happen to you! Sandbagging ain't fun for anyone.
A player must choose their division prior to their first entry.
Players who attempt to qualify in A Division may not choose to enter B
Division later in qualifying. A player who qualifies for the final
rounds in both A and B Divisions will play the finals in A Division
only.


-- Entry Fees --
Each entry costs $6. An entry consists of playing one game on four
different machines in one qualifying run. The tournament machines are
set for free play, the cost per game is included in the entry fee.

-- Qualifying Runs --
The machines reserved for the pinball tournament are divided into
machines reserved for A Division play, and machines reserved for B
Division play.
Each entry is a qualifying run of playing one game on each of four
different machines in the group of machines reserved for the entered
division. When you first get your entry, we will place you on the
first game available in that division. If more than one game is
available in that division, you may have your choice. We will try to
keep to "first come, first served", but please remember that our
tournament volunteers can't keep track of everything.

A player may have only one outstanding entry at a time. All entries
must be turned in to the score keepers. You will have to turn in a
previously issued entry in order to receive a new entry. When your run
is over, we will tally your scores (see Scoring below). You can enter
as many times as you like to try to improve your position up until the
cutoff time.


-- Score Limit --
Depending on turnout, machine game in the A Division bank may have a
set score limit. Should a large turnout necessitate using this, any
player reaching this score limit during qualifying rounds will be told
to stop playing and will automatically be awarded the highest
available ranking on that machine.
In other words, if any player reaches the score limit, the first
player to reach the limit will earn 1st place on a machine. The second
player to reach the score limit will earn 2nd place, and so on.

Why a score limit? To keep the tournament moving; no one wants to wait
two hours to play an entry. Remember two things:


The score limit will be imposed on all players. If you reach the score
limit, congratulations! No one else can beat you on that machine for
the rest of the day.

Qualifying for the finals is based on all four games in a qualifying
run, so it is not as important to take first place on a particular
machine as it is to be consistently good on all four.

The FSPA reserves the right to lower the score limit on any machine at
any time. This would probably only happen if we recognize a
significant delay on a machine due to long-playing games.

-- Ending a Qualifying Run --
A player may choose to "abandon" a qualifying run at any time during
the run by informing a tournament volunteer. Otherwise, a player's
qualifying run ends when they complete their last game. At this time,
and only at this time, a player may choose to have their entire run
"voided", which is equivalent to it being abandoned.

All score sheets MUST be turn in. Do NOT throw away a "voided"
score***.

-- Scoring --
To score a qualifying run, we assign a number of points to each game
played, based on the position of that score relative to all other
scores on the same machine in qualifying. The score for a qualifying
run is the sum total of the four game scores for that round.

READ THIS, cuz it's important:
A player's total score is NOT their best four games from the day, but
their best qualifying run. In other words, players cannot "mix and
match" scores from several different runs to increase their overall
position.
The scoring is built in such a way that a single 1st place score is
roughly equivalent to the combination of a 9th and 10th place score.
Scores below the top 50 will not receive points.

Here is the full table of the number of points awarded for each
position:
Rank Score
1st 100 points
2nd 93
3rd 86
4th 79
5th 72
6th 65
7th 58
8th 55
9th 52
10th 49
11th 46
12th 43
13th 40
14th 37
15th 36
16th 35
17th 34
18th 33
19th 32
20th 31
21st 30
22nd 29
23rd 28
24th 27
25th 26
26th 25
27th 24
28th 23
29th 22
30th 21
31st 20
32nd 19
33rd 18
34th 17
35th 16
36th 15
37th 14
38th 13
39th 12
40th 11
41st 10
42nd 9
43rd 8
44th 7
45th 6
46th 5
47th 4
48th 3
49th 2
50th 1


As an example, a player who finishes 5th on Beavis, 2nd on Asteroid
Annie, 12th on Go Girl, and 23rd on Operation Thunder would be worth
72 + 93 + 43 + 28 = 236 points. Note also that all scores are ranked,
so you will be ranked against all of your own completed entries as
well as opponents'.

We will update the scores in progress, but please note that only the
positions at the end of qualifying really matter. Other players'
entries may influence your final position, so please consider this as
you decide whether to try one more run at the end of qualifying.


-- Rules of the Games --
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.
All attempts will be made to remove random awards. Specials will award
points if possible. Matching at the end of a game is not worth any
points at all.

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. (IE
"bangbacks" or "deathsaves") Do it more than once, and we'll probably
disqualify you altogether.

At the end of each game, it is the player's responsibility to have
their score correctly recorded by a tournament volunteer, who will
then direct the player to the next game in their qualifying run.

See "More Rules of the Games" later on for some true nitty gritty.


-- Making it to The Finals --
The top five scores in each division will advance to the playoffs. The
playoffs will consist of two rounds. The top seeded player in each
division will get a bye into the final round. Qualifiers 2 through 5
in each division will play a set of 3 four player games to determine
advancement and seeding into the final round. Games in the playoffs
will be scored as follows:

1st place = 4 points
2nd place = 2 points
3rd place = 1 point
4th place = 0 points

After all three games in the set are played, the three players with
the highest point totals in each division will advance to the final
round. Note that players are reseeded after the first round so that
the top player who received the bye into this round retains top seed
while the other three players are reseeded according to their point
totals in the previous playoff round.
The highest seed in each round has the choice of game or order of play
for each game. If the highest seed chooses order of play, then the
next highest seed has choice of game selection or remaining order of
play, continuing through the seeds until the game selection has been
made. Once game selection has been made by a player, the only choice
remaining for the other seeds is play order. The player who made the
game sectection will fill in the last remaining play order spot. A
player cannot pick the same game twice in the playoffs and A division
picks will have priority over B division picks for each game in each
round.

In the event a player is not available at the start of a playoff
round, an announcement will be made and that player will have 10
minutes to appear. After 10 minutes the player will lose their spot to
the next highest qualifier present. In the event no suitable qualifier
is available, the match will commence with the players available, but
scored as 4 player matches. A tardy player may reclaim a vacant spot
only at the start of a game before play has begun.

A player cannot qualify for the finals in more than one position in
either division.

In case of ties, a one-game playoff on a machine chosen by FSPA staff
will be used to seed players in either division.


-- More Rules of the Games --
The FSPA reserves the right to make whatever decision seems
appropriate should something happen that is not specifically covered
by these rules. In any case, the FSPA decision is final, so there.
A slam tilt will result in a score of zero or a game disqualification
during match play.

This is a family location so watch your mouth, you. Failure to
maintain a family-friendly attitude (including, but not limited to,
swearing, kicking, biting, stealing, or Stewie-esque tantrums) may
result in disqualification and das boot from the event.

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.



More nitty gritty follows...
-- Rules about Stuck Balls and Malfunctions --
"That kangaroo stole my ball!" If the ball gets stuck, stop playing
and ask for a FSPA staff member to assist you. If a ball becomes stuck
during multiball (a potential advantage), you have 30 seconds to stop
and ask for assistance. If you continue to play multiball with a stuck
ball, we will not assist you in freeing the stuck ball after the
multiball ends. If you cannot free the stuck ball yourself, you may
end up forfeiting your game in progress, so make sure it's what you
want to do.

"Dude, where's my jackpot?" If a malfunction occurs during gameplay,
stop immediately and ask for a FSPA 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. The FSPA reserves the right to
make whatever ruling seems appropriate regarding a malfunction,
including termination and restart of a game in progress.

Players may not take advantage of "positive" malfunctions such as a
repeatedly registering switch. If this occurs, we reserve the right to
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.

"Whatchu talkin' bout, malfunction?" 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. (Or, as Nelson might say, "Ha ha!")
In certain cases, malfunctions will be dealt with more strictly during
final rounds than during qualifying rounds.

Machine or Component Failures
When a machine failure occurs the FSPA will attempt to repair the
machine asap. If a machine cannot be repaired, FSPA will do one of
three things at its sole discretion:
First, if the machine failure occurs early enough in the qualifying,
the machine may be replaced or removed from the qualifying bank.
Affected players will be allowed to replay the additional game on the
replacement machine.

Second, if the machine failure occurs late enough in the qualifying,
the machine will be shut down for the remainder of qualifying, and all
scores posted on that machine will be considered final.

Three, the game scores for the affected machine may be voided in their
entirety with qualification then being based on the scores from the
remaining three machines in the bank.

Again, this decision is partially based on time and partially based on
game availability and will be made at FSPA's sole discretion if
necessary.

-- Thanks for Reading --
.

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