Pinball Tournaments
In addition to a huge selection of free-play pinball machines and entertainment for everyone to enjoy, we will be featuring seven pinball tournaments + amateur competitions and special challenges throughout the weekend.
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FRIDAY COMPETITIONS (9/29)
PinBaltimore Rat Race (Round Robin / World Cup Style)
SATURDAY COMPETITIONS (9/30)
Challenger x Joust Split Flipper Head2Head World Championships
PinGolfimore Qualifying + Finals
SUNDAY COMPETITIONS (10/1)
FRIDAY, September 29th
PinBaltimore Rat Race (Round Robin / Amazing Race Finals)
FRIDAY, September 29th
1:00 PM (Registration at 12:00 PM)
$10 Registration Fee
IFPA Sanctioned
OVERVIEW & FORMAT
Round Robin Tournament w/ Amazing Race Finals. A two-part tournament where the grouping winners from qualifying comprise the players for finals.
Phase one - Double Round Robin World Cup Soccer Style
You play each player in your four player group twice (total 6 head to head games for each player). We may also include one all-play match depending on… factors and math and stuff based upon player count.
Winner advances to phase two.
Phase two - Amazing Race Finals!
The players that win their group will advance to phase two, Amazing Race!
All tie breakers for both phases will be determined by a head to head playoff on a single randomly assigned game with the finishing placement based on the results of that game.
Top 4 get paid: 40%/30%/20%/10%
Charm City Classics
FRIDAY, September 29th
5:00 PM (Registration at 4:00)
$10 Registration Fee
IFPA Sanctioned
OVERVIEW & FORMAT
The PinBaltimore Classics collection (electro-mechanical and early solid state games) is one of the most eclectic and diverse classic pinball collections on the East Coast. Get ready to throwdown on some of the wildest and weirdest games in the history of pinball.
2 or 4 player match play (depending on number of competitors) using matchplay.events software - random parings.
Qualifying from 5-8pm immediately followed by finals. No new qualifying rounds after 7:45.
At the end of the qualifying session, 1st place ties will broken by software based on # of 1st/2nds - if still tied for first a 1 ball tie breaker will be played.
Finals
Top 8 players make finals. 7-5-3-1 scoring. 3 games per round. 1st & 2nd place from each group advance. Seeding based upon qualifying position with high seeds receiving choice of bank. Play order choice based upon seeding in game 1 of round. Finish position determines 2nd and 3rd game choice of order with loser of previous game receiving first choice of order in following game. Same bank cannot be chosen twice by same player.
Semifinals:
Group 1:
#1 Seed (Choice of bank and play order for game 1)
#6 Seed
#7 Seed
#8 Seed
Group 2:
#2 Seed (Choice of bank and play order for game 1)
#3 Seed
#4 Seed
#5 Seed
Finals:
#1 Remaining Seed (Choice of bank and play order for game 1)
#2 Remaining Seed
#3 Remaining Seed
#4 Remaining Seed
Top 4 get paid: 40%/30%/20%/10%
PinGolfimore
FRIDAY, September 29th
Qualifying All Day Friday
Qualifying Saturday until 4PM
Finals Saturday 5:30 PM
FREE! (with paid admission) Prizes for winners from our sponsors!
Unlimited Entries any time from event start on Friday to Saturday at 4PM.
OVERVIEW & FORMAT
PinGolf is a unique competition format. An objective (e.g. score 1 million points) will be assigned to a machine. Players are tasked with achieving the goal in as few balls as possible. Achieve the goal on your first ball for a hole-in-one, second ball for a birdie, third ball for par, and don’t achieve the goal for a bogey.
9 hole course in the freeplay room
Must play in groups of 2 or more. Unlimited entries! Keep your best round.
Score objective for each hole
Reach goal on ball 1 = 1 Stroke
Reach goal on ball 2 = 2 Stroke
Reach goal on ball 3 = 3 strokes
Do not reach goal = 4 strokes
Extra balls do not count as an additional stroke. They are a continuation of current ball.
No Finals
SATURDAY September 30th
PinGolfimore
FRIDAY, September 29th & SATURDAY September 30th
Unlimited FREE (with paid admission) qualifying all day Friday & Saturday until 4PM
Finals Saturday 5:30 PM
FREE! Prizes for winners from our sponsors!
Unlimited Entries any time from event start on Friday to Saturday at 4PM.
Get more info
Baltimore City Women’s Championship
SATURDAY September 30th
Time: 11 AM - 5 PM (Registration 10AM)
$20 Registration Fee
IFPA Sanctioned - Women’s Rankings
This tournament is IFPA-sanctioned for women’s WPPRs, and welcomes ALL women, as well as non-binary players who are comfortable playing in a women-centered experience.
FORMAT
Group Match Play format with PAPA style finals.
Each round, players will be placed in four player groups. Depending on the number of players, there may be three player groups. Each group will be assigned to play one game. Players will be matched according to balanced pairing. At the end of each round, players will earn points based on their finishing position in that game (7/5/3/1). Results will be submitted by players via the Matchplay software.
We will conduct as many rounds as possible in 4 hours before proceeding to finals.
Finals:
PAPA-style finals (3 game 4/2/1/0) for the top eight players will begin immediately after qualifying.
Prize Distribution:
Top 4 get paid: 40%/30%/20%/10%
PINBALTIMORE SPLIT FLIPPER FRENZY
SATURDAY September 30th
Time: 5-7 pm (Immediately following previous tournament finals)
2 Player Split Flipper Teams (Teammates can be assigned if you do not have a partner)
Cost: $10 per team
Prizes: Half the prize pool split between top 4 teams. Other half donated to West Wednesday. Trophy for 1st place team.
Duration: 1.5 hours of qualifying + playoffs
Synopsis: When the tournament starts, 2head-to- 2head matches are created on selected machines, and any teams not assigned to a match are placed in a queue.
When a match ends, a new game will be created using the following approach:
Player 1 will become Player 2 on the new game.
Player 2 will go to the bottom of the queue.
The player at the top of the queue will become Player 1 on the new game.
The tournament will progress in this manner until the timer runs out. Top 8 teams advance to finals.
Qualifying: Top 8 teams after 1.5 hours with the most net wins (or total number of wins minus total number of losses) advance to finals. Matches that are not completed before the timer runs out will not count. Teams may opt to drain their ball 2 or ball 3 if they put up a good 1st ball to speed the match to completion
Finals Format: Two 4 team groups compete on 2 machines, top 2 teams advance to compete for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place in one final game.
Tiebreakers: If two teams have the same number of net wins, the team with the most overall wins will advance (this favors the team with more matches played)
Split Flipper Challenger X Joust Head-to-Head WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
SATURDAY September 30th
Time: Check-In - 6:00
Competition Start - 7pm (Immediately following previous tournament finals)
COMPETITION DETAILS
Team Limit: A team is defined as two split flipper players. Registration is limited to the first 24 two-player teams to register.
Requirements: Team name, intro music. Costumes optional.
Divisions: One division of play.
Tournament Structure: Single elimination tournament.
Number of Holds Barred: None
Price: Minimum $10 per team donation to House of Ruth MD.
What the heck is Challenger??? There is a Joust Pinball Machine???
Challenger is the greatest pinball machine ever designed. It is a simultaneous head-to-head pinball machine with a tilting playfield that puts players on offense and defense. 110 units were produced in 1971. Commercially, it was a horrible failure. Conceptually, it is one of the most inspired pinball designs of all time. We love this obscure pinball machine and want to share it with the world by holding our third annual Head-to-Head Pinball World Championship tournament. Learn More
Joust is another amazing and ultra-rare simultaneous head-to-head pinball machine. 402 were produced by Williams Electronics in 1983. Go head-to-head against the other team with up to four simultaneous balls being blasted back and forth across the playfield. Learn More
Rules
Players will be randomly assigned to Challenger or Joust in each round.
Challenger Rules
Two split flipper teams will play head-to-head for three balls.
The floor in the battle arena will be greased.
There will be no tilt on the machine, only a slam tilt.
12” circles will be drawn on the floor in chalk around each leg of Challenger. Sliding the machine is encouraged when on offense or defense.
If your team imparts a force that pushes the machine out of bounds of any chalk circle, the referee will call you out of bounds and you must release your hands from the flippers until the ball drains. The other team may continue to play the ball.
The referee will guide the machine back to the center of the circles while play is ongoing after an out-of-bounds.
High score after each team plays three balls wins. Loser is eliminated from the tournament.
“Pinball Summer” style spectating is encouraged, allowing the crowd to gather around both sides of the machine to cheer and jeer.
Joust Rules
Two split flipper teams will play head-to-head for the duration of a single game.
Standard head to head split flipper match. Players may stand or sit.
If your team imparts a force that causes a tilt, your team will lose.
High score at the end of the game is the winner.
“Pinball Summer” style spectating is encouraged, allowing the crowd to gather around both sides of the machine to cheer and jeer.
For the Haters Open
SATURDAY September 30th
Registration – 11:00AM
Competition starts – 11:30 AM
$10 Registration Fee
PAPA Style Best Card w/ Playoffs
This one’s for the haters. A PAPA style throwback without the pumping or dumping designed so that everyone can participate. Limited best card format for qualifying. There will be a bank of 5 machines. You must play each machine once. All your scores are logged and this makes your “card”. Your performance on all five machines (your card) will be compared against all the other player’s cards. The top players with the best overall card advance to finals.
Each competitor can play a maximum of two cards. These two cards are included in your entry fee. There will be no pumping, and dumping is strictly prohibited. Ten bucks, two cards, life goes on.
If a pin goes down during qualifying , it will be replaced by another machine. Best 5 games will still be considered a card.
Open qualifying from 11:30 – 5. Qualifying exclusively for women who competed in Baltimore Women’s City Championships and Saturday volunteers 5-8.
Finals held after qualifying. If < 80 players top 8, if 80-100, top 12, if over 100 top 16 or etc. etc. if we have more competitors on and on into infinity. You get the idea. We have to put at least 10% of the field in finals and we don’t know how many people will participate.
One game playoff for tie breakers.
Amateur Competition
SATURDAY September 30th
Time: Various times throughout the day.
Are you a casual player that wants to try competing without all the pressure? Did you just start competing and you are still learning? Great! We will be staging special tournaments for new players. These tournaments will be designed to last ~1 hour and let new players give competition a try in a low pressure, fun environment. Ask at the registration desk for a schedule.
Prizes: Our sponsors will be providing a bunch of fun prizes for winners.
Sunday October 1st
Baltimore City Pinball Championship
SUNDAY, October 1st
Registration - 10AM
Competition starts - 11AM
Finals Cut-Off - 3:45 PM
$20 Registration Fee
IFPA Sanctioned
FORMAT
Qualifying: 10 strike progressive strikes tournament.
Qualifying stops when we fall below the # of players for finals. If < 80 players top 8, if 80-100, top 12, if over 100 top 16. Number of active matches will be limited and non-competing players will be asked to leave the competition room to reduce crowding.
Tie breakers among those who are eliminated in the final round to fill out the finals field.
If we have not reduced the field to the finals cut line by 3:45, the current round finish, and no new rounds will be called. The top 8/12/16 players will move on to finals (with a tie breaker if necessary among players straddling the cut line.)
Finals
Finals will be seeded based on standings at the end of qualifying. Ties to assign seeds among players with the same # of strikes will be by random draw.
8 or 16 finalists will be split into 4 player groups.
Round 1 will be 3 game bank papa 4/2/1/0 scoring.
12 finalists will be split into 3 player goups.
Round 1 will be 3 game bank 4/2/1 scoring. Top two progress from each group.
Subsequent rounds will be 4 player groups 4/2/1/0 scoring.
Bank or position will be chosen in order of final qualifying seed.
A player may not choose the same bank for more than one round.
Top 8 will get paid
1 - 36%
2 - 27%
3 - 18%
4 - 9%
5-8 - 2.5%