Polar Plunge 2023 Tournament Format
This year, our Polar Plunge will also be a Dean Grover memorial tournament, with fundraising benefiting a charity important to the Grover family, The CU Transplant Fund. (80% of entry fees will be paid out in prizes. 20% of entry fees will be donated to The CU Transplant Fund.) Click here to learn about other Dean Grover memorial tournaments and events taking place in the pinball community.
Qualifying: 4 games per ticket. Ranking on each game played on the ticket will contribute to the overall value of that ticket. Each ticket will be ranked by its value. The highest ticket for each player will count in the overall rankings.
Each game’s scoring will be out of a possible 100 points as follows:
1st place: 100 points
2nd place: 97 points
3rd place: 95 points
4th place: 94 points (etc).
Example: If you play a ticket and get 1st place, 5th place, 9th place, and 10th place on the games played, the ticket’s value will be (100+93+89+88) = 370 points. The highest value ticket for each player is then ranked for the overall standings.
Note that the value of tickets will change as additional tickets are played and scores are beat.
There is no limit to the number of tickets a player may play. A player can void their ticket if the player doesn’t want it counted. Note: A player can only void his/her ticket before it is completed and entered into the system. Once a ticket is entered, it will be there for the duration of the event.
Cost is $5 per individual ticket, $10 for 3 tickets, or $20 for 7 tickets plus cost of games played. Cash only for the tickets, however you can use your Blizzard swipe-card for the cost of games played. You can use cash or credit card for the Blizzard swipe-card.
Qualifying runs all day (during normal business hours) on Thursday, December 7th, Friday, December 8th and Saturday, December 9th. Players can qualify on either day so there is no need to be present both days unless a player wants to spend time qualifying on both.
Finals will be held on Sunday, December 10th starting at 10:00am. Doors open at 9:00am, and players need to be signed in by 9:45am. If we haven’t heard from a player by 10:00am, the player’s group will start a 4-player game and will plunge that player’s ball if they are still not present. The player can then take over their game if they arrive before the game finishes.
Please note that our normal Max Matchplay tournament will be held as usual, but will start at 5pm instead of 4pm. We intend the Polar Plunge to be finished before the Max Matchplay starts, but if the Polar Plunge overruns, the remaining round(s) will be completed on Friday, December 15th starting at 7pm.
The 4-game banks used in the finals will consist of a newer game (2000’s DMD and newer), a mid-game (late solid state-1999 DMD), and an early game (EM-early solid state). The fourth game could be from any era. Newer or long-playing games may be set up with no tilt warnings (tilt ends ball). Any such games will have this clearly posted on the backglass.
Players in the final rounds will be grouped into 4-player groups based on seeding. It is possible there will be some first round byes or 3-player groups depending on the number of qualifying players. Each 4-player group will play on a 4-game bank. Each game is scored 4 points for first, 2 points for second, 1 point for third, and 0 points for 4th (3-player groups are scored 4-2-1). Top two players will move on to the next round.
Players not making the A division of the finals will play in the B division, under a similar format. There may be some 3-player groups in the B division, and/or some byes, depending on the total number of players. The top two players will still advance out of a 3-player group.