1. YNWA,
When Teardrop first came up with the idea of running a tournament she suggested Spades with teams but I wanted to get a tournament under our belt first before we tooke on the added challenges and pressure of hosting a team tournament, especially after the previous one did not work out as people had hoped. I am not going to get into the reasons for that as it is history and was not our competition. I suggested Cribbage because Cribbage had not been played before as a competition.
Running a team competition as I suggested above is more challenging as we require 4 players per game and we have to get them to turn up all together. in the Cribbage tournament we did have a number of the original entrants pull out for various reasons and those were very understandable reasons so there is no complaints there, but if you really do want to take part in this tournament please think carefully before entering, as it's even harder to find teams that can replace you. It is important to make this tournament a success as it will encourage more people to take on a team tournament with all it's challenges.
We will be hosting the Spades tournament on Saturday 14th November and it will conclude on Sunday 15th November. We will let you know nearer the tournament what time we will start on Sunday when we are sure of the number of players entering the competition.
We know time is a factor for some and that's why we have decided to run the competition on Saturday in 2 different groups as we hope it will encourage more teams from around the world to take part. The first group games will start at 15.00UK time and the second group will start at 19.00 UK time, so please register your preference when your team enters the competition. If you don't mind when your team plays then please let us know that too as it will make the draw easier to manage. If you are not able to find a team partner but are still interested in playing, then please register for this competition and we will do our best to try and find you a partner.
The Spades tournament will start on Saturday 14 November 2015 with Group A starting just after 15.00 GMT, 16.00 Central Europe, 17.00 Eastern Europe, 20.00 asia, 4.00 HST, 6.00 AKDT, 7.00 PDT, 8.00 MDT, 9.00 CDT, 10.00 EDT in The USA.
The second part of the Spades tournament will start on Saturday 14 November 2015 with Group B starting just after 19.00 gmt, 20.00 Central Europe, 21.00 Eastern Europe, 00.00 asia, 8.00 HST, 2.00 AKDT, 11.00 PDT, 12.00 MDT, 13.00 CDT, 14.00 EDT in The USA.
We are looking for 16 teams containing 2 players in each team, but if there is a huge demand it can be expanded to accomodate more teams.
For the first 2 or possibly 3 rounds teams will be split into pots 1 and 2 as they reflect different timezones, as I have stated above. I will draw randomly the matches for group A from pot 1 and will repeat the same action with pot 2 for Group B.
The semi-final and final will be predrawn too under the same system, but with out any timezone preferences. This means that teams that are left will be placed into just one pot this time. It will also mean that teams who get through to the latter rounds from group A will have to play their matches at a later time than the first couple of games.
The victory score limit for the first round and Quarter-Final will be set to 250 points, for the Semi-Final set to 300 points and for the Final set to 350 points.
We estimate that the first rounds will take between 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the speed of players and whether they lose points for failing contracts or drop sandbags.
RULES
1. If a team/team member fails to turn up for their match the game will be awarded to the opposing team and that team will then be given a bye into the next round so please turn up on time. Please note that rules 2 and 3 will be taken into concideration for the first round of the tournament.
2. At the start or prior the tournament commencing we will try our best to replace any Teams/team partners that are unable to make their match if possible. If a team partner has to withdraw for any reason and you need to get another team partner, feel free to do so, but you must inform us: Mayank, Teardrop or Ynwa, right away by sending us a message in our inbox, so that we can give notice to the opposing team and make any other necessary ajustments. If you are unable to find another team partner we will do our best to find you one. Once we are informed that that team partner is unable to participate anymore we will ensure the first player on our standby list will get the first chance to play in the tournament. If they are unable to take part then the next player on the list will gget that spot.
3. If your team is unable to make the tournament could you please notify us of your teams withdrawal from the competition as soon as possible so we are able to form a team from the players on the standbye list. Pleas don't promise any other people your team's place in the tournament as It is for the organisers to make that choice and not the team that has to withdraw from the competition.
4. Please don't help your partner during the game as this is strictly forbidden. We won't hesitate in taking strong and appropriate action against anybody caught doing this. In this matter the referee's decision is final. Anybody caught will not be part of any future tournaments we host.
5. Please don't take too long deciding on how many tricks you hope to take at the start of a round or on what card you want to play! You may incur a penalty of 30 points and if necessary you could be expelled from the competition. We don't want to take action against anybody, but if we need to, we will do what is necessary. Remember it is not nice for anybody to have to wait around for ages as we have other games to get through.
6. Please limit talking during rounds as we don't want to remove people from the table and make sure when writing a PM to use the @ sign at the start of your message, as your message will go out to the table without it.
7. Anybody abusing the playroom rules or disruptive during the tournament could be disqualified if they are still in the competition, or will be banned from the table. They Could be excluded from any future tournament we host!
We wish you the best of luck in the tournament and hope it is a really enjoyable one for you all!
Thanks
Mayank, Teardrop and YNWA.