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DOMINO Arcade Christmas Extravaganza Strikes Tournament

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After chatting with a friend about pinball tournaments earlier. Is there a way to do a B division in this, with part of the prize fund allocated accordingly? EG a split of the top and bottom half after X rounds (probably 75%) and then have 2 finals, would give both halves of players something to play for?

Just thinking aloud but do think we need to do more to encourage the people who think they've got no chance (when they probably have) and don't enter tournaments otherwise the pool of people is going to remain the same
 
Last edited:
mufcmufc said:
After chatting with a friend about pinball tournaments earlier. Is there a way to do a B division in this, with part of the prize fund allocated accordingly? EG a split of the top and bottom half after X rounds (probably 75%) and then have 2 finals, would give both halves of players something to play for?

Just thinking aloud but do think we need to do more to encourage the people who think they've got no chance (when they probably have) and don't enter tournaments otherwise the pool of people is going to remain the same
Click to expand...

What a great shout
 
mufcmufc said:
After chatting with a friend about pinball tournaments earlier. Is there a way to do a B division in this, with part of the prize fund allocated accordingly? EG a split of the top and bottom half after X rounds (probably 75%) and then have 2 finals, would give both halves of players something to play for?

Just thinking aloud but do think we need to do more to encourage the people who think they've got no chance (when they probably have) and don't enter tournaments otherwise the pool of people is going to remain the same
Click to expand...
I like the sound of that, can we have a C division too please? :confused:
 
mufcmufc said:
After chatting with a friend about pinball tournaments earlier. Is there a way to do a B division in this, with part of the prize fund allocated accordingly? EG a split of the top and bottom half after X rounds (probably 75%) and then have 2 finals, would give both halves of players something to play for?

Just thinking aloud but do think we need to do more to encourage the people who think they've got no chance (when they probably have) and don't enter tournaments otherwise the pool of people is going to remain the same
Click to expand...
A good idea, but a couple of problems with it:

It could well see people deliberately holding back early on to be able to qualify for the lower bracket - it happened regularly at Pinburgh.
The prize structure has already been announced, a bit off to change it after people have already signed up.

When I ran the league at Tilt I split the players in to separate divisions for the finals night meaning everyone was in contention for a trophy on the night with no feeling like they were just making up numbers.
 
mufcmufc said:
After chatting with a friend about pinball tournaments earlier. Is there a way to do a B division in this, with part of the prize fund allocated accordingly? EG a split of the top and bottom half after X rounds (probably 75%) and then have 2 finals, would give both halves of players something to play for?

Just thinking aloud but do think we need to do more to encourage the people who think they've got no chance (when they probably have) and don't enter tournaments otherwise the pool of people is going to remain the same
Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking about that before on another tournament about how to make it more exciting across all levels of play let me consider it although I agree with Wayne in that probably changing the format now is not ideal but let me see.

Neil.
 
Wayne J said:
A good idea, but a couple of problems with it:

It could well see people deliberately holding back early on to be able to qualify for the lower bracket - it happened regularly at Pinburgh.
The prize structure has already been announced, a bit off to change it after people have already signed up.

When I ran the league at Tilt I split the players in to separate divisions for the finals night meaning everyone was in contention for a trophy on the night with no feeling like they were just making up numbers.
Click to expand...

I'm not suggesting a wholesale change. Maybe something like keep the headline prize, reduce other prizes slightly perhaps and have a small pot or maybe just trophies for a "B" Division. Was just a thought as I was talking with someone about other sports and how almost anyone can win a tournament in a lot of instances, yet in pinball, there is generally a small pool at the top.

Like I said, was just thinking aloud but we do need to encourage fresh and repeat competitors in order to grow that side of things, people may not understand this but 15 years ago there was a dearth of talent and now there is a much increased skill set amongst all players. I'd like us to have a really competitive pool of players where any one of 30 or 40 people have a genuine chance of winning a tournament
 
Without wanting to derail the thread much further, I think that the focus on WPPR pts maxing out meaning 25 'meaningful' games played will always push the best players to the top - as it should. Formats where you can drop poor games (best 6 of 8) also push the better players nearer the top.
There should be more room for comps where the volatility is higher - such as the pinball cup at Swavesey - 1 loss and you're out after the first couple of rounds. Not worth big pts, but has thrown up some surprise winners in the past.
The problem in the not too distant past was that a lot of players wouldn't travel great distances without WPPR pts being available, others won't travel if they feel like they have no chance of winning and are just making up the numbers.

The 'solution' needs to be that everyone attending doesn't necessarily feel that they are going to win, but enjoys the actual taking part and format of the comp. The critical hit was new and fun, and with a few tweaks could be even better, the Swiss style matchplay means that you're playing against people of a similar skill level for most of the day.
I'd love to run a comp with a bounty on everyone's head (as in some poker comps) based on their current ranking at the start of the comp. you knock that person out you get half of their bounty with the other half being added to your bounty, a chance to win a slice of the prize fund in every single game. I can see how it could work in my head, but can't figure out how to get it down to a format which is easily explainable.

The more people putting on comps locally means more people will have easier access without travelling so far, the 'best' players won't be so starved of comps that they have to attend all of them (leaving room for others to win). It will also improve the players skills and confidence and not have competitions viewed as an elite branch of pinball.
Flipout, SWL & Electric Circus are open to the public and frequently put on comps of varying degrees of 'seriousness', Domino also has comps regularly, it's just a shame that some of the other public venues with pinball in don't do it as much.
It's not overly complicated to host a comp at any venue, if you have half a dozen machines you can easily accommodate a format for up to 15 people without people queuing or waiting around, or overly focussing on the competition element . If you have 10 machines there aren't many formats that aren't open to you. Even 1 or 2 machines you can set something fun up.

It needs more people to volunteer to host one-off events as well as league meets. There are experienced people all over the country who will be able to help and offer advice.
 
Wayne J said:
Without wanting to derail the thread much further, I think that the focus on WPPR pts maxing out meaning 25 'meaningful' games played will always push the best players to the top - as it should. Formats where you can drop poor games (best 6 of 8) also push the better players nearer the top.
There should be more room for comps where the volatility is higher - such as the pinball cup at Swavesey - 1 loss and you're out after the first couple of rounds. Not worth big pts, but has thrown up some surprise winners in the past.
The problem in the not too distant past was that a lot of players wouldn't travel great distances without WPPR pts being available, others won't travel if they feel like they have no chance of winning and are just making up the numbers.

The 'solution' needs to be that everyone attending doesn't necessarily feel that they are going to win, but enjoys the actual taking part and format of the comp. The critical hit was new and fun, and with a few tweaks could be even better, the Swiss style matchplay means that you're playing against people of a similar skill level for most of the day.
I'd love to run a comp with a bounty on everyone's head (as in some poker comps) based on their current ranking at the start of the comp. you knock that person out you get half of their bounty with the other half being added to your bounty, a chance to win a slice of the prize fund in every single game. I can see how it could work in my head, but can't figure out how to get it down to a format which is easily explainable.

The more people putting on comps locally means more people will have easier access without travelling so far, the 'best' players won't be so starved of comps that they have to attend all of them (leaving room for others to win). It will also improve the players skills and confidence and not have competitions viewed as an elite branch of pinball.
Flipout, SWL & Electric Circus are open to the public and frequently put on comps of varying degrees of 'seriousness', Domino also has comps regularly, it's just a shame that some of the other public venues with pinball in don't do it as much.
It's not overly complicated to host a comp at any venue, if you have half a dozen machines you can easily accommodate a format for up to 15 people without people queuing or waiting around, or overly focussing on the competition element . If you have 10 machines there aren't many formats that aren't open to you. Even 1 or 2 machines you can set something fun up.

It needs more people to volunteer to host one-off events as well as league meets. There are experienced people all over the country who will be able to help and offer advice.
Click to expand...

Not wanting to derail myself but I'm hoping to host an event in January that will bring local players, 6 machines and 16 players so I'm chuffed to read your post😊

Still awaiting review in the IFPA since Saturday 😑
 
I don’t think you will find such a format where anyone can win. maybe team events but that has drawbacks but you are into the realm of formats with more parameters.

my view tends to be -> make the pinball enjoyable, and I’ve made games easier to play at mine, and who wins is less of an issue. People want to enjoy playing the game at their best as much as winning the event. I typically run three events at my place a year (plus two leagues) one as serious as I can make it and the others respectful but not stupid.

I also think the other issue is player conduct - lots of folks don’t feel confident about running an event in case players are confrontational even in the slightest (we’ve all moaned about a switch or a thing in an attempt to get compensation) some folks find that hard to cope with.

but agree the more events the merrier.

Neil.

if we want to continue this please start a thread - we are back to my usual hype building from now on 🤣
 
Surely you can still buy Turkey Swizzlers ;)

A wise man once said to me "all pinball is good pinball" (yes I did just make that up but still true).

Don't think there is any format I don't like as every comp is great. It's been a while since there's been a 'Flip Frenzy'. Just saying.................

Really looking forward to it Neil. :clap:
 
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