Midwest Pinball Championship 2012 Rules
Note: These rules have been adapted by using portions from past Midwest Pinball Championship Tournaments, as well as experience from the IFPA and PAPA tournament formats. There may be further revisions and clarifications made before the 2012 Midwest Pinball Tournament takes place. Please do not consider these rules final until this paragraph has been removed, or until the tournament has begun.
The Midwest Gaming Classic is an all-encompassing electronic gaming event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 2012, the Midwest Gaming Classic will hold the sixth annual Midwest Pinball Championships (MPC). Rules for the MPC have been developed jointly with the International Flipper Pinball Association.
The event coordinator for the Midwest Pinball Championships is Dan Loosen. Event coordinators organize volunteers, designate scorekeepers, handle malfunctions and provide ultimate rulings, delegate responsibilities and authority, and otherwise work to ensure the smooth operation of the tournament. Because of this role, event coordinators are excluded from tournament play. Designated officials may play, but must follow all rules regarding tournament play and may not officiate themselves.
I. Quick Overview
MPC tournament rules are quite lengthy and detailed. They reflect the experience of many years of tournament and league play, under many different systems. The underlying ideas are simple, however.
The majority of the tournament consists of qualifying rounds for singles players. During these rounds, each player may make as many qualifying attempts as they like.
Each qualifying attempt consists of play on a machine the player selects from those available in the division. The player's performance on that machine is ranked versus all other players. The highest composite scores across all qualifying games will advance to the final rounds.
In the final rounds, qualifying players play against each other in 4-player games, with one player receiving a 'bye' in the first round. A point system is used to determine who advances and ultimately wins.
II. Singles Competition
1. Divisions of Play
There are three divisions of play for the 2012 MPC - A division for all players, B division for those players with limited or no prior tournament experience, and C division for players who have never played in a tournament before. All players are eligible for the A division, however top 300 ranked players in the IFPA World Rankings are automatically disqualified from B division, as well as any other player(s) who wish to not be eligible to play in this division. Also, all players who are on record with any IFPA World Ranking points are not eligible for play in the C division.
All players eligible for C division automatically have their scores count in all three divisions - A, B and C. All players for B division will compete and have their scores count for both A and B divisions.
In the case that a player becomes qualified for the finals in both the A and B division, they will automatically forfeit their spot in the B division. This is to prevent sandbagging, and to give all players the chance to compete against other players of their skill level regardless of if they have played in tournaments before or not. It will also award WPPR ranking points to all players who enter the Midwest Pinball Championship.
Because the C division will be determined on Saturday night before the finals of the other divisions, a first time tournament competitor may qualify for the C division while at the same time being ranked and playing in the finals of either the A and / or the B division.
Women may choose to compete against other women in the "Midwest Women's Pinball Championship." This division has no restrictions on WPPR ranking points, however the tournament will be played using one of the Midwest Pinball Championship qualifying games, and therefore Women's Pinball Championship entries will also rank them toward qualification in the both the A and B divisions, as long as the player is not disqualified from B division due to their existing WPPR ranking.
We suggest that any players aged 11 or under participate in the "Midwest Junior Pinball Championship." The children's tournament is played on a different game and has no ranking impact on the MPC. The MPC also does not award WPPR points. Players 12 or under may still participate in the Midwest Pinball Championship if they so choose, in which case all of the same rules apply to them as outlined above. The one exception to this is if a child is rated in the top 500 players according to the WPPR rankings, we ask that they not participate in the Junior's Division at the Midwest Gaming Classic.
2. Fees
There are no registration fees to participate in officially sanctioned tournaments at the Midwest Gaming Classic, however a one-time registration is required of each player before play begins in any tournament, regardless of division or tournament type (ie mini-tournament, pinball tournament, hybrid tournament, etc). Registration is not required to watch or to play non-tournament games at the Midwest Gaming Classic. Entries into any tournaments will have a fee structure that is outlined below.
Players may enter A and B division as many times as they wish. C division may only be played once, and must be played played before the player enters any other MPC tournaments. If you do not redeem all of your entries before the end of the qualifying rounds, you will lose the ability to redeem them. Qualifying entries are non-transferable and non-refundable. The fees for each entry are:
- Midwest Pinball Championship A and B Division - $10 for 3 entries, $5 for single entry
- Midwest Pinball Championship C Division - FREE to qualifying players for single entry, player may only enter this tournament once
- Midwest Women's Pinball Championship - $5
- Midwest Junior Pinball Championship - FREE to qualifying players for entry, players may enter this tournament three times
- Hybrid Tournaments - $5
Any division entry left unplayed or uncompleted at the end of qualifying rounds due to the fault of tournament officials will be voided and refunded. Entries that are intentionally unplayed or otherwise left incomplete through no fault of the tournament will not be refunded.
3. Prizes
Full tournament prize listings may be found on the Midwest Pinball Championship Overview page.
III. Singles: Qualifying Rounds
1. Purchasing entries
Before purchasing an entry, players must be registered. A registered player may purchase qualifying entries in their appropriate division. Each purchased entry is specific to one player. Players should keep their registered player number handy for use when purchasing entries.
Entries will not be sold for any competitions beyond the posted time. Entries are non-refundable unless by special permission.
Players wishing to compete in the C division may only receive one entry for this division. They may, however, purchase entries into the other divisions, and their one game entry for the C division also counts in the A and B divisions.
2. Playing an entry
When a player is ready to play a qualifying entry, he or she approaches the bank of machines designated for the tournament and gives their scorecard to the scorekeeper. At no time may the player begin play on any machine without being instructed to do so by the scorekeeper.
At the end of each game, the player will request that the scorekeeper record and verify his or her score before leaving the machine. It is the player's responsibility to ensure that the scorekeeper takes down the score, and to double check the recorded score for correctness.
At any point during play or immediately after play has been completed, the player may elect to abandon his or her entry by notifying the scorekeeper.
Once the player has begun to play their entry, they may not take their scorecard from the scorekeeper, whether it is complete, incomplete, or void.
3. Scoring
All scores posted on a particular machine are maintained in a ranking with only the highest score for that player counting. Point values are assigned to each position in this ranking. The overall score of a particular person is the total of the point values assigned to its ranked scores on all machines in the qualifying rounds. Because the rankings will change as new scores are posted on each machine, the score of each entry may change as the qualifying rounds progress.
In the unlikely event of two or more scores on a machine being tied, the highest point value of the tied positions will be awarded for each tied score.
There are no scoring normalizers or other adjustments. As the qualifying rounds progress, players may wish to adjust their choice of qualifying machines according to the scores already posted, as well as their personal skills and preferences.
The rank of the player's result on each machine contributes the following points to the score for that entry.
Rank and Score
- 1st Place - 200 points
- 2nd Place - 193 points
- 3rd Place - 187 points
- 4th Place - 182 points
- 5th Place - 178 points
- 6th Place - 175 points
- 7th Place - 173 points
- 8th Place - 172 points
- All places beyond 8th decrease by one point until place 179. Any competitors placing below 179 will receive zero points for that particular game
Tournament officials will endeavor to provide up-to-date scores and rankings at all times. This has traditionally been done with a computer and monitor, but may be done using another acceptable method.
Because C Division will only be played on one of the machines, C division is simply reverse ranked against one another, with the top four players moving on. Their entry does, however, still factor using the reverse ranking above against the other players in A and B divisions. A C Division player may play the tournament machine being used for the C division after their initial attempt as an A or B entry in an attempt to improve their score. Subsequent entries will be allowed to improve that player's A and B division standings, but will have no impact on the C division scores, of which the initial play will stand.
4. Scoring Example
A player purchases a qualifying entry in the A Division, and is assigned an entry number of 128. She plays one entry on a qualifying machine, and the scorekeeper records her score. At the time the entry is completed, her score is ranked in the 3rd position on the selected machine. Her total score for entry 128 is therefore 87. This score may change as other entries are played, by this player or other players. For example, at the end of qualifying, the scores for this entry may only rank 8th, providing a total score of 72. If a score is moved out of the top one hundred, it does not count for any points.
Note that the more machines that a player qualifies on, the more points they will receive. If the player in the above example gets top 79th place scores on three games and gets 3rd, 3rd and 6th places on these machines, her ranking is 87+87+75 = 249 points. Barring the correction of errors in scoring data, the total score for any qualifying entry can only remain the same or decrease as entries are played from other players; it can never increase for a competitor without new entries being played.
IV. Singles: Final Rounds
1. Advancing to Finals
All qualifying play will end at 1pm, with the final qualifying tickets being cut off before that point in time, based on the number of players currently waiting to participate.
Note that qualifying position determines the seeding in final rounds, as well as choice of machine or order of play. In the event a qualifying player is not available, he or she will be skipped in the ranking as if he or she had not qualified. Upon discovering that a player is not present, tournament officials will make a specific announcement for that player, allowing at least five minutes but no more than ten minutes, for that player to appear. Substitutions or late arrivals are not allowed.
In the event that two or more players have the same score in this ranking, a tie breaking procedure will be utilized.
2. Tie Breaking Procedures
In the case of two players having an equal amount of ranking points, a tie breaking procedure will be used to separate the two players. This procedure will be decided by tournament officials, but will generally be a single game face off, unless external factors such as timing force a change
3. Machines Chosen
The machines used for final rounds in each division will be designated before the beginning of the final rounds of play. This designation will be determined solely by tournament officials, and may include in each division machines that were not utilized in the qualifying rounds for that division, as well as machines not previously utilized in the tournament at all. For A division, five machines will be available. B division may or may not use extra machines to handle their expanded line up.
For simplicity, the rules treat all games played in the final rounds as three-player or four-player. In the event a machine being utilized does not support four simultaneous players, multiple games will be played on the same machine, with playing order preference going by original seeding as usual, and the resulting scores will be compared as if a single multi-player game had been played.
4. Semifinal Rounds - B Division
The following is the plan for the A division qualifiers:
1st through 4th get a bye to the final 8.
5th to 12th play off in two groups to determine who advances to the final 8. This round will work the same way as the semi-finals outlined below.
The following is the plan for the B division qualifiers:
1st through 4th place qualifiers get a bye to the final 8.
5th through 8th place qualifiers get a bye to the second round.
9th through 24th place qualifiers enter a single game playoff with the winner advancing to the second round.
For the B division qualifiers ranked 9th through 24th place, players will slot into four groups as follows:
Group 1 - Qualifiers 9, 13, 17, 21
Group 2 - Qualifiers 10, 14, 18, 22
Group 3 - Qualifiers 11, 15, 19, 23
Group 4 - Qualifiers 12, 16, 20, 24
Two machines will be provided for the the first semi-final round. The first two groups to player are groups 2 and 3. Qualifier 10 of Group 2 gets the choice of either machine for his or her group, or position. If Qualifier 10 picks position, Qualifier 11 gets choice of machine for his or her group. Once a machine is chose, the other group automatically will play the other machine. All four players participate in the game, with the top player for that single game advancing to the next round.
After Groups 2 and 3 have played, Groups 1 and 4 play in the same manner.
After this round is over, two groups are formed consisting of Qualifiers 5 through 8, and the single advancing Qualifier from each Group. These groups now play on both of the provided B division final machines, using the same 4, 2, 1, 0 point ranking system as utilized in the final rounds. The top two players in each division advance to the next round.
At this point, the remaining eight B division players compete as outlined in Section 5. Semifinal Rounds - A Division below.
5. Semifinal Rounds - A Division
For the semifinal rounds in A divisions division, the qualifiers in each division will be divided into two groups of four. The groups will be organized according to the qualifying rank as shown below:
A Division
Group 1 - #1, #3, #5, #7
Group 2 - #2, #4, #6, #8
Each group will play three separate four-player games, each on a different machine. Each four-player game will be scored as follows:
| Rank | Score |
|---|---|
| 1st | 4 points |
| 2nd | 2 |
| 3rd | 1 |
| 4th | 0 |
In the case of three-player games, the round will be scored as if a nonexistent fourth player received the 4th place finish (i.e., 1st earns 4 points, 2nd earns 2, and last earns 1).
The group that contains the highest-seeded player gets first choice of machine and order of play. The highest-seeded player within each group may choose either the machine to be played, or which position they will play in. After the highest-seeded player has made their decision, the second highest seeded position will get to decide either machine or play order. For instance, if the highest-seeded player decides to play on machine A, the second highest seeded player gets first choice of play position, followed by the third and fourth seeded players. The highest-seeded player therefore plays into whichever position is not picked by the other players.
If at any point a high-seed or low-seed player declines to make a choice, the choice(s) are determined by tournament officials, who may or may not choose randomly.
Note that in every round, "highest seeding" and "lowest seeding" refer to the original seeding of players when entering the final rounds from qualifying. A player's seeding does not change from round to round; therefore the advantage of qualifying higher can be significant.
There are three rounds in the semifinals, and five games to choose from. No group may select a machine played by the other group during that round or the subsequent round (unless machine malfunctions have made this unavoidable; tournament officials may choose to provide additional or substitute machines, however) and each group may not play the same game twice. An example of how this will work:
No group may select a machine which has already been selected by a group in the same round, nor may they choose a machine on which they have already played in that round (unless machine malfunctions have made this unavoidable; tournament officials may choose to provide additional or substitute machines, however). If the machine selected is currently being played by another group in a previous round of play, the group may wait for that round of play to be completed.
There are five games available for play. For purposes of this example, the machines are A, B, C, D and E. The group with the highest-seeded player gets first choice of machines. This first group picks machine A. The group with the second-highest-seeded player may therefore pick any game except for machine A. The second group picks machine B.
For the second round, the first group may not pick machine A or B. The first group decides to use machine C. Now, the second group may not pick machines A, B or C. The second group decides to use machine D.
At this point, teams can choose to play on the machines that were used by the other group in the first round. Therefore, the first team may choose from either machine B or E. If the first group chooses machine E, the second group is forced to play their final round on machine A. If the first group chooses machine B, the second group has their choice between machines A and E.
When all three games have been completed by a group, each player will have a point total for the semifinal rounds in their division. Players with the top four point totals in each division, regardless of which group they played in, shall advance to the final round of that division. Only four players will advance to the final round in each division, regardless of the number of players competing in the semifinal round.
Ties between players at the end of the semifinal round are resolved by one tiebreaking game on a machine selected randomly by tournament officials from among the machines used in that semifinal round. Note that a tie is only significant if it affects whether or not a player will advance to the final round. Insignificant ties, such as between 2nd and 3rd, do not require a tiebreaking game, except in the final round.
In a tiebreaking game, the highest-seeded player has choice of order of play, proceeding in descending order of seeding. If more players are tied in one group than the selected machine will support in a single game, players will play in groups (or singly, if the machine is single-play) arranged by their selected order of play. The resulting scores will be compared as if they had occurred in a single game on the same machine. If more than one group of players are tied, the machine is chosen for the group with the highest-ranking tie first, and that machine is not available for random selection in lower groups. All such tied groups will play their tiebreaking games in parallel. In the unlikely event of an exact scoring tie on the tiebreaking game, only those affected players will play another tiebreaking game, on another randomly selected game, under the same rules.
6. Final Rounds
In A division, the four top scoring players in the Semi-Final Rounds advance to the final round, joining the top four ranked A division players, who automatically gets a bye to this round. In B division, the top four players compete in the finals. There is no bye in the B division. In C division, the top four qualified players begin the final round as the first round played, and play only one machine, although all other rules remain the same.
In the final round for A division, all players must play four games out of five that they have to choose from. B division plays three games out of the seven machines provided. The #1 qualifier decides which of the five games which he or she does not wish to play, and which game will be played first and which position he or she will play in. The second qualifier gets to decide the second machine and which position he or she will play in after the first player, and the third ranked seed will get to choose the third game and their position third. The fourth ranked seed will be left to play in the position which is left, and the fourth game will automatically be played last.
The total scores for this round will determine the ordering of winners in each division. Tiebreaking in the final round will be determined in the same fashion as in the semifinal rounds, with the exception that all ties are considered significant.
Unless otherwise determined by tournament officials, the same machines will be used in the final rounds as the semifinal rounds.
A division player in the final round may have their games filmed and projected or televised in a way deemed acceptable to the tournament officials. Filming equipment shall not be placed within 6 inches of the flipper buttons of the machine, and monitoring devices may not be placed within 12 inches to the left or right of the edge of the machine.
7. Winners
A and B division winners will receive the prizes during an awards ceremony shortly following the conclusion of all final rounds on Sunday. C division, Women's and Children tournament winners will receive the prizes during an awards ceremony shortly following the conclusion of final rounds on Saturday. Finals winners need to be present to receive prizes. All decisions by tournament officials regarding winners and prizes are final.
All players, winning or not, grant the Midwest Gaming Classic, IFPA, WPPR, and all other event sponsors and organizers the right to use their names, scores, and likenesses for the purpose of promoting this tournament as well as other pinball-related events. If you have any problem with this clause, please speak with a tournament official before beginning play to see if we can accommodate your request.
The top winner will receive the title "Midwest Pinball Champion." This title remains in effect until the next annual MPC tournament, or will expire after two years if MPC tournaments are discontinued.
VI. Other Competitions
More competitions will be announced soon! For their rules, please check the other Midwest Gaming Classic tournament pages.
VII. Malfunctions and Rulings
1. The Nature of Pinball
The unique charm of pinball lies, in large part, in the physical nature of the game. Unfortunately, this means that unusual events and outright malfunctions cannot be prevented. Nor can they all be perfectly compensated for. The MPC tournament attempts to strike a balance between compensating for malfunctions and accepting the physical nature of the game.
In certain cases, malfunctions will be dealt with more strictly during finals rounds than during qualifying rounds, at the discretion of tournament officials.
2. Minor Malfunctions
A minor malfunction is any incident without external cause which deviates from the normal course of game play, without directly causing a player's loss of turn and without providing any player a significant advantage over others. A minor malfunction is considered part of normal play. Tournament officials shall determine what constitutes a significant advantage; in the event that such an advantage is obtained; refer to "Beneficial Malfunctions."
3. Major Malfunctions
A major malfunction is a game play problem with a machine that results in the premature loss of ball in play in a fashion that is not a normal feature of the machine's game play. These may be unusual one-time events, or they may indicate a recurring problem that will need to be addressed by technicians.
Examples of major malfunctions include:
- The bonus count begins while the ball is still in play. This can happen if, for example, the machine loses track of how many balls are in the drain trough.
- A lit kickback fails to return the ball to play, ending the player's turn. This does not apply to other ball saving devices such as timed ball savers, ball traps, gates, or "virtual" kickbacks.
Any malfunction that results in the loss of one or more balls during multiball play, without losing all balls so as to end the player's turn, will only be considered a minor malfunction. Loss of Tilt warnings, without loss of ball, shall not be considered a major malfunction.
When a major malfunction occurs, it is the player's responsibility to notify the scorekeeper, calmly and promptly. The scorekeeper will request advice from a tournament official. If the official(s) agree that the incident is a major malfunction, the current player will be asked to allow the ball to drain. This ball, and all others after this point will be considered "lost." At this point, each player will be asked to plunge any remaining balls he or she has remaining into play, but will not be allowed to touch the flippers. When all balls are drained, the current scores for all players including the plunger skill shots and / or bonus count downs will be written recorded.
At this point, once any issues with the game are fixed, a new game will be started with no attempt to re-establish game state. Each player before the player affected by the major malfunction will be allowed to plunge one ball into play to reset the correct "order" to the players in the game, and ensure the advantage for each player for skill shot attempts are equal. At this point, play will resume with each player getting to play their "lost" balls on the game.
Note that if a player or official notes a major malfunction and the player opts not to drain the ball immediately, this ball is treated as a "normal" ball and not a lost ball, and the major malfunction is treated as if it occurred between the end of that ball and the start of the next players ball. A player may not choose to play a ball on a machine normally where a major malfunction has been noted.
If the official notes the major malfunction as a beneficial major malfunction, or if the game is in a situation where draining the ball is deemed to be impossible (IE ball trough not ejecting ball, but still scoring points), the official may require the player to step away from the machine, and if necessary the official will help to remove the ball from play.
Scoring features that the player may utilize without ball interaction (ie Jurassic Park's Smart Missile, Last Action Hero's Smart Missle, etc) a specific ruling will be determined on how players may or may not use those features.
4. Known Malfunctions
Any malfunction that is determined to be relatively minor but unusual enough to merit comment may, at the discretion of tournament officials, be posted for players to be aware of before playing the affected machine. Players who have played the machine before this notice is provided will not be allowed to replay the machine nor to replace it with play of another machine. The occurrence of any posted malfunction will be treated as a minor malfunction unless it worsens or interacts with another feature to yield a major malfunction.
5. Catastrophic Malfunctions
A catastrophic malfunction is any event not purposely or inadvertently caused by a player, which immediately ends play for all players on the machine.
Examples of catastrophic malfunctions include:
- The game system crashes and/or resets due to a software error or component failure.
- Power is lost or interrupted.
- A new game starts.
- A major malfunction repeatedly recurs in spite of best attempts to repair the machine.
Any event caused by a player, purposely or inadvertently, including Slam Tilts, is covered under "Player Errors" below.
When a catastrophic malfunction occurs, the scores of the terminated games will be temporarily recorded if possible, any player(s) whose game(s) was/were not already completed must replay their game(s) from scratch. The higher score for each player will be recorded as that player's official score. In the event the machine cannot be repaired in order to continue play, see "Disabled Machines."
6. Beneficial Malfunctions
Any malfunction which provides at least one player with a significant advantage over any other player competing on that machine is known as a beneficial malfunction. Tournament officials shall determine what constitutes a significant advantage.
Any beneficial malfunction which results in a player being able to continue play of a ball that normally should have ended is normally allowed once per game. Examples of this would include an unexpected software ball save, a ball that bounces back into play without player action, or a ball that comes to rest on an unlit kickback in the outlane. Any such behavior shall not be allowed if it repeats, meaning that tournament officials may require players to allow the repeatedly-saved ball to drain, or play on the machine may be terminated in accordance with catastrophic malfunction rules, at which point repairs may be attempted.
Any beneficial malfunction which provides one or more players with a significant scoring or strategic advantage in a way that is not part of normal gameplay will void the score of the affected player(s), unless all immediately-affected players and tournament officials can agree on a suitable adjustment of the score or other elimination of the advantage. If the beneficial malfunction has been specifically avoided by the player, it is unlikely that a penalty is necessary. If any player score(s) are voided, the affected player(s) may then replay the game after the other players have finished, and the new score(s) are used for the affected player(s).
Examples of beneficial malfunctions would include a jackpot switch that registers when a different target is hit, a valuable switch that scores repeatedly without the ball contacting it, a failed Tilt sensor, or a ball stuck during multiball. See also "Stuck Balls."
Any situation which indicates the presence of a beneficial malfunction should be brought to the attention of the scorekeeper promptly, who will alert tournament officials. Any player who intentionally takes advantage of a significant beneficial malfunction may be given a warning and/or have his or her affected entry interrupted and disqualified by tournament officials.
7. Stuck Balls
During the course of play, it is possible for one or more balls to become stuck on a playfield feature, usually after becoming airborne. If this happens during single ball play, the player must wait for automatic ball searches to occur. The expiration of any timed feature during this period is not considered a malfunction.
If the stuck ball has not been freed after four such searches, or if the machine is not performing searches for some reason, the player must alert the scorekeeper, and a tournament official will be brought to the machine. The player must remain alert and at the machine, as he or she is responsible for the ball if it becomes freed at any point. Where possible, machines will be configured with "chase" features disabled, so that additional balls will not be released into play as a result of ball searches. However, in the event this occurs, the player is responsible for continuing play, and a suitable malfunction will only be ruled if the machine is unable to function normally from this point forward.
A tournament official may initially choose to try to free the stuck ball through judicious nudging, tapping, etc. The player must remain ready to resume play at the machine during this attempt. If actions by the official result in a Tilt, this will be treated as a major malfunction (not the fault of the player). If the official frees the ball but the player does not successfully continue play, this is normal play (the fault of the player). Loss of Tilt warnings due to tournament official nudging is considered normal play.
If the tournament official is unable to free the stuck ball, the machine will be opened, and the stuck ball freed and placed either on an upraised flipper, with the player holding the flipper button, or in a manually controlled plunger lane, based on the desire of the player. In the case of games with lucrative skill shot features not accessible by the flipeprs in normal gameplay, the tournament official may disallow the placement of the ball in the plunger lane. If a game does not allow the player to raise a flipper while the door is open, or a game automaticalyl fires the ball into play when placed into the plunger lane while the door is open, those locations shall be barred for stuck ball placement.
If the ball is inadvertently freed while the machine is open and drains without the player regaining complete control (stopped on a flipper), this will be treated as a major malfunction. If the machine cannot be opened successfully, or if opening or closing the machine terminates the game(s) in progress for any reason, this will be treated as a catastrophic malfunction. If the ball is freed and the machine closed without the player's loss of ball, play continues as normal. If the game is in multiball play and one or more balls are lost as a result of freeing stuck balls, possibly ending multiball but not ending the ball in play, this will be considered normal play.
Any player who chooses to shake or bump the machine in order to free a stuck ball does so at his or her own risk. No allowance will be made for a player who tilts while attempting to free a stuck ball, whether or not tournament officials are present.
If a ball becomes stuck during a multiball mode, the player has the following choice:
- The player may continue multiball play as normal, but when he or she drains to only one freed ball in play, that freed ball must immediately be drained.
- The player should attempt to trap the other ball(s) in play and request assistance.
A stuck ball during multiball often represents a significant beneficial malfunction, and not informing a tournament official may result in a penalty. Please note specifically that a ball ending up in the plunger lane during multiball on a machine where there is no autoplunger counts as a stuck ball. See "Beneficial Malfunctions" for further details.
8. Disabled Machines
Any tournament machine that breaks down during play will be attended to by technicians as promptly as possible. In the event that a breakdown is severe and cannot be repaired promptly, the machine may be taken out of service temporarily or permanently. During qualifying rounds, players in the affected division must choose an alternate machine in place of a temporarily disabled machine. A permanently disabled machine will be replaced with a designated substitute by tournament officials. During finals rounds, tournament officials will designate an alternate machine; the game in progress on the disabled machine, if any, will be discarded, and play will continue on the newly designated machine.
Any machine that is temporarily disabled for more than two hours will normally be considered permanently disabled. During qualifying rounds, a permanently disabled machine presents a unique problem, as it is no longer possible for new qualifying entries to compete against ranked scores on that machine. If the machine in question is disabled before noon on Saturday, all scores recorded on the disabled machine up to that point will be voided. A substitute machine may be added to the division, which will have its own independent ranking of scores from that point forward. Any player who has previously posted a qualifying score on the disabled machine will be invited to play a "make-up" game on a substitute machine; his or her resulting score will then replace the previous score on the disabled machine. Each affected player may select as their substitute any machine in the division that was not already played on the entry that is being modified; they are not required to specifically select the substitute machine which may have been provided to replace the disabled machine.
In the event that a machine is disabled during qualifying rounds at any time after 2:00pm on Saturday, the scores and ranking up to that point shall stand. In this case, a substitute machine will not be added to the division.
Qualifying entries played before 2:00pm on Saturday therefore enjoy a slight theoretical advantage in the event of machine failures. The addition of a substitute machine to a division does not allow existing entries to be modified except in the case of replacing a score from a disabled machine.
In the Classics Division, scores for a disabled machine will be allowed to stand after 3 pm on that day. If a machine falls disabled before this time, affected players will be invited to amend their qualifying entries as described above.
9. Player Errors
A player error is any player action, purposeful or accidental, which affects the normal play or outcome of a game in progress.
Any player who tilts his or her ball in play will not receive any penalty other than the normal loss of ball. Note that some older machines may penalize the player with loss of game; this is equivalent to tilting all remaining balls in order. Abuse of machines is covered under "Player Conduct." Any player who tilts the ball of another player, either through interference or by tilting his or her ball so roughly that the next player's ball is affected before play continues, will receive a score of zero for that game, unless tournament officials grant an exception based on the behavior of the machine in question.
Any player who slam tilts a machine, thereby ending play for all players, will receive a score of zero for that game. The slam tilt is treated as a catastrophic failure for any other player(s) who have not completed their game(s) in progress; they will be allowed to replay a new game and choose the higher score. If a tournament official rules that the slam tilt sensor is not functioning properly, the slam tilt will be treated as a catastrophic failure for all players.
Any player who deliberately tilts or slam tilts a machine in order to derive some benefit to his or her own play, or the play of others, under these rules, may be ejected from the tournament.
Any player who deliberately interferes with the play of another player, through distraction, touching the machine or player, or disrupting tournament procedures, will receive a score of zero for the game. Any repeated offense under this rule will result in ejection of the player from the tournament. Any non-player, or tournament participant not playing in the game in progress, who deliberately interferes with the play of any tournament game, will be given one warning. On the second offense, the offender will be ejected from the facility.
Accidental interference is regrettable but can happen. Any player or non-player who accidentally interferes with the play of any tournament game will be warned. If the interference was sufficient to cause the loss of ball, this will be treated as a major malfunction. If the interference terminated play for all players (for example, tripping over a power cord and pulling it from the wall) this will be treated as a catastrophic malfunction.
A player who plays out of turn in a multiplayer game will receive a score of zero. The affected player may choose to take over the ball in play, if possible, or they may choose to have the incident treated as a major malfunction. In the event the player takes over, he or she shall be deemed "in control" after declaring his or her intent, taking his or her position at the table, and making contact with the ball via the flippers. The affected player may not change his or her mind once he or she is "in control." Any player who plays out of turn deliberately in order to employ this rule will be ejected from the tournament.
Because the tournament divisions consists solely of singles play, coaching of any player during a game, in any round, is not allowed. If a player specifically requests advice on a game feature during play, his or her question may be addressed only by a tournament official, and answered only in terms of whether or not the machine is functioning correctly. Players are not to seek assistance from other players or spectators. Outside of play, players are of course free to discuss features and strategies as much as they like.
In mini-tournament events which feature team play, players on a team may freely discuss game features and strategy without penalty.
Tournament officials will be the sole determiners of what constitutes interference and whether or not it is accidental or deliberate. Scorekeepers are strongly encouraged to watch for and, if possible, prevent incidents of interference.
10. Rulings
Rulings shall be made by tournament officials, which include event coordinators and any person(s) designated as officials by the coordinators. Designated officials may have restrictions on the breadth of rulings, and may be overridden by tournament officials. Any designated official or event coordinator is excluded from ruling on any play situation that directly affects his or her actual or potential standing as a player. Final authority for any ruling rests with Dan Loosen and Gary Heil.
VIII. Machine Settings
1. Software Settings
In general, the software settings of each machine will be adjusted to best accommodate tournament play. The following settings will be employed on any machine that supports them:
- Tournament Mode
- Free Play
- 3 Balls
- Extra Balls disabled
- Buy-In or Continues disabled
- Game Restart disabled
- 2 Tilt Warnings (may be 0 on older machines)
- Flipper AutoLaunch disabled
- Timed AutoLaunch disabled
- Standard Factory Settings for Ball Savers, Difficulty, Timers, etc.
- Specific Difficulty Settings as determined by tournament officials
- Automatic Reflexing Features disabled
- Replays disabled (no score or Extra Ball awarded)
These settings may vary according to division, at the discretion of tournament officials.
Certain older machines may include extra balls and/or five-ball play. In this division alone, these features may be utilized by the player unless otherwise posted. Classics players should also be aware that some machines end gameplay entirely for a Tilt (similar to modern games' Slam Tilt), that scoring mechanisms can malfunction (this is handled as minor, major, or beneficial, depending on the situation), that in some cases features that resemble pop bumpers and slingshots are not powered, and that some older machines employ gobble holes which end the current ball in play.
2. Hardware Settings
Machines used for tournament play will be prepared and kept in good working order to the greatest extent possible. Each machine will be properly leveled left-to-right and inclined front-to-back.
Any player with a complaint or question about the hardware setup of a machine should make his or her inquiry in between games, or in between balls, if urgent.
3. Machine-Specific Settings
In order to best suit tournament play, certain machines may be subject to specific settings or rules adjustments, at the discretion of tournament officials. These adjustments will be made before tournament play begins, and will be documented if possible. The intent is to eliminate features which can be abused by skilled players, or which arbitrarily extend play time to a degree that would hinder the smooth progress of the tournament.
IX. Player Conduct
1. Facility
The Midwest Pinball Championship is held as part of the Midwest Gaming Classic event at the Olympia Resort and Spa, which is private property and must be treated with respect. MPC reserves the right to refuse play to anyone at any time, as well as to remove anyone from the property at any time.
The tournament facility and playing areas must be kept clean. In the tournament area, drinks are allowed only for actively qualifying players. No food is allowed in the qualifying area at any time. Spills of any kind should be reported to officials immediately. Trash should be deposited in the provided receptacles. Please do not remove chairs from any area where they have been placed.
All areas in the event area are strictly non-smoking. Smoking is restricted to designated areas outside the building or specific areas that are marked. Violation of this and/or other rules may lead to ejection from the tournament.
Weapons, illegal drugs, and alcohol are prohibited on the property. Naturally, any and all types of illegal activity are prohibited as well.
2. Personal Conduct
All players are expected to conduct themselves in a polite and sensitive manner. Outbursts, especially those including indecent language, are unacceptable. A wide variety of players and observers will be present, including media, and these types of outbursts do nothing to promote pinball as a sport.
Any express or implied threats or actions of violence are grounds for immediate ejection from the facility, and authorities will be contacted. Other possible grounds for ejection include but are not limited to fraud, theft, illegal activity, harassment, inappropriate behavior, public drunkenness, etc.
3. Abuse of Machines
Tilt sensors are employed to determine what constitutes unduly rough handling of each machine, within the parameters of normal play. Abusive handling such as punching, kicking, lifting, tipping, or rocking a machine, or hitting the glass in any way, is grounds for a warning and possible disqualification of game or ejection from the tournament, at the discretion of tournament officials.
4. Interference
Any player who intentionally interferes with tournament play or otherwise disrupts the tournament setting will be warned and/or ejected from the tournament, at the discretion of tournament officials.
5. Delay
Any player who delays the progress of his or her game for more than 30 seconds, for any reason other than to await a ruling or resolution of a temporary inconvenience, will be given a warning.
Temporary inconvenience is defined as any condition which can reasonably be expected to be resolved quickly, such as unusual noise, lighting problems, etc. An inconvenience such as sunlight glare does not normally qualify, unless easily resolved. A player may choose not to play a game that is experiencing glare; they may reschedule their play or choose another game, within the rules of the tournament. Sunlight glare tends to be temporary.
If the player is choosing to let a game mode time out, the total delay must be less than 30 seconds. Delay is defined as time during which the ball is left in the plunger lane, or held on a flipper by the player. Stuck balls do not count as intentional delays. If delays are repeated or willful, tournament officials may terminate the game in progress and record a score of zero for that player.
6. Death Saves, Bangbacks, etc
Techniques known as "Death Saves" and "Bangbacks" are sometimes practiced by certain advanced players. Because the effectiveness of these techniques varies from machine to machine, and because of the risk of injury to either player or machine, these are banned from tournament play. In the event that a drained ball bounces back into play without deliberate or significant player action, the ball may be played. This may require a ruling from tournament officials if there appears to be abusive force employed by the player.
7. Wagering or Gambling
Please note that gambling is illegal in our venue and the tournament does not endorse, condone, nor support wagering between players. We also feel that pinball is at least 75% skill-based, making any wagering at best ill-advised, in addition to being illegal.
8. Internet Use
The facility provides wireless Internet access service, at no charge. This is provided to our players and guests as a courtesy and we expect proper behavior. Any abuse or misuse of the service may result in ejection from the tournament and/or facility.
X. Miscellaneous
1. Special Score Handling
a. Any player who reaches the maximum possible score on a machine that has such, will receive that score as their total. For example, Guns n Roses stops scoring at 9,999,999,990 points.
b. Any player whose machine "rolls over" to a zero score is responsible for immediately advising the scorekeeper, both when this is imminent, as well as when it happens. The score keeper will then make a note to record the appropriately increased score. If the player fails to notify the scorekeeper, he or she may not receive the increased score.
c. On the game NBA Fastbreak using basketball-style scoring, each championship ring collected by the player shall cause their recorded score to be increased by 1000 points.