Cleveland Pinball and Arcade Show 2024
Holiday Inn - 6001 Rockside Road, Independence, OH 44131
September 12th-15th, 2024
Stern Pro Circuit Event!
Certified + Main Tournament 250% WPPR

Card Tournament. IFPA Certified + Tournament Stern Pro Circuit Event!
Tournament is open to the public with paid admission.
The event will feature a main tournament as well as a separate herb style classics tournament.
The Junior’s tournament begins at 2 PM on Saturday, with free entry and a trophy for the winner.
Women’s Tournament:
Participating in women’s finals WILL NOT block you from playing in any other finals.
QUALIFYING
Pricing -
Main tournament uses “cards” which allow you to play 5 qualifying games per card, each card costs $20.
Classics is herb style where each ticket lets you play 1 game, it is $9 for 4 Tickets or $20 for 9 Tickets
Tickets and cards must be bought at the front desk, not the tournament area.
Main and classics do not use the same tickets.
Main Tournament Cards sales cut off at 6 PM Saturday
No refunds
Ranking -
Players will play a 5 game card where they will choose and play 5 games out of the 15 game bank. Points will be awarded based on the finishing position of each individual game on the card. All games on the card will count together for the card’s standing and only a player’s best card will count. There are no era restrictions that apply to qualifying.
Best 5 out of X games will be used for classics division qualifying.
Each game score for either main or classics is translated to a qualifying score based on rank (1st 100, 2nd 90, 3rd 85, 84, 83, 82…)
In Main your 5 scores on 1 card will be totaled together as that card’s standing and your best card determines your qualifying rank
In Classics your best scores on 5 different games overall will be totaled up to determine your qualifying rank
Up to 40 players will qualify for Main playoffs (if less than 80 people play in the tournament then it will be top half of the field, rounded down). If Main takes 40 players, the top 4 will receive 2 rounds of byes (into the round of 16) and the next 12 will receive a 1 round bye (into the round of 28).
Top 24 players qualify for classics division playoffs with top 8 getting byes.
Players can check qualifying status at https://neverdrains.com/clepin2024
Schedule -
Qualifying will take place all day Thursday From 5 pm to Midnight, Friday 10 am to Midnight and Saturday 10 am to 6:30 pm.
Players who help scorekeep as well as players who purchase VIP admission to the show will be able to start qualifying an hour early each day.
Cut off for starting games in main division is 6:30 PM on Saturday night.
Any significant ties for main division (to make it into finals or to get an additional bye) will be played off at 7 PM.
Round 1 of Finals for main division will begin at 7:30 PM, with round 2 starting upon its completion. Round 3 will start Sunday morning at 10 AM.
Classics qualifying times are the same, although it ends at 1 pm on Saturday, with classics finals starting at 1:30 pm.
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 https://neverdrains.com/clepin2024
Players may add themselves to queues through either their own device, the designated queuing computer in the tournament area, or by asking a scorekeeper.
Players in Main must notify a scorekeeper or tournament official when they are starting or completing a card.
There will be a chair behind each game. If a player is next on a game then they are encouraged to sit in the game’s respective chair. When a game opens up the next player will be called, if they are 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 1 or 2 byes) will be played off on a randomly selected game, with the winner of that game being the winner of the tie breaker. Whoever has the highest ranking in a qualifying score will get choice of play order (if highest rankings are tied, 2nd highest will be used, etc, if all are tied then a coin flip will decide)
Ties above the cut 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 and 2 of the Main Division check-in begins at 7:00 PM on Saturday.
Round 1 of the Main Division finals begins at 7:30 PM on Saturday at the earliest, if Classics have not yet concluded then main will begin after they finish. Players must check in before 7:30 PM.
Round 2 of Main Division finals begins as soon as Round 1 completes.
Round 3 of the Main Division finals begins at 10 AM on Sunday. Players must check in before 9:30 AM
Classics finals begin at 1:30 PM on Saturday. Players must check in before 1:30 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).
There are 3 games in each round (plus a tiebreaker if necessary).
Finals brackets can be found online at - http://matchplay.live/clepinfinals2024
Game Selection -
The highest seeded player in each group has choice of game or position.
If the highest seeded player of the group chooses game then the next seed in their group gets choice of position, all the way down.
If a player defers picking the game and chooses position instead, the next player down has selection of game or position.
Groups select starting with the group containing the highest seeded player, continuing down until all groups have chosen.
If a higher seeded group has already selected a game then other groups are locked out from picking it until their next selection.
One group can not play the same game multiple times in one match.
The same player can’t pick the same game two rounds in a row.
Ties -
Ties will be played off on a randomly selected game from the games that the tied players did not play in their round.
Highest seed has first choice of position.
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.
Ties outside the finals cut will remain as ties in the final rankings.
Prize Pool -
Prize pool is based on tournament entries, less $1 IFPA fee per player, $5 Stern Pro Circuit fee per player, cost of trophies and other expenses the show may incur related to the tournament.
Main will award cash prizes to the top 28 finishers with 1st receiving 23%, 2nd at 15%, 3rd at 10%, 4th at 8%, 5th through 8th each at 4%, 9th - 16th each at 2%, and 17th-28th each at 1%.
1st
23%
2nd
15%
3rd
10%
4th
8%
5th - 8th
4%
9th - 16th
2%
17th - 28th
1%

Classics will 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 2.5%.
1st
25%
2nd
16%
3rd
11%
4th
8%
5th - 8th
5%
9th - 16th
2.5%

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
Abuse of games
Any attempt to death save or bangback will result in a red card and ejection from the tournament.
Other significant abuse of games will also result in a red card and ejection from the tournament.
We also reserve the right to issue yellow card warnings that can escalate to red cards for rage tilts and other similar unsportsmanlike conduct.
Supplying Machines
Any game that is provided to the tournament must be committed to being available for the full duration of the tournament.
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 can earn 6 tickets per hour, Or one Game card.
Scorekeepers and V.I.P. Players are given 1 hour to qualify before the regular tournament hours begins.
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 - Cleveland Pinball Show 2024 Scorekeeper Signup
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 Jeffrey Dickson at https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.dickson.79 or leveltwogames@gmail.com)
Tournament timing
The tournament is set up so that it will end in proper time, however if unusual circumstances cause the tournament to get set on a time trajectory that will not conclude before the show ends then the tournament directors reserve the right to employ mercy rules or remove long playing games.
All or Any Rules, Procedures, Regulations can be changed before Tournament Start Time on Thursday Sept. 12th at 4PM. The final version of the rules will be available printed on site.
For other questions and information please contact Tommy at gamesrus774@yahoo.com or Jeffrey at leveltwogames@gmail.com