Silver Ball Sac
Pinball Club

Welcome to the Silver Ball Sac Pinball Club (SBS), a vibrant community dedicated to the joy of pinball. Based in Sacramento, CA, SBS is a hub for enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels, offering weekly tournaments and a chance to be part of Sacramento's expanding pinball scene.

The Silver Ball Sac Pinball Club is set to revolutionize the local pinball scene with its innovative scaling structure and inclusive community. Whether you're a seasoned pro or a newcomer to the silver ball, SBS offers a weekly dose of pinball excitement and competition.

Membership and Fees

• Membership: Free

• Event Fee: $3 per event + coin drop (varies by location)

• In the early stages of the club Division A members must register with the button above and will be manually approved

• After 24 approved Division A players have been registered, Division B and lower registration is automatically approved

Club Structure

• Divisions: A, B, C, etc., with 16-24 players each.

• Division A: Access to private and public locations.

• Division B and Lower: Access to public locations.

• Private Location Hosts: Option to play in any division at any time.

• Club Starts with Division A then every 6 weeks an additional Division is added if the waitlist contains 16+ players

• Our maximum number of divisions is limited by the number of locations available.

Tournament Schedule

• Frequency: Every Tuesday evening all divisions play simultaneously at different locations

• Club Start Date:  December 12th, 2023 pending IFPA approval

• Check-In Time: 6:00PM

• Start Time: 6:30PM

• Duration: Target time of 2.5 hours per tournament (excluding finals).

• Locations: Rotating across 7 public and private locations throughout Sacramento.

• Division Creation: When Division A is full, a waitlist for Division B starts. Division B is created when the waitlist hits 16 players, and so on.

Location Details

• Public Locations: Minimum of 6 pinball machines, 21+ and all-ages venues.

• Private Locations: Addresses released only to Division A players on the day before the tournament

Tournament Format

• We will be using next.matchplay.events to manage and run our tournaments. Please make an account so you can submit your groups results after each game.

• 4 Player Match Play with additional location specifics to maintain a 2.5 hour tournament.

• Top 4 move to finals

• Standard IFPA rules with exceptions listed here and made on a case by case basis by the TD when necessary.

• 6-11 games available: 4 player matchplay, 1 game per round, 5 rounds, swiss pairing, and balanced arena assignment. 5 total games played per player.

• 12+ games available: 4 player matchplay, 2 games per round, 4 rounds, swiss pairing, and balanced arena assignment. 8 total games played per player.

• Extra Balls: Limited to one post-launch flip at public locations to maintain flow. Turned off at private locations.

• Tie Breakers: Single ball game on a random machine to determine finals placement only. All other ties are automatic based on the strength of opponents.
  
  

Note:
The formats will most likely need to be fine tuned as the club ramps up and we see how long the formats are actually taking in the real world because the layout and game setup of each location will affect the overall time the tournaments take. For example the tilts at one location may be much tighter than another, meaning players are more likely to tilt which will lead to overall shorter game times. This may also need to be adjusted depending on the division because higher skilled players play longer games. Many adjustments can be made to save time or allow additional games to be played within the same 2.5 hour window. For example if we need to save time then we can switch from swiss pairing to random or balanced pairing. The goal is to create an extremely efficient pinball tournament with as little down time as possible.

Finals Format

• Top 4 qualify for finals.

• Head to Head

• Single Elimination Bracket

• Best 2 out of 3 games

• Random seeding and game selection

Fee Breakdown

• $3 entry fee per player per tournament.

• $1 of the entry fee goes to IFPA

• $1 of the entry fee goes to a winner-take-all prize

• $1 of the entry fee goes to SBS for web maintenance and future growth.

• Public locations are not on free play and all players must coin up to start the game.

Division Placement

• Rank-Based Placement: Division A is rank based for all players except private location hosts. For all other divisions placement defaults to rank-based but players are allowed to set location preferences that override this.

• Division Preferences: Up to 12 players per location may set a location preference so they only play at a specific location regardless of the division that happens to be playing there that week, unless it is Division A.

• Division placement happens every week and is based on the previous 10 weeks.

• Players must play in a minimum of 5 public Division A tournaments before they will be invited to play in Division A’s private location tournaments. (Does not apply to the original Division A players, this only applies if you start the club in a lower division and move up)

Communication and Media

• Player Dashboard (under construction): Join the waitlist, set location preferences, view stats, etc.

• Live Streaming: Some Division A games will be streamed to other locations.

Tournament Directors

• Division A players (excluding private location hosts) will be required to perform as Tournament Directors for the other divisions on a rotating schedule. The assigned TD will also play in that division's tournament and receive points like normal.

Future Plans

• Expansion: As the club grows, more divisions will be created. Eventually, every Tuesday evening will be pinball night in Sacramento at every public location with 6+ games.

• Dashboard: Easy-to-use website that shows scheduling, division placement, stats and an interface so players can reserve spots at locations near their home or work.

• Occasional large tournaments on weekends.