Rules

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General

• Have fun, don’t be a jerk. Be a good sport. If you are unsure what this means, refer to the Monday Night Pinball player conduct rules which all apply to this league. https://www.mondaynightpinball.com/matchrules#M6.00
• Skillfully plunge extra balls. Do not flip or nudge after plunging the ball.
• To break player vs. player ties on a given game, all tied players will play a one-ball playoff on that same game to decide relative placement of the tied players.
• Teams may have 4 or 5 players. If fewer than 4 show up, then it is a forfeit. Teams may use substitute players who are not on some other league team. The maximum number of substitute players which may be used by a team during a single match is three (3).
• Any subject not covered here defaults to the Monday Night Pinball rules on the subject. For example, the Monday Night Pinball rules on league worthiness of machines ( https://www.mondaynightpinball.com/leaguerules#L1.02 ) and alternate rulesets for machines applies ( https://www.mondaynightpinball.com/matchrules#M7.06 ).

Structure of a Match

• The structure of the rounds and the scoring are modeled after Seattle’s Monday Night Pinball League, but with 5 players per team instead of 10 and with different participation bonuses.
• There will be four rounds of play: first, a doubles round, then two singles rounds, followed by a final doubles round.
• The away team chooses all of the machines to be used in the first round and third round. The home team chooses the machines for the second and fourth rounds.
• The doubles rounds consist of two simultaneous games. In the first round, the away team chooses the two machines and assigns two players to each. The home team then responds with two players for each of those games.
• The singles rounds consist of 5 head-to-head games if both teams have 5 players; otherwise, each singles round consists of 4 head-to-head games.
• If a team has 5 players, then one player must sit out in each of the doubles rounds.

Scoring

• The doubles rounds will award 10 points, with 5 points available to be earned on each of the two chosen machines. The 5 points will be split between the two teams depending upon how the players place. For each machine, one of the 5 points is assigned based on which team has the highest combined score. The other 4 points are assigned based on relative placement of the players. Each player scores a team point for each opponent that he or she outscores.
• The singles rounds will consist of 15 points, with 3 points available in each game. If one or both teams has only 4 players, then the round will consist of only 12 points. If one player doubles the score of the other, then that player’s team wins 3 points and the other team earns zero points. Otherwise, the winner’s team receives 2 points and the loser’s team receives 1 point.
• Each 5-player team with all 5 players playing in at least 3 of the 4 rounds, will earn 5 bonus points for the match. Note that if the same player sits out in the first and the fourth rounds, that will mean that player will be in only two games which will prevent your team from earning the five bonus points.

Tied Matches
If there is a tie, then a single game will be randomly drawn. If a team does not like the randomly drawn game, the team may veto (prior to playing the game). Once a machine is finally selected, each team will choose a different player to play each ball of the game. Player selection may be deferred until it is time to plunge the ball.

• Each team receives a single veto. Once it is spent, they may not veto again.
• When both teams still have vetoes available, the away team must be the first to decide whether or not to veto.
• In the case of a veto, randomly draw some other machine. Exclude any machines from the drawing if they were previously vetoed.
• If both vetoes are used, then the 3rd randomly drawn machine will be used for the game.
• The away team’s players are player 1.
• Each ball of the game must be played by a different player on the team in any order.
• No player may play more than one ball.
• If played, each extra ball must be played by a different player. An extra ball may be plunged if your team would rather play the next ball instead.
• If a 5-ball game is chosen, but one or both teams has only 4 players, then both teams may play only 4 balls of the game.
• Plunge any unplayable balls before recording the score.

Team Limits

• a team may have at most two players with an IPR level of 5 or above
• at most one player on the team may have an IPR level of 6. This player counts as one of the two players allowed to be at level 5 or above.
• total team IPR must be 18 or less.
• if a team exceeds the IPR limits due to mid-season improvements in skill of their original roster, they may continue to use those players who have improved.

Substitutes

Teams may use substitute players.

• For any given match, at least two players must be on the regular team roster; that is, at least two players must not be a substitute player.
• If neither the captain nor the co-captain will be present for a match, then some other regular roster player should be designated as captain for that match.
• Any player on the team (apart from the two required roster players) may be replaced by a substitute, assuming a legitimate need such as illness, injury, being called into work, vacation, etc. If a player is able to play without causing hardship to self or family, then the player should play. Do not sit out if the only reason for it is to make room for a stronger player.
• Substitutes may not be members of other teams in the same league.
• If adding a substitute would put the team over the team IPR limit, then that substitute must have an IPR of 1.

League Worthiness of Machines and Alternate Rulesets for Machines

Both of these rules apply.

Prizes

• First place will receive 60% of the team dues as a cash prize.
• Second place will receive 30% of the team dues as a cash prize.
• Third place will receive 10% of the team dues as a cash prize.
• First place will also receive a trophy / cup which they may keep until the winner of the following season is determined.