IFPA13 Overview

The IFPA is pleased to announce the 13th annual IFPA World Pinball Championship. It will be held April 12-14, 2016 at PAPA HQ in Carnegie, PA.

Below you will find important information about the tournament including how to qualify, tournament format, hotel accomodations, prize breakdown and more! Any questions please contact the IFPA at ifpapinball@gmail.com.

WHERE IS IFPA13 GOING TO BE HELD?

HOW DO YOU QUALIFY TO PLAY IN IFPA13?

Automatic Bid Qualification

Unlike most tournaments where the qualification process takes place over a couple of days, qualifying for the IFPA World Championship takes place all year. Utilizing its World Pinball Player Rankings, the IFPA will use the January 1st, 2016 rankings to determine the qualifiers for IFPA13. The tournament field will consist of 64 players in total. The top 2 ranked players from each eligible country as of 1/1/2016 will receive an automatic qualifying spot into the tournament. Should either of the top 2 players not be able to attend, that country exemption will move down the country ranking list until it is filled. The rest of the field will be made up of the most highly ranked players from the WPPR list, until we have filled 62 spots. For players that cannot attend, spots will be filled by going down the rankings list.

Additionally, 2 of the 64 spots will be made available, one reserved for the 2015-16 IFPA US National Pinball Championship and one reserved for the 2015-16 IFPA European Pinball Championship. These satellite spots will be open for any player ranked in the World Pinball Player Rankings as of the end of 2015, but did not qualify for IFPA13 through the automatic bid process. Any player that received an invitation to register for IFPA13 and declined that invitation will be ineligible for this satellite spot. Contact the IFPA for these details.

WHAT GAMES WILL BE USED IN THE TOURNAMENT?

Tournament games will consist of games spanning all eras (Electromechanical through the latest Dot Matrix Display and LCD games). These games will be divided into three groups for tournament play (OLD/MID/NEW). The game list will be published prior to the tournament so participants have plenty of time to get familiar with game rules and develop a strategy beforehand.

FIRST ROUND OF PLAY

The first round will consist of 8 sessions. Players will be divided into groups of 4 and will play one machine chosen at random from each era. First grouping will be 1/32/33/64, etc. Scoring will be 7-5-3-1 for all matches. Following each session players will be put into new groups based off of the most up to date standings.

Starting with session #2 through session #8, groups will be divided by the following:

Session 2: same as round 1
Session 3: 1-16-17-32, 2-15-18-31, etc, also 33-48-49-64, 34-47-50-63, etc.
Session 4: same as round 3
Session 5: 1-8-9-16, 2-7-10-15, etc, also 17-24-25-32, 18-23-26-31, etc.
Session 6: same as round 5
Session 7: 1-4-5-8, 2-3-6-7, 9-12-13-16, 10-11-14-15, etc.
Session 8: 1-2-3-4, 5-6-7-8, etc.

At the conclusion of the 8th session, 32 players will advance to the final round.

MATCH PLAY MADNESS

The top 32 players from the First Round will be seeded based on their 8 session point total, and put into a bracket. Players seeded 1-8 will receive 2 byes, while players seeded 9-16 will receive 1 bye through the initial match play round. Players seeded 17 through 32 will battle in the initial round to see who advances to play those players seeded 9 through 16. Final rounds will be a best 4 out of 7 single elimination tournament. Each player will choose an EM, SS and DMD machine. Should the match be tied after these 6 games, the match will move to ‘Sudden Death’. This will be a best of 3 match where any of the remaining machines are available to be chosen. 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. Winner advances to the next round, while the loser is eliminated.

PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Monday
6pm-7:30pm –> Practice Session
8pm-10pm –> The Epstein Cup

Tuesday
9am – 9:30am –> check in for players
9:30am – 10am –> Announcements/group picture/getting things started
10am – Noon –> Session #1
Noon – 2pm –> Session #2
2pm – 3pm –> Lunch
3pm – 5pm –> Session #3 (this will start 1 hour after the last group finishes Session #2)
5pm – 7pm –> Session #4
7pm – 8pm –> Dinner
8pm – 10pm –> Session #5 (this will start 1 hour after the last group finishes Session #4)
10pm – Midnight –> Session #6

Wednesday
9:30am – 10am –> check in for players
10am – Noon –> Session #7
Noon – 2pm –> Session #8
2pm – 3pm –> Tiebreaker Round (if needed)
3pm – 4pm –> Lunch
4pm – 6pm –> First Round (seeds 17 through 32 play)
6pm – 8pm –> Second Round (Seeds 9-16 play the winners of the first round)
8pm – 9pm –> Dinner
9pm – 11pm –> Third Round (Seeds 1-8 play the winners of the second round)

Thursday
9:30am – 10am –> check in for players
10am – Noon –> Elite 8
Noon – 2pm –> Final 4 and 5th through 8th match
2pm – 4pm –> Championship, Consolation final
4pm – 4:30pm –> Awards and wrap up

Rounds will always start as soon as possible in an attempt to keep ahead of the above schedule.

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS

Please contact the IFPA at ifpapinball@gmail.com with any questions or comments you may have.