The Bat City Open 2019
June 21st – 23rd

The Bat City Open 2019

Calling pinball players of all skill levels! Join us once again in the heart of historic downtown Austin, TX for this year’s Bat City Open pinball tournament June 21-23.
This year’s event will feature two IFPA  sanctioned tournaments

The first will be an optional group Flipper Frenzy event, with finals, on Friday evening. The main tourney will feature a full day of Pinburgh-style single-game rounds on Saturday, which means you’ll be matched up against players who are playing at a similar level as the tourney progresses. This will be followed by PAPA-style finals on Sunday for A division, B division, and Novice division. Players will compete for trophies, cash prizes, pride, glory, and IFPA World Pinball Player Rankings (or WPPR’s for short) points.
Main tournament entry fee: $70
Optional Flipper Frenzy fee: $10
– Access to all tourney pins on Free Play. No coin drop required.
Stern Army swag door prizes for non-finalists!

Traveling to Austin

Buffalo Billiards is located in the heart of Austin’s historic 6th street, surrounded by an array of bars and restaurants. Buffalo Billiards itself will have a full bar and restaurant available to players and spectators for the entire duration of the tournament.

There are plenty of options for lodging within walking distance of Buffalo Billiards.

Main Tournament Overview

Flip Frenzy Tourney Format (IFPA sanctioned):
Friday, June 21st, at 7 pm. Check-in by 6:45.
-First Round begins at 7 pm sharp
-A head to head match play style event.
– Three hours of qualifying, no new matches may be started after time has expired. (Player one must have plunged ball one on a two player game prior to time expiring to be valid)
– Players will play in groups of two with up to 25% of the field in the game queue.
– After a game is complete player 1 will become player 2, player 2 will go to the end of the queue (the newly created match may not be on the same machine so both players should report to the scorekeeper)
– Players may also use this time to practice play on tourney pins.

Flip Frenzy Prize Structure:
– 60% paid out to the top 4 finishers (50-25-15-10)
– 40% paid out to 3 random non finals players
        -33% (5th-20th)
        – 33% (21st-40th)
        – 33% (41st- and above)

Finals Format: Top 4
-PAPA style (4-2-1-0 scoring) on a bank of three machines.

Main Tourney Format:*
– Qualifying match play rounds: Saturday, June 21, at 10am. Check-in by 9:30am. Doors at 9am.
– IFPA scoring: 7-5-3-1. (7-4-1 for 3-player groups)
– 13 rounds of single games. Re-seeding after every game.
– Pinburgh style seeding each successive round: Tiered Swiss

Main Tourney Planned Schedule**:
– 10am – 1pm: Rounds 1-4
– 1pm – 2pm: Lunch break (Round 5 will begin 1 hour after Round 4 concludes)
– 2pm – 7:30pm: Rounds 5-9
– 7:30 – 8:30pm: Dinner break (Round 10 will begin 1 hour after Round 9 concludes)
– 8:30 – 10pm: Rounds 10-13
– 10pm: Tiebreakers, if necessary

*** We will be using the  IFPA/PAPA rules for this event. Any modifications to these rules will be posted at the score keepers desk.***

*** Tournament officials may declare a player as a winner of a game in progress; that player will get 7 points for that game. This will generally occur only if the pace of the tournament is at risk due to exceptionally good play. The affected player must stop play immediately. Any other player reaching the same score in that game will also receive 7 points for that game.***

Main Tourney Finals:
– Sunday 10am (check in at 9:30 am. Doors at 9am)
– Divisions:
o A Div: 16 finalists
o B Div: 8 finalists, restricted to players ranked no better than 501 in IFPA world rankings as of 6/15/19
o Novice Div: 4 finalists, restricted to players ranked no better than 3,001 in IFPA world rankings as of 6/15/19
– PAPA-style finals, with the restriction that each player may not select the same pin more than once throughout the entirety of the finals (all rounds).
o B Division picks after A Division, and Novice picks after B Division, with the restriction that pins that are being played during that segment of the round may not be selected by any other group, regardless of division.

Main Event Finals Prize Structure*

A Division:

1st place = Trophy + 28%

2nd place = plaque + 14%

3rd place = plaque + 7%

4th place = plaque + 4%

5th-8th = 3% each

9th-16th = 1.5% each

B Division: 17%

1st place = Trophy + 8.5%

2nd place = Buffalo Billiards shirt + 4% of Main prize pool

3rd place = Buffalo Billiards shirt + 3%

4th place = Buffalo Billiards shirt + 1.5%

Novice Division: 7%

1st place = plaque + 3%

2nd place = Buffalo Billiards shirt + 2%

3rd place = Buffalo Billiards shirt + 1.5%

4th place = Buffalo Billiards shirt + 0.5%

* Payout percentages are of the entire prize pool

Wait list

This is the wait list for the Bat City Open. Please fill this form out and we will contact you if a spot becomes available.

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