Quick Overview

The IFPA Australian Championship Series is an annual pinball competition with players qualifying throughout the entire calendar year. At the end of each calendar year, the top 16 ranked players (or 24) with the most WPPR points from each state will qualify for the playoffs, where they will play for the title of IFPA State/Territory Champion within that area.

From there, these champions, along with the other Top 4-6 finalists (number depending on how many participants) from each State/Territory final, will be invited to play for the IFPA Australian Pinball Championship, details of which can be found below. The remaining portion of the field of 48 will be filled by the top WPPR earners (best 20 results) throughout the calendar year.

All mentions of “State” below also refer to Territory winners.

Competition Details

1. How to qualify

Unlike most tournaments where the qualification process takes place over a couple of days at the tournament site, qualifying for the IFPA State Championship Series is based on results from all the IFPA endorsed tournaments held throughout the year in each eligible state. Utilizing its World Pinball Player Rankings, the IFPA will be tracking results based on where those IFPA endorsed tournaments are held, maintaining separate state rankings made up of those filtered results.

For example, the Queensland State Rankings will be made up of IFPA endorsed tournaments including the Brisbane Masters, Empire Pinball Tournaments, Yaboola Pinball Tournamets, Sunshine Coast Pinball, Park’n’Plunge, Coomera Classic, etc. Those 16 (or 24) players that earn the most WPPR points based only on these subset of events, will qualify for the IFPA Queensland State Championship. Similar to the World Pinball Player Rankings, only a player’s best 20 events within that state will count towards their standing.

No player will be eligible to play in more than one IFPA State Championship, so it is likely that the IFPA will have to move down the state/territory rankings list to find 16 (or 24) eligible qualifiers to participate in the State Championship. It is possible to qualify for an IFPA State Championship within a state that player does not live in, and it is even possible for players that live outside Australia to qualify for an IFPA State Championship should they earn enough WPPR points within a state to qualify.

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 any State Championships they are qualified for. 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.

While all States will have a minimum of 16 players that qualify for the State Championship, certain states will be eligible to expand their qualifying field to 24 players. Any States that have a minimum of 200 unique players and 50 events held within that state during the calendar year will be eligible for that expanded 24 player final.

1. Fees

An endorsement fee of $1 per player, per event will now be required for events to be endorsed by the IFPA and award WPPR points within Australia.

Tournament Directors are responsible for submitting payment to IFPA after results are approved. WPPR points will not be posted until payment has been received by the IFPA.

The fees collected will be allocated to the prize pool of that state (60%), prize pool of the Australian Championship (25%), mandatory prize pool for IFPA World Championship (5%), with the remaining 10% of the fees being withheld to cover processing fees related to those payments.

Format of Matches

1. Seeding of finalists

Once all participants are finalized, the 16 or 24 players will be seeded based on their State rankings position at the end of the calendar year. In the event that any players are tied with the same amount of In-State WPPR points, we will look at the overall WPPR rank of those players as of the end of that calendar year. Any players tied on the qualifying bubble with the same State ranking position will result in a play-in tiebreaker game to determine who joins the field of finalists for the State Championship. Game and position will be pulled at random by the TD.

1. Machines Chosen

With each IFPA State Championship being held at a different location, each will have a different set of games available for the tournament. Please check with the IFPA State Representative for details on the game list once the location has been finalized for that particular IFPA State Championship.

1. Head-to-Head Single Elimination Format

Players will be placed in a single elimination bracket once the seedings have been completed.

First round pairings (based on 16 entrants) 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 State Championship
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 a choice of machine or position for the 1st game.  For every game thereafter in the same match, selection of machine or order will alternate between the players, until someone has won 4 games. Players must select from whichever machines are available for play at the time of selection, however a machine may not be played more than once in the same match.  This does not apply if 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 up to 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. It is up to the IFPA State Representative as to whether matches will be played out to determine 5th through 16th (or 24th) place.

For any state that is eligible for the expanded field of 24 finalists, the top 8 players will receive a bye, with the 9th through 24th seeds playing in an opening round. The rest of the bracket will play out as above.

1. Winners

Winners will receive cash prizes as cash during an awards ceremony shortly following the conclusion of all final rounds.. All decisions by tournament officials regarding winners and prizes are final.

Any state with 16 finalists will have the following payout structure:

1st place – 30% of the prize pool
2nd place – 18% of the prize pool
3rd place – 12% of the prize pool
4th place – 8% of the prize pool
5th through 8th place – 4% of the prize pool each
9th through 16th place – 2% of the prize pool each

Any state with 24 finalists will have the following payout structure:

1st place – 28% of the prize pool
2nd place – 16% of the prize pool
3rd place – 10% of the prize pool
4th place – 6% of the prize pool
5th through 8th place – 4% of the prize pool each
9th through 16th place – 2% of the prize pool each
17th through 24th place – 1% of the prize pool each

First Place will also receive the title “IFPA State Pinball Champion” for the state being contested. For example, the winner of the IFPA Queensland State Championship will receive the title of “IFPA Queensland State Pinball Champion”. This title remains in effect until the next annual IFPA State Championship Series, or will expire after two years if the IFPA State Championship Series is discontinued.

Rulings and Malfunctions

All rulings and malfunctions will be based on the rules for the IFPA/PAPA unified ruleset, available HERE.

IFPA Australian Championship

As part of the prize package for each IFPA State Championship, the Top 4 finalists (or 6 for any State final with 24 entrants) will be invited to the IFPA Australian Pinball Championship. If any of the Top 4 (or 6) finalists are unable to attend the IFPA Australian Pinball Championship, the next finalist(s) from the State Championship will be allowed to participate and serve as the representative(s) of that state, down as far as the 8th placed finalist.  If there are less than 4 finalists from the Top 8 from a particular state, that spot will be given back to the National WPPR rankings.

The IFPA Australian Pinball Championship will be held in March 2024 (dates to be advised) in Perth, Western Australia.

Now that the 2022 qualifying season has wrapped up, we would like to congratulate all players who participated in the inaugural IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series and to extend our thanks to the organizers who facilitated these events.

We also want to thank all of the organizers/tournament directors and players who provided feedback and suggestions about what worked well and what could be improved moving forward. Based on that feedback, we are introducing some changes for the 2023 qualifying season that we believe will improve the experience for organizers and participants.

Schedule: Feedback was split on whether it was more convenient or less convenient to hold WNACS events on the Sunday directly following NACS events. We recognize that this depends on the size and scope of the pinball community in each region, not to mention the geographical remoteness of available venues. For 2024, WNACS Day will be held on January 21st, which is the Sunday immediately following NACS Day. For people who are organizing in regions where this scheduling presents a challenge, please feel free to reach out to collaborate on potential approaches that can reduce the burden. 

Qualification:

Qualifying for the IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series is based on results from any IFPA-endorsed tournament held throughout the year in each eligible state/province. Qualifiers will continue to be drawn from open events and women’s events in each state/province. A state must have 2 or more sanctioned women’s events in order to have a 16-player championship. In states/regions where there are fewer than 2 sanctioned women’s events, there will be an 8-player championship. There will not be “super states” that qualify for 24-player championships based on the total number of players and events held in a state/province for the 2023 qualifying season, but we are evaluating the concept for future implementation.

Beginning with the 2023 qualifying season, there will be a 20-event cap for each “side” of the standings (open/women’s). A player’s best 20 events on each side of the standings will count toward their standing. 

All IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series events will be held on the same day. No player will be eligible to play in more than one WNACS event. We plan to have a Women’s North American Championship event that the championships funnel into, and will announce additional details as we have them.

Seeding:

We plan to simplify and automate the seeding process to make it more accessible to organizers/tournament directors and players and to avoid confusion. Our goal is to have a process and infrastructure that more closely resembles NACS. This includes automated seeding and public visibility into RSVPs so that there is increased transparency into which state/province players have declared intent to play in on the IFPA website.

Beginning with the 2023 qualifying season, the following changes to seeding will be enacted:

Qualifiers from the “women’s” side of the bracket will now receive the odd seeds in their respective competitions, and qualifiers from the “open” side of the bracket will receive the even seeds. The goal is to continue incentivizing participation in women’s events even as both types of events remain valuable for the player field.

Players will not be locked into a specific side of the rankings until all participants have been finalized. This will ensure that players who performed well in both open and women’s-only events are afforded the highest possible seed based on which competitors commit to attend.

When organizers/tournament directors have exhausted all potential qualifiers from one “side” of the qualifying standings, they may draw from qualified players on the other “side.” This is a change from the inaugural year, made with the goal of having a full bracket wherever possible. (Note: This applies only for the regions that are eligible for a 16-player championship. Regions without a sufficient number of women’s events will continue to draw 8 participants from the open rankings.)

Fees and Prizes:

The entry fee will stay at $20, to be distributed according to the same percentages as our inaugural year (40% to 1st place, 30% to 2nd place, 20% to 3rd place, and 10% to 4th place). However, any additional cash, goods, or services gathered by organizers can be distributed to competitors based on organizer discretion. Organizers with concerns about entry fees and/or cash prizes related to state or venue restrictions should reach out to the IFPA for guidance.

Communication:

In order to improve communication and to ensure that there is clarity among organizers and players about how WNACS tournaments should be run, the IFPA will provide a shared document that outlines the structure and rules of play well in advance of the tournament date. The goals are to (1) ensure that each tournament is run using the same rules/structure in each state  and (2) to ensure that tournament directors feel supported and well informed in orchestrating their individual events.

The IFPA will also provide draft email language for tournament directors to send to players who have qualified/are close to the cutline for WNACS to help alleviate strain on organizers/tournament directors, as well as to ensure that players have the most up-to-date information.

While our primary means of communication will continue to be email and posts on the IFPA website (which automatically go out through our social media channels), we also recently introduced an IFPA Discord channel dedicated to women’s pinball. We believe that this will facilitate additional instantaneous communication among players and organizers and allow frequently asked questions to be crowdsourced to knowledgeable members of the community. Please note that while the IFPA Women’s Board is a part of the Discord server, we cannot guarantee we will see each and every post, so any communication that requires direct IFPA input should still be emailed to ifpawomen@gmail.com. Anyone who organizes or participates in women’s pinball events can join the Discord channel by joining the IFPA Discord Server and adding themselves to the ifpa-womens public channel.

Women’s State/Provincial Representatives:

Beginning this year, we are establishing a set of women’s state/provincial representatives. These representatives will work in concert with their state/provincial representatives to increase the awareness of competitive pinball and to facilitate the state/provincial women’s championships in their respective states. If you organized a women’s championship in this inaugural year, please let us know in the next few weeks whether you are interested in continuing as an IFPA women’s representative for your state/province.

Quick Overview

The IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series is an annual pinball competition with players qualifying throughout the entire calendar year. Included in the WNACS are the IFPA Women’s State Championship Series in the United States, IFPA Women’s Provincial Championship Series in Canada and the IFPA Women’s District Championship Series in Washington D.C. At the end of each calendar year, the top 8 ranked players based on women’s events and the top ranked players based on open events from each state will qualify for the playoffs, where they will play for the title of IFPA Women’s State/Province/District Champion within that area.

Any mentions of “state championship” below is intended to include provincial and district championships as well.

Competition Details

1. How to qualify

Unlike most tournaments where the qualification process takes place over a couple of days at the tournament site, qualifying for the IFPA Women’s State Championship Series is based on results from all the IFPA endorsed tournaments held throughout the year in each eligible state. Utilizing its World Pinball Player Rankings, the IFPA will be tracking results based on where those IFPA endorsed tournaments are held, maintaining separate state rankings made up of those filtered results. Qualifying will be based on two sets of standings: performance in open events and performance in women’s-only events, with 8 qualifiers coming from each standings. If fewer than two women’s-only events are held in a state in a calendar year, only the top 8 women based on open event performance will qualify for the Women’s State Championship.

For example, the open side of the Oregon State Rankings will be made up of IFPA endorsed tournaments and leagues such as Emerald City Pinball League, Pinball Knights Weeklies, and the Northwest Oh-Pin. The women’s-only side of the Oregon State Rankings will be made up of IFPA endorsed events such as Battle of the Belles, Next Level’s International Women’s Day Tourney, and Women’s Wednesdays. The top 16 players that earn the most WPPR points based only on these subsets of events (8 from each subset of standings) will qualify for the IFPA Oregon Women’s State Championship. Similar to the World Pinball Player Rankings, only a player’s best 20 events of a given type within that state will count towards their standing in each subset.

No player will be eligible to play in more than one IFPA Women’s State Championship, so the IFPA may have to move down the state rankings list to find 16 eligible qualifiers to participate in the State Championship. It is possible to qualify for an IFPA State Championship within a state that player does not live in, and it is even possible for players that live outside of the US to qualify for an IFPA State Championship should they earn enough WPPR points within a state to qualify.

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 any State Championships they are qualified for. 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.

Unlike the North American State Championship Series, there are no expanded field Super States at this time.

2. Fees

The IFPA does not currently charge an endorsement fee for women’s events. As such, entry into each Women’s State Championship will be $20 per player. Consult the section “Format of Matches: Winners” below for payout structure details.

Format of Matches

1. Seeding of finalists

Players who qualify based on their women’s-only event performance will be assigned odd seeds, and players who qualify based on their open event performance will be assigned even seeds. Players who qualify via both types of events will not be locked into a specific side of the rankings until all participants have been finalized, at which point they will be assigned the higher of the seeds they achieved. Seedings should be updated whenever changes to the committed participant field occur up until the event begins.

In the event that any players are tied with the same amount of In-State WPPR points on either side of the standings, we will look at the overall WPPR rank of those players as of the end of that calendar year. Any players tied on the qualifying bubble with the same State ranking position will result in a play-in tiebreaker game to determine who joins the field of finalists for the State Championship. Game and position will be pulled at random by the TD.

In the event that organizers/tournament directors have exhausted all potential qualifiers from one subset of the qualifying standings, they may draw from qualified players on the other set of standings. (Note: This applies only for the regions that are eligible for a 16-player championship. Regions without a sufficient number of women’s events will continue to draw 8 participants from the open rankings.)

2. Machines Chosen

With each IFPA State Championship being held at a different location, each will have a different set of games available for the tournament. Please check with your event director for details on the game list once the location has been finalized for that particular IFPA Women’s State Championship.

3. Head-to-Head Single Elimination Format

Players will be placed in a single elimination bracket once the seedings have been completed.

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 Women’s State Championship

Two losers of round 3 play in the Consolation Final for 3rd/4th place.

Each match will be a best-of-seven. Each match will be a race to 4 wins (unless a match is tied 3-3 after 6 games where a sudden death tiebreaker will be played – see below). 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 all 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. Please note that State Reps have the authority to not have an era breakdown for the event, in which case the choices of each player at the start of the match will be from the entire field of available machines. Once a player verbally announces their game choice, or chooses position, that decision will be locked in and cannot be changed.

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. 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 all 6 games are completed. Should a player reach 4 wins before all 6 games are completed, no further games should be played.

Should the match be tied after these 6 games, the match will move to ‘Sudden Death’. This will be a single game where any of the remaining machines are available to be chosen. The higher seeded player will have choice of machine or position for this ‘Sudden Death’ game.”

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. It is up to the event director as to whether matches will be played out to determine 5th through 16th place.

4. Winners

Winners will receive prizes during an awards ceremony shortly following the conclusion of all final rounds. Winners need not be present to receive prizes. All decisions by tournament officials regarding winners and prizes are final.

The core prize pool for each state championship is $20 x the number of participants. The core prize pool will be paid out to the top 4 finishers in the following payout structure::

1st place – 40% of the prize pool 

2nd place – 30% of the prize pool 

3rd place – 20% of the prize pool 

4th place – 10% of the prize pool 

Additional prizes outside of the core prize pool may be distributed to participants at the event director’s discretion.

First Place will also receive the title “IFPA Women’s State Pinball Champion” for the state being contested. For example, the winner of the IFPA Illinois Women’s State Championship will receive the title of “IFPA Illinois Women’s State Pinball Champion”. This title remains in effect until the next annual Championship Series, or will expire after two years if the Championship Series is discontinued.

Rulings and Malfunctions

All rulings and malfunctions will be based on the rules for the IFPA/PAPA unified ruleset, available HERE.

I. Quick Overview

The IFPA North American Pinball Championship is an annual pinball competition organized by the IFPA. As part of the prize package for each IFPA State/Province/District Pinball Championship, each IFPA State/Province/District Pinball Champion will win free entry into the IFPA North American Pinball Championship. If the IFPA State/Province/District Pinball Champion is unable to attend the IFPA North American Pinball Championship, the runner-up will be allowed to participate and serve as the representative. The 2023-24 IFPA North American Pinball Championship will be held March 7th, 2024 at District 82 in DePere, Wisconsin.

All mentions of “State” below also refer to Province and District winners.

II. Competition Details

1. How to qualify

The only way to qualify for the IFPA North American Pinball Championship is to win an IFPA State Pinball Championship. If the State Champion is unable to attend, the runner-up is the only eligible alternate.

2. Fees

There is no entry fee into the IFPA North American Pinball Championship. 20% of the fees collected through the endorsement of events within the US and Canada will go towards the prize pool for the event.

3. Prizes

The tournament features a guaranteed package of cash prizes. In the event of an overrun beyond expenses, tournament revenue will be retained to finance the next IFPA event. In the event IFPA discontinues its events or is disbanded, any such retained revenue will be donated to charity.

The prize package will be determined based on the endorsement fees collected. All participants in the IFPA North American Pinball Championship will be paid out. Here is the prize pool breakdown:

1st Place –> NIB Stern Pro Pinball Machine + Trophy + Title of “North American Pinball Champion”
2nd Place –> $4000 + plaque
3rd Place –> $3250 + plaque
4th Place –> $2500 + plaque
5th through 8th place –> $1500 each
9th through 16th place –> $1000 each
17th through 32nd place –> $500 each
33rd through 58th place –> $300 each

Highest finisher of any United States State/District will earn the title of “US National Pinball Champion”
Highest finisher of any Canadian Province will earn the title of “Canadian National Pinball Champion”

4. Schedule

9am-10am –> Practice Session
10am-10pm –> Matches will be played continuously until the tournament is finished

III. Format of Matches

1. Seeding of finalists

Once all participants are finalized, the players will be seeded based on their WPPR rank at the end of the calendar year.

2. Machines Chosen

3 sets of 8 machines will be available for the championship. One set will be designated “OLD”, one set “MID”, and one set “NEW”.

3. Head-to-Head Single Elimination Format

Players will be placed in a single elimination bracket once the seedings have been completed. Depending on the number of players, there will be byes for the top seeded players through the first round.

With 32 players or fewer, a standard seeded 32 player bracket will be used. Click HERE for an example bracket.

With more than 32 players, a standard seeded 64 player bracket will be used. Click HERE for an example bracket.

Each match will be a race to 4 wins (unless a match is tied 3-3 after 6 games where a sudden death tiebreaker will be played – see below). 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 all 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. 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 all 6 games are completed. Should a player reach 4 wins before all 6 games are completed, no further games should be played. If the higher seeded player chooses to start on one of their machine choices, they will choose game number 1, 3 and 5 in the match (from their 3 picks). The lower seeded player would then be choosing game number 2, 4 and 6 in the match (from their 3 picks).

Should the match be tied after these 6 games, the match will move to ‘Sudden Death’. This will be a single game where any of the remaining machines are available to be chosen. The higher seeded player will have choice of machine or position for this ‘Sudden Death’ game.

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 fast forward to the ‘Sudden Death’ portion of the match and be 1 game with the higher seeded player having choice of machine or position.

4. Winners

Winners will 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. 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 “North American Pinball Champion”. This title remains in effect until the next annual IFPA North American Championship Series, or will expire after two years if the IFPA North American Championship Series is discontinued.

IV. Rulings and Malfunctions

All rulings and malfunctions will be based on the rules for the IFPA World Pinball Championship. Those are available HERE, starting at Paragraph V. Please ignore any sections above this as that relates to the format of the World Championship.

Quick Overview

The IFPA North American Championship Series is an annual pinball competition with players qualifying throughout the entire calendar year. Included in the NACS are the IFPA State Championship Series in the United States, IFPA Provincial Championship Series in Canada and the IFPA District Championship Series in Washington D.C. At the end of each calendar year, the top 16 ranked players (or 24) with the most WPPR points from each state will qualify for the playoffs, where they will play for the title of IFPA State/Province/District Champion within that area.

From there, these champions will be invited to play for the IFPA North American Pinball Championship, details of which can be found below. Any mentions of the SCS below also apply to the PCS and DCS.

Competition Details

1. How to qualify

Unlike most tournaments where the qualification process takes place over a couple of days at the tournament site, qualifying for the IFPA State Championship Series is based on results from all the IFPA endorsed tournaments held throughout the year in each eligible state. Utilizing its World Pinball Player Rankings, the IFPA will be tracking results based on where those IFPA endorsed tournaments are held, maintaining separate state rankings made up of those filtered results.

For example, the Illinois State Rankings will be made up of IFPA endorsed tournaments including Pinball Expo’s Flip Out tournament, Chicagoland Pinball League, Gameworks Pinball Tournament of Champions, Illini Pinball League, Gameworks Monthly Pinball Tournament, Pre-Expo Fall Classic, etc. Those 16 (or 24) players that earn the most WPPR points based only on these subset of events, will qualify for the IFPA Illinois State Championship. Similar to the World Pinball Player Rankings, only a player’s best 20 events within that state will count towards their standing.

No player will be eligible to play in more than one IFPA State Championship, so it is likely that the IFPA will have to move down the state rankings list to find 16 (or 24) eligible qualifiers to participate in the State Championship. It is possible to qualify for an IFPA State Championship within a state that player does not live in, and it is even possible for players that live outside of the US to qualify for an IFPA State Championship should they earn enough WPPR points within a state to qualify.

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 any State Championships they are qualified for. 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. The IFPA requires that you have a registered account to be eligible to compete in the IFPA North American Championship Series.

While all States will have a minimum of 16 players that qualify for the State Championship, certain states will be eligible to expand their qualifying field to 24 players. Any States that have a minimum of 400 unique players and 100 events held within that state during the calendar year will be eligible for that expanded 24 player final.

2. Fees

An endorsement fee of $1 per player, per event will now be required for events to be endorsed by the IFPA and award WPPR points within the United States, Canada and Washington D.C.

Tournament Directors are responsible for submitting payment to IFPA after results are approved. WPPR points will not be posted until payment has been received by the IFPA.

The fees collected will be allocated to the prize pool of that state (65%), prize pool of the North American Championship (20%), prize pool of the IFPA World Pinball Championship (5%) with 10% of the fees being withheld to cover processing fees related to those payments. Please note for Canadian Provinces the endorsement fee will be paid in CAD, however the funding for the North American Championship will be at the USD total. Based on current exchange rates this makes the PCS split roughly 60% province, 25% to the North American Championship, 5% to the IFPA World Pinball Championship and 10% fees.

Format of Matches

1. Seeding of finalists

Once all participants are finalized, the 16 or 24 players will be seeded based on their State rankings position at the end of the calendar year. In the event that any players are tied with the same amount of In-State WPPR points, we will look at the overall WPPR rank of those players as of the end of that calendar year. Any players tied on the qualifying bubble with the same State ranking position will result in a play-in tiebreaker game to determine who joins the field of finalists for the State Championship. Game and position will be pulled at random by the TD.

2. Machines Chosen

With each IFPA State Championship being held at a different location, each will have a different set of games available for the tournament. Please check with the IFPA State Representative for details on the game list once the location has been finalized for that particular IFPA State Championship.

3. Head-to-Head Single Elimination Format

Players will be placed in a single elimination bracket once the seedings have been completed.

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 State Championship
Two losers of round 3 player in the Consolation Final for 3rd/4th place.

Each match will be a race to 4 wins (unless a match is tied 3-3 after 6 games where a sudden death tiebreaker will be played – see below). 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 all 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. Please note that State Reps have the authority to not have an era breakdown for the event, in which case the choices of each player at the start of the match will be from the entire field of available machines.

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. 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 all 6 games are completed. Should a player reach 4 wins before all 6 games are completed, no further games should be played. If the higher seeded player chooses to start on one of their machine choices, they will choose game number 1, 3 and 5 in the match (from their 3 picks). The lower seeded player would then be choosing game number 2, 4 and 6 in the match (from their 3 picks).

Should the match be tied after these 6 games, the match will move to ‘Sudden Death’. This will be a single game where any of the remaining machines are available to be chosen. The higher seeded player will have choice of machine or position for this ‘Sudden Death’ game.

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. It is up to the IFPA State Representative as to whether matches will be played out to determine 5th through 16th (or 24th) place.

For any state that is eligible for the expanded field of 24 finalists, the top 8 players will receive a bye, with the 9^th through 24^th seeds playing in an opening round. The rest of the bracket will play out as above.

4. Winners

Winners will 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. 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.

Any state with 16 finalists will have the following payout structure:

1^st place – 30% of the prize pool

2^nd place – 18% of the prize pool

3^rd place – 12% of the prize pool

4^th place – 8% of the prize pool

5^th through 8^th place – 4% of the prize pool each

9^th through 16^th place – 2% of the prize pool each

Any state with 24 finalists will have the following payout structure:

1^st place – 28% of the prize pool

2^nd place – 16% of the prize pool

3^rd place – 10% of the prize pool

4^th place – 6% of the prize pool

5^th through 8^th place – 4% of the prize pool each

9^th through 16^th place – 2% of the prize pool each

17^th through 24^th place – 1% of the prize pool each

First Place will also receive the title “IFPA State Pinball Champion” for the state being contested. For example, the winner of the IFPA Ilinois State Championship will receive the title of “IFPA Illinois State Pinball Champion”. This title remains in effect until the next annual IFPA State Championship Series, or will expire after two years if the IFPA State Championship Series is discontinued.

Rulings and Malfunctions

All rulings and malfunctions will be based on the rules for the IFPA/PAPA unified ruleset, available HERE.

IFPA North American Championship

As part of the prize package for each IFPA State Championship, each IFPA State Champion will win free entry into the IFPA North American Pinball Championship. If the IFPA State Champion is unable to attend the IFPA North American Pinball Championship, the runner-up at the State Championship will be allowed to participate and serve as the representative of that state.

The IFPA North American Pinball Championship will be held on Thursday, March 7th, 2024 at District 82 in De Pere, WI. Additional details on the format and prizes is available HERE.

Registration for the 2023 IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship closes on Wednesday, January 18th, 8pm CST.

If you ended 2022 in the top 50 of the women’s rankings based on performance in open events (WPPRs) or based on performance in women’s events (WWPPRs), you should have received an email from the IFPA on Wednesday the 11th.

If you are interested in attending and have not already paid the $50 entry fee, please send payment to the IFPA as your commitment to attend the tournament. If you are not interested, it is equally important that we know, so please send an email to the IFPA stating you will not be available to participate. If you are an alternate and do not move into a qualifying position, you will receive a 100% refund of your $50 entry fee as soon as registration closes.

We’re keeping the spreadsheet with official standings and responses as up to date as possible, and it is available for your reference here.

With the new match play format for this event, the field will be 32 players: 16 from WPPR rankings and 16 from WWPPR rankings. For more details on the tournament, please see the Women’s World Pinball Championship event page.

Please contact the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board at IFPAWomen@gmail.com with any questions about the event.

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This announcement serves as a reminder to all players and organizers participating in the IFPA’s inaugural Women’s State and Provincial Championship Series. As we wrap up this qualifying season, we wanted to address some frequently asked questions about the campaign and the upcoming State/Provincial tournaments on January 22.

The IFPA expects all IFPA Women’s State/Provincial Championship Series to adhere to these policies for this inaugural year.

A version of this announcement was sent to organizers of IFPA Women’s State/Provincial Championship Series Tournaments, but we also wanted to make it available publicly.

–Qualifying for WNACS is based on two sets of standings: performance in open events and performance in women’s- events, with eight qualifiers from each standings.  If fewer than two women’s-only events are held in a state in a calendar year, only the top 8 players based on open event performance will qualify for the Women’s State/Provincial Championship. That policy, along with other region-specific circumstances, means there may not be a 16-player field in a given region. In those cases, organizers should default to “byes” rather than selecting additional competitors outside of the stated ruleset.

One of our goals in structuring the bracket to include an equal number of competitors from open events and women’s events has been to increase interest and participation in women’s events as a pathway to qualifying for the Women’s State/Provincial Championships. We see these events as a valuable growth opportunity for competitive pinball.

–When defaulting to “byes,” we advise pushing everyone up so that all the byes are at the bottom, and the top seeds benefit. Everyone would remain in the same order. This may result in some open qualifiers having even seed numbers or odd seed numbers, but they would remain in the same seeded order. This rewards the top qualifiers from both sides of the bracket.

–No player is eligible to play in more than one IFPA Women’s State/Provincial Championship.

–Eligible players (or those in close proximity to the cut line) should have been contacted by the tournament directors in the state/province for which they are eligible, and have affirmed their intention to play by January 7th, 8PM CST, out of fairness to all competitors.

–All participants in WNACS must have a registered IFPA profile. Please encourage any players who have attempted to register but do not see a green checkmark on their IFPA profile to reach out to us to confirm they are fully registered and eligible to play on January 22nd. Otherwise, they will unfortunately not be able to participate in the championship.

The IFPA’s sanctioning policies and practices do not allow for rules changes to be made once a qualifying season is well underway, or once it has concluded. After this season concludes, we plan to take a look at all of the feedback we have received and update various rules based on this season. Some of the areas we have already flagged for consideration next year include (but are not limited to) the lack of a 20-event cap for a player’s standing; the way that the “open” and “women’s” sides of the brackets interact for WNACS qualification; and seeding policies.

The IFPA is sincerely grateful for all the thoughtful and constructive feedback we’ve received from organizers so far in this inaugural year. We’re confident that WNACS policies and communication will continue to improve each year because of it.

The IFPA is pleased to announce the 18th annual IFPA World Pinball Championship. It will be held June 1-4, 2023 at Freddy’s Pinball Paradise in Echzell, Germany. Details for IFPA18 can be found HERE.

Registration is available below. Registration deadline is set for Sunday, January 15th, 2023 at 8pm CST.

For At-Large spots, the entry fee is US$350.

For Country Exemption spots, the entry fee is US$250.

Rules for Country Exemption eligibility:

A player must be residing in their registered country for at least a year in order to be eligible. For countries that organize an IFPA Country Championship Series, players that have qualified for that final will be given priority for a Country Exemption spot over those that have not qualified. Furthermore, we require that a country has 50 or more players currently ranked within their country to be eligible to award these 2 Country Exemption spots for the IFPA World Pinball Championship.

Any questions please contact the IFPA at ifpapinball@gmail.com.

As we come to the end of another year, the 2023 season brings the changeover to our WPPR v5.8 system. Details on the WPPR v5.8 changes can be found HERE. The 2023 season also brings us some additional challenges with the IFPA sanctioning fee expanding worldwide for any Main ranking system events. Women’s only events will continue to not have any sanctioning fees.

In order to close the books on 2022, we ask any organizer with open tournament results to submit those to us by Wednesday, January 4th. Furthermore, any corrections to player misspellings, incorrect results, improper scoring issues, etc., need to be addressed by January 4th as well. Please take some time to review your own personal results to see if anything looks out of place.

Our plan is to lock down 2022 rankings on January 4th, and use the standings at that time for any IFPA-related campaigns (IFPA18 World Championship qualifications, IFPA Women’s World Championship, Stern Rewards Program, Player of the Year, etc.). Any errors caught after that point in time will NOT impact the 2022 standings, although those changes will be reflected in the 2023 rankings going forward.

The 2023 season brings with it the start of qualifying for the following IFPA campaigns:
– IFPA North American Championship Series
– IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series
– IFPA European Championship Series
– any IFPA Country Championship Series
– IFPA19 World Pinball Championship
– IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship
– Stern Pro Circuit (2023 season)

Any questions please contact us at ifpapinball@gmail.com, and remember that if your profile doesn’t say ‘Registered’ with a green check mark, that we do NOT have your email address on file. Players that don’t have their profile ‘Registered’ are ineligible to participate in any IFPA Championship Series.

With the North American Championship Series (NACS) and Women’s North American Championship Series (WNACS) planned for January 21st and 22nd, 2023 respectively, registration process is going to be fast. Players will have until the end of January 7th, 8pm CST to declare the State/Province they wish to compete in. Contact your IFPA State Representative to make sure you are registered for the state you wish to play in. Contact the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board at ifpawomen@gmail.com for questions on the WNACS.