Welsh Classic Pinball Open
Competition Rules 2011        

Rules may be subject to change depending on the number of competitors in order to meet time constraints.

General information.

1.      Welsh Classic pinball Competition is open to everyone provided they have registered their intention to compete by the registration cutoff date of 13/09/10.

Note: Due to time and space constraints a max number of 56 competitors can enter. If oversubscribed, it will become necessary to limit entrant numbers on a first come first served basis. If a registered player is unable to play for some reason and knows this in advance, they should cancel their registration to give a chance for another to play.

2.      An entry fee of £7.50 must be paid by all registered players on the day to the show organizers, at least 30 minutes before their predicted start time. Failure to do this will result in your competition entry being cancelled.

3.      Players will be required to play machines in pre-determined groups of up to 4 as specified by the organizers.

4.      Players can record their own score on the score card provided but must have the result witnessed by a steward after each game.

5.      Players will not know which games they will be playing until shortly before the competition starts and no practice time is allowed on the competition games.

Competition Format and Scoring

The scoring system for this tournament aims to provide maximum excitement within the time constraints allowed.

Player ranking points awarded on each game used in this competition, will be spread between the top 30 scores. The spread of points will be based on the EPC 2007 format (see appendix 1).

Round 1:  will consist of players playing several games from which the scores are recorded. Player rankings will be calculated from each player’s comparative performance on those games. The top 16 players will then progress to round 2.

Round 2: in round 2 one third of the players final score will be calculated from their results in round 1 and the remaining two thirds from their performance on two additional games selected especially for round 2. The resulting score will be used to rank the top 16 players and the top 4 will then progress to round 3, the finals.

Round 3: consists of a sudden death playoff for the top 4 players. After each game played the player with the lowest score drops out until we have a Welsh Pinball Classic winner.

Games selection and set up

1.      Games will be set to exclude extra balls and unfair random awards where possible (see rule 8 for extra ball info).

2.      Games are set to 4 balls where possible or 5 ball if 4 ball play isn’t possible.

Rules

The interpretation of these rules along with any resolution of matters not covered by these rules is at the sole discretion of the competition organizers whose decisions in the matters are final.  They shall, however, attempt to behave in what they believe to be a fair and equitable way at all times.

1.      Entrants must wait until the game becomes available and then step up to the game when directed to do so by a competition steward. Entrants may not start or restart any of the games unless instructed to do so by the steward.

2.      The playing order within the groups should circulate so that no player has an unfair advantage over their competitors.

3.      If a machine becomes inoperable or a players’ score has been unduly affected in some way during the course of the game, the machine will be taken out of the competition until the fault can be repaired and the entrants will be offered the chance to replay the game.
If a mechanical or software fault develops during the course of the game, the entrant must attract the attention of the steward who will attempt to resolve the situation.  If the ball becomes stuck, the entrant may attempt to free it at the risk of tilting the game. 
Otherwise they should attract the attention of the steward who will attempt to free it and place it in a dead area of the game such as the shooter lane or in a ball trap so the entrant may continue play.

4.      If a game has a known fault such a non working feature, it may be used for the competition provided that it is agreed by the organizers and provided that all players are made aware of the problem.

5.      The selection of competition games is not fixed and may change during the competition. The organizers reserve the right to discount the results from faulty or broken machines. Time constraints make substitution during a round unlikely but if substitute game is provided any games already played on the original game machine may need to be re-played on the new game. A competition game may be substituted between rounds.

6.      Entrants should play their nominated game to the best of their ability with good conduct and without cheating, distracting other players or unfairly influencing the score. The organizers shall decide what constitutes good conduct and cheating.  Any entrant deemed to be in breach of these rules may be warned or disqualified and their score adjusted or discarded.

7.      During competitive play, spectators will not be allowed in the immediate area of the competition machines. Any coaching or advice to players, by spectators or other players is not allowed during a competitive game.

8.      No extra balls shall be played in any game. If a player earns an extra ball they may plunge the ball, go for a plunger skill shot and keep any points gained from that ball, but may not touch the machine in any way after the ball is plunged.

9.      If a player mistakenly plays an extra ball (meaning they hit either or both flippers, or bump the machine at any time during the extra ball, they must stop playing as soon as the error is recognized and they may not play their next ball. If they are on their last ball then their final score is calculated as 80% of their total score.

10. If a player is recognized to be playing an extra ball, is clearly told so, and does not stop playing the ball within 10 seconds, they receive a 0 for the entire game instead of only losing the next ball.

11. Tilting the machine during a game will result in the loss of the entrant's current ball.  Slam tilting will result in the game ending and the offending player automatically losing that game and being awarded a score of zero, if this occurs in a head to head, the competitors playing against the offending player will be allowed to start a new game to register their scores.

12. If in the opinion of the organizers the slam tilt is due to poor conduct by the entrant, the entrant may be disqualified and their score discarded. 

13. When the entrants have completed their game they must attract the attention of a steward who will check their nominated game score and initial the score card to verify that all is correct. When this has been done the entrant must initial the details to verify that they are correct.  Once this has been completed, no discussions about the correct recording of these details will be entertained.  The details will, in due course, be passed to the competition organizer, regional coordinator or steward as instructed on the day.

14. If there is any ambiguity or confusion over the meaning or interpretation of these rules, the decision of the Competition Organizers shall prevail at all times.

                                 Good luck, play well and have fun

Appendix  1: EPC 2007 points allocation system.