The 2026 Mid-Atlantic Pinball Open - A Stern Pro Circuit Event

**** NO WALK INS ALLOWED. PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED ****

**** CAPPED AT 130 PLAYERS(tentatively) *******

What: The Mid-Atlantic Pinball Open will deliver 3 spectacular tournaments being held at the lavish Delaware Pinball Collective with the Main Tournament being a Stern Pro Circuit event. The MAPO Championship along with the B division Championship, the Classics, and the Women's Open.

**LOWER REGISTRATION FEES!!!

** LOWER PRICE PER ATTEMPT!!!

** MORE PLAYERS TO "A" FINALS(INCREASED TO 32)!!!

** CLASSICS DIVISION NOW HAS A "B" FINALS!!!

** MORE PLAYERS TO WOMENS FINALS (INCREASED TO 12)!!!

** CAP INCREASED BY 30%(Capped at 130 players)!!!

ALL 3 EVENTS WILL BE CERTIFIED IF EACH TOURNAMENT HAS 48+ PLAYERS !!!! CERTIFIED PLUS IS ALSO AN OPTION WITH 128 RATED PLAYERS!!!

All 3 tournaments will feature a bank of tournament games set to free play and we will have unlimited qualifying using the herb qualifying format, also known as a pump and dump. Players can purchase as many tickets as they like in an attempt to qualify for the final rounds, which will be a match play finals. A point system will be used to rank each player's score on each machine. Those who have the best game scores adding up to the highest total at the end of qualifying will participate in the match play final rounds. The finals will consist of 4-player groups playing 3 games each round with the top 2 players advancing out of each round until we ultimately have a winner in each division.

When: 4/24/26 to 4/26/26

Where: Delaware Pinball Collective - 1100 First State Blvd, Second Floor, Wilmington DE 19804

We are located 25 minutes from Philly Airport

We are located 75 minutes from Baltimore Airport

We are located 90 minutes from NJ Airport

We have a local Amtrak station 4 miles away

We are 4 minutes from I-95

Schedule:

Thursday - Doors open at 3:30PM for Women's division check in only. Qualifying starts at 4PM and ends at 7PM for the Women's division only.

Friday - Doors open at 8:30AM for check in, qualifying starts at 9AMm and ends at 11PM for all 3 events

Saturday - MAIN qualifying from 10AM to 11PM. CLASSICS qualifying from 10AM to 4:30PM with CLASSICS finals starting at 5PM. WOMENS qualifying from 10AM to 1PM with WOMENS finals starting at 1:30PM.

NOTE - Volunteer qualifying will be held on Saturday from 9AM to 10AM.

Sunday - 1030am check in for MAIN(virtual check-in allowed for byes). Finals begin at 10:45am.

8pm - MAIN Finals award ceremony

Registration: Registration goes live on March 1st at 3PM eastern. Eventbrite will handle all tickets for registration. Eventbrite only secures you a spot in the tournament. Once you claim your spot using Eventbrite you must send in your payment via PAYPAL(listed below), within 48 hours to complete the process. If you do no submit payment within 48 hours you will be removed the player list and placed at the bottom of the waitlist, should one exist.

Cost: All Events (DPC MEMBER) - $50

All Events (Non DPC Member) - $100

Women's Only Event (DPC Member) - $25

Women's Only Event (Non DPC Member) - $50

NOTE - DPC Member discount is reserved for members who have an active membership prior to 1/31/26.

Registration Fee Breakdown for all events for Members ($45 will go to the DPC to cover operating expenses, IFPA fees, and trophy fund, $5 to Stern Pro Circuit).

Registration Fee Breakdown for all events for Non-Members ($95 will go to the DPC to cover operating expenses, daily auxiliary membership fee, IFPA fees, and trophy fund, $5 to Stern Pro Circuit).

Registration Fee Breakdown for Women's only event for Members ($25 will go to the DPC to cover operating expenses, IFPA fees, and trophy fund).

Registration Fee Breakdown for Women's only event for Non-Members ($50 will go to the DPC to cover operating expenses, daily auxiliary membership fee, IFPA fees, and trophy fund).

Each registration in all events comes with 7 free game entries. Each entry allows the player to play 1 pinball machine in either of the 3 divisions.

Each registration for the Women's only event comes with 4 free game entries.

Remember, Eventbrite simply reserves you a “free ticket” for your registration. Once you secure your “free ticket” you then have 48 hours to send in your entry fee using our PAYPAL LINK BELOW.

Additional entries for each game will be $2, 7 entries for $10, or 16 entries for $20. 100% of all purchased entries will be added to the prize pool. No refunds will be issued for unused entries. NOTE - if buying entries with a credit card, this will incur a $1.50 surcharge. Credit Card minimum is $10.

MAIN - We will be using 14 total games to make up the bank of games for this event (see list of all available games at this time). Donors can select up to 10 machines. The 14 games will consist of the following eras:

4 LCD games (maximum number in the bank)

4 DMD games (maximum number in the bank)

4 Solid State games (maximum number in the bank)

2-3 Electro-Mechanical Games (maximum number in the bank)

For example, if 3 EM games are selected, that means one of the categories will only have 3 games of that type. If 2 EM games are selected, that means the other 3 categories will each have 4 games of that type.

CLASSICS - We will be using 10 total games to make up the bank of games for this event . Donors can select up to 7 machines.

WOMENS - We will be using 7 total games to make up the bank of games for this event. Donors can select up to 4 machines.

Registered players for the event will have the option to help curate the banks for the event with a $50 donation made to the Delaware Pinball Collective. Simply donate $50 to the DPC and you get to select any game from the list below to be locked in for the tournament banks. We are capping the number of donations at 10 for MAIN, 7 for CLASSICS, and 4 for WOMENS. The remaining games will be selected by the DPC tournament committee. All donations must be paid for using our PayPal link:

NOTE #1 - you have to be registered for the tournament in order to donate and select a game.

NOTE #2 - all donations picks will be first come, first served

NOTE #3 - game list for each tournament will be finalized on 4/3. No donations accepted after this date.

NOTE #4 - the money donated for game selections goes directly to the DPC and not the prize pool

NOTE #5 - when you select a game, please let us know what event it will be placed in (Main, Classics, Women's)

NOTE #6 - the games available to pick from will be made available 2/22

Volunteer Scorekeepers - We are looking for players and/or non-players who would like to volunteer to keep scores. All volunteer shifts are 2 hours long and in return you will receive $20 credit towards game entries. You will also be able to attend the exclusive, volunteer only qualifying hour on Saturday morning. Vounteer Sign Up website will be announced after registration goes live.

DIVISIONS - Main Division, a player’s best 7 games will contribute to their tournament ranking. The Main tournament bank will consist of 14 games. Those players who finish in positions 1-32 in the Main Division will qualify for the “A” division playoffs. Players eligible for the “B” division who finished in positions 33-40 will qualify for the “B” division playoffs. The top 8 players will receive a double bye and players in positions 9 through 16 will recieve a single bye.

A separate Classics division tournaments will be held on older Electro-Mechanical and/or Solid State games. The Classics tournament bank will consist of 10 games. Tickets purchased for the Mid-Atlantic Open are also eligible for the Classics division. In the Classics Division, a player’s best 6 games will contribute to their tournament ranking. Those players who finish in positions 1-24 will qualify for the Classics "A" division playoffs. The top 8 players will receive a bye. Players finishing in positions 25-32 will qualify for the Classics "B" division playoffs.

The Mid-Atlantic Pinball Open Women’s division tournament will be held on a bank of 7 tournament games. Tickets purchased for the Mid-Atlantic Pinball Open are also eligible for the Women’s division. In the Women’s Division, a player’s best 5 games will contribute to their tournament ranking. Those players who finish in positions 1-12 will qualify for the playoffs. Top 4 will receive a bye.

NOTE - Any player ranked in the top 500 of the World Pinball Player Rankings at the time the tournament begins shall not be eligible to play in any “B” playoffs. If a player is in such a position, the next lower eligible player shall qualify instead. At the discretion of the tournament officials, any other player whose past tournament performance indicates that they should be treated as an “A” player may be ineligible for the “B” division. [They probably know who they are.]

Prizes:

MAIN "A" DIVISION PAYOUTS

1st - 25%

2nd - 15%

3rd - 10%

4th - 7%

5th through 8th - 3%

9th through 16th - 1.5%

17th through 24th - 1%

MAIN "B" DIVISION PAYOUTS

1st - 5%

2nd - 3%

3rd - 2%

4th - 1%

CLASSICS "A" DIVISION PAYOUTS

1st - 25%

2nd - 15%

3rd - 10%

4th - 7%

5th through 8th - 3%

9th through 16th - 1.5%

17th through 24th - 1%

CLASSICS "B" DIVISION PAYOUTS

1st - 5%

2nd - 3%

3rd - 2%

4th - 1%

"WOMENS" DIVISION PAYOUTS

1st - 28%

2nd - 20%

3rd - 16%

4th - 13%

5th through 8th - 5%

Qualifying Rounds - PLAYING AN ENTRY

Players will be added to a digital queue for a machine prior to play by either a scorekeeper or by themselves via the tournament website. Each player can only join one queue at a time regardless of machine division. If the machine is open with no queue, they must still be added to the queue by a scorekeeper prior to beginning play to verify available entries. If there is a queue the scorekeeper will call the player when it is their turn if the player is not already present. If the player does not appear promptly, the next person in line will go ahead of them as called out by the scorekeeper. Once a player has completed their game, the player may either choose to have the score counted or to void the entry. If they choose to count the score, the scorekeeper will record the score, which the player should verify. The scorekeeper will then ask the player if they wish to be added to a new game queue if unused entries are available.

SCORING

At the end of each game, players should wait for a scorekeeper to record their score before leaving the machine. It is the player’s responsibility to ensure that the scorekeeper records the score and to double check the recorded score for correctness. Any player abandoning their machine will be given a recorded score of zero for that play.

Each player’s best score on a machine will receive a point value based on its rank compared to all other recorded scores. The #1 score earns 100 points, #2 score earns 97 points, #3 score earns 95 points and #4 and beyond earn one less point per position, i.e. 94 points down through 0 points. A player’s overall score for the tournament division is the sum of their five, six, or seven best ranked machine scores, depending on the division.

Division banks will contain multiple games to choose from. The Main division will rank players based on their best 7 games. The Classics division will rank players based on their best 6 games. The Women’s division will rank players based on their best 5 games.

Because the rankings will change as new scores are posted on each machine, the overall score of each player may change as the qualifying rounds progress.

In the event of two or more scores on a machine being exactly tied, the highest point value of the tied positions will be awarded for each such score.

Tournament officials will endeavor to provide up-to-date scores and rankings. The overall ranking scores are used to determine which players qualify for the playoff rounds.

Final Rounds - ADVANCING TO FINAL ROUNDS

When qualifying rounds have been completed, a final calculation of entry scores will be made. Those scores will be ranked, and the top unique players in each division will advance to the final rounds.

The determination of final qualifying standings will be made by tournament officials at the end of qualifying hours, and shall not be changed for any reason, including player error or tournament error.

In the event that two or more players are tied on the qualifying bubble, such that not all of the tied players can advance to the final rounds, a tie-breaking procedure will be utilized. A single game will be played on a machine randomly selected from the qualifying bank of the division. The tied players will play, in randomly determined order, in a multiplayer game on the selected machine, and will subsequently be ranked in the order of their scores on that game. If more players are tied than the selected machine will support in a single game, multiple games will be played to accommodate all tied players, in randomly determined order, and the resulting scores will be compared as if they had occurred in a single game on the same machine.

The same procedure outlined above will be used to break ties on the “bye” line.

In the event that two or more players are tied but are not on the qualifying bubble, a simpler tie-breaking procedure will be used in order to save time. Each player’s best game rank will be examined. The player with the highest game rank will be given the highest seeding, proceeding through all tied players, in descending order of game rank.

MACHINES SELECTION

The machines used for final rounds in each division will be the same as those used in qualifying, with the exception of the "B" Main division. "B" Main division will play out the finals on a different set of machines.

In all divisions, machines cannot be selected in back to back rounds by the same player.

All games played in the final rounds are treated as four-player. In the event a machine being utilized does not support enough simultaneous players, multiple games will be played on the same machine, with playing order preference going by original seeding as usual, and the resulting scores will be compared as if a single multiplayer game had been played.

A and B finals in Main will operate independently and in parallel.

FINALS SCORING

Finals for all divisions will consist of three games played each round with each four-player game scored as follows:

Rank Score

1st - 4 points

2nd - 2 points

3rd - 1 point

4th - 0 points

In the event of two or more scores on a machine being exactly tied, the players with such scores will immediately play a tiebreaker game, on the same machine, unless another machine is selected by tournament officials.

The group that contains the highest-seeded player gets first choice of machine and order of play. The highest-seeded player within each group may choose either the machine to be played, or the order of play. If the highest-seeded player chooses order of play, the remaining players may choose their order, in descending order of seeding, and choice of machine then goes to the next highest-seeded player in the group. Conversely, if the highest-seeded player chooses the machine to be played, then the next highest-seeded player chooses the order of play, with the remaining players choosing order of play in decreasing order of seeding.

If at any point a high-seed player declines to make a choice, the choice is deferred to the next highest-seeded player, as appropriate. The affected group still retains its order of choice among groups, however. If no player in a group makes a choice, the choice(s) are determined by tournament officials, who may or may not choose randomly.

Note that the original seeding of players when entering the final rounds from qualifying is used in every round. At no time does a player’s seeding change from round to round; therefore the advantage of qualifying in first place can be significant.

No group may select a machine which has already been selected by a group in the same round, nor may they choose a machine on which they have already played in that round (unless machine malfunctions have made this unavoidable; tournament officials may choose to provide additional or substitute machines, however). If the machine selected is currently being played by another group in a previous round of play, the group may wait for that round of play to be completed. For example, if one group is playing a given machine as their first machine, a different group may choose to wait for it as their second machine.

In the event too few machines are available during any round of play, the group(s) with the lowest high-seed players will be forced to wait until a game becomes available. As soon as a game becomes available, as indicated by the scorekeeper, the next highest-seeded group must begin play on that machine. In this situation, choice of order of play will be made by the highest-seed player in the group (unless that player declines, as described above).

When all games have been completed by a group, each player will have a point total for the round. The players with the top two point totals from each group of four players will advance. Significant ties will be resolved using the single game procedure explained above.

INITIAL ROUNDS

Top 8 players in "A" will receive a double bye.

Places 9th through 16th will receive a single bye.

Round 1 (16 PLAYERS)

Group #1 - 17,24,25,32

Group #2 - 18,23,26,31

Group #3 - 19,22,27,30

Group #4 - 20,21,28,29

Round 2 (16 PLAYERS - adding in the single round byes)

In round 2, the players advancing from the previous round will be joined by the 8 players who had a single round bye and will be divided into four groups as follows:

Group #1 - 9,16,17,24

Group #2 -10,15,18,23

Group #3 -11,14,19,22

Group #4 -12,13,20,21

Round 3 (16 PLAYERS - adding in the double round byes)

In round 3, the players advancing from the previous round will be joined by the 8 players who had a double round bye and will be divided into four groups as follows:

Group #1 - 1,8,9,16

Group #2 - 2,7,10,15

Group #3 - 3,6,11,14

Group #4 - 4,5,12,13

SEMIFINAL ROUNDS (8 PLAYERS)

For the semifinal rounds in each division, the qualifiers in each division (or players advancing from quarterfinals, if those were played) will be divided into two groups of four. The groups will be organized according to the original qualifying rank as shown here:

8 Players

Group #1 - 1,4,5,8

Group #2 - 2,3,6,7

FINAL ROUNDS (4 PLAYERS)

In each division, four players advance to the final round. The final round for each division is conducted in the same manner as the semifinal round. The total scores for this round will determine the ordering of winners in each division. All ties in the final round are considered significant.

Unless otherwise determined by tournament officials, the same machines will be used in the final rounds as the previous rounds.

WINNERS

Winners will receive cash prizes during an awards ceremony shortly following the conclusion of all final round. Winners must be present to receive prizes.

TIEBREAKING

Significant ties between players at the end of the quarterfinal, semifinal, or final round will be resolved by one tie-breaking game. Note that a tie is only significant if it affects whether or not a player will advance toward the final round, or occurs in the final round.

In a tie-breaking game, the highest-seeded player can choose the machine to be played from among those games that were not previously selected for that round. The highest-seeded player may instead choose the order of play. The choice of game, if it has not been chosen, or the choice of order of play, will proceed through all tied players from highest seed to lowest seed until the machine to be played and order of play have been established.

If more than one group of players are tied, the machine is chosen for the group with the highest-ranking tied player first. The selected machine is not available for selection in lower groups. All tied groups will play their tie-breaking games in parallel.

In the unlikely event of an exact scoring tie on the tie-breaking game, only those affected players will play another tie-breaking game, on another game chosen in similar fashion, under the same rules.

REPORTING FINAL POSITIONS

Final positions as reported to the IFPA, will be based upon player’s point total earned during the final rounds, apart from the top 4 players, or based upon their qualifying ranking should they fail to qualify for division “A” finals.

ADDITIONAL RULES INFORMATION

Any request for a ruling not contained within this document will be referred to the most recent combined PAPA/IFPA Rules.

REFUND POLICY

You cannot ‘sell’ your tournament registration to another person. If you cancel your registration by the following dates, we will send you back a refund based on the conditions below. Make sure you can attend this event before you send payment. The amounts are listed below. Anyone from the waitlist who gets in will still have to abide by the below refund dates so please make sure you want to attend before you send me your money. PayPal fees are not refunded unless the event is cancelled.

Refunds will be issued based on the following schedule:

March 2nd - March 23rd - Full Refund

March 24th - April 7th - 75% Refund

April 8th - April 16th - 50% refund

No refunds issued after April 16th.

Full Schedule of Events for April 23rd, 2026

Thursday April 23th BONUS EVENT – This is an extra day of pinball and is separate from the 2026 MAPO events. This event has a separate registration and a separate entry fee on Eventbrite. Registration for this event also goes live on 3/1 at 3pm eastern.

Thursday 6PM – Doors Open

Thursday 7PM – Classics Kickoff Tournament Starts – IFPA approved (112% TGP)

Thursday 7-10PM – 8 rounds of group matchplay

Thursday 10PM to Midnight – Top 8 finals, PAPA format

———–2026 MAPO Schedule———-

Thursday April 23rd
Thursday 3:30pm – Doors Open for Women's division check in.
Thursday 4pm - Qualifying begins for Women's division only.
Thursday 7pm - Qualifying for Women's division ends

Friday April 24th
Friday 8:30AM – Doors open for check in.
Friday 9AM – Qualifying for all events begins
Friday 11PM - Qualifying for all 3 events ends

Saturday April 25th
Saturday 8:45AM – Doors open
Saturday 9AM-10AM – Volunteers qualifying hour
Saturday 10AM - Qualifying for all 3 events resumes
Saturday 1PM - Qualifying ENDS for Women's Division
Saturday 1:30PM - Finals for Women's Division begins
Saturday 4:30PM - Qualifying ENDS for Classics Division
Saturday 5PM - Finals for Classics Division begins
Saturday 11PM - Qualifying ENDS for Main Division

Sunday April 26th
Sunday 10AM - Doors Open for check in. First round will start at 10:15AM.

NOTE – once the finals start, the only practice allowed is on games labeled “NOT IN TOURNAMENT”.

"B" Division finals for MAIN will start around 10:30AM.

MEDIA

The Delaware Pinball Collective along with First State Flippers, our streaming partners, photographers, and members of the press will be present at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Pinball Open. By attending the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Pinball Open, you grant the Delaware Pinball Collective, First State Flippers, and all authorized media partners the rights to indefinitely produce and distribute audio, photography, and video recordings using your likeness.

NOTE - The format and rules are subject to change.

Entire event will also be live streamed on Twitch at our Twitch Channel:

https://www.twitch.tv/delawarepinballcollective

Red Roof PLUS+ Wilmington (2 star hotel) - 415 Stanton Christiana Rd, Newark, DE 19713 - (302) 292-2870

Days Inn by Wyndham Newark Wilmington (2 star hotel) - 900 Churchmans Rd, Newark, DE 19713 - (302) 368-2400

Hilton Wilmington/Christiana (4 star hotel) - 100 Continental Dr, Newark, DE 19713 - (302) 454-1500

Extended Stay America - Newark - Christiana - Wilmington (2 star hotel) - 333 Continental Dr, Newark, DE 19713 - (302) 283-0800

Sonesta Select Newark (3 star hotel) - 48 Geoffrey Dr, Newark, DE 19713 - (302) 456-3800

Quality Inn (2 Star Hotel) - 65 Geoffrey Dr, Newark, DE 19713 - (302) 292-1500

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