The 2026 IFPA Women’s World Championship is operated by the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA). This document specifies the official operating rules and regulations for the event.
The event coordinators for the 2026 IFPA Women’s World Championship are Samantha Bacon, Crystal Cory, Karyn Kiser, Kim Martinez, Jackie Olson, and Zoe Vrabel. Event coordinators organize volunteers, designate scorekeepers, handle malfunctions and rulings, delegate responsibilities and authority, and otherwise work to ensure the smooth operation of the tournament. Event coordinators and designated officials are not excluded from tournament play but will be recused from any situation that directly affects their actual or potential standing as a player.
I. Quick Overview
IFPA tournament rules reflect the experience of many years of tournament and league play, under many different systems. Many of the rules are based on rules used by the Professional and Amateur Pinball Association (PAPA). The underlying ideas are simple:
The tournament consists of 8 sessions of qualifying rounds. During each session, players play against each other in three 4-player games. Players earn points based on their finishing positions, with the top 16 advancing to the final rounds.
In the final rounds, qualifying players play against each other in head-to-head single elimination matches until a winner is determined.
II. Competition Details
- Date and location
March 28-29, 2026, at Lyons Classic Pinball, 339 W Main St, Lyons, Colorado
- How to qualify
Qualifying for the IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship is based on ranking data rather than performance in any specific qualifying event(s). Using its World Pinball Player Rankings (WPPR) and Women’s World Pinball Player Rankings (WWPPR), the IFPA will determine the qualifiers for the 2026 IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship based on the global standings as of January 1st, 2026. The tournament field will consist of 32 players in total. For players that cannot attend, spots will be filled by going down the WPPR and WWPPR rankings lists. 16 players will come from the main WPPR rankings, and 16 players will come from the WWPPR rankings. Players who are qualified based on both sets of rankings will be included based on the ranking that affords them the highest possible seed.
- Fees
The entry fee is $100 per player, which is payable through the IFPA website at the time of registration. In addition, players will be responsible for a venue entry fee; additional details will be shared once this fee is finalized.
Cancellations are refunded 50% of their registration fee. Any excess funds from player refunds will be added to the prize pool. Alternates who register but do not make the cut will receive a full refund once the qualifying field is set and be added to the waitlist. Should a player drop from the qualifying field, the waitlisted player with the highest seed will have 48 hours from the time the IFPA sends them an invitation to submit full payment to secure their spot.
- Prizes
The tournament features a guaranteed package of cash prizes. Additional prizes may be awarded at the discretion of the event organizers.
1st place → NIB Stern Game plus trophy!
2nd place → $1100 plus plaque!
3rd place → $600 plus plaque!
4th place → $500 plus plaque
5th – 8th place → $250 plus plaque!
The winner of the 2026 Women’s World Pinball Championship will also receive the title “Women’s World Pinball Champion.”
A spot to compete at the IFPA World Championship is reserved for the highest finisher at the IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship who did not qualify for the IFPA WC through the automatic bid process.
- Schedule
Saturday (Match Play)
8:00am – 9:00am → Check-in and announcements, warm-up period
9:00am – 10:30am → Session 1
10:30am – 12:00pm → Session 2
12:00pm – 1:30pm → Session 3
1:30pm – 3:00pm → Session 4
3:00pm – 4:00pm → Break
4:00pm – 5:30pm → Session 5
5:30pm – 7:00pm → Session 6
7:00pm – 8:30pm → Session 7
8:30pm – 10:00pm→ Session 8
Sunday (Single Elimination)
8:30am – 9:00am → Check-in for qualified players
9:00am – 11:00am → Round 1, Best of 7 (Seeds 9-16)
11:00am – 1:00pm → Round 2, Best of 7 (Seeds 5-8 join)
1:00pm – 3:00pm → Round 3, Best of 7 (Seeds 1-4 join)
3:00pm – 5:00pm → Round 4, Best of 7 (Top 4)
5:00pm – 7:00 pm → Finals and Bronze Match
Rounds will always start as soon as possible in an attempt to keep ahead of the above schedule.
III. Qualifying Sessions
- Player seeding
Once all participants are finalized, the players will be seeded based on their WPPR/WWPPR rank at the end of the calendar year. Players qualifying based on open events will be the odd-numbered seeds (1, 3, 5, etc.), while players qualifying based on women’s events will be the even-numbered seeds (2, 4, 6, etc.). Players who qualify under both systems will be assigned their highest possible seed.
The field will be divided into 8 groups of 4 players. Groups for Session 1 will be based on initial seeding of qualifiers: 1-16-17-32, 2-15-18-31, 3-14-19-30, 4-13-20-29, 5-12-21-28, 6-11-22-27, 7-10-23-26, 8-9-24-25
- Playing a session
Each group will be assigned 3 games at random: 1 “OLD”, 1 “MID”, and 1 “NEW”. Groups will play from OLD to MID to NEW except if there is a conflict of multiple groups being put on the same machine. Should this occur, every effort will be made to shift lower groups to a different game order. Match Play will show the proper order in which the games should be played.
Choice of position for game 1 will go to the highest seeded player within that group based on the standings entering that session; second choice will go to the second highest seeded player, third choice to the third highest seeded player, and the lowest seed will have the remaining position.
In subsequent games, the player finishing in last place will have choice of position for the next game. The player finishing in third place will have second choice of position. The player finishing in second place will have third choice of position. The player finishing in first place will have the remaining position.
- Scoring
A player’s result on each machine awards the following amount of points. These points are cumulative over all eight sessions to determine who qualifies for the finals.
1st place: 7 points
2nd place: 5 points
3rd place: 3 points
4th place: 1 point
In the event that two or more scores on a machine are tied, an average point value of the tied positions will be awarded for each tied score. For example, two players tying for 2nd place would earn each player 4 points.
In the unlikely event that someone drops out of the tournament during the qualifying sessions, a three-player group will be formed. Scoring in three-player groups will be 7 points for first place, 4 points for second place, and 1 point for third place. Three-player groups will be formed based on where the missing player(s) would have been grouped. Should four players drop out, we will instead form seven groups of four rather than four groups of four and four groups of three.
Tournament officials will endeavor to provide up-to-date scores and standings at all time using Match Play Events. Up-to-date scores and standings will also be linked to from the IFPA website.
- Regrouping for Session #2 through Session #8
After Session #1, players will be ranked according to their first session scores. Subsequent groupings will be done according to the most up-to-date standings entering that particular session.
Session 2: same as Session 1, based on Session 1 performance rather than initial seeding
Sessions 3 & 4: 1-8-9-16, 2-7-10-15, 3-6-11-14, 4-5-12-13, 17-24-25-32, 18-23-26-31, 19-22-27-30, 20-21-28-29
Sessions 5 & 6: 1-4-5-8, 2-3-6-7, 9-12-13-16, 10-11-14-15, 17-20-21-24, 18-19-22-23, 25-28-29-32, 26-27-30-31
Sessions 7 & 8: 1-2-3-4, 5-6-7-8, 9-10-11-12, 13-14-15-16, 17-18-19-20, 21-22-23-24, 25-26-27-28, 29-30-31-32
In the case of players that are tied in total points after a given session, those players will be randomly placed into the different tied positions available.
IV. Final Rounds
- Advancing to finals
When all 8 sessions of the qualifying round have been completed, a final calculation of standings will be tabulated. Those scores will be ranked, and the top 16 players will advance to the final rounds.
In the event a qualifying player is not available, they will be skipped in the ranking as if they had not qualified. Upon discovering that a player is not present, tournament officials will make a specific announcement for that player, allowing at least ten minutes but no more than twenty minutes for that player to appear. Substitutions or late arrivals are not allowed.
In the event that two or more players are tied on the qualifying bubble, for a potential bye, or for top seed, such that not all tied players can advance to the final rounds or receive the bye, a tiebreaking procedure will be utilized. A single game will be played on a machine randomly selected by tournament officials not participating in the finals from the qualifying bank of games. Player order will be randomly determined. This tie-breaking procedure is used to determine which players advance to the finals and which players are eliminated. However, this one-game playoff will not affect the seeding of the tied players that do advance. The tied players that do advance will be ranked according to the methods of players not on the qualifying bubble (see next paragraph).
In the event that two or more players are tied but are not on the qualifying or bye bubbles, no play-off is required. Instead, tournament officials will use the qualifying session results to determine the head-to-head results for the players involved in the tie. A winning percentage will be calculated for each player involved in the tie, and the player with the highest winning percentage will be given the highest rank available entering the final rounds. Should there be a tie in winning percentages between any of the players involved in the tie breaker, their original ranking used for seeding at the start of the tournament will be used to rank the players in order from highest to lowest. Should a player not have a record against any of the other players involved in the tie, that player will be ranked amongst those tied based on their initial ranking entering the tournament. The remaining players will be ranked based on the initial tie-breaking procedure of head-to-head record.
- Machines chosen
The machines used for final rounds in each division will be the same machines used during the qualifying session.
- Head-to-head single elimination format
The top 16 players from the First Round will be seeded based on their 8 session point total, and put into a bracket. Players seeded 1-4 will receive 2 byes, while players seeded 5-8 will receive 1 bye through the initial match play round. Players seeded 9 through 16 will battle in the initial round to see who advances to play those players seeded 5 through 8. Final rounds will be a single-elimination tournament.
First round pairings are as follows: 9 vs. 16, 10 vs. 15, 11 vs. 14, 12 vs. 13
Second round pairings are as follows: 5 vs. the winner of 12/13, 6 vs. the winner of 11/14, 7 vs. the winner of 10/15, 8 vs. the winner of 9/16
Third round pairings are as follows: 1 vs. the winner of 8/9/16, 2 vs. the winner of 7/10/15, 3 vs. the winner of 6/11/14, 4 vs. the winner of 5/12/13
Each match will be a race to 4 wins. At the start of the match, each player will choose an “OLD,” “MID,” and “NEW” machine. The lower-seeded player will choose the first machine, followed by the higher-seeded player choosing the second machine. This picking order will continue until 6 games have been chosen. A machine may not be picked more than once in the same match. Once a player verbally makes any choice regarding machine or position, they are locked into that decision.
The higher seed will first choose whether they want to start on one of their own choices or one of the lower seed’s choices. If the higher seed wants to start with one of the lower seed’s choices, the lower seed will then select which of their three chosen machines they want to start with. Choice of position will be based on who originally selected the machine before the match started. The player that did not have the machine as a part of their three choices will have choice of position on that particular machine. The match will alternate between machines chosen by each player until one of the players reaches 4 wins.
In the event of a 3-3 tie, a 7th game will be played to decide the match. The higher seed will have choice of machine or position. Any available tournament machine that hasn’t already been played in the match can be selected.
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 a best-of-three match. Each player will choose one machine. If the match is tied 1-1 after two games, the higher seed will have choice of game or position for the final game.
- Winners
Winners will receive cash prizes as cash, check, or virtual payment 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. All taxes are the sole responsibility of winners. Certain tax forms may need to be completed, as directed by tournament officials. All decisions by tournament officials regarding winners and prizes are final.
First Place will also receive the title “Women’s World Pinball Champion”. This title remains in effect until the next annual IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship, or will expire after two years if the IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship is discontinued.
V. Rulings and Malfunctions
All rulings and malfunctions will be based on the rules for the PAPA/IFPA ruleset. Those are available HERE.
