TOURNAMENT RULES

I. Quick Overview

Ruleset version v1.7 10/07/2023.
Rules are subject to changes prior to the start of the event. Please check this page for the most up-to-date information regarding the NYCPC 2023 tournament rules.

The New York City Pinball Championships (NYCPC) tournaments consist of open best game qualifying and match play final rounds. During open qualifying, each player may purchase as many tickets as they like to attempt to qualify for the final rounds. A point system is used to rank each player’s score on each machine. Those who’s best games scores add to the highest total at the end of qualifying will participate in the match play final rounds.

In the final rounds, qualifying players play against each other in multiplayer games. A [different] point system is used to determine who advances to the next round and, ultimately, who wins the division.

II. Divisions + Pricing

NYCPC tournament divisions will be held on a bank of tournament games. All NYCPC entries are $5 each, $20/5 games with the best 4, 5, or 7 games counting toward a player’s score depending upon which tournament you are playing in. In the Main Division, a player’s best 7 games will contribute to their tournament ranking. Those players who finish in positions 1-24 in the Main Division will qualify for the “A” division playoffs. Players eligible for the “B” division who finished in positions 25-40 will qualify for the “B” division playoffs. Players eligible for the “Novice” division who finished in positions 41-44 will qualify for the “Novice” division playoffs.

Should NYCPC Main division reach more than 240 active players, playoffs will be expanded as determined by the tournament directors. Should the NYCPC Main division have fewer than 48 players, playoff spots will be reduced as determined by tournament directors.

A separate Classics division tournaments will be held on older Electromechanical and/or Solid State games. Tickets purchased for NYCPC Open are also eligible for Classics division. In the Classics Division, a player’s best 5 games will contribute to their tournament ranking. Those players who finish in positions 1-24 will qualify for the Classics division playoffs.

Should NYCPC Classics division reach more than 240 active players, playoffs will be expanded as determined by the tournament directors. Should the NYCPC Classics division have fewer than 48 players, playoff spots will be reduced as determined by tournament directors.

The Dahlia Rowan Memorial Women’s division tournament will be held on a bank of tournament games. Tickets purchased for NYCPC Open are also eligible for Women’s division. In the Dahlia Rowan Memorial Women’s Division, a player’s best 4 games will contribute to their tournament ranking. Those who finish in positions 1-8 will qualify for the Women’s playoffs.

Should NYCPC Women’s division reach more than 80 active players, playoffs will be expanded as determined by the tournament directors. Should the NYCPC Main division have fewer than 16 players, playoff spots will be reduced as determined by tournament directors.

Please refer to the NYCPC Schedule Page for information on the qualifying and finals times for each of the NYCPC tournament divisions.

Any player ranked in the top 500 of the World Pinball Player Rankings at the time the tournament begins shall not be eligible to play in any “B” playoffs. Any player ranked in the top 2000 of the World Pinball Player Rankings at the time the tournament begins shall not be eligible to play in any “Novice” playoffs. If a player is in such a position, the next lower eligible player shall qualify instead. At the discretion of the tournament officials, any other player whose past tournament performance indicates that they should be treated as an “A” player may be ineligible for the “B” division. [They probably know who they are.]

III. Prizes and Registration Fees

Competing in the Main, Classics, and/or Women’s divisions, and the Sunday Strikes Bonus Tournament of the NYC Pinball Championships 2023 requires the participant to purchase the All-In Tournament Pass to the NYC Pinball Championships. Please use the Attend NYCPC link to purchase tickets to the event.

All-In Tournament Pass:
$195 - Provides full access to the NYC Pinball Championships Vendor and Free Play area from October 13, 2023 - October 15, 2023. Includes registration for ALL 2023 NYC Pinball Championships Tournaments. Tickets available online from May 20, 2023 at noon EDT - October 12, 2023. Tickets available on-site for $220. Listed prices do not include sales tax and Eventbrite fees.

All-In Tournament Pass includes:
20 Free Best Game Entries - May 20, 2023 - June 3, 2023.
10 Free Best Game Entries - June 4, 2023 - June 11, 2023.
5 Free Best Game Entries - June 12, 2023 - October 12, 2023.

Each entry purchased for the NYC Pinball Championships tournaments allows the player to play 1 pinball machine in either the Main, Classics, or Women’s tournament banks. Entries can be purchased at the NYCPC registration desk. Entries are 1 for $5, or 5 for $20. No refunds will be issued for uncompleted entries in the tournament — please plan ahead!

Prizes, as % of total entries are shown in the tables below. Actual values will be determined on-site after all tournament expenses have been deducted from the prize pool and are subject to rounding to the next higher or lower $5 increment.

MAIN — A DIVISION
1st: 21%
2nd: 12%
3rd: 8.5%
4th: 6%
5th-8th: 3%
9th-16th: 2%
17th-24th: 1%

MAIN - B DIVISION
1st: 6%
2nd: 3.5%
3rd: 2%
4th: 1%
5th-8th: 0.5%
9th-16th: 0.25%

CLASSICS
1st: 20%
2nd: 15%
3rd: 12%
4th: 9%
5th-8th: 5%
9th-16th: 2%
17th-24th: 1%

WOMEN’S (8 Qualifiers)
1st: 30%
2nd: 19%
3rd: 15%
4th: 12%
5th-8th: 6%

IV. Qualifying Rounds

PURCHASING ENTRIES

Before purchasing any entries, players must register at the tournament desk. Entries will not be sold the posted time and are non-refundable unless by special permission.

PLAYING AN ENTRY

Players will be added to a digital queue for a machine prior to play by either a scorekeeper or by themselves via the tournament website. Each player can only join one queue at a time regardless of machine division. If the machine is open with no queue, they must still be added to the queue by a scorekeeper prior to beginning play to verify available entries. If there is a queue the scorekeeper will call the player when it is their turn if the player is not already present. If the player does not appear promptly, the next person in line may go ahead of them as called out by the scorekeeper. Once a player has completed their game, the player may either choose to have the score counted or to void the entry. If they choose to count the score, the scorekeeper will record the score, which the player should verify. The scorekeeper will then ask the player if they wish to be added to a new game queue if unused entries are available.

SCORING

At the end of each game, players should wait for a scorekeeper to record their score before leaving the machine. It is the player’s responsibility to ensure that the scorekeeper records the score and to double check the recorded score for correctness. Any player abandoning their machine will be given a recorded score of zero for that play.

Each player’s best score on a machine will receive a point value based on its rank compared to all other recorded scores. The #1 score earns 100 points, #2 score earns 95 points, #3 score earns 90 points and #4 and beyond earn one less point per position, i.e. 89 points down through 1 point. A player’s overall score for the tournament division is the sum of their four, five, or seven best ranked machine scores, depending on the division.

Division banks will contain multiple games to choose from. The Main division will rank players based on their best 7 games. The Classics division will rank players based on their best 5 games. The Women’s division will rank players based on their best 4 games.

Because the rankings will change as new scores are posted on each machine, the overall score of each player may change as the qualifying rounds progress.

In the event of two or more scores on a machine being exactly tied, the highest point value of the tied positions will be awarded for each such score.

Tournament officials will endeavor to provide up-to-date scores and rankings. The overall ranking scores are used to determine which players qualify for the playoff rounds.

V. FINAL ROUNDS

ADVANCING TO FINAL ROUNDS

When qualifying rounds have been completed, a final calculation of entry scores will be made. Those scores will be ranked, and the top unique players in each division will advance to the final rounds.

The determination of final qualifying standings will be made by tournament officials at the end of qualifying hours, and shall not be changed for any reason, including player error or tournament error.

In the event that two or more players are tied on the qualifying bubble, such that not all of the tied players can advance to the final rounds, a tie-breaking procedure will be utilized. A single game will be played on a machine randomly selected from the qualifying bank of the division. The tied players will play, in randomly determined order, in a multiplayer game on the selected machine, and will subsequently be ranked in the order of their scores on that game. If more players are tied than the selected machine will support in a single game, multiple games will be played to accommodate all tied players, in randomly determined order, and the resulting scores will be compared as if they had occurred in a single game on the same machine.

The same procedure outlined above will be used to break ties on the “bye” line.

In the event that two or more players are tied but are not on the qualifying bubble, a simpler tie-breaking procedure will be used in order to save time. Each player’s best game rank will be examined. The player with the highest game rank will be given the highest seeding, proceeding through all tied players, in descending order of game rank.

MACHINES SELECTION

The machines used for final rounds in each division will be the same as those used in qualifying.

In all divisions, machines can only be selected ONCE per player for the duration of the finals until all available selections have been exhausted.

All games played in the final rounds are treated as four-player. In the event a machine being utilized does not support enough simultaneous players, multiple games will be played on the same machine, with playing order preference going by original seeding as usual, and the resulting scores will be compared as if a single multiplayer game had been played.

A and B finals in Main will operate independently and in parallel, with the constraint that a B finalist with a machine pick cannot select a machine in use by A finalists.

FINALS SCORING

Finals for all divisions will consist of three games played each round with each four-player game scored as follows:

Rank Score
1st 4
2nd 2
3rd 1
4th 0

In the event of two or more scores on a machine being exactly tied, the players with such scores will immediately play a tiebreaker game, on the same machine, unless another machine is selected by tournament officials.

The group that contains the highest-seeded player gets first choice of machine and order of play. The highest-seeded player within each group may choose either the machine to be played, or the order of play. If the highest-seeded player chooses order of play, the remaining players may choose their order, in descending order of seeding, and choice of machine then goes to the next highest-seeded player in the group. Conversely, if the highest-seeded player chooses the machine to be played, then the next highest-seeded player chooses the order of play, with the remaining players choosing order of play in decreasing order of seeding.

If at any point a high-seed player declines to make a choice, the choice is deferred to the next highest-seeded player, as appropriate. The affected group still retains its order of choice among groups, however. If no player in a group will make a choice, the choice(s) are determined by tournament officials, who may or may not choose randomly.

Note that the original seeding of players when entering the final rounds from qualifying is used in every round. At no time does a player’s seeding change from round to round; therefore the advantage of qualifying in first place can be significant.

No group may select a machine which has already been selected by a group in the same round, nor may they choose a machine on which they have already played in that round (unless machine malfunctions have made this unavoidable; tournament officials may choose to provide additional or substitute machines, however). If the machine selected is currently being played by another group in a previous round of play, the group may wait for that round of play to be completed. For example, if one group is playing a given machine as their first machine, a different group may choose to wait for it as their second machine.

In the event too few machines are available during any round of play, the group(s) with the lowest high-seed players will be forced to wait until a game becomes available. As soon as a game becomes available, as indicated by the scorekeeper, the next highest-seeded group must begin play on that machine. In this situation, choice of order of play will be made by the highest-seed player in the group (unless that player declines, as described above).

When all games have been completed by a group, each player will have a point total for the round. The players with the top two point totals from each group of four players will advance. Significant ties will be resolved using the procedure explained in Section IV – 7.

INITIAL ROUNDS

In the initial rounds, the qualifiers in each division will be divided into groups as follows:

For 24 qualifier divisions, players qualified in positions #1-8 will receive a bye, advancing them directly into the Quarterfinal Round.

24 Qualifiers, First Round
Group 1 9 16 17 24
Group 2 10 15 18 23
Group 3 11 14 19 22
Group 4 12 13 20 21

QUARTERFINAL ROUNDS (16 PLAYERS)

In the quarterfinal rounds, the players advancing from the previous round will be divided into four groups as follows:

16 Players
Group 1 1 8 9 16
Group 2 2 7 10 15
Group 3 3 6 11 14
Group 4 4 5 12 13

SEMIFINAL ROUNDS (8 PLAYERS)

For the semifinal rounds in each division, the qualifiers in each division (or players advancing from quarterfinals, if those were played) will be divided into two groups of four. The groups will be organized according to the original qualifying rank as shown here:

8 Players
Group 1 1 4 5 8
Group 2 2 3 6 7

FINAL ROUNDS (4 PLAYERS)

In each division, four players advance to the final round. The final round for each division is conducted in the same manner as the semifinal round. The total scores for this round will determine the ordering of winners in each division. All ties in the final round are considered significant.

Unless otherwise determined by tournament officials, the same machines will be used in the final rounds as the previous rounds.

WINNERS

Winners will receive cash prizes during an awards ceremony shortly following the conclusion of all final round. Winners must be present to receive prizes or provide mailing information. Prizes will be issued in the form of a check. Winners who receive over $600 in prizes over the weekend will be asked to provide information for domestic or international tax forms. Any taxes are the sole responsibility of winners. Please note that due to the usage of 3rd-party merchant services (Square, eventbrite, etc.) prize checks may be post-dated.

TIEBREAKING

Significant ties between players at the end of the quarterfinal, semifinal, or final round will be resolved by one tie-breaking game. Note that a tie is only significant if it affects whether or not a player will advance toward the final round, or occurs in the final round.

In a tie-breaking game, the highest-seeded player can choose the machine to be played from among those games that were not previously selected for that round. The highest-seeded player may instead choose the order of play. The choice of game, if it has not been chosen, or the choice of order of play, will proceed through all tied players from highest seed to lowest seed until the machine to be played and order of play have been established.

If more than one group of players are tied, the machine is chosen for the group with the highest-ranking tied player first. The selected machine is not available for selection in lower groups. All tied groups will play their tie-breaking games in parallel.

In the unlikely event of an exact scoring tie on the tie-breaking game, only those affected players will play another tie-breaking game, on another game chosen in similar fashion, under the same rules.

REPORTING FINAL POSITIONS

Final positions as reported for IFPA, PAPA Circuit rankings, and Stern Pro Circuit rankings will be based upon player’s point total earned during the final rounds, apart from the top 4 players, or based upon their qualifying ranking should they fail to qualify for division “A” finals.

VI. Additional Rules Information

Any request for a ruling not contained within this document will be referred to the most recent combined PAPA/IFPA Rules.

VII. COVID-19 Policy

The New York City Pinball Championships event will comply with all federal, local, and venue COVID-19 protocols at the time of the event. An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public space where people are present. By attending the NYC Pinball Championships 2023, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19. Persons exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 will not be permitted to enter the NYC Pinball Championships event facility.

VIII. Refund Policy

Never Beef Productions will issue refunds through Eventbrite according to the following schedule.

May 20, 2023 - May 30, 2023: Full Refund including all Eventbrite processing fees.
June 1, 2023 - June 30, 2023: 75% refund. Eventbrite fees will not be refunded.
July 5th, 2023: Partial Refunds of $40 issued to all ticket buyers. Refunds can only be issued one at a time. Please be patient while we process all partial refunds.
July 1, 2023 - July 14, 2023: 100% refund. Eventbrite fees will not be refunded.
July 15, 2023 - September 15, 2023: 50% refund. Eventbrite fees will not be refunded.
September 16, 2023 - Event completion: No refunds will be issued.

IX. Media

Never Beef Productions, our streaming partners, photographers, and members of the press will be present at the 2023 New York City Pinball Championships. By attending the 2023 NYC Pinball Championships, you grant Never Beef Productions and all authorized media partners the rights to indefinitely produce and distribute audio, photography, and video recordings using your likeness.