Saturday is qualifying day for the UK Pinball Open.

If you're not a pre-qualified player from the UK Pinball League, you need to play on Saturday to qualify for Sunday's final rounds.

There are six machines in the qualifying round.

Contestants register and pay their £5 entry fee, in return they will receive a score sheet, a player number and a name badge. This entitles them to one game on each of the six machines during the qualifying period.

Contestants may only enter the UK Pinball Open once and it is their responsibility to ensure they complete all their games within the announced qualifying period, allowing for waiting time when appropriate.

Each of the six machines may only be played once per contestant and all games must be started by one of the stewards. Contestants may play alone or as part of a multi-player game if they prefer.

When the contestant’s game is over, their score from the machine is recorded by a steward after which they should move on to the next available machine of their choice.

When all six machines have been played and the scores recorded, the contestant’s entry is completed and they should vacate the playing area. If a contestant does not play all six machines during the qualifying period, they shall receive a score of zero for any un-played machines.

All the scores on each machine are arranged in ranking order, with the contestant achieving the top score on a machine earning 100 qualifying points with a reducing scale for all lower scores.

A contestant’s qualifying score is the sum of all their qualifying points earned on all six machines. Contestants are then ranked according to their total qualifying points. The more qualifying points a contestant earns, the higher they will be ranked.

Contestants’ scores as well as individual machine scores will be displayed on a projector screen or on display monitors in the tournament area. As more contestants play, individual rankings may change, so contestants should keep checking their position.

When all games have been played and their scores recorded, the final rankings shall be declared.

The 19 highest ranked contestants then progress to Sunday’s final rounds. Contestants ranked 20 – 24 should also report to the tournament desk on Sunday morning for stand-by places should some qualifying contestants not be available.

For more details on what happens on Sunday, click on the Finals link on the left or click here.