"First Come, First Serve {FCFS}, in-person registration ends at 4:45PM. The tournament will usually have a pre-registration on Match Play open the week prior to the event. However, this is not required & is simply to get an idea who is coming to the tournament, complete with wait list. You may also select "Going" in the FB event for the tournament.
*FCFS order in-person registration at the event overrides any Match Play pre-registration!*

QUALIFYING: Group Matchplay begins at 5PM or shortly thereafter, for EXACTLY 3 hours or until 8PM, whichever occurs LATEST & will be the start time of last qualifying round if in time [IFPA scoring 7-5-3-1 for 4-player group or 7-4-1 for 3-player group]. Ranking tie-breakers are determined automatically by Match Play (most 1st & 2nd placements). PLAYOFFS follow immediately by a 3-pin, MULTI-PLAY Group Matchplay format finals for top 4 qualified players using PAPA scoring [4-3-2-1]. If a tie occurs in final playoffs, 1 random game tie-break will determine the final placements (method subject to change at TD discretion when time is a factor [venue closure] or democratic consensus for future tournaments) unless a player forfeits game/position.

IF there are enough eligible & willing players, it will be TD choice BEFORE that tournament begins, whether or not to allow for two Divisional PLAYOFFS: A & B. If allowed, this means at the end of qualifying, a playoff finals for B Division gets 25% value with A Division earning 75% value of the tournament registration prize pool after fees. Both division finals earn 40-30-20-10 % of their prize pool for 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th respectively. This allows for more participants to play a finals and win some prize money. Players who have a ranking of & above 3000 WILL NOT qualify to play in B Division finals. IF NOT, there only be an A Division finals. ALL participants may qualify for A Division finals. Any player who leaves any match without notifying the TD will be subject to a 4th place finish for that round & removed from the tournament or each subsequent match they are assigned.

The monthly tournament will usually be on the Sunday before the last Sunday of each month. Because of the late-week holiday time some months, it may be scheduled the weekend prior. This also is to avoid conflict with the Bat City Monthly in Austin. In March there will be the annual Texas Pinball Festival & in November is the Houston Arcade Expo, so those events may also cause adjustments for future monthlies. All dates are subject to change or cancellation by the TDs. Please stay informed by monitoring the HoT Facebook Group first and foremost, the www.IFPAPinball.com schedule of certified events, or on the local pinball events page - austintexaspinball.com/heart-of-texas-pinball/ "