The Nutcracker Duel

Once again it is time for the ultimate holiday pinball tournament, The Nutcracker Duel. It will be run the same way as last year, if some of you remember it. There will be about 20 pins here and once again a big ass Christmas tree!

Tournament date will be – December 7^th 2013 (Saturday)

Warm up starts at – 10AM

Tournament Starts at – 12PM (Noon)

Location: Jim Vierra’s  – 5160 Independence Dr. Pleasanton, CA 94566

Format – Three Strikes

Cost – $25 to play ($20 to the pot and $5 to the house for food and facility)

RSVP- email me at (bagger2003@yahoo.com) just need a head count and your place will be held

Max Occupancy – 64 people in the tournament (only because of space limitations)

Side tournament – haven’t decided format (might be high score) $1 a play

Basically be here or be left out of one of the most awesome tournaments around. There will be food out, most likely a sandwich bar or taco bar (send your vote in the email with your RSVP). I have a soda machine in the garage, everything in it is 50 cents, I don’t have many quarters on hand so please bring some if you want stuff from the machine. Also, pinball machines are all on free play and people always ask what games I have at home, and really I have no clue what will be in my line up that weekend. (pins rotate often here) I will also being paying out more then the top three places, unlike last year.

Now the rule stuff…

Overview and Rules

 First off, you must remember this is a home, NOT a bar! If you are not respectful of the house or cannot control yourself in a decent manner you will be asked to leave the tournament with no refund!

This Format will be used for the 2013 “Nutcracker Duel” Tournament. Slight changes may occur, and adjustments may be needed to ensure that we can finish at a somewhat decent time.

Players will be drawn randomly and compete one-on-one. The loser of the match will receive a ‘strike’ against them. Each match will play their drawn game for a best 2 of 3. Please note we may adjust to single game matches at any point after each full round is complete.

Once a player has received a total of 3 strikes (has lost 3 matches) they are eliminated from the Tournament. The last person with strikes remaining is the winner!!

Tournament Staff: Jim Vierra – Head Official

Tj Beyer, Kevin Riekki, and Nicole Anne Reik  -Officials for this event.

Tournament Start Time: Doors open at 10am for warm up / sign-up will start at 10:30 and close at noon ($25 to play) The tournament will start at noon / Prize money and trophies will be awarded at end of tournament

Drawing Players / Playing a Match:

All players will be assigned a block and will have their name on it. All player’s blocks will be placed into the ‘Players Bag’. The first player that was drawn is player one, the next time playing that game it is switched, then if needed, the third time the loser of the first game plays first. Ex: Game 1 (player 1, player2) Game 2 (Player2, Player 1)Game 3(loser of game 1, winner of game 1) The players will report to the Tournament Desk and a machine will be drawn randomly from the ‘Game Bag’. This will continue until all available machines are being played competitively. The 2 players will play one match and report the result to the Tournament Desk. Both players SHOULD report to the desk together, but at very least the WINNER should report the result. The loser of the game will receive one strike against them. These players will not have to play another match until every other remaining name has been drawn out of the ‘Players Bag’. It is important to report results immediately to keep the event moving. Players that do not report back promptly may receive a warning. Each subsequent warning will be a strike against them in the Tournament. As each Tournament machine becomes available for play, 2 players will be drawn from the ‘Players Bag’ and their match will begin. This will ensure that machines are always occupied, and that the Tournament is moving along as quickly as possible. All matches are logged. If there is Odd number of people to play in a round, the last person (who would have no one to play against) has a bye for that round. A player may not have more then one bye during the tournament, unless all other players have also had a bye. The person with a bye is automatically player 1 of the first match drawn next round. As the tournament goes on games will be dropped from the tournament list and then can be used for casual play.

 When there are only 2 Players Left: The final match will be on a game chosen from the Game Bag. The player with the MOST STRIKES against them will start as player 2. If both players have an equal number of strikes against them, a coin flip will determine who is player 1 and who is player 2.

Machine Malfunctions: In case of a malfunction during game play, please get someone to alert one of the Tournament Staff and someone will come to assist you as soon as possible. Remember, staff MAY be involved in a match of their own at that moment, so please be patient when waiting for assistance. Also note, any malfunction that occurs while playing a match against a Staff member will require an alternate staff member to make a ruling (when necessary).

Rulings on how to deal with malfunctions will be taken care of as fairly as possible, and all rulings are final. Severe malfunctions may include a game re-start OR moving the players to an alternate machine when necessary.

Should you have any questions about this document or you are in need of clarification of a rule, feel free to ask me directly any time (except when I’m in the middle of a Tournament game!!!)

Other obvious stuff: NO death saves, NO bangbacks, have fun!