2017 League Rules

[u2sean]

MadCity Flippers League Rules 2017

These rules can be amended or changed with member votes, which will occur annually for the upcoming season at the final league night of the prior season.

Rule 1. The MadCity Flippers pinball league season will run on a calendar year basis from January through December. The league will play once per month at a Host house, which is a league member’s personal residence.

Rule 2. The league has a Board of directors, which consists of 5 league members. The Board members are voted in by existing members and will serve a 2 year term. Every other year, voting of Board members for the next season will occur on the final league night. One of the 5 board members will also be Treasurer for the same 2-year term. The Treasurer is responsible for keeping the list of current members, any waiting list to get into the league, as well as collecting and managing annual dues.

Rule 3. MadCity Flipper league will be limited to 24 members. Existing members can continue into the next season unless they state they do not wish to. Decisions on whether or not members are continuing next season must be decided by the final league night in November.

Rule 4. New members will join at the start of a new season. If we do not have full membership at the start of a season, new members may still join a current season in progress if they participate on or before the second league night, typically February. After that time, the league is locked for the season.

Rule 5. Substitutes are available to fill in for members that are unable to attend a league night. This will be based on a pre-approved list of subs. Substitutes must have a league member sponsor them.

Rule 6. Due to the fact that league is held at individual Host residences, all new members and substitutes must be sponsored by an existing league member, and approved by the Board. If the maximum number of members is met (Rule 3) or league is locked (Rule 4), anyone requesting to become part of the league is put on a waiting list. Each year, open member positions will be filled with those on the waiting list. Recommended substitutes will be approved by the Board.

Rule 7. League stats will be reported to IFPA on a semi-monthly basis. This will be voluntarily done by league members, who will also be responsible for keeping track of scores during the league nights. There should be two or more members responsible for this to ensure backup coverage for those occasions when one cannot attend.

Rule 8. There is a $15 annual cost, due the first month of member participation and is payable to the Treasurer. All of these funds collected each year will be used to purchase trophies with the remaining funds to be used as a cash prize for the top 3 finishers (50/30/20 split) at the end of the season based on total league points. No money will be kept/carried over year over year.

Rule 9. When League is held at private residence, the Host has the right to set certain rules (such as no shoes, no smoking on the property, etc.). Drug use at league will not be tolerated. Complaints will be addressed by the Board and a warning given. If the behavior continues, the participant can be expelled from the league by the Board.

Rule 10. Members must refrain from obnoxious behavior at league (extensive swearing, aggressive behavior towards members or property, etc...). Complaints will be addressed by the Board and a warning given. If the behavior continues, the member can be expelled from the league by the Board.

Rule 11. Members are allowed to participate in other leagues.

Rule 12. There is a $10 nightly cost to attend league, payable to the Host. The Host for that evening is responsible for providing a light meal, snacks and beer/water/soda. If there is something special you would like to drink or eat, feel free to bring it along as well.

Rule 13. There are times when you may want to bring a guest along to league with you (significant other, relative or friend). Due to the fact that the league has grown in size, if you’d like to bring a non-member to league night, you must ask the Host for permission. This may not be a problem for hosts with larger collections and space, but depending on the number of members that will be participating that night along with space limitations of the individual Host, it may simply not be feasible.

Rule 14. Hosts generously open up their houses and make this league possible. Having 4 functioning machines and a Laptop available to run the Arcade Tournament Manager is all that’s necessary to host a league night!

Scoring
We will be breaking our league into 2 month “Seasons”. Each season is two consecutive months. Qualifying round will take place on 4-8 machines. The Host has the choice of # of machines and specific games. In addition, the host selects one of these games to be the tie-breaker machine to break any ties. Players must play in packs of 2-3-4, where every person plays one game on each machine and records their scores. Scores are entered using Scott Danesi’s Arcade Tournament Manager version 1.7.5 with all default settings and linear scoring. Download is available at http://www.scottdanesi.com/?page_id=161 . Players are compared to all other player scores that night using linear scoring format and combined ranking points across all games. This is where you fall for League Standing that night. The top 4 players continue into a 4 game PAPA style playoff (match play style; 7-5-3-1 point scoring based on finish position; tie breaker settled by highest score on predetermined game) and will receive bonus points for IFPA reporting:

1st place – 5 points
2nd place – 4 points
3rd place – 3 points
4th place – 2 points

The ending rank/position determines two separate things:
1. IFPA points for that night. All players (regulars and subs) are submitted on a bi-monthly basis
2. League standing. Only official League members are included in this and count towards league standing

For IFPA scoring for 2017, the number of significant games is 1x for qualifying and 2x for competitive play when using 4 player match play. So if we qualify on 5 machines and playoff across 4, that would be a total meaningful games played would be 13. If qualifying on 8 machines, total would simply go up to 16. Maximum meaningful number of games that can be submitted to IFPA for a single tournament is 25 so across 2 months, 5 games will max out at 26 games.

League scoring will give each league member 1 point for their position, starting at the number of league participants and going down from there. Because we have 24 league members, the top finishing position league member each night would receive 24 points. 2nd place 23, 3rd 22, and so on. These are for league members ONLY. League scoring is based ONLY on qualifying game combined rank for each night. The 3 lowest monthly scores will be dropped for each player. Playoff round does not impact league position.

League Scoring Samples:

Pos Name Points Pos Name Points
1 Member 24 1 Member 24
2 Member 23 2 Sub
3 Member 22 3 Member 23
4 Member 21 4 Member 22
5 Member 20 5 Sub
6 Member 19 6 Member 21
7 Member 18 7 Member 20
8 Member 17 8 Member 19
9 Member 16 9 Sub 16
10 Member 15 10 Member 18

IFPA Scoring Sample:
Position Name League Bonus IFPA
Points Points Points
1 Member 24 2 26
2 Sub 23 5 28
3 Member 22 3 25
4 Member 21 4 25
5 Sub 20 20
6 Member 19 19
7 Member 18 18
8 Member 17 17
9 Sub 16 16
10 Member 15 15

If only 12 members participate one month, they’ll each receive from 24-13 points. If all 24 members participate, the point spread would go from 24-1. If a member or sub only participates in one of the two monthly events, they will receive 0 points for IFPA reporting purposes for the month they missed. IFPA and League standings are treated separately. IFPA is submitted for each Season (2 months) based on your finishing position and includes all subs that play, hence maintaining a more consistent base value for each league night IFPA submission. League points is for fun, and of course trophies, bragging rights, and maybe a little cash to boot but still emphasizes attendance and participation.

Subs: Subs are from a vetted list of people that are sponsored by active league members at the start of the year. The list will be available on the Wisconsin Pinball site in the members section. Those that are missing league have first choice at selecting a substitute. If the member chooses not to select someone then all remaining subs will be notified of the open slot if they’re available on a first come first served basis. The benefit with subs is to stabilize the monthly player base and IFPA point value of each league event while also providing the ability to have non-league members enjoy home collections. Subs will be expected to pay the host just like regular league members for food/beverage costs.

Annual Standings
Total points earned throughout the season will determine your final standing in the MadCity Flippers league. 1st through 3rd will receive awards as well as split the cash prizes 50/30/20. If there is ever a Playoff needed as a tiebreaker game to clearly define the top three, it will occur on the final league night through a random draw of three different machines at the Host location for each pair of participating players. First participant to win 2 games will secure the position.

Side Tournament
This is optional. The Host is responsible for electing whether or not they can support one, and if so picking a game to play a side tournament on! This is NOT an IFPA sanctioned tournament, and is for a little fun. Cost is $2 to play a single game. There should be no warm-ups on this game. Top four scores have a single game playoff, with the top score taking all the cash!