The Texas Pinball Festival aims to have one of the best tournaments to match what many believe is the best pinball show in the country. So we’re excited to announce that the 2016 TPF Tournament will be dramatically simplified and overhauled from prior years, reverting back to a format that incorporates best practices that work well for tournament players. It will:

– be easy to understand and well documented,
– run smoothly,
– pay out 100% entry fees back to players as cash prizes,
– provide player ranking/score status in real-time using Karl DeAngelo’s DTM tournament manager,
– allow time for players to enjoy the TPF exhibit hall and seminars, and
– be a lot of fun!

More than 80 of the 200 spots have already been claimed, so don’t wait to secure yours. It’s a $60 one-time entry fee, and with 80 players so far, the prize for first place would be upwards of $1,400. The pot can only get larger!

We’re also excited to announce that the TPF Tourney finals will be hosted, streamed, and commentated by Jack Danger of Dead Flip and Nate Shivers of Coast2Coast Pinball!

If you’ve never been to the Texas Pinball Festival before, you’re missing out on an incredible show experience and what is shaping up to be an incredible tournament. If you've played in TPF tournaments in the past, and been disappointed in how the tournament was run, we invite you to give it another shot. We're confident you won't be disappointed.

Check out details in the Tournament Quick Guide and on our Tournament pages.
http://texaspinball.com/tpf/wp-content/TPF-2016-Tournament-Quick-Guide.pdf
http://texaspinball.com/tpf/tournaments/texas-wizards-tournament/

Don’t forget that the tournament tickets don’t include show admission. Make sure you are pre-registered for the show to save $10 over the door price.

Register now (http://texaspinball.com/tpf/tpfstore/) and see you at TPF 2016!

Not to mention that the prize pool is paid out to all 16 finalists, and current registered pool puts it at an estimated $5,000.
As it stands right now, estimated nearly $1600 for 1st, and 9th-16th paying out over $100.

See you all at TPF 2016!

We're now a month away from TPF and the TPF Wizards tourney!
I hope everyone is getting excited for the show and the tourney. Please continue to spread the word and invite more people to join in what is shaping up to be an outstanding tournament.

Here is a mostly finalized list of pins that will be used in the Wizards tourney (subject to change, standard disclaimer, etc):

Modern DMD:
GOT Pro
Demo Man
Bram Stoker's Dracula
(one more TBD)

Solid State:
Frontier
Nitro Ground Shaker
Torch
Whirlwind

EM:
Fireball
300, or Atlantis (Gottlieb) if 300 isn't ready in time
Buckaroo
Campus Queen
(one more being considered instead of one of the above)

120+ now registered for the tourney.

All players: please note the tourney schedule on the TPF web site.
If you're planning on playing the in the tournament, keep in mind that the tournament is open for play on Friday noon, while the rest of the show floor doesn't open until 5pm Friday.

Leon, Please test this on your GOT Pro (I think you got a Pro, correct?)
We'll be using a Pro at TPF, so I want to determine if this is an issue for all GOT, or just the LE/Prem.

UPDATED PIN LIST!

Here is what should be the finalized list of pins that will be used in the Wizards tourney (subject to change, standard disclaimer, etc):
*** Modern DMD ***
GOT Pro
Demo Man
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Stark Trek (Stern, Pro) ADDED

*** Solid State *** (unchanged)
Frontier
Nitro Ground Shaker
Torch
Whirlwind

*** EM ***
Fireball
Atlantis (Gottlieb) -- because 300's melted coils aren't going to be fixed in time
Campus Queen
Cleopatra ADDED (Buckaroo REMOVED)

As a reminder: please also purchase your Festival registration passes in advance. The festival entrance price is higher at the door vs in advance. Tournament registration & fees does NOT include entrance/badge to the festival. Both are required to play in the tourney.

Check out the NGS we'll be playing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dfwpinballclub/permalink/1087135461337857/

TPF Wizard Tourney qualifying hours extension: To provide more time for all players to be able to complete all of their 30 plays, Friday qualifying times have been extended by two hours. On Friday, qualifying will now run from 11am - 1am (Saturday morning). Saturday is unchanged. We continue to recommend players get some/all of their plays in early.

EM pin change:
As noted, due to 300 having two melted coils that won't get repaired in time, Atlantis (Gottlieb) will be used.

TPF2016 Wizards Tournament Changes
Thank you to all the players who are registered to play in the TPF WIzards Tournament next week. Tourney player registration is now closed with 160 players, creating a total prize pool of $9,600.

The positive response to the TPF new tourney format has been incredible. We're excited to provide a great tournament to match a world-class show. Because the tournament participation level is higher than expected, and after doing the math, we realize there is insufficient qualification time under the orginal format. We truly want to provide the best experience for everyone, allowing for all players to have time to get in the same number of limited plays and to enjoy the best collector's show in the world. To that end, and after consulting with IFPA officials, the following changes are being made to the Wizard's Tournament format:

Players will be required to demonstrate skill across all three eras (DMD, SS, EM). A player's best 10 of 12 pin ranking scores will be counted in the qualifying standings. Each player may choose to use their plays across all 12 pins or focus only on those pins that give them the best chance at qualifying.
The number of attempts per player will be reduced from 30 to 20. This equates to $3 per play, comparable to most other large tournaments.
Tournament qualifying hours will be extended: Friday 11am-1am and Saturday 9am-5pm (a total of 22 hours).

We appreciate everyone's understanding and we are working hard to make this a successful tournament. Should you wish to withdraw from the Wizards Tournament due to these changes, refunds will be available until Tuesday, March 15th, via email request to [email protected]. The TPF website and tournament guide will be updated shortly to reflect these changes.

We look forward to seeing everyone at TPF next week!

Nor are we thrilled in having to make a change. But we're still thrilled with what should be an excellent tourney.

After further analysis of the situation.... pin capacity during qualifying hours, # of players, and doing our best to keep it simple, fair, and greatest chance of running smoothly to provide an enjoyable experience to all, that's what we arrived at.

I can chime in with more information and answer questions later this evening --- I have work that has to be finished up.
Please feel free to ask questions here.

I'm sorry to hear, but I understand the feeling.
I'm confident that the format changes, software change, and simplification of the tourney vs past years will prove it's worth.

Please note that we've changed it to your best 10 pins counting out of the 12 pins available (similar to most other big tourneys where your best X out of Y pins count toward qualifying). At 20 attempts, it's right at 2 per game.

At the current # of players, with 12 pins, we would have had to AVERAGE 3 minutes per game across every hour of the 20+ hours of qualifying. Benchmark data showed that 4.7-4.9 minutes/game should be expected.

Ultimately, it came down to:
- Do we want to have many many players realizing on Saturday that there is no hope of getting in all their 30 plays, and feeling like they not only aren't getting their money's worth of their entry fee, and feeling like they didn't have a fair chance at the competition?

or

- Do we want to alert players of the logistics issue up-front, alter the # of plays, and also allow any players to back out that don't feel the changes warrant their participation?

Once again, we didn't like making the change, but the alternative would have likely resulted in much more chaos and frustration.
We still feel that the $60 is appropriate for this tournament -- whether 20 or 30 plays -- and that it represent good value compared to other tourneys that typically charge $3.33 per play.

talk to you all later this evening.

Regarding waits at the tourney games, we will also be using the electronic queuing feature in the software to give players the chance to get away if they're deep in a slower-moving queue.

Era champs will still be the best ranking score across an eras four pins.

It's completely up to each player how they want to use their 20 plays.
To maximize the chance of finals qualifying, getting a ranking score on 10 pins will likely be necessary. To increase your chance of winning an era award, you'll want to get a score on all four of those pins. So that may then steer you to playing 4, 4, and 2 of the different eras vs 4, 3, and 3.

Once again, it's all up to you.

This will absolutely be considered for next year to have additional available pins in the tourney bank.

This will also be considered for next year. For this year, the idea was to keep the finals as simple as possible, and showcasing the finals on a Saturday evening meant we couldn't do more than 16 with byes, because four rounds of PAPA-style finals typically takes 8 hours.

Good question. Just the main tournament.

I had the same overreaction when first facing and considering reducing plays, and I detest changing fundamental details at this stage, but once I considered the options with the rest of the team, while not ideal, this is FAR better than some players getting all 30 plays in, and other players only able to get 15-20 in when expecting their fair share of 30.

I agree that it's not cool to change it after the fact. I'm sorry that it doesn't meet your expectations. But I hope you understand that the alternative was far worse (see other posts). And the solution picked REDUCES the chances of chaos and frustration that many experienced in years past.

Whysnow:
Thanks for the feedback, suggestions, and your opinion. Don't worry, I don't take it personally.
I do take it personally that I didn't catch the flaw in the #'s earlier. While I didn't develop the format, I should have caught it earlier. I won't make that mistake again.

I'm sorry that you made travel and vacation plans around trying to find an advantage in playing a lot early, knowing that many players likely wouldn't be able to get them all it. I don't fault you for being shrewd and wanting to do this. But based on your thread comments, it sounds like you do appreciate why we had to make the change when we did. To do so after everyone had registered sucks, and I don't expect everyone to be happy, but to not do anything would have been far worse.

My initial reaction to reducing plays was "No way!" Both with the TPF organizers and with Josh.
I tried moving heaven and earth to explore other means by which to alleviate the issue, but they either had fatal flaws, or weren't as good as the option that we went with. I'll tell you the whole story over a beer if I get some time away from the tourney, and after I've gotten the chance to play a couple games with my kids.

Regarding the # of plays, many others have already stated what I feel and know to be true. And ironically, you're arguing a point that's contrary to the fact that you're among the higher-ranked players that's signed up for TPF.

Regarding the $/play, the team decided that we stick with the original one-time entry price of the tourney and offer full refunds to those that want to opt out. There is a waiting list of people that want in. I realize that a refund isn't much consolation to someone traveling from distance. But $60 for what should hopefully be a smooth, well-run tourney is good value. And as others have mentioned, getting ample time on the TPF festival floor, in seminars, and with the people that make up the show is a Super Jackpot of a consolation.

See you next weekend.

We tried going this route, but it had fatal flaws. One was due to the multi-era format and the software, which is designed for tourneys that don't care what era a pin is from within one tourney.

And by the way, Karl's software is amazing and he has been an incredible help.

Around 20, I believe.

Tourney games will be top notch again this year. And all can enjoy them all day Sunday.

Thanks again, Karl, for all your help!

For anyone playing in TPF -- or has/will play in a tourney that uses DTM -- if you cross paths with Karl at a future event, be sure to buy him a drink, give him a high five, and tell him thanks for all he does for pinball.

What gtown said. But since it's full, chances are slim at this point. Send the email and pray.

A few big thank you's first: to Ken, Ed, and Kim -- for helping organize not only the tourney, but also the whole amazing spectacle that is TPF. To Rachel -- for helping as a tournament director.

To all the volunteers who contributed pins, helped set up, scorekeep, register kids/parents, queue players, and fix pin issues as they cropped up. There are too many to name -- we had 4 scorekeeper volunteers and 1 judge volunteer per shift, and every single slot was filled.

Special thanks to Eugene Marsh for not only helping with the scorekeeping he signed up for, but also helping on a ton of tech issues. What was our final drop target replacement count up to on Torch? 5? 6?

Thanks to Jack Danger and Nate Shivers for streaming and commentating all 6 hours of the tourney finals.

HUGE thank you to Karl DeAngelo, who's tourney software is simply amazing.

And last, thank you to all the players who participated in the biggest turnout ever for the TPF tourney.
If you haven't already voted for a tournament to add to the 2016-2017 PAPA Circuit Tournament calendar, please consider voting for TPF 2017 as an addition to the PAPA Circuit: http://papa.org/2016/03/19/circuit-event-voting-is-now-open/
Voting only takes 2-3 clicks and a couple seconds of your time. Thanks!