I had a PM about how I run my team tournaments, and I thought I'd post the answer here for those of you that run tournaments of your own. I struggled with a way to include newer players in my tournaments, and this method is perfect. 70% of the players in my tourneys are below mid-talent. I charge $10 per head, with 100% of the funds going to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams.
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1.I designate each player in the pool as either pro, good, average or newb.
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2.I then break the players into teams of four, with each team having one player from each of the designations above or as close as I can get. The pro of the team is the team captain. The captain is responsible for making sure his/her team correctly records scores and for teaching players rules and techniques etc.
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3.Each team chooses a headband colour and a team name. On big chalk boards, I right down the team names in rows to the left. The columns are named for the games in the collection. See the photo below for a sample.
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4.Each team plays each of the machines in my collection as a team (4-player game, each player their own game). This eliminates the intimidation of newbs playing against good players. Instead, the good players (captains) want to teach them how to play so that they will score better for the team. Morale is always high, with teams celebrating one another throughout the night. This also helps for newbs to meet new people. I find it best to recommend that teams play in order of talent: the captain goes first, and the newb goes last. This allows for the newbs to learn before playing.
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5.Each of the games will have a scoring chart placed on the glass above the lockdown bar (see image below for the printout of scoring charts that I use. The charts are numbered from 1-10 points, with each number containing a score range. For example, on TZ the first score range is 0-20mil. If your final score is in that range, you get one point. The second range is 30-40 and so on. The gaps between points shrink as the points on the left get higher. On TZ, 10 points is 200mil. This is the max, meaning that if you score 1 billion, you still just get 10 points. This scoring system means that most pros will top out and the tournament is truly decided by the less skilled players. Newbs often decide who wins, which makes it very exciting for them!
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6.After each round, the team captain determines the number of points based on scores. With older games where you cannot cycle through the display mode, it’s good to take pictures of the scores with your phone. After scores are added up, the final score for the team is then written on the chalk board for that game.
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7.The team repeats this process until all games are played. Then scores for all the teams are tallied and compared to determine a winner. In the event of a tie, which is extremely rare, each team of the tie plays one game on Star Trek, the ass-kicker in the room, to determine the winner. Money is then delved out to the winners.
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8.Tip: if you don’t have the right number of people, make one or two teams of three with your weakest captain(s). In a team of three, every member plays one ball of the fourth player. The team captain MUST play the first ball of the fourth player game. This gives this type of team a slight advantage as the captain gets to influence two of the games in each round. That is why you choose the weakest captain(s).
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I have hosted many successful tournaments consisting of groups from as low as 12 and as high as 34 people, refining this style as I move along. I’ve had it locked down as above for the past 5 or so as it appears to be working perfectly. I haven’t gone below 12, but I’m positive this tournament style could work with as low as 6 players.
Let me know what you guys think, and if you try it, let me know how it goes.
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Scoring Charts:
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scoring-charts (resized).jpg
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Chalk Board(each score would be out of 40 - 10 possible points per player - totals for the night are in little numbers. Team names are to the left on another similar chalk board with the other games):
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Team Tourney!
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