IECS rules

IFPA Irish Championship Series – Official Rules

  • Summary

The IFPA Irish Championship Series is an annual pinball competition where the qualification is done over a whole year (from 1st Jan till 31st Dec). All results of the IFPA recognized tournaments held in Ireland are considered for the qualification of the IFPA Irish Championship Series Final. At the beginning of the next calendar year the Final will be played by the 16 best players from the qualification and the champion is appointed. By special circumstances like limitation of space, the field can be decreased by the IFPA Country Director of Ireland.

  • Competition Details
  • Qualification
        1. Unlike most tournaments where the qualification process takes place over a couple of days at the tournament site, qualifying for the IFPA Irish Championship Series is based on results from all of the IFPA endorsed tournaments held in Ireland
        2. Qualifying for the IFPA Irish Championship Series is based on results from the whole calendar year, but players must have played at least one event before December.
        3. In the event that any players are tied with the same amount of IFPA Irish Championship Series ranking points, we will look at their best event(s) until the tie can be resolved.
        4. If any of the top 16 players are unable to participate, vacant places will be made available for the next best players who qualified in places 16+.
        5. Everyone who is qualified for the tournament and has a registered IFPA profile can participate (no limitation based on nationality). It is the player’s responsibility to make sure they have an email address on file with the IFPA, or they run the risk of not being contacted for participation in the IFPA Irish Championship Series. Please fill out an IFPA profile to ensure we have a way to contact you. If you see a green check within your profile information on your IFPA profile page, it means we do have a registered email address on file for you.
  • Scoring

For each player, the total sum of WPPR scores received for the tournaments count toward the IFPA Irish Championship Series.

  • Fees

The entry fee for each event is determined by the organizers. The entry fee for the IFPA Irish Championship Series is 20 EUR per participant.

  • Format
    1. Seeding of finalists

Once all participants are finalized, the 16 players will be seeded based on their rankings position at the end of the calendar year. In the event that any players are tied with the same amount of WPPR points, we will look at the overall WPPR rank of those players as of the end of that calendar year

  1. Head-to-Head Single Elimination Format

Players will be placed in a single elimination bracket once the seeds have been determined.

First round pairings are as follows:

1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, 4 vs. 13,
5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10, 8 vs. 9

Second round pairings are as follows:

1/16 winner vs. 8/9 winner, 2/15 winner vs. 7/10 winner,
3/14 winner vs. 6/11 winner, 4/13 winner vs. 5/12 winner

Third round pairings are as follows:

1/8/9/16 winner vs. 4/5/12/13 winner,
2/7/10/15 winner vs. 3/6/11/14 winner

Fourth round pairing are as follows:

Two winners of round 3 play for the “IFPA Irish Pinball Champion” title
Two losers of round 3 play in the Consolation Final for 3rd/4th place.

Each match will be a best-of-seven. The higher seeded player will have choice of machine or position for the 1st game, with the loser of each subsequent game having choice of machine or order, until someone has won 4 games. A machine may not be played more than once in the same match unless there are less than 7 machines available. If that is the case, only after all machines have been chosen can either player select that game to be played for a second time within the same match. Once a player verbally announces their game choice, or chooses position, that decision will be locked in and cannot be changed.

Each player will have the opportunity for 30 seconds of practice time before starting every game of every match. This is to ensure that both players have a chance to get familiar with the machine.

The winner of the match advances to the next round, while the loser is eliminated.

The 3rd/4th place Consolation Final will be played as a best-of-three instead of a best-of-seven like all other rounds, using the same rules. All other finishing positions will also be played out in best-of-three matches to also determine 5th through 16th place.

  • Prizes

First Place will receive a trophy and the title “IFPA Irish Pinball Champion”. This title remains in effect until the next annual IFPA Irish Championship Series, or will expire after two years if the IFPA Irish Championship Series is discontinued. Winners will also receive cash prizes as cash or check during an awards ceremony shortly following the conclusion of all final rounds. Winners need not be present to receive prizes; prizes will be supplied via postal mail if necessary.

  • IFPA EPC

One IFPA EPC spot will be made available. This spot will go to the highest finisher at that IFPA Irish Championship Series who did not already qualify for the IFPA EPC through the regular qualifying process (no limitation based on nationality). We will move down the list as needed to fill the spot should players decline.

  • IFPA World Pinball Championship

One IFPA World Pinball Championship spot will be made available. The Country Exemption Spot #2 will go the the highest finisher at the IFPA Irish Championship Series, that isn’t already qualified through the Country Exemption Spot #1 or the At-Large field process. Any player that received an invitation to register for the IFPA World Pinball Championships and declined that invitation will still be eligible for this Country Exemption spot.

  • Malfunctions and Rulings

Anything not covered here will be ruled according to the official IFPA rules:
https://www.ifpapinball.com/rules

The IFPA Irish Championship Series was devised by Pinbaile
E-mail address for inquiries: info@pinbaile.com or contact the country director Alex Sperellis: asperellis@gmail.com