Sunday, February 28, 2010

Scoreboard Updated

42 players thru Saturday, nice.

Everyone currently on the scoreboard is eligible for this week's "early bird" drawing for a prize.

Nice playing so far everyone.

Friday, February 26, 2010

I have 3 balls

And so should you.

Just a reminder - especially with more SS and EM games being qualified - that all games are to be played as 3 ball games.

By the way, for those of you that haven't read it, the FAQ answers most of the RGPL questions in condensed form. Read it here...

RGPL FAQ

Start Me Up - Win this week's prize

Week 1 of the new tourney.

Play by Saturday night and you have a chance to win a glare guard or set of pin footies.

Doesn't matter what you score, the winner will be chosen randomly from everyone who plays and posts by Saturday night.

See what I did there?

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

TBK - Still the all-time leader

Updated the all-time stats. You can see the whole list by clicking from the scoreboard page.

Meanwhile, here are the Top 30. There have been 180 players in all.

Click on the list to zoom.

Rule Change #2.413.088D

Playoff.

Sometimes as the tournament comes to an end, folks are a little less interested if they aren't at the top. To help keep more involved and give more a chance to win, the winner will be determined by a one week playoff (after the normal 5 week tournament).

Here's how it works...

There a now 3 regions... East (E), Midwest & South (M/S) and Pacific (P).

There will be four players who make the playoff. They will be the highest finisher in each of the regions plus a wild-card (the highest finisher who didn't win their division).

Those four finalists will play one more round (with scores wiped out and starting from 0). The winner of that playoff round will be the Champion.

This way, you don't have to win it all in the 5 weeks, just win your region - to get a chance to become Champ in the playoff.

As an example, the four finalists last tournament would have been Mark in NJ (E), TBK (P), Tzodd/gravitaR (M/S) and dcerny (wildcard with 48 points).

It's kind of like pro sports now, the winner of the regular season may not become the Champ. You have to win in the playoffs, too.

Good luck.

Rule Change #1.003.47C

Points for GC scores.

As described before, all GC scores are not created equal.

To set the GC score on a game with only 4 plays is cake.

To set the GC score on a game with 100 plays is difficult.

I got several good suggestions and in the end here's the deal...

It's just too damned easy to get a good score (as a % of the median) and set the GC on a game that doesn't have many plays. So, if the game has less than 20 plays, there is no bonus for setting and holding the GC.

50 games seems to be the next level for plays and 100 separates the most popular from the rest.

So, in the end, here are the new GC bonus points awarded at the end of the tournament.

Machines with <20 plays - 0 Points
Machines with 20-49 plays - 1 point
Machines with 50-99 plays - 2 points
Machines with >99 plays - 3 points

I didn't want to go higher than 3 pts so that no one could run away from the pack.

That'll make the GC more coveted on the popluar games and make the competition more wild and woolly.

Of course you still get all the same points for your score each week (% of median) regardless of how many plays are on the machine you choose.

Love & Kisses,

The Commish

Our Champion



Mark in NJ - on fire as usual

Monday, February 22, 2010

Mark in NJ Wins

I know you are all disappointed that I didn't win.

Mark in NJ did win. Congratulations from the Pinzach the commish and congratu-frakking-lations from Pinzach your fellow competitor.

The rest of the Top 10

TBK
dcerny
Michael O'Brien
Evets
Tzodd/gravitaR
Brian
Tomdotcom
John Bigbooty
Les Manley

12 points separated the Top 10 places.

Top Urchin was Jaret.

Week 5 was extremely LOW scoring. Only 6.3 avg points per player. Almost a half point less than the previous week. And the lowest week this tournament (when adjusting for bonus points).

Will have a few minor changes this weekend when the league starts all over again. I'll explain them in a few days.

It'd be great to get some more folks going (100 maybe???), so please drag your friends and family into the RGPL.

GC scores in Week 5 were:

Nip-It - Homebrood
Champion Pub - TBK
Centaur - dcerny (who had 3 GC scores this tournament)
WCS94 - tomdotcom

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Scoreboard Updated

Thru Saturday's play.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Winning Time

Final week of the tournament. Nut up.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

New games this week - Mata Hari & Xenon

The medians and GC scores are updated for week 5 - (the last week of this tourney).

Find the game you are going to lay a beat down on.

Monday, February 15, 2010

GC Scores & bonus points (future change)

To remind everyone, at the end of next week (the end of the tournament), everyone who scored and still holds the GC score on a machine during the tournament will get a bonus point for each GC score. That could make or break a winner.

It did get me thinking, though... It is MUCH easier to get a GC score on a newly qualified game than one that has had lots of play. When a game is newly q'd, there have only been 4 games played. The odds of you being able to set the GC score vs 4 other scores are much better than (for instance) a machine that as had 100 plays.

Just like at home, when you reset the GC scores, you keep breaking it in the beginning, but then as more games pile up and there is more data, the GC score becomes higher and harder to break.

SO, while I won't change the rules in the middle of the Tourney, I think that next time the award for setting the new GC on a machine will be based on how many games have been played historically on that machine in the league. You may get 1 bonus point for the new GC on a newly q'd game and yet get 3 or 4 bonus points for the new GC on something that's been played more than 100 times like LOTR or TZ.

Sweet.

Playing the same machine every week... Good?

Mark in NJ is our leader. He has played Fast Draw each of the last three weeks. This brings up an interesting strategic point about the RGPL. Of course, some people only have one game available to them, but for others, you have to choose whether to play the same game or different one each week (or even 2 diff in a weekend).

Theoretically, if you only have one game or play the same game all the time, you might be better at it and that would be advantageous for scoring. To counteract that, remember that in the RGPL you get a bonus point EVERY WEEK that your posted score is on a different machine than previous weeks. SO, you have to decide whether you want the bonus point, or think you can do so much better on the same game that you don't care about the bonus point.

In the end, it must not be very advantageous (in general) to play the same game each week because since we have run the RGPL this way (bonus points for variety), all the Champions have played different machines each week in the tournament that they won - except for one, who only repeated one machine in the 5 weeks. I guess if you are good, it doesn't matter what game you play.

Scoreboard redesigned

The new scoreboard has the most current week in the first column for easier reading.

Also, there are now 3 versions of the scoreboard stacked vertically on the same page. First, there are the normal rankings, then there is an alphabetical listing so you can easily find someone and finally, a third scoreboard lower down that is the quick summary of just the points scored each week for each player, in case you don't like how the first scoreboard is laid out.

Week 4 results

Another week, another gaggle of ballers.

Mark in NJ leads going into the final week with 43 points.

Tzodd/Gravitar is 2nd with 41.

Brian, Michael O'Brien and TBK are tied for 3 with 40.

There were GC scores set this week on

Fast Draw (Mark in NJ)
CP (Michal O'Brien)
Cosmic Gunfight (dcerny)
Flash (Dennis)
JM (rev-test)
TOTAN (Taxman/Shreksman)
BK2K (blubboman)
Joker Poker (Dr Dave)

I'm the picture of mediocrity standing in 31st place having slightly beat the median each week.

The average player scored 6.7 pts this week vs 6.8 last week.

Remember that after week 5 is complete, if you STILL own a GC score (highlighted in yellow), you are awarded a bonus point for it (for as many different GC scores you hold).

Scoreboard Updated Mon Morn

Holding off final analysis until all stragglers have reported.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Sultans of the Silverball

I realized that I wasn't putting who the GC was on the qualifying page. So here they are. All the GC scores and the ballers who scored them. Below that is a chart of all the ballers who own more than one GC score. The leaders are llabrevlis and Xerico with 7 GC scores each.

Just click on any chart to make it bigger.

These are games A-M...



These are games N - Z...



This is the count of GC scores by baller...

Why we play two games

So I looked at last weekend's games. The average for all players for their better game was...

196% of the median and 6.8 points.

Just to be irksome, I calculated the scores for everyone's crappy game, they averaged...

77% of the median and a (would-be) 4.1 points.

The better game on average was just about 2.5 times the worse game.

It's Week 4

Don't worry, you are definitely finishing in the Top 100.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Custom Cards for CC and Power Play - Need Guinea Pig

Here are some new custom cards I think I'm done with but I don't own these games. Could someone please email me who would be willing to test them to make sure they fit. Especially since Cactus Canyon has the gun handle blocking some of the cards. I intentionally left the area blank where I think they cover.

There are two different sets for CC.

Thanks for the help.

Here's the preview if you are interested....














Week 4 medians and GCs posted

New machines available for play in week 4:

Card Whiz/Royal Flush
Flash
Party Zone
Corvette

Monday, February 8, 2010

TSPP Custom Cards

Lots of folks here play TSPP. So here are some custom cards I made. Hope you likey. There are 3 because I made two different kinds for the design credits, use the one you like better.

You can download the set of all 3 in the "custom card" section of my pinzach.com site.






Week 3 is Ooooovveer

Our leader is Brian...

There was a young baller named Brian
Whose scores have all been flying
He plunges the ball
And then beats us all
The only thing left is the crying.

Scores were down this week - the avg was 198% of the median vs 235% last week.

The following set GC...

blubboman
butterflygirl24
dcerny
Hugh
Jimmy Lipham
Mark in NJ
tomdotcom
Tzodd/Gravitar
Xerico

More later...

Stats are a little delayed

Had a damn power outage all morning.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Scoreboard Updated Sunday A.M.

Includes Saturday's scores

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Scoreboard Updated

Includes Friday's scores.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Week 3 Commences

Go play your games and hurry back and post your scores. Go on.. Hurry... That's a good boy/girl.

If not, everyone is gonna get mad...

Thursday, February 4, 2010

What the frak? Counting backwards

A recap for those who don't remember but may have noticed something weird on a few lesser played games.

The number of games played and the GC score may have gone backwards. That's because after a game has at least 8 total plays on it, I remove the qualifying games from the data. Therefore, the 4 Q games are no longer represented in the median and if one of the Q games was the GC, it is gone also.

The reason I do this is because Q games consistently score lower than league games - maybe folks don't concentrate as hard. Anyway, it's easy to trounce the median on a newly Q'd game because the Q scores are generally low. Thus, when there are at least 4 league games played (8 total with the Q games), I remove the Q scores from the data.

File that under things you don't give a crap about.

Week 3 medians and GC

The new goals are up for this coming weekend. Click on the link in the right column to see them.

EBD and Viking are new games this week and there are 19 more machines that only need one more game played to qualify them.

Please try to play Friday or Saturday so that I don't get all the scores posted late Sunday night after New Orleans wins the Super Bowl.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

POTC Custom Cards

Lots of folks in the RGPL seem to play POTC. Thought I'd make some custom cards.

If you want to download the full size/resolution set, just head over to my site, pinzach.com and go to the custom cards section.





Tuesday, February 2, 2010

RGPL - Contest Winner (See below)

There were lots of great posts. Several poor souls had to do some repair work to even be able to play their games.

Others had to interrupt long days of chores to fit a game in.

In the end, there were many runners-up including: (but not limited to) Bryan, Blubboman, ButterflyGirl24, Karmatose & TBK (for his play-by-play after each ball).

In the end, only one guy played with a respirator and that alone is worth a prize. Congrats Pincorrect. Please choose from the TZ clock board, Glare Guard, Pin Footies and Zit Cream and email me your mailing address.

If you missed it, below is the text from his post...


I'm doing a kitchen renovation and have moved my machines into the
dining room as I shuffle stuff throughout the house to accommodate
stuff that I'm clearing before doing tilework on the floor.. There's
drywall dust and fiberglass all over the place. I've got walls torn
down and holes in the ceiling where work is being done and insulation
is exposed. So I donned a mask and at first tried to pull the plastic
off the machines, but I remembered if I did that, I would have a
helluva time putting the plastic back over the machines because
they're all pushed against a wall in the far end of the room, book-
ended with a new fridge and other furniture. Now if I had one of
those robotic arms like they have on the space shuttle, it would have
been no problem, but I didn't, so I thought it best to crawl under the
plastic and try to play the games.

So there I am, wearing a respirator, underneath the plastic, and go to
start Fish Tales and realize that there are no credits in the machines
and my keys are in some unmarked box. So now I'm on a quest to find
quarters -- I usually don't keep the machines on free play. This way
I'm motivated to recycle my pocket change and I usually put the coins
into some pinball fund that goes for something for the machines. Ok,
I find some quarters and fire up a game.

I'm on the first ball and it's going well, then the power goes out.
I'm like "what?" Then it comes back on, so I put my second quarter in
the game and start playing. Then the front door opens and it's the
contractor who was working on the outside electrical. At this point,
I'm wearing a respirator, underneath a pile of plastic playing
pinball. All he can see is some kind of weird distorted image of a
guy covered in plastic wrap wearing some kind of mask.

"I'm working on the electrical and ... um, what are you doing?"

"I'm playing pinball."

"Biggest fish I ever saw!"

"Biggest what?"

"I'm playing pinball"

"Lie!"

"No I'm not lying, I'm working on the electrical. I need to shut the
power off."

"Ok, can you give me a second?"

"It's a feeding frenzy!"

"Um, are you ok? Did I catch you at a bad time? Is there someone
else there with you?"

"No, I'm playing pinball. You've heard of pinball?"

"Are you gonna talk or you gonna fish?"

"I'm going to go outside and wait for you to finish whatever. Let me
know when I can shut the power off..."

I let him do his work on the electrical and decided to play Genie
instead:

192,680
478,060

Monday, February 1, 2010

Cactus Canyon Custom Cards

Help me decide which style I should complete.

Email me or post on the thread on RGP. Thanks.

Click here for the thread on RGP.

TYPE 1




TYPE 2

Week 2 in the books

Another crazy week of 60+ players.

Current leaders are tied at 22 points. They are...

Mark in NJ
Brian
qbert-WPC
TBK (prior champ)
Tzodd/Gravitar (prior champ)

Maybe we shouldn't let anyone win who hasn't sent a pic. For all we know all the ones without pics are all aliases for TBK.

Two players are right behind with 21 points.

Jaret & TDJWill are currently tied for Top Urchin.

The avg points scored this week was 7.1. More than the 5.9 last week, but remember that starting with this week everyone who played a different machine than week 1 got a bonus point for variety, so the two weeks' averages were actually very close.

A couple of new guys joined the fray this week and there are now 65 active players in the league. Roughly the same number as my IQ.

Two of the Top 10 players from last week (llabrevlis and pincredible) did not play this week. Bummer for them.

Get in your Q scores to qualify new machines for next week soon!