I. Quick Overview
The IFPA Women’s North American Pinball Championship is an annual pinball competition organized by the IFPA. As part of the prize package for each IFPA Women’s State/Province/District Pinball Championship, each IFPA Women’s State/Province/District Pinball Champion will win free entry into the IFPA Women’s North American Pinball Championship. If the IFPA Women’s State/Province/District Pinball Champion is unable to attend the IFPA Women’s North American Pinball Championship, the runner-up will be allowed to participate and serve as the representative. The 2023-24 IFPA Women’s North American Pinball Championship will be held March 22nd, 2024 at Wizard’s World Pinball Arcade in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
All mentions of “State” below also refer to Province and District winners.
II. Competition Details
- How to qualify
The only way to qualify for the IFPA Women’s North American Pinball Championship is to win an IFPA Women’s State Pinball Championship. If the Women’s State Champion is unable to attend, the runner-up is the only eligible alternate.
- Fees
The entry fee for the IFPA Women’s North American Pinball Championship will be $20 for the inaugural 2023-24 event. Once the endorsement fees for women’s events go into effect in 2024, entry to this event will be free and a portion of the fees collected through the endorsement of women’s pinball events within the US and Canada will go towards the prize pool for the event.
- games
- Prizes
In addition to the entry fee collected from each competitor, the prize pool will be supplemented by sponsorships and donations. 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.
In addition to the prize pool, the winner of the event will receive a trophy and the title of Women’s North American Pinball Champion. Players placing in 2nd – 4th place will receive a plaque. The highest finisher of any United States State/District will earn the title of “US Women’s National Pinball Champion”. The highest finisher of any Canadian Province will earn the title of “Canadian Women’s National Pinball Champion”.
More details regarding the prize pool will be added to this page as they become available.
- Schedule
9am-10am –> Practice Session
10am-10pm –> Matches will be played continuously until the tournament is finished
III. Format of Matches
- 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.
- 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”.
Game list:
OLD
Cheetah
Embryon
Flash Gordon
Flight 2000
Harlem Globetrotters
Pinball
Seawitch
Wild Fyre
Wizard
MID
Congo
F-14 Tomcat
Fish Tales
Kiss (LE)
Medieval Madness
Monster Bash
Pin-Bot
Red and Ted’s Road Show
Shrek
NEW
Aerosmith (LE)
Beatles
Jurassic Park (30th Anniversary)
Rush (Pro)
Star Wars (Comic Book Art Pro)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Pro)
The Mandalorian (Pro)
The Walking Dead (Premium)
Tron
- 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.
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.
- 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 “Women’s North American Pinball Champion”. This title remains in effect until the next annual IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series, or will expire after two years if the IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series is discontinued.
5.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.
