Once again we will be bringing the highly popular UK Pinball Team Tournament back to the UK Pinball Show on Saturday 29th September 2007 but this time we're awarding WPPR points throughout the three rounds, so everyone has the chance to win.

Groups of four competitors compete in a series of games designed to test both individual and team performance. Last year's winners, the South West Stiffs will have to beat tough competition if they are to retain their title.

All teams needed to pre-register to compete in the UK Pinball Team Tournament, so they got together with their mates to form a team to take part. For a list of the teams registered, click here.

Registration was capped at 16 teams (64 players) and we now have that many, so registration is closed.

UK PINBALL TEAM TOURNAMENT RULES

The UK Pinball Team Tournament starts at midday on Saturday the 29th of September.

Competitor information:

•  Teams must be pre-entered for this tournament and will consist of four competitors. Team members and team names are to be confirmed before the morning of the tournament by using the registration form below.

•  One team member substitution is allowed if a competitor fails to show before the start of play.

•  Teams captains must register their team's presence at the Tournament Desk before the start of play at midday.

•  There is an entrance fee of £10 per team which must be paid at the Tournament Desk.

•  Each team will receive a ticket upon registration for the first round of play and will be able to look up their playing pool and start time.

•  Machines will normally be set to 4-ball games with hard settings, no extra balls and tournament mode to minimize random awards. Older machines may be set to 5 balls but only the first 4 balls may be played.

•  No extra balls shall be played in any game. If a competitor earns an extra ball they may plunge the ball and go for a plunger skill shot, but may not touch the machine in any way after the ball is plunged.

•  There will be 3 rounds to the tournament.

•  Machines and teams will be split into two pools - Pool A and Pool B.

•  Rounds 1 & 2 will consist of 3 games for all competitors - 4 balls each competitor per game.

•  During The Final a mystery machine will be added to the line up.

Round 1 (all teams) each competitor plays a four-player four-ball game as part of his/her team on the 3 specified machines. Individual competitor's scores are ranked and used to determine their team's position in their pool and subsequently which teams progress to the next round. The top 2 teams from each pool progress to Round 2.

Round 2 (4 teams). The top 2 teams from each pool will play on the 3 machines they have not yet played. Rules are as Round 1. Once again, individuals' scores are used to determine their position in their pool and which team goes forward to The Final.

The Final: This consists of a best-of-five-games shootout between the remaining 2 teams. Competitors play a 4-ball game as a team on each machine (1 ball each competitor) and the team with the highest score after all four balls have been played wins the game. The first game is played on the mystery machine. The losing team from each game will be able to chose the machine for the next game from those not yet played.

•  The first team to win 3 games is the winner of the tournament.

•  There will be a short break between rounds as specified in the timetable or as varied on the day.

•  The machines played will be decided in advance of the tournament by the organizers, except during the finals where teams have some choice over which machines are played.

Game selection:

The tournament games will be selected from seven different sources so as to minimize any advantage to their owners, should they take part. The game selection criteria used was fair rules, fair scoring, varied play styles and varied age and manufacturers.

UK Pinball Team Tournament Rules:

These rules should be read in conjunction with the overall tournament rules in the Rules section of this site. The following rules apply only to the UK Pinball Team Tournament.

•  The selection of machines is not fixed and may change during the tournament. If a machine has to be removed during the course of the tournament, a substitute machine will be provided and any games already played in the current round may need to be re-played on the new machine.

•  Once the tournament has begun, substitutions in team line up are not permitted and no refunds will be given to any competitors. If a competitor withdraws from a team once tournament has begun they cannot be replaced and will score zero for all games they do not participate in.

•  Competitors should play their nominated machine to the best of their ability with good conduct and without cheating or unfairly influencing the score. The organizers shall decide what constitutes good conduct and cheating.  Any competitor deemed to be in breach of these rules may be warned or they and/or their team disqualified and their team's score adjusted or discarded.

•  One other team member may provide verbal guidance to the competitor during their turn of play, but may not touch or unduly influence the machine in any way. The other team members must stand clear while the game is in progress as instructed by the steward.

•  Tilting the machine during a game will result in the loss of the competitor's current ball.  Slam tilting will result in the game ending and the offending competitor's team automatically being awarded a score of zero for that game. If this occurs in a head to head, any other team playing against the offending competitor's team will be allowed to start a new game to register their score.

•  If in the opinion of the organizers the slam tilt is due to poor or dangerous conduct by the competitor, the competitor and their team may be disqualified and their score discarded. 

•  If a team cannot produce their ticket or all members cannot be found in a timely manner as decided by the organizers, their place may be forfeit.  If this happens, their place in the next round may be awarded to the next highest scorer in their qualifying pool.  If that team is also not available, the place in the next round will be awarded to the next highest scorer in the qualifying pool and so on down the list of teams.

WPPR Points Awards

• Competitors will be ranked according to their scores in each of the first two rounds.

• The competitors ranked in the top 25% of the first round will be awarded 4 WPPR points. Those in the next 25% will receive 3 points, the next 25% will get 2 points and those in the bottom 25 % will receive 0.5 WPPR points.

• In the second round, the top four ranked competitors will receive a further 4 WPPR points, the next four will earn a further 3 points, the next four will get 2 more points and the bottom four competitors will receive 1 WPPR point.

• In the final, because competitors play as part of their team and not individually, all four members of the winning team will receive 4.5 WPPR points. The members of the losing team will earn 2 WPPR points each.

• If a competitor is in the top 25% of competitors in both the first two rounds and is a member of the winning team, they can earn a maximum of 12.5 WPPR points.

• All competitors are guaranteed a minimum of 0.5 WPPR points.

Good luck, play well and have fun.

Registered Teams

The following teams have registered for the Team Tournament. Registration has now closed.

Good luck to all competitors, and we look forward to seeing you in Kettering this September for the UK Pinball Team Tournament.

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