We are enthusiastic to host Lake Charles Marsh Madness on March 11, 2023.

Location:
3885 Levee Loop
Lake Charles, Louisiana 70607

There will be a $10 dollar entry fee (this covers both the main tourney and the side tourney). The host will cook a large gumbo that everyone is welcome to enjoy, but guests should bring their own drinks and other snacks. This host will permit guests who are of age to bring their own alcohol, but please be respectful with your waste.

Tourney begins at 1pm, you may show up for practice at noon. An exception to the prior sentence is - if you are disabled, pregnant, or nursing an infant - you are allowed to arrive at 10:30am and get all of your games in before the rest of the guests arrive (so you don’t spend all day standing and waiting to play). Either the IFPA rep or tourney director will be on site to help you do your scores. If you wonder whether you qualify for this special early start time, reach out to either the Louisiana IFPA rep Mike VanEtten or the tourney director and inquire.

This home has nine pinball machines ranging from early solid state through modern machines (there are no EMs in this collection). Qualifying for the tourney will be based on MatchPlay Best Game Modified Decay Scoring Format. You will have two plays on each machine, both plays will count to your ranking and will be entered into the matchplay system (so the qualifying alone will have 18 meaningful games for those of you interested in the IFPA points). You must photograph your results (some exceptions may be made for those without camera phones or with other disability). The top eight players at the end of qualifying will be in the finals. They will be broken up into two groups of four (1, 4, 5, and 8 will be on one side and 2, 3, 6, and 7 on the other side) and will each play a four player game on a pre drawn random machine with fourth place dropping out (the two fourth place drop outs will play a head to head game for 7th and 8th place); the three remaining groups of three will play another pre drawn random machine with the third place finisher dropping out (the two third place drop outs will play a head to head game for 5th and 6th place). The remaining four players will be regrouped into one large group and play a four player game with last place dropping out (4th overall finisher in the tourney), then a three player game with last place dropping out (3rd overall finisher in the tourney), and then one final game for first and second. There will be prizes of some sort for the top three finishers.

We will also have one IFPA certified side tourney. The side tourney will also be best game format for qualifying (but you only get one single game to qualify) and then the top four will play a four player game with third and fourth dropping out and then a single last game to determine first and second (so the side tourney only has four meaningful games). The side tourney will be on the of the three early solid state Gottlieb machines the owner has. We will determine which of the three machines will be featured the day of the tourney…it will be a joint decision among the house host (Paul), the IFPA rep (Mike), the tourney director (EF), and the tourney pin doctor (Jody) based on which of the three early solid states have been most reliable during the tourney and is playing the fastest…please do not ask us to disclose which machine it will be in advance as we do not know.

We must register your attendance in advance and there are limited slots. We expect this tournament to fill up within a few days of posting this, so if you are reading this post the day before the tourney we are unlikely to have any slots open. We are targeting 20 people for the tourney (we will have the tourney certified for 22 by the IFPA as we do not like to turn people away if someone shows up with a spouse or parent/child who wants to play, but we are going to stop allowing people to register at 20 guests as that is the ideal number of people for the space and number of machines we have available. You can register through TigerLaw on Pinside Or through the Louisiana IFPA rep Mike VanEtten.

If you have never played a tourney at this location or at 1807 Lake Street, you must provide your full name and home address when you register. Be advised that we do run criminal background checks on attendees and any registered sex offender or person convicted of a violent crime or charged with a violent crime who has not yet had their court date will not be allowed on the premises. Background checks are run by a local law firm and are never shared with or discussed with any of the players other than event host (if something troubling appears in the search) and tourney director.

Oh, last comment: anyone who comes dressed in a full fledged Toga need not pay the $10 entry fee. Said fee will be paid on your behalf by Megatron…he loves Togas.