Classics Side Tournament

Texas Wizards Tournament | Classics Side Tournament | Women’s Tournament | Kids’ Tournament

Tournament entries for the Classics Side Tournament can be purchased in advance of the show in our Store. There is a maximum of 240 players for this event, so register early to secure your spot. Once all 240 tickets are sold, a waiting list will be created in case any spots open before the start of the tournament.

Open qualifying begins on Friday morning and runs all-day Friday. Finals will be held on Saturday morning, with 16 players qualifying for finals (or 24 players if more than 160 players participate). There are no separate finals divisions for this side tournament. The tournament will follow a limited entry, best-game format across a total of 8 pins (best 4 count).

View the Classics Tournament Players and Wait Lists.

Cost

One-time fixed price of $30 for 10 plays. Each play is played individually on a pin of the player’s choosing.  Note that players must have a TPF show pass for the applicable day to play in the tournament.

Prizes

Cash prize percentage pay outs are determined by player participation, net of trophy and fixed cash prize expenses, and tournament expenses.

1st place – 23% of Net Prize Purse + plaque
2nd place – 17% + plaque
3rd place – 12% + plaque
4th place – 8% + plaque
5th-8th place – 4% each
9th-16th place – 2% each
17th-24th place – 1% each

Qualifying

Friday, March 21, 2025 10am – 12am. (Open warmup, 8:30am-9:30am)

View the Tournament Schedule.

Playing an Entry

Players will be added to a digital queue for a pin prior to play by themselves via the neverdrains.com/tpf2024 website. If needed, a player may also ask a scorekeeper or the tournament desk to add them to a queue. Each player can only join one pin’s queue at a time regardless of whether the queue is for the Side Tournament or the Wizards Tournament. Please be present and ready when you are “on deck” for a pin. If the pin is open, they must check with a scorekeeper prior to beginning play to verify they are indeed the next player up on the pin. If there is a queue, the scorekeeper will call the player when it’s their turn (if the player is not already present). If the player does not respond and appear promptly, the next player in the queue may go ahead of them as called out by the scorekeeper, and the original player may be skipped or removed from the queue.

Once a player has completed their game, the player will raise their hand to signal a scorekeeper. The player may either choose to have the score recorded or to void the entry. Voiding the entry still counts as one of a player’s limited entries – it simply doesn’t record a score for that entry. If the player chooses to record the score, the scorekeeper will record the score, and the player is responsible for verifying it before the score is finalized. Taking a quick picture of the pin’s score display is highly encouraged to have a back-up reference in case of any scorekeeping errors.

Please do not leave the pin prior to having a score recorded or voided. If a player leaves the pin without waiting for a scorekeeper, the scorekeeper will void the entry, and the player may be warned for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Scoring

Each player’s best score on a machine will receive a point value based on its rank compared to all other players’ scores.  The top score on each machine is worth a maximum of 200 ranking points. Second place is worth 195 points. Third place is worth 190 points. Starting with 4th place, point totals will be reduced by 1 point for each subsequent standing.  A player’s overall score is the sum of their best ranking scores on their best four machines in the tournament, whether or not the player has played all machines in the tournament.

The Side Tournament bank will contain multiple games to choose from out of which only the top 4 games will count towards their qualifying point total. As a result, a player may choose to omit qualifying attempts on multiple machines with no detriment to their qualifying point total. Because the rankings will change as new scores are posted on each machine, the overall score of each player may change as the qualifying rounds progress. In the event of two or more scores on a machine being exactly tied, the highest point value of the tied positions will be awarded for each such score.

Tournament officials will endeavor to provide up-to-date scores and rankings. The overall ranking scores are used to determine which players qualify for the playoff rounds. Ranking scores for the Classics Side tournament are counted separately from the Wizards Tournament.

Tiebreaker games for qualifying for finals will be held immediately following the end of Qualifying. Any player in a tiebreaker game who is not present will forfeit their tiebreaker game.

Classics Side Tournament Finals

** Classics Tourney Finals begin on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 9am, and players are required to check-in by 8:45am, or they forfeit their Finals spot. **

Finals will be played using a modified “PAPA style” format. Finalists will be placed into groups of 4 players. They play 3 games. At the beginning of each round, the top seed in each group gets to the pick a number N (from pins #1-8) as the first pin to be played during that round by their group, or they may choose playing position for the first pin. Their group will then play pins N, N+1, and N+2, with the group wrapping around back to pin #1 if N or N+1 is pin #8. Player order for pins N+1 and N+2 are chosen in reverse finishing order from the prior pin. Once a particular pin (Pin N) has been chosen as a starting first pin by one group, Pin N may not be selected as the starting first pin by another group. Subsequent groups may end up playing Pin N as their second or third pin by selecting Pin N-1 or N-2 as their first pin. If one group is still playing on a second group’s Pin N+1 or N+2 when it is the next pin for the second group to play, the second group shall wait for the first group to finish playing, and not leap-frog to a different pin. If a pin has a catastrophic malfunction, then any groups assigned to that pin will play the pin that is one number higher instead. Final round tie-breakers are still settled according to PAPA rules.

Scoring is 4-2-1-0 for the four finishing positions. After 3 games, the top 2 players from each group advance. More information on PAPA style finals can be found at: https://www.indisc.com/tournament-rules/.

In the event of a tie:

Ties for qualifying and advancing in finals will be broken according to the rules set by PAPA. Of note in those rules, ties to qualify for finals or for a bye in finals will be broken on a pin selected by tournament officials, while significant finals’ tiebreakers will be settled on a pin chosen by the highest seed that was not played by their group during that finals round.

Reference: https://www.indisc.com/tournament-rules/

Other Rules:

• Finals will use the same pins as Qualifying except in the case of a malfunction rendering a pin unplayable. Unplayable pins may be substituted at the Tournament Director’s discretion.
• There will not be any warm-up period for Finals. However, if a new pin is required to be substituted into the bank of pins, then each player will be provided 30 seconds of warm-up on any substitute pin that is selected by their group.
• There may be both photography and streaming of this tournament. By registering for and playing in the tournament, each player grants TPF, PinEvents LLC, and its media partners permission to use the player’s photographic/video image in streams, advertising, promotions, or other publication without payment or compensation to the player.

All other rules (such as malfunctions, stuck balls, player conduct, etc.) will be governed by the PAPA/IFPA Competition ruleset.

Any differences between those rules, the PAPA/INDISC Finals rules, and the Classics Side Tournament will be governed by the Classics Side Tournament rules.

Waiting List:

Once the maximum of 240 players is reached, a waiting list will be created. Any spots that open up before the start of the tournament will be awarded to those on the waiting list in the order they were added. To sign up for the waiting list, purchase a free Classics Tournament Waiting List Marker in our store

View the Classics Tournament Players and Wait Lists.

Refunds and No Shows:

Tournament tickets are refundable if there is a standing waiting list and according to the following refund schedule:

Tournament tickets may not be transferred. If a player is unable to compete and applies for a refund, we will offer that spot to the next person on the waiting list.

No-shows for the Classics Tournament will not be refunded.

*Fees include, but are not limited to, applicable Processing Fees.