Don’t confuse the issue with facts. You said that no one was bitching, so I thought I would chime in with a selfish argument and make you feel more comfortable.
You may be right and most events may still have a legitimate chance to find their way back to the circuit, but the Silverball Showdown will be dead.
Lol the bitching does put me right at home.
I guess I would ask what makes your tournament deserve the right to be on the SPC at the expense of some of those “best of the rest” events that are also interested in being on it.
I think most of the TD’s of those events are on this forum and would love to know why they aren’t as deserving as you are 
There’s a lot of wait-and-see here in my opinion. One huge change will be the number of european events invited to the circuit at the end of this year. I have NO IDEA if european events “deserve” circuit status… but there are many which are much more WPPopulaR than most circuit events here that already had circuit status.
Yep, I’m playing in the tournament. Can’t register yet though, and no details on the website. I only found the IFPA listing.
Interesting, I’d go back to HoF over Dallas even though I have family in Dallas. I’ve heard there may be some changes coming at HoF; might help the situation. Part of my perspective on Pinmasters is “what you can play the rest of the time before or after your course runs?” Since there’s no attached show or significant side tournament, having a large location collection wins out. Neither place had great logistics last time, I’m calling that a push. HoF has more “stuff nearby” as far as places to eat and other things to do, too. How about Pinmasters in Banning, tied to the March Arcade Expo [that INDISC now isn’t linked to] ? Works on heyrocker’s issue, too.
Curious why you would feel Europe doesn’t deserve to be included… As just a flat out blanket statement?
I don’t feel that way. I exist in a state of pure ignorance. I would love to go to them
I didn’t say that the other events weren’t deserving, only that with the previous quality criteria, our event had the potential of earning its place on the circuit. WPPRs not so much.
I’ll give you my real thoughts cuz why not.
The WPPR thing is a huge improvement over the survey system. I think that over several years the word gets out about which tournaments are good. I’ve been to circuit events which I thought were very well run, and I didn’t see them get invited back onto the circuit. I’ve been to circuit events which I was critical of on my survey and they did get invited back, but most of the time I noticed that without the “circuit bump” that the good events had super high participation regardless of the status (see Expo,which I’d love to get to once I can start flying to more than one event a year.)
I don’t get to hear a lot of chatter in the states about the tournaments in Europe, because not many people travel across the pond to play there non-majors, but if I could make it out there I know I’d be at the Dutch Pinball Masters. From the rumors i heard, some TDs weren’t thrilled about the survey process in the selection (even though they usually appreciated any sort of feedback) and this may have been the reason why every 2017-18 PAPA circuit event is in North America. I think this new process opens up a way for us to get closer to having 20 of the best 25 events on the circuit, instead of 20 of the best 40. The circuit has always had great events, but great events were also left off the circuit.
The Sanctum is $75 and Silverball Showdown is $40. I don’t think you’re going to get the prize pool where it needs to be to recruit more Top 200 players. I bet if you had the entry fee at $80 and doubled the prize pool you would of had a nice bump in WPPR’s.
Flippers is $35 but the winner gets a B rated pinball machine and this year was able to convert it immediately to cash.
If Farmer Gray and Mary Sue can’t afford playing in the Silverball Showdown I’m sure there are many other events they can participate in during the year.
Magfest had a decent turnout the past two years.
I’m calling it. Magfest is on PAPA circuit for 2017-18. Off stern pro circuit for 2018. On pro circuit for 2019. Every magfest still a circuit event
Not a chance. 1st place prize money would still only barely cover the trip for people flying in. Further raising the entry fee would also cannibalize the field from the bottom. Also, players are already paying for coin drop.
The Sanctum also has a huge advantage in geography.
A tiered entry fee could help with that. PATL charges $70 for top 250 and $40 for 250+. Seems like they’ve been doing that for a while.
All the money for Pinball At The Zoo went to charity so there were no payouts and they still got 49.17 WPPRs. I don’t think increasing the prize pool is the silver bullet here (although it couldn’t hurt).
Very interesting. How do the top players here feel about tiered entry fees?
I’m not top tier…but if I was I still wouldn’t care about the money.
I concur 
Where else can you play a circuit event with smoke machines and laser light shows with DJ music pumping? The draw isn’t always about money (although many players don’t attend due to that factor).
I’d bet that if the IFPA championship this year had no prize money, just trophies [top 4] and medals [5-16?], that they’d have lost at most half a dozen people. [Care to guess which ones?] Money only motivates a small portion of the players outside of the top 25, and not all of the ones in the top 25. And no, I’m not a fan of tiered entry fees, and not motivated by money.
yeah i like Cactus Jacks but I think maybe that the location makes it tough as well as not having a show - those two factors can def increase attendance and hence WPPR value for events. I’m like Bob that money is a non factor since I barely ever get any and it’s mostly just about playing in a fun tournament.