(Topic ID: 32599)

Tournament-Going Tips

By Shpwizard

11 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 63 posts
  • 28 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 11 years ago by jonnyo
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

You

Linked Games

No games have been linked to this topic.

    Topic Gallery

    View topic image gallery

    Snow.jpg

    You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider shpwizard.
    Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

    10
    #1 11 years ago

    So I've been to about 9 IFPA tournaments now. My last one was a very instructive trip, and has motivated me to write up a bit about it, at least how I'm going to do it from now on.

    Pinball Tournament tips
    =======================
    - Bring a waterbottle. Many places don't have drinking fountains or offer bottled water. Most places have bathrooms with sinks . It will get hot.
    - Eat right. Most venues have "burger, fries and beer/Coca-Cola." If you're trying to eat healthy, don't expect them to encourage it. BTW - some of the best up-and-coming players eat healthy. I had lunch with a player who has gotten first at a few tournaments and we both did a salad at Subway. I've found I play better after eating a salad or soup at Whole Foods. Your call, of course.
    - Bring cash. Most places want cash.
    - Over 4hrs drive? Try to find a place to stay. You'll be happier, but your pocketbook won't be.
    - Locations will often be warm, jam-packed with machines, surrounded by sweaty stinky nerdy socially-stunted financially-rich men with few places to walk. It's not pretty. Dress appropriately and be kind to others. Keith Elwin wore shorts to Pinball Expo in cold Chicago in October, and he's from sunny California. Do what you need to do.
    - You being there means you probably *are* a sweaty stinky nerdy socially-stunted financially-rich man, and that's okay (Note: the above description *does* describe me ). But try to rise above it: cut or use product in your hair, shave or trim, smell nice, wear clean clothes. Everyone will like it, including yourself. Women will give you hugs (true story - happened to a guy when I was at Pinball Expo - sadly not me ).
    - Most pinball tournaments are organized by unpaid volunteers, regardless of venue. Treat the volunteers kindly - they like pinball as much as you do. It goes a long way.
    - Because tournaments are volunteer-run, don't expect everything to go swimmingly and have appropriate breaks for food etc. Be prepared for the unexpected and the mismanaged. I don't mean this as a slam on the people running the tournament; it's not intentional, just the nature of how things go. Props to Hilton Jones, who has bucked this trend and was highly organized.
    - Noise? Listen to music from headphones or wear earplugs.
    - Really follow the Pinball Etiquette section from Pinball 101. As silly and old-timey as it is, many people fit the stereotypes. I've met Jazz-Hands Jeff and Annoying Al. They also tend to appear when you least want them to, like during finals.
    - When someone is playing, don't touch their machine. At all. Did it once, and pretty sure it ruined my reputation with that player, especially when later I showed up at his own tournament and he was a complete Annoying Al to me. I messed up. Corrolary: apologies and forgiveness make the world go round.
    - Do get drunk if the tourney is at a location with beer. That way I will beat you. Seriously though, don't get drunk. It heavily impairs your ability to play well. I started playing just 8 months ago, and have beaten many drunk players who are far superior to me when sober.

    2 months later
    #9 11 years ago

    Dan, I wasn't directing the comment at MGC, rather other tournaments I've been at. I haven't played at MGC's tournament yet (I actually started playing after getting a DVD at MGC last year).

    Mind you, I'm not upset about this stuff. This is clearly a volunteer-run thing. Patience and being easy-going makes this stuff work. It's all for fun anyway.

    What I was referring to was:

    - Unclear / inaccurate information on the tournament website as to times, rules, what type of tournament is being held, etc. One IFPA tournament I wanted to go to didn't have a website posted, and the only way I could get info on times was to get accepted onto their facebook group, which didn't happen until after the monthly tournament date occurred...
    - Confusing ways the lines are being run to hop in and make a qualifying run. (This really tripped me up at my first tournament)
    - No definite "regroup" time mentioned for players to return from a food break to do playoffs. I went to one tournament where the director let us all go to dinner, but didn't say what time we needed to be back... and then he was upset when people weren't around later to start playoffs.

    #38 11 years ago

    Bringing a notepad (either paper+pen or smart phone) is very helpful for recording your scores on machines. It can sometimes take quite a while for scores to show up on the official scorekeeper sheet, so by keeping your own scores recorded on your person, you can quickly tell if you beat your best score on a particular machine.

    #45 11 years ago

    After being at a tournament yesterday, and watching DEWSHO get quite tipsy and make it to A-Division, I'm not so sure my comment on drinking is true in my original post... lol

    You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider shpwizard.
    Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

    Reply

    Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

    Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

    Donate to Pinside

    Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


    This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tournament-going-tips?tu=shpwizard and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

    Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.