This December will be record-breaking for Bay Area pinball with FOUR pinball tournaments.  All of them will award World Pinball Player Ranking points (http://pinballrankings.com).  On Wednesday, December 19th, Santa will pay a visit to Kimballs.

Onto the tournaments!

THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS TOURNAMENT – Hosted by P.O.P.

When: December 2nd

Where: T-minus 1, 3195 Park Road Suite D
Benicia, CA 94510

Hosted by: Pinball Outreach Project (http://www.pinballoutreach.org/)

Info from the Organizer:

The format will be head to head double elim. Registration time will be noon, warm-ups during registration with a prompt tournament start at 12:30.

I will most likely do a side tourney.

Cost: $20 plus coin drop. (50% of $ will go to Pinball Outreach Project and the rest will go to prize pool)

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/events/387340351346358/

THE KING OF SAN FRANCISCO

WHEN: December 6th. We start playing at 6:30 PM; registration will be open from 5 PM to 6:20 PM.

Where: FREE GOLD WATCH  on 1767 Waller St (intersection Stanyan) in the Haight. Kezar Pavilion is nearby and has (pay) parking if you can’t find street parking.

HOW: Match play, 3 strikes and you’re out!

(Depending on the turnout, we may play the first few rounds as matches best of 1 instead of 3 to save time.)

WHY: Come on, wouldn’t it be cool to be the 2012 City Champ? All it takes is $5 and quarters.

WPPR: Yes! What is this? All participants will receive world ranking points depending on how
well they fare. Check out www.ifpapinball.com if you don’t believe me.

What do I do when my stomach starts growling? Run across Stanyan, where the Off the Grid
food trucks are set up just so you can get your grub on!

Prizes: The winner will receive a very cool t-shirt from Free Gold Watch and 50% of the prize
pot. 2nd place gets 25%, 3rd place 15% and 4th place 10% of the prize pot. There will be prizes
raffled out as well.

For more information: E-mail Per at barnburner101@yahoo.com

Where: 5160 Independence Drive, Pleasanton, CA.

When: December 15.  Warm-up at 10 AM.

50-player cap.

Questions?  Contact Jim Vierra.  bagger2003 AT yahoo.com

Nutcracker Duel: 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 2012 “Nutcracker Duel” Tournament. Slight changes may occur, since this is the first year of this event 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, Dylan Eichenbaum, Nicole Anne Reik, Jeannie Rodriguez -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 12:30 / Prize money and trophies will be awarded at end of tournament

Drawing Players / Playing a Match: 
All players will be assigned a numbered poker chip and will have their name on it as well. All players’ chips 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. 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!

Tournaments at Kimball’s Carnival

Next tournament: 12/19

These tournaments are laid back.  Have a beer and play some pinball with other local enthusiasts.  Sure, you want to win, but the emphasis is on friendly competition with some good-nature’d smack talk sprinkled in.

If you aren’t that good, don’t worry!  We will teach you how to play.  We’ll show you all the fancy moves and whip you into a pinball wizard.

Price: Five bucks, plus coin drop. All the $5 entries are paid back to winners.

Where: Kimball’s Carnival.  522 2nd Street, Oakland.  From SF take BART to 12th street.  It’s about a ten or 15 minute walk from 12th street to 2nd street.  You can also take the following buses: 72, 72R, 72M.

When: Once or twice each month on Tuesday.  Always check the Calendar before heading down, though.

7pm start time.  You must be signed in by 6:50 to play.  The typical run time is  3 to 4 hours.

Format: I’ll rotate some popular formats such as Double-Elimination, Group Play, Time Attack, etc, as well as try a few whacky, fun formats.  Some formats will award World Pinball Player Ranking points.

How long?: Well, if you go out in the first round you will probably be done by 8:30.  If you go the distance, figure on around 11pm.

Food: Kimball’s serves food and there are several food options in the area.  Note: no outside food at Kimball’s.

ATM: There is a Bank of America ATM one block away across from the Jack London Cinema.

Parking: Street parking is usually available but meters are strictly enforced.  There is also a parking garage one block away that is not expensive.

Payouts and Prizes: The top 8 players win cash.  All entry money is paid back to players.  I often receive other prizes, like food/drink coupons, free passes, pinball posters, T shirts, etc. which are either awarded or raffled off.

WPPRs (World Pinball Player Ranking Points): WPPRs will be awarded at some events.  See your rank here: http://www.pinballrankings.com/

But I suck: Show up early and we will teach you how to play.  I will be there around 6pm.

The last tournament at Kimballs this year will be on Wednesday, December 19th at 7 PM.

$5 entry, World Pinball Ranking Points awarded.  I’ll think of a fun format (or suggest one!) and we’ll kick off the holiday season.

There’s a small chance of conflicts and in that case, the tournament will move to Disco Volante in downtown Oakland.

1st Chris Heilig
2nd Kevin Reikki
3rd David Rockholt
4th Jim Vierra
5th Alex Samonte
6th Josh Lehan
7th Matt Machado
8th Aaron Wong
9th Walter Hurwitz
9th Justin Haber
9th Rich Machado
9th Chris Smith
13th T.J. Beyer
13th Keith Parkins
13th Matt Willmarth
13th Kenley Fritts
17th Damien Charlety
17th Josh Warren
17th Dottie Ledesma
17th Erik Holverson
17th Nicole Ann Reik
17th Chris Lindboe
17th Jay Sandy