Stern Circuit Event

Herb-Style Tournament.
IFPA approved.

Tournament is open to the public with paid admission.

The event will feature a main tournament as well as a separate classics tournament. Tournament tickets are usable in either the classics or main tournament.

The Junior’s tournament begins at 4 PM on Saturday, with free entry and a trophy for the winner.

The Women’s tournament begins at 10am on Saturday, also with a trophy for the winner. The Women’s tournament is approved for the IFPA Women’s Rankings.
https://www.facebook.com/events/677174819415460/?ti=cl

QUALIFYING
Pricing -
$10 for 4 Tickets or $20 for 9 Tickets , 1 ticket is used per game.

Tickets must be bought at the front desk, not the tournament area.
Main and classics use the same tickets.
Tournament ticket sales cut off at 6 PM Saturday
No refunds

Ranking -
Best 5 out of 9 games will be used for main division qualifying.
Best 4 out of 6 games will be used for classics division qualifying.
Each game score is translated to a qualifying score based on rank (1st 100, 2nd 90, 3rd 85, 84, 83, 82…), with the top 5 qualifying scores being totaled up to determine a player’s positioning.
Top 24 players qualify for main and classics division playoffs, with the top 8 qualifiers getting a bye through the first round.
Players can check qualifying status at
Schedule -

Qualifying will take place all day Thursday From 5 pm to Midnight, Friday 10 am to Midnight and Saturday 10 am to 7 pm Finals will begin Saturday at 8:00 pm.

Classics qualifying times are the same, although it ends at 2 pm on Saturday, with classics finals starting at 2:30 pm.
Cut off for starting games in main division is 7 PM on Saturday night.

Catastrophic malfunction cut off is Friday at 4 PM. If a game must be replaced after this cutoff then scores from the previous game still stand in the rankings.

Queuing -
The Cleveland Pinball Show will use a virtual queuing system available at
Players may add themselves to queues through either their own device, or the designated queuing computer in the tournament area.

There will be a chair behind each game. If a player is next on a game then he or she should be sitting in the game’s respective chair. When a game opens up the next player will be called, if he or she is not present then the individual is removed from the queue and the next player is called.
The tournament must keep moving, and score keepers will not wait for a player who is in the queue but isn’t present.

Ties -
Significant ties (either to make it into finals or to receive a bye) will be played off on a randomly selected game, with the winner of that game being the winner of the tie breaker.
Ties for other positions in main division will be determined by whichever player has the higher ranking on their highest qualifying game. (ex. One player in the tie’s best game rank was the second highest score on a game, and the other player’s best game was a 6th place score. The first player wins the tiebreaker).
If both players in the tie breaker have the same highest game rank, then it will defer down to their second highest game rank. If that is tied it will defer down again, etc.
In the extremely rare case that both players have the exact same rankings across all their qualifying games, the tie will be broken by a coin flip.

FINALS
General information -
Round 1 of the Main Division check-in begins at 7:30 PM on Saturday.
Round 1 of the Main Division finals begins at 8 PM on Saturday at the earliest, if Classics Finals have not yet concluded then main will begin after they finish. Players must check in before 8 PM.
Round 2 of the Main Division check-in begins at 9 AM on Sunday.
Round 2 of the Main Division finals begins at 9 :30 AM on Sunday. Players must check in before 9:30 AM.
Check-in for classics finals begins at 2:15 PM on Saturday.
Classics finals begin at 2:30 PM on Saturday. Players must check in before 2:30 PM.
If a player does not show up to check-in before finals begin then that player will be replaced with the next highest seeded qualifier. (The first alternate)
If a player does not show up for later finals round they will receive last place on each game in their group until they show up.
Finals are played in 4-player “PAPA Style groups”.
Four player games are scored with 1st earning 4 points, 2nd earning 2 points, 3rd earning 1 point, and 4th receiving 0 points.
Three-player games 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).
Finals brackets can be found online at

Game Selection -
At the start of each round, the group that contains the highest-seeded player gets first choice of machine or order of play, with groups of descending seeding to follow. This process repeats two more times. During each cycle of selection, no two groups in the same division may pick a game that has already been selected.
In the case that a player chooses to pick position instead of game, the choice of game is then deferred to the next lower seed in the group.
One group can not play the same game multiple times in one match.
Final Standings -
IFPA standings for people who were eliminated in the same round as each other will be determined by the players scores in the respective round.
Ties in final round scores will be broken by player’s initial seedings.
Prize Pool -
Prize pool is based on tournament entries, with a guaranteed minimum of $1500+ in cash prizes for the main tournament, and $750+ in cash prizes for the classics tournament
Main and Classics award cash prizes to the top 16 finishers with 1st receiving 25%, 2nd at 16%, 3rd at 11%, 4th at 8%, 5th through 8th each at 5%, and 9th - 16th each at 3%.
1st
25%
2nd
16%
3rd
11%
4th
8%
5th - 8th
5%
9th - 16th
3%
Actual values will be determined on-site after tournament expenses have been deducted and are subject to rounding to the next higher or lower $5 increment.
All other rules and procedures for anything gameplay related are based on PAPA rules (ex. malfunctions, interference, stuck balls, etc.)
Full rule documentation available here - https://www.ifpapinball.com/rules/
Miscellaneous

Supplying Machines
Any game that's in the tournament lineup can not be removed at any point during the qualifying period unless it's due to a game malfunction which can not be repaired within the constraints of the tournament. If a game must be removed on the finals day, the time it will be removed at must be communicated to the tournament directors before the tournament begins, so it can be factored into the game's selection for tournament use.
Tournament directors must have access to the keys to your machine.
All other rules related to bringing a machine to the Cleveland Pinball Show itself still apply (damage liability, etc.)

Scorekeeping
Attendees can sign up to scorekeep for either the Main Tournament or Classics Tournament with 1 hour shifts.
Scorekeepers are given 6 tournament tickets per hour that was spent scorekeeping.
Scorekeepers are able to sign up for multiple shifts, however the amount of scorekeepers per shift is limited, and can be seen on the scorekeeper schedule - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1paN3nXGQuFi-b7PNOmsjGtAtvQspOGjVyzkDnkSrCWg/edit?usp=sharing

Contact a tournament director via email or Facebook to register for open scorekeeping spots (Tommy Bizzi at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100016458762908 or gamesrus774@yahoo.com, and Jeffrey Dickson at https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.dickson.79 or leveltwogames@gmail.com)
All or Any Rules, Procedures, Regulations can be changed before Tournament Start Time on Thursday Sept. 5th at 5PM.
For other questions and information please contact either Tommy at gamesrus774@yahoo.com or Jeffrey at leveltwogames@gmail.com