Do we have any info on the classics tournament? I.E. will it also be the top 16 for finals and also with a bank of 10 games?

Also, will their be B brackets like last year and what would those IFPA cut offs be (assuming 500 as was last year).

The cutoff I mentioned was that if you were higher than 500 you wouldn't be able to play in B's (like TPF). I didn't write that well. I could also be wrong that their was one last year. For some reason I thought their was but I may be confusing tournaments.

Yes, they need to advise on this as that last part you mentioned I don't want to happen again. It (and my inability to win my first round) screwed me and left a sour taste in my mouth. I was qualified 14th and spent a fair chunk of money extra trying to improve my standings knowing their was less than 60 players and I didn't want to get bumped. I was (and am still) pretty agitated that occurred and it forced a round to make top 16. Wouldn't have been a big issue but I spent the extra money as top 16 was guaranteed payout and I basically wasted money trying to stay qualified on top of losing a guaranteed payout.

Speaking of payout - When will those figures be disclosed?

With the number of games present it would be nice if they would do A, B and even potentially C divisions. I don't really care if I win a trophy or get a payout (if known in advance). It's just nice to get to play in the brackets. It's also good for pinball to allow people to get experience in that aspect of tournaments. I think it would drive more participation too.

Where are ya'll seeing Atlantis? Is their another list floating around that isn't here or on their official website?

I go either way on restrictions. Generally speaking those higher ranked players should be better players. Problem with IFPA though is all the fluff points being handed out for these weekly tournaments and leagues. Just look at the Texas IFPA ranking right now and tell me the system isn't being played.... They need to fix that so that real tournaments (like TPF, Houston, Bat City) give a lot more points than what someone can get for 1 month of playing with their friends tournaments (these weekly 10-15 players) gigs if they want to rely on IFPA. I actually think they should look at taking averages for rankings. Take someones top 10 events for the year and average their score and that is their IFPA score for the year. Current state it mixes up the, "I play all the time" players with the "I'm good and consistent" players.

Shoot, I got twice the points for a 5th place finish in our monthly league than I did for finishing 5th at state. That's just insane to me...

If you want proof (not to pick on anyone) but look at Garret and then someone like Fred. Garret won TPF and placed second at Cactus Jacks (yes I know that wasn't Texas, just proving skill) and he has about 60% of the points Fred has whom only qualified 45th at TPF. He has 26 events of which most are these weekly points grab things. The system is more than screwed up when someone could theoretically win TPF and Bat City and still be beat out in state qualifying by people that aren't even qualifying for the real tournaments but play 50 events in a year. Again, no disrespect to Fred (he's a real nice guy) but using a real example helps prove the point.

Frax - I do agree with you and I also feel IFPA needs some major work in order for pinball to get the respect it deserves. With that said, didn't you win or at least place in the top 4 at TPF a couple years ago? I wouldn't cut yourself short. Some may argue it wasn't a "major" tournament when you did (seems like 3 years ago now) but their were some top players there. You and I are pretty alike. We are real good when we are on our game. It's consistency that kicks our butts.

Thanks Buffalow for the info. That's good to hear their will at least be a B group.

WOW, I'm a complete putz. I thought this was next weekend so I missed a tournament that was in my home town....