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Classics Match Play Tournament, Sponsored by Olaf's

Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show Classic Tournament, Past Champions:
2023: Dickie Hornaman (Tacoma)
2022: Germain Mariolle (Seattle)
2019: Mike Corbett (Seattle)
2018: Eden Stamm (Seattle)
2017: Robert Gagno (Vancouver)
2016: Julie Gray (Seattle)
2015: Robert Gagno (Vancouver)
2014: Raymond Davidson (Seattle)
2013: Raymond Davidson (Seattle)

Tournament Summary

Three Qualifying Rounds up to 56 players in each. Each round consists of a 5 rounds of group match play that will include 4-player and/or 3-player games on five different machines against varying opponents. Top 10 finishers of Group A and Top 11 finishers of group B and group C will qualify to the TOP 32 finals. There will be online registration for these qualifying sessions, details on main page. Registration for each round remaining spots opens at time specified; closes 5 minutes before scheduled start time of round, or earlier if a round is full.

Qualifying, Round A: Friday 1:00pm-4:00pm. Registration opens Noon.
Qualifying, Round B: Friday 4:30pm-7:30pm. Registration opens 3:30pm.
Qualifying, Round C: Friday 8:00pm-11:00pm. Registration opens 7:00pm.

Entry

$40 to participate in one qualifying round. Up to one retry may be allowed on a very limited basis, as described here.
Preference for registering in all rounds will be given to players who have not yet competed in the Classics tournament. Ten minutes prior to closing Round B or C, if there are any open spots remaining, then players who finish best in a prior round but failed to qualify will be given priority to rebuy for one of the remaining spots. Players must be present at tourney registration desk at 4:20pm (for round B) or 7:50pm (for round C) if they want a chance at obtaining the rebuy.

Finals:

Classic Tournament Finals begin on Saturday at 10:20 AM, and players are required to check-in by 10:15 AM, or they forfeit their Finals spot.

Finals will be played using a PAPA style format. Finalists will be placed into groups of 4 players. They play 3 games. At the beginning of each round, the top seed in each group gets to the pick one of the game or position, if they chose position the next highest seed will have the same choices.
A player can only chose a machine ONCE until they have chosen every single machine available for the finals.
Machine and player order for pins #2 and #3 are chosen in the same fashion as game 1. Once a particular game has been chosen by a group for a round, that game may not be selected by another group.
If a pin has a catastrophic malfunction, then any groups assigned to that pin will reach out to a tournament director for a replacement machine. Final round tie-breakers are still settled with one full game played on a game decided in the same fashion, higher seed player will have a choice of game and position, no repeat pick from the same round.

Scoring is 4-2-1-0 for the four finishing positions. After 3 games, the top 2 players from each group advance.

Prize Pool

$500 plus trophy for Winner.

All 32 players who make the playoff round will earn a cash prize.
Trophy for winner. Plaques for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishers.

Minimum prize guaranteed for 1st place, final value can be more.

Scoring and General Tournament Rules

Tie-breaking rules for Match Play rounds

First Tie Breaker: Number of 1st place then number of 2nd, 3rd and 4th place.
Second Tie Breaker: if still tied and it is a significant tie: Player who scored highest in last round. Then previous round(s).
Third Tie Breaker: the tournament director with assigned a tie breaking game at random for a full game to be played. Player position will be assigned randomly.

Scoring and General Tournament Rules

Malfunctions and Rulings

Anytime an abnormal circumstance occurs, a tournament official should be notified. To ensure consistency throughout the tournament, PLAYERS SHOULD NOT RESOLVE ISSUES ON THEIR OWN. Except for customized rules explicitly covered on this website, PAPA/IFPA Tournament Rules will be used to address malfunctions and as the basis for rulings. Note also that any rule posted at the event, such as on the backglass of a machine, will override any rule described herein. The rules listed here are generalized for all NWPAS events, and might not apply to some specific formats.

Delay of Game: Due to the tight show schedule, delays due to players not being ready to play are problematic. When a new game is announced, players are expected to immediately proceed to their assigned machine. If a player has not shown up within one minute, please notify a tournament official, who will start a 2-minute timer. Players who have not arrived within 3 minutes of the start of a round may be given an official warning and have their balls plunged by a tournament official. Between balls, players are generally allowed 30 seconds to get to the machine and start their ball. Exceptions could be granted (e.g. player needed restroom; tournament official is involved in game and needed to make a ruling, technician at neighboring machine needs space, etc.), but these are generally expected to be occasional and the player would have informed the other competitors ahead of time of the need. No additional time is provided if previous player tilts, due to use of fast-settling tilt bob. If an opponent regularly takes longer than 30 seconds, please notify a tournament official. Tournament officials will monitor for delay of game. Tournament officials can provide warnings as well as plunging ball on first delay of game offense, and disqualification from game or tournament for repeated offenses.

Machine Setup Changes: Tournament officials reserve the right to modify any machine between games or between rounds, including changing of settings, tilt sensitivity, machine level, or any other adjustment that is deemed desirable to make the tournament run more smoothly and be more fair and fun. Since a player is only competing against the other players in the same game, all players will encounter such changes at the same time, and it is part of pinball to be able to quickly adjust to changing conditions of a machine.

Extra Balls: Extra balls will be disabled whenever possible at the main event, but likely will still be enabled in most satellite tournaments. Any extra ball is to be plunged, unless a note on the backglass says to play it. If an extra ball is to be plunged, then player may NOT touch flipper buttons to setup skill shot, then plunge ball in attempt to get the skill shot. The player may also choose to tilt the machine prior to plunging in lieu of skill shot and end-of-ball bonus, but a tilt anytime after a first plunge attempt will result in disqualification. Once ball is in motion the player must step back and cannot touch the machine, unless the ball returns back to plunger lane and is not auto-plunged, at which time they should plunge again. In the case that a player has a compensation ball awarded due to a major malfunction, and they earn an extra ball, they may choose to play the extra ball in lieu of the compensation ball in a new game.

Bonus Balls: A bonus ball is differentiated from an Extra Ball in that it is timed, and ends when the timer runs out. Space Shuttle and Medusa are examples of two machines with Bonus Balls. Bonus balls CAN be played.

Fast-Settling Tilt Bobs: In the NWPAS show tournaments, machines will be equipped with Fast-Settling Tilt Bobs when possible, using the ear-plug tilt hack, so that even sensitive machines tend to give only one danger warning after a strong nudge or save. With this mechanism, the tilt bob usually settles to a full stop within 15 to 20 seconds, and thus no need to wait longer between players when the prior player ended their ball by tilting. As a result, the delay-of-game rules don't allow for extended waits after a player tilts, as described next. This does not apply to satellite tournaments that are held on location, with most machines as-is.

Machine Availability: In case of machine unavailability, the maximum player count listed for a round could be reduced, or a backup machine from the Expo floor may be selected for use in lieu of the broken main bank machine.

Prize Pools: The advertised prize pools assume attendance on par with previous year, and are subject to reduction in case of major problems that reduce the number of available paid entries in any of the tournaments. This includes but not limited to COVID, power failures, natural disasters, weather-related closures, and significant technical issues.

Additional Information

Tournament Co-Directors: Germain Mariolle, Lonnie Langford, Ashley Weaver, Richie Terry & Max Stewart.
For questions and inquiries regarding tournaments at NWPAS, please contact contact@seattlepinballservices.com.

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