Third Annual Women's Royal Rumble (2024)
Overview:
These rules are tournament-specific alterations built upon the IFPA/PAPA competitive ruleset. For any situations not addressed in these rules, refer to the main set of IFPA/PAPA Competition Rules.
The Tournament Organizer (TO) and main Tournament Director (TD) for the Women’s Royal Rumble is Kim Martinez, with technical assistance by the CLEPIN crew when necessary and Co-TD Bre Reynolds. TDs handle malfunctions and rulings, delegate responsibilities when necessary, and work to ensure the smooth operation of the tournament at large.
This is a Ladder Match Finals, Match-Play Qualifying tournament, consisting of AT LEAST 6 rounds of Match-Play qualifying within a 4 and a half hour time period. If more rounds can be had within the allotted time, we will continue to start a round with the cut off being 5 MINUTES before the qualifying time period ends. There will be a dinner break and playoffs will take place immediately after the dinner break. Players will compete in groups of 4 or 3 when necessary on a randomly selected machine. This will repeat for AT LEAST 6 rounds, with a designated number of top qualifiers advancing to the playoffs.
Finals will consist of a Ladder Match style finals with the designated number of qualifiers playing a single game in a group of 4.
Entry Fee: $20 (Cash Payouts, all qualifiers are guaranteed to receive a portion entry fee back.)
SCHEDULE
Saturday
10:00 AM to 10:30 AM – Practice
10:30 AM to approx 10:45 AM – Last call for Registration; Rule explanations and announcements
Approx 10:45 AM to 11:00 AM – Group Photos
11:00 AM - Qualifying begins
Approx 4:00 PM – Qualifying ends
Tiebreakers will take place immediately after qualifying to determine seeding and qualifying individuals.
Approx 4:30 PM – DINNER BREAK
Approx 5:15 PM – Group photos and overview of finals, gather the first group and determine the game to be played. Streaming equipment set up time. And player intros!
5:30PM – First round of Finals begin
Each finals round is estimated to run 20-30 min long. Higher seeds please plan accordingly, virtual check-ins will be accepted if phone numbers are given to the TD after qualifying ends/before Dinner and round notices can be sent.
TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW
Medals/Trophies, cash prizes and sponsored swag will be awarded to the top finishers. Prizes and Sponsors to be announced and added on to. (See Payouts)
Seeding will be randomized, with pairings after that following swiss tiered or like points play like points.
Players will be assigned to groups of four (4) (or three (3), when necessary) and will be assigned to ONE (1) randomly selected machine. An effort will be made to ensure that everyone plays a variety of machines.
Players will follow the turn order listed on the matchplay.events for their turn on the assigned game. Most machines will have extra balls turned off, some of the newer games will award extra balls – DO NOT PLAY EXTRA BALLS. If you receive a ball save, that is playable and the player should continue playing.
Scoring during qualifying rounds will be using IFPA scoring:
7 / 5 / 3 / 1 in 4 player groups
7 / 4 / 1 in 3 player groups
It is the responsibility of the group to make sure the tournament official or other TD’s are notified upon completion of the game, so results may be recorded accurately. Typically, the winner of the game takes the responsibility of reporting. Matchplay.events may also be used to submit results. An account is required to submit via matchplay.
The number of qualifiers is dependent on the total number of players in the qualifying field. If entrants are less than 24 players, top 8 will advance, if more than that top 12 will advance, if more than 38 top 16 will advance.
Players who have qualified for playoffs but are unable to stay will forfeit their spot in the final rounds, and the open slot will be filled by the next highest qualifier still available to play. Seeds will shift upwards, accordingly.
In the event that two or more players are tied on the qualifying bubble, such that not all of the tied players can advance to the final rounds, a single tie breaking game will be played. A single game will be played on a machine randomly generated by a number generator. The tied players will play in a randomly determined order, in a multiplayer game on the selected machine, and will subsequently be ranked in order of their scores on that game. If more players are tied than the selected machine will support in a single game, multiple games will be played to accommodate all tied players, in a randomly determined order, and the resulting scores will be compared as if they had all occurred during the same game on the machine.
In the event that two or more players are tied, but are not on the qualifying bubble, a tiebreaker procedure within matchplay’s software will be implemented to assign seeding. This type of tiebreak will determine which player had the most 1st place wins during qualifying, and assign them the higher seed. If 1st place wins are the same, 2nd place wins will be used.
Players will compete in a ladder match style finals and will begin with the lowest seeds, grouped in a group of four (4). Players are placed on a "ladder" in order of seeding. The bottom seeds play against each other and the loser is eliminated. A new match is created with the next seed on the ladder replacing the eliminated player. One player is eliminated after each match until a winner is found.
Once there are only four players remaining, one player continues to be eliminated after each game. Thus, there will be a game with three players and after that a final match with two players to find the winner.
Seeding example:
Seed #16, 15, 14 and 13 will be grouped together.
NEW FOR 2024 PLEASE READ:
The top seed of that group will have a choice of machine AND position in the first match. The next highest seed will replace the player eliminated and have a choice of the machine AND position after that. Once down to a group of four (4), the winner of each round will have a choice of machine.
Machines cannot be chosen TWICE IN A ROW by the same player (this will mostly come into play once we get to the final four). \
** TECHNICAL/STREAMING:
Streaming and equipment is sponsored by SDTMpinball. Streaming rights will go to SDTMpinball and the streaming director/commentator will be Erik Wurtenberger. We will have one camera rig available to potentially switch between four (4) games. The rigs/cameras will not be placed on the machine at any point in time.
Qualifying: The rigs will be moved before each round begins TBD by the TO/TD. We will not be moving the rig in the middle of a round. Towards the end of qualifying we will attempt to follow bubble groups. Tie breakers will be streamed when we can.
Finals: Due to the style of the finals, the rigs will follow each match. 2-3 Minutes in between each round, the rig will be moved and adjusted to the selected machine.
The tournament will always take precedence over any stream, and our streaming director will take into consideration anyone’s request to be off stream if an issue occurs. PLEASE let your TD know if you do not want to be on stream and we will turn off the player cam during your turn.
MALFUNCTIONS AND RULINGS:
Most rules governing malfunctions and rulings are from the IFPA/PAPA ruleset. The specific rules below supersede the IFPA/PAPA ruleset. For the official ruleset from IFPA follow this link: https://www.ifpapinball.com/rules/
1. Major Malfunctions
If a major malfunction occurs that will require significant repairs, TDs may declare a “disabled machine.” Because the tournament needs to move quickly from round to round, it is not always possible to make significant repairs during a match. A new machine will be assigned to the group for immediate play, and the game in progress will be declared void.
In the event that two or more different major malfunctions take place during the same game, the machine will be declared “Disabled” and a new machine will be assigned to the group for immediate play.
2. Disabled Machines
Any tournament machine that breaks down during play will be attended to by technicians as promptly as possible. In the event that a breakdown is severe and cannot be repaired promptly, the machine may be taken out of service temporarily, or permanently. Results on that machine from prior rounds will not be disqualified, and the machine will be replaced by another selected by the TD.
TDs may choose to disable a machine for any reason during or between sessions of play. Typical reasons may include malfunctions, incorrect settings, or unusually high playtimes on a machine.
3. Player Errors
Any player who plays out of turn will receive a score of zero. Any player whose ball was played out of turn by another player will have a compensation ball awarded, unless they choose to “take over” the ball in progress. Any points scored when a ball is being played out of turn count. It is the responsibility of all players to ensure the correct player is on the machine at all times.
A game that is started with the incorrect number of players will not be considered valid until the correct number of players is entered into the machine. There will be no penalty for this error, and the game will simply be restarted. If player one realizes their error with ball 1 in play and adds the correct number of players before draining, the game will be permitted without restarting.
MACHINE SETTINGS
Most rules governing machine settings are identical to the PAPA ruleset. The specific rules below supersede them.
1. Software settings
Players will play the game “as is,” even if there is no sign indicating an expected change in the machine behavior. Please notify tournament officials if a game is acting in an unusual way.
PLAYER CONDUCT
All rules governing player conduct are identical to the PAPA ruleset. The specific rules below supersede them.
1. Absences
When round groups are announced, all players must proceed to their assigned machines and check-in with the other players in their group. If a player is absent, TDs must be notified promptly. An announcement may or may not be made to attempt to locate the absent player. Any player absent 5 minutes after a round’s start time will be disqualified for the session, and receive a score of 1 (or last place) for the round.
When a player is determined to be absent, TDs will alter the affected group appropriately.
If a player who was present initially at the start of the round cannot be found during the play of the group, TDs must be notified promptly. If the player did not notify the group or an official of the reason for their absence, they will be allowed no more than 3 minutes to return. If they do not return, each ball for that player will be promptly plunged by a TD and left unplayed. Any player who has more than one such absence may be disqualified from the tournament.
Any player who is absent at the beginning of two consecutive rounds without notifying TDs of an emergency in advance will be disqualified from the tournament. Disqualified players will not appear in subsequent rounds, nor may they qualify for playoffs.
Any player who is not present at the beginning of playoffs may be disqualified and replaced by the next available seeded player. Any player who is absent during the final round will be subjected to the rules above regarding absences during group play.
At no time may any person substitute for an absent player.
2. Disallowed Practice
Practicing on any tournament machine except during the designated time from 10 AM until 10:30 AM THE DAY OF, and after qualifying has ended (but before the start of playoffs) is strictly forbidden. A player who is found practicing a tournament machine outside of the assigned time may be given a verbal warning without further penalty. A second offense may result in disqualification from the tournament, at the TD’s discretion.
PRIZES AND PAYOUTS
GRAND PRIZE:
All qualifiers are guaranteed to receive a portion entry fee back.
Payouts for top 5 (minus the qualifiers money from the cash pool) will be awarded as well.
1st Place:
ENTRY INTO THE CLEVELAND PINBALL & ARCADE SHOW 2025
ENTRY INTO THE WOMEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE OF CLEPIN 2025
CUSTOM MADE WRESTLING CHAMPION BELT (must return to the WRR of CLEPIN 2025 even if player cannot attend)
LARGEST SELECTION OF PRIZES FROM OUR SPONSORS
2nd – 16th Place:
A variety of items and swag from our sponsors.
No refunds for any tournament entry fees.
