IFPA Hohoho Christmas Pinball Festival 2023 Dec. 14th – 17th, 2023

Hello,

here you will find all the information you need to register for the Hohoho Christmas Pinball Festival 2023. Further down you will find information on the tournament schedule and the ever-popular rules. :) Enjoy reading.

IFPA Hohoho Christmas Pinball Festival 2023
Date: 14.12. - 17.12.2023
Ticket sale: 02.11.2023 at 8 pm
Tournaments: up to 6; one of them registered for certified (+)
Participants: 140
Link to registration: https://www.pinballevents.de/BaB/christmas23/
Costs: 125 Euro entry fee: 17 Euro for buffet per day (meat or vegetarian)
Payment: Bank transfer or PayPal to friends (Attention! Must be done manually, no function via the website). Refund of entry fee after cancellation is possible if someone on the waiting list moves up. The buffet will be refunded until it has been ordered bindingly (and thus at the B&B's expense).

Tournament schedule

14.12.2023
Opening: 16:00
Start: 17:00
End: around 1:00 a.m.
Warmup Tournament (100% TGP maximum)
Round 1: H2H Strict Swiss, later entry possible, last round starts around 11:00 pm, last two rounds will be announced; maximum 19 rounds, tiebreaker TWD 1 ball, 10 seconds ballsave
Round 2: Best 4 play in the final on three machines (old-mid-new) with 4-2-1-0; bonus from round 1: first 3, second 2, third 1

15.12.2023
Opening: 9:15 a.m.
Award ceremony and end of registration: 9:30 a.m.
Start: 10:00 a.m.
End: around 1:00 (but 20 rounds will be played until the end)
Ultimate-300%-Madness (300% TGP, certified+) Part 1
Round 1: 20 rounds of Group Matchplay Strict Swiss (7-5-3-1 or 7-4-1), best 24 advance, best 8 get a bye, tiebreaker TWD 2 balls, no ballsave. Tiebreaker only for advancement, for the ranking the fine score applies.

16.12.2023
ATTENTION, EXTRA for Round 2: Admission for the 16 finalists (and only them!) at 8:00 am. Then around 8:15 a.m. start of the first final round. This way the eliminated players can join the pingolf tournaments directly at 10 am and the players with the bye can join the main tournament directly (reduces waiting time and optimises the flow). Please bear this in mind when registering. Those who do not show up on time will automatically forfeit the round.
Opening (for all others): 9:15 a.m.
Award ceremony and end of registration (for all others): 9:30 a.m.
Start: 10:00 a.m.
End: around 1:00
Ultimate-300%-Madness (300% TGP, certified+) Part 2
Round 2: Best 24 (of which 16 play) players play best of 5 on a pre-determined pool of equipment (9vs24, 10vs23 etc.; fine scoring applies), bonus from round 1: Better placed player starts with 1 point (fine scoring applies); best 8 start with a bye (fine scoring applies to position here too)
Round 3: Winner round 3 and the 8 bye players (16) play best of 5 on a pre-determined pool of equipment
Round 4: Winners of Round 4 (8 players) play best of 5 on a pre-determined pool of equipment.
Round 5: Winners Round 5 (4 players) play best of 5 on a predetermined pool of equipment.
Round 6: Winners of Round 6 (2 players) play best of 5 on a pre-determined pool of equipment.
Note: The pool will consist of approximately 20 pieces of equipment. The equipment may be freely chosen. A free piece of equipment must be chosen, no waiting for a piece of equipment. Eliminated players may participate in both pingolf tournaments. When entering, the finishing times and rules must be observed.
Pingolf Main (120% TGP)
Round 1: 12 machines in 4 groups (teams of maximum 3, groups will be allocated according to world ranking); the best 4 players from each group will advance, no tie-break, fine scoring according to hole-in-one etc.; eliminated players from the Ultimate-300%-Madnesss can join in teams of two, tournament management decides on group allocation, end of the first round is at the start of the final of the classictournament (tournament management will make an announcement). Please take this into account when choosing the equipment to be played in Pingolf Main and Side. If you are qualified for the Classic tournament, you are not allowed to play any games in the Main in between. If you are eliminated from the Classic in round 2 or 3, you may continue playing in the Pingolf Main. Only cards with at least 50% of completed games will be scored in the IFPA.
Round 2: Best 16 play in groups of 4 on 3 pingolf machines, best 2 advance, no tiebreak number of holes in one etc.; bonus from round 1: first -1 stroke.
Round 3: Best 8 play pingolf in groups of 4 on 3 machines, best 2 go on, no tie-break number of holes in one etc.
Round 4: Final on 3 Pingolf machines
Pingolf Classic (old) (120% TGP)
Round 1: 6 machines in 2 groups (teams of maximum 3); best 16 from each group advance, eliminated players may join in teams of two, tournament committee decides on group allocation, end of first round (regardless of progress) is at 6pm, only cards with at least 50% completed games will be scored at IFPA.
Round 2: Best 32 players play pingolf in groups of 4 on 3 machines, best 2 advance, no tiebreak number of holes in one etc.; bonus from round 1: first -1 stroke
Round 3: Best 16 players play pingolf in groups of 4 on 3 machines, best 2 advance, no tiebreak, number of holes in one, etc.
Round 4: Best 8 players play pingolf in groups of 4 on 3 machines, best 2 continue, no tiebreak number of holes in one etc.
Round 5: Final on 3 Pingolf machines

17.12.2023
Opening: 9:15 a.m.
Award ceremony and end of registration: 9:30 a.m.
Start: 10:00 a.m.
End: around 18:00
Fair Strike Knockout (approx. 112% TGP)
Round 1: Everyone starts with 8 lives; fair strike (0-1-1-2 or 0-1-2) until only one player remains
Last Pingolf (TGP 96%)
Round 1: 2 groups of 12, no tiebreak number of holes in one etc.
Round 2: Best 4 from each group advance, 3 devices pingolf, no tiebreak number of holes in one, etc.
Round 3: Final of the best 2 from round 2, 3 machines pingolf, no tiebreak number of holes in one etc.

General information and rules for the weekend:
Drinks, snacks as well as small meals will be available at the B&B outside lunch time.
All qualifications will be played with Next.Matchplay.Events https://next.matchplay.events/. All rankings and statistics for resolving draws (fine scores) will be taken from this new supported version. Calculations from the old Matchplay version will no longer be used.
We recommend that you create an account at Next.Matchplay.Events. This saves time, you have a better overview of your ranking and opponent and you can enter your results directly after the match itself.
Extra balls are only played in pingolf. In all other tournaments the ball will be deducted; the skill shot may be scored.
Fair Play (!!!): Be nice to each other, to the equipment and also to the location.
Referees: The decisions of the referees are final and will not be discussed; please do not make your own decisions.
Punctuality: If a player is not at the machine 5 minutes after the start of a round, he may be asked to give up the game.
Free play is only possible after appropriate clearance. These areas will be called out loud; please do not ask every 5 minutes. :)
Power: Never switch equipment on and off as this may affect other pinball machines on the same circuit.
Please do not eat or drink in the tournament areas. There are dining areas (inside and outside) and a lounge available for your use.
Drunken behaviour may result in exclusion from the tournament or even ejection from the venue.
Please respect the venue, keep the toilets clean after use and do not put your feet up on the walls. If there is toilet paper or wipes missing somewhere, something is wrong somewhere, please let us know so we can take care of it.
*By participating in this event, you automatically agree that photos and film footage of you can be taken and published.

The rules sound very strict, but they help us a lot in running the tournaments. We therefore ask you to abide by them. A violation of the rules will be punished with a warning ("yellow card"). Another slip-up during the tournament weekend will result in a fine.
Of course, Matthias has the right to make use of his domiciliary rights at any time.

We are looking forward to seeing you and to a great end of the pinball year.

Many greetings and Hohoho!
Tobias
Team Bulls&Balls