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The 4th Fairfax Pinball Open - April 6-7, 2007

Friday, April 6, 2007 and Saturday April 7, 2007

Tournament game settings

Extra Balls will not be played.  If extra balls are not turned off on the tournament game (this may be the case with some of the classics), they must be plunged and the player must step away from the game.

When possible, ball savers will be turned off.  In some cases the rules may be set to hard settings, outlanes may be wider than factory settings, rubber rings and posts on the games may be other than factory (in many cases, white rings, red flipper rubber and yellow posts).  Many of the games that will be used at the FPO are at John's Place now, so practice up before the tournament!

Bangbacks and death saves are not allowed at the Fairfax Pinball Open.  Respect the games!  Some of the games at the FPO come from private collections and we expect to return them to their owners in the same condition we received them.  Players hitting the glass, kicking the legs or otherwise damaging the pinball machines risk being thrown out of FPO events by the tournament directors without refund!

Main Tournament - Overview

The main tournament will feature qualifying entries to seed a bracket tournament, and will be played in two or three divisions:

Minimum Guaranteed Prizes (prize funds will grow with the number of players and qualifier entries):

A: Wizards Division - 1st place $500 & trophy, 2nd $250, 3rd $150, 4th $100.

B: Journeymen Division - 1st place $150 & trophy, 2nd $80, 3rd $60, 4th $40.


The A Divison winners will also receive World Pinball Player Ranking (WPPR) points!

The top A division qualifier wins $100 and the top B division qualifier $50.  All entry money (beyond trophies) will go to the winners, so the prizes could be more if there is a large attendance.

$50 to register in A Division, $20 to register in B Division plus quarters to play the games.  Registration includes 2 qualifying entries.  Additional qualifying entries are $15 for A division and $5 for B Division.

The B division is open to all players except for known pinball experts and experienced competitors, subject to the following criteria: 

Players who have qualified for the semifinals in B division at PAPA/Pinburgh, A division PAPA/Pinburgh players, pinball league champions, and those who have qualified for A division playoffs in either FSPA league within the last two seasons must play in the A division in the Saturday tournament.

The tournament directors reserve the right to determine whether a player's skill is too great for B division.  In such a case, we would refund all entry fee money and offer the player to enter a higher division.   

Main Tournament - Qualifying/Seeding

ALL PLAYERS entering the tournament WILL qualify for the bracket tournament.   The qualifying process is designed to maximize the advantage to the highest seeds.   Higher seeds will be placed in the upper bracket for double-elimination, and lower seeds will be placed directly in the lower bracket where they will be subject to single elimination.    The highest one or two qualifiers will also receive a bye past the first round of top bracket. 

Qualifying for the main tournament starts at 3:00 p.m. Friday and runs until 3:00 p.m. Saturday.  Each division will be assigned a bank of five games.  A qualifying entry consists of one game on 3 out of 5 machines in the bank for that Division.  The entry is scored based on sum of the weighted rank of all qualifying entries for each machine in the division (PAPA Style).  Having a great qualifying entry can mean having a first round bye and being in the double elimination bracket.

Main Tournament - Bracket Play

Bracket Play starts on Saturday at 3pm.  Highest seeds in each division will get a bye, and the top half of  the seeds will go into brackets for double elimination, while the  lower half will proceed directly into the bottom bracket, where  they will be subject to single elimination. 

All Mini Tournaments, except Cousin It, run from 3:00 p.m. Friday until 10:00 p.m. Saturday.   Cousin It Playoffs will begin at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday. 

Mini tournaments are open to all and a fun way to join the action.  Mini's are always played on one machine, with some variation in the rules or game-play to add an interesting twist.   In the past we have had mini-tournaments with Frosty glass,  Fluttering Flippers,  Split Flipper, One Ball, and Two Minute formats.  

This year, we will have mini-tournaments for A and B division players, with guaranteed $50 prizes for each division.    A Division, $5.00 per entry;  B Division, $2.00 per entry; plus .50/game for coin drop.  (Except TOPS)

Mini-tournament rules:

One-handed tournament:   Play one game on Bally Strikes and Spares, 1976, and we will record your score.   Use either your left or right hand for the entire game.   Put the other hand behind your back or in a pocket, or hold a water bottle in that hand.  Do not touch the machine with the “other hand”.  

Split Flipper Tournament:  Sign up with a partner.   Play one flipper each.   Switch sides at any time, if you like.

TOPS Tournaments on Stern Pinball machines:  TOPS is a built-in tournament playable on World Poker Tour and Pirates of the Caribbean.  Tournament plays require 2 credits and use of the Tournament Start button on top of the lockdown bar.   Prize info is displayed on the Game.  

This year, we will also introduce a new mini-tournament called "The Cousin It Tournament".   This is a quick and dirty tournament featuring the the Cousin It mode on The Addams Family.   Detailed “Cousin It” tournament rules and strategy is below.

Players traveling more than 100 miles receive 2 free entries to any of the Mini-tournanents.  Players traveling more than 1000 miles receive 4 free entries.

All money collected from mini tournament entries will be paid out to the winners.  

Rules for the Cousin It Mini-Tournament: 

Welcome to the First Ever “Cousin It Challenge”, at the 4th Annual Fairfax Pinball Open", April 6 and 7, 2007.  

This is a “quick and dirty” Mini-tournament, played on The Addams Family, where the goal is simply to get the most points during the Cousin It mode.   This tournament is played in A and B divisions, with separate prize funds.   A and B division eligibility is the same as for the main bracket tournament.  A Division, $5.00 per entry;  B Division, $2.00 per entry; plus .50/game. 

"Cousin It" rules, info, and strategy hints:

  1. The Cousin It window is lit to start ball 1.
  2. Ideally, use a Soft Plunge to the Swamp to keep the ball near the lower flippers.
  3. Avoid a hard plunge into the pop bumpers, because that will change the lit window away from “Cousin It".  
  4. Hit the Electric Chair while the Cousin It window is lit to start the timed “Cousin It” mode.
  5. Tournament entry ends when Cousin It times out, so drain the ball without tilting.
  6. Score must be recorded when Bonus is collected, so Tilt voids entry. 
  7. Don't go in the pop bumpers before hitting the chair, or it will change away from Cousin It.
  8. If Cousin It is no longer lit, you can keep playing ball 1 and try to get It lit. 
  9. If you don't start the mode, your entry ends after ball 1.
  10. If nobody is waiting to play, you may finish your game on Addams. 

During Cousin It Mode:

  1. "Cousin It" value starts at 200,000 per switch.
  2. Value goes up 50,000 for each It target,
  3. To raise value try Middle Ramp>Upper Flipper>It Targets.  Do it early!
  4. Then try a shot into the pop bumpers for maximum switches.
  5. If you dare, light the locks before Cousin It, then you can start Cousin It, lock a ball, and plunge right into the Pops!  (Advanced Strategy!)
  6. 15,000,000 is a very good Cousin It score.
  7. 20,000,000 is a great Cousin It score.

Don’t forget to stay for the Cousin It Playoffs, beginning at 9:00 pm on Saturday!! 

For each division, 50% of the Entry Fees from the Cousin It Tournament will go to the Highest Score.   Then, the top 4 from each Division will advance to the Cousin It Playoffs.  Absent players will be replaced from the list.  

The format is a head-to-head 2 round playoff, 1st seed against 4th seed, 2nd against 3rd.  Winners advance to final round, and losers to the consolation round.  The remaining 50% of the Entry Fees divided 40, 30, 20, and 10 %.  

Classics tournament Friday @ 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm

This is a bracket tournament with early-bird qualifying at 5:00 pm, and possible re-entry round subject to volume of players for the 7:00 round.      Players will compete on a selection of games from the 70's and 80's, winning 2 out of 3 to advance in the brackets.   

$15 to enter and 50 cents per game coin drop.  Guaranteed Minimum Prizes: 1st place: $100 and trophy, 2nd place $50, 3rd place $25.

Tournament Lineup - Subject to Change

Other games to be determined as needed based on participation.
We are looking for a few kind game-owners to help us out here.

Paul McGlone e-mail Paul