Flip Frenzy tournaments

Flip Frenzy tournaments (also known as Pinball! Pinball! Pinball! tournaments) are, as the name implies, very hectic tournaments. The tournament organizer decides on a duration for the tournament (for example, three hours) and a number of machines to be used for the tournament. When the tournament starts, head-to-head matches are created on those machines, and any players not assigned to a match are placed in a queue.

When a match ends, a new game will be created using the following approach:

Player 1 will become Player 2 on the new game.
Player 2 will go to the bottom of the queue.
The player at the top of the queue will become Player 1 on the new game.

The tournament will progress in this manner until the timer runs out. The winner is the player with the most net wins (or total number of wins minus total number of losses).

Using the queue tab

After starting a Flip Frenzy, the Queue tab is where the tournament organizer runs the tournament. It is split in two columns. The left column displays the timer, any unused arenas and the player queue. The right column shows the list of active matches.

In order to record the results of a match, you have two options. You can scroll through the list of matches in the right column and click the Winner button next to the winner's name. You can also click the Pick winner button in the top right. This will show you a list of players in the tournament, and you should select the match winner from the list. This list will be faster to look through during larger tournaments.

If you make a mistake, switch to the Results tab where you can either delete a result completely or flip the results (in case you picked the wrong player as the winner).

The timer in the top left shows how much is left in the tournament. There is a button to temporarily pause the timer if something unexpected happens that causes the tournament to stop completely for a period of time. There is also a button that will add five minutes to the timer in case there has been a short delay. You can click the five minute button as many times as needed.

The list of unused arenas will only be displayed if you have more arenas than strictly needed. If you have more arenas available than needed, it's a good idea to keep them active in the tournament. When creating a new match, Match Play will pick an arena from the pool of unused arenas using a balanced approach to minimize repeats. This will prevent players from playing the same arena multiple times in a row.

Managing the queue size

When setting up a Flip Frenzy tournament, you can tell Match Play how big you want to queue size to be. A good rule of thumb is 20% of the number of players (with 20 players, the queue would be 4 players). You will of course need enough arenas to cover all the matches. With 20 players and 4 players in the queue, you'll need 8 arenas (for the 16 players playing).

After the tournament begins, you may want to decrease the size of the queue (if it's too long) or increase the size of the queue (if players don't have time to catch their breath). Decreasing the size of the queue is easy. Simply activate another arena, and the queue size will decrease by two. Increasing the queue size can only be done by using the Arena malfunction button to remove an arena from the tournament (see below).

Arena malfunctions

If an arena malfunctions and needs to be removed from the tournament, click the Arena mafunction button. This will remove the arena from the tournament and place the players at the top of the queue.

If you have a spare arena available, click the activate button for the arena to immediately create a new match using that arena. This will put the same two players on the just activated arena so they can start playing again right away.

Players not present

If a player hasn't shown up for their match, click the Player not present? link below the player name. Two things will happen:

The player who is not present will be placed at the bottom of the queue and will be awarded a loss (the other player will not be awarded a win).
The player from the top of the queue will be assigned to play in place of the not-present player.

If the not-present player has left the tournament completely, switch to the Players tab and deactivate the player. This will remove them from the queue, effectively removing them from the tournament.

Configuration options

Show standings: Determines whether the current tournament standings should be displayed on Match Play Live. If standings are concealed, they will not show up on Match Play Live until the tournament is completed. Some tournament organizers find it more exciting if players cannot see their position in the tournament until the end.
Duration: Determines the amount of time the tournament should run. If the virtual queue is enabled, this option controls the queue timer. If a virtual queue is not used, this setting is purely advisory; it is displayed on Match Play Live but has no effect on the tournament.
Virtual queue: Whether or not to have Match Play create a virtual queue for the tournament. When enabled, Match Play will control the tournament timer, automatically move players in and out of the queue during the tournament and automatically end the tournament when the timer runs out. If the virtual queue is not used, Match Play will let the tournament organizer enter match results and maintain the tournament standings, but the organizer will have to manage the timer and queue manually.
Initial queue size: When using a virtual queue, this setting determines how many players should be placed in the queue at the start of the tournament. This setting only has an effect at the time the tournament starts and will not affect the queue if, for example, players are added or removed after the tournament begins. The organizer can choose between a percentage value (like 20% of players in the tournament) or a specific number of players.
Tiebreaker: When two players have the same number of net wins, this setting determines how the tie os broken. The default is to break ties by most wins (which favors the player with more matches played), but it's possible to change to fewest losses (which favors the player with fewer matches played) or disable the tiebreaker completely (leaving players tied).