June Double Header!

Our schedule for June is set. We have a new table in position 1 at California Billiards, and it plays beautifully. It’s going to be a good summer.

As always, we will be playing every Tuesday night at California Billiards. We put the tables on free play from 7-8 PM, and anyone who wants to try out competitive foosball should come play some pick-up games or get practice tips. Tournaments run afterward from 8-11 PM.

June 3: Monster Doubles, Goalie Serves. This fun format requires goalies to be good at passing, clearing, and shooting. Forwards don’t start with the ball, so they have to earn all of their possessions by catching passes and loose balls, or with defensive steals. We play rounds with random partners from 8-10 PM. The top half of the field starts the playoffs at 10 PM.

June 10: Monster Points Race. Random partners each round, and no playoffs. We play matches to 10 points, to encourage more strategy as teams learn strengths and weaknesses.

June 17: Monster Doubles. Random partners from 8-10 PM, and playoffs from 10-11 PM.

June 21: June Double Header! We’ll start Open Singles at 2 PM, and run a doubles Shake-n-Bake at 6 PM. You can bring a partner if you’ve got one, or take a random partner and a chance at winning $50 as the best draw team. Details on the calendar and FB event.

June 24: Monster Doubles, Singles Playoffs. Random partners from 8-10 PM, top half of the field enters a singles playoff that runs from 8-11:30 PM.

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Spring Schedule and Table Sale

We’ve got our spring schedule ready to go! Also we’re going to be selling one of our tables and upgrading to a newer model. If you’re interested in a T-3000 coin-op, e-mail bayfoos@gmail.com to discuss pricing.

All tournaments held at California Billiards in Fremont.

Tues, Apr 15: No Tournament. (Everyone is tired from Vegas.)

Tues, Apr 22: Monster Points Race: everyone plays from 8-11.

Tues, Apr 29: Monster Doubles, Singles Playoff: everyone plays from 8-10, top 8 compete in singles in the playoffs.

Sat, May 3: Sacramento tournament (contact Art or the SF Foos FB group for details)

Tues, May 6: Monster Doubles, Goalie Serves. Everyone plays 8-10, top half into playoffs starting at 10.

Tues, May 13: Monster Points Race: everyone plays from 8-11.

Sat, May 17: Double Header warm-up (FB, Google Calendar) for ITSF Tornado World Series! Tables open at 1pm. Open singles starts at 2pm, and Shake-n-Bake doubles starting at 6pm.

Tues, May 20: Monster Doubles, Singles Playoff: everyone plays fro 8-10, top 8 compete in singles in the playoffs.

Tues, May 27: Monster Doubles. Everyone plays 8-10, top half into playoffs starting at 10.

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More Play Time and More Prize Money

Hello players! As our foosball community has grown, we’ve encountered new challenges. We used to be able to run events quickly, but now that our player base has grown we’re running into situations where we have more matches than there are free tables. Players are standing around laughing and socializing instead of focusing on the game, and it’s a bad experience for everyone. We want our events to be about foosball, not community or friendship.

To remedy the situation, we’re going to change the format for our larger events to 4v4 matches. Each game will have four players per team, two teams per table. With four tables we will be able to have 32 players all playing simultaneously.

We will also move from the “best 2/3” or “race to 10” formats to instead use a 10 minute game clock. Rapid play is too hard for spectators to follow. A soccer style game where teams take an early lead and then run the clock out while barely breaking a sweat is more what our audience is looking for. Possessions will be limited to 30 seconds per rod.

FAQ:

Q: Left or right handed play?

A: Normal events will be players choice, but for some speciality events we will require that players play with their non-dominant hand to improve their skills.

Q: How will you enforce the 30 seconds per rod possession clock?

A: We are working with local Silicon Valley technologists to develop a new handle that automatically gives a player an electric shock if they keep possession of the ball for more than 30 seconds. (Note: no gloves or insulated wraps are permitted.)

Q: Do these games conform to ITSF or WFT match rules?

A: After we prove the effectiveness of this new format, we expect other clubs and governing bodies such as ITSF and WFT to quickly adopt similar changes.

Q: Any changes to prize money?

A: We’re offering $1000 added prize money per event to incentivize players to try out the new format. We expect ITSF and WFT to adopt this payout change as well.

Thank you all in advance for supporting the new format!

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Vegas Warm-Up Next week!

Our warm-up tournament for the Hall of Fame Classic tournament in Las Vegas is next week.

Friday night, March 28th: we’ll do a Monster DYP. Tables open at 7pm, the tournament will start at 8pm and run until 11:30pm.

$10 entry fee ($5 for lower ranked players) will go to 100% prize payout. There will be a $5 table fee charged separately, and the tables will be on free play for the evening.

Saturday, March 29th: open singles and open doubles!

Tables open at 1pm. There’s a $5 table fee, tables will be on free play all day.

Singles will start at 2pm. Entry fee is $5 for beginners, $10 for rookies and amateurs, and $15 for experts and up. 100% payout. Format will be either double elimination or swiss system, depending on turnout.

Rookie playoff! Top 4 rookies and beginners will play a single elimination tournament, with $25 going to the winner. Even if you’re not going to win the main event, you should come for a shot at the Rookie playoffs

Doubles starts at 6pm. Entry fee is $5 for beginners, $10 for rookies and amateurs, and $15 for experts and up. 100% payout. Format will be either double elimination or Swiss system, depending on turnout. You can bring a partner if you want one, or draw a partner once you’re here.

Doubles rookie playoff! Normally for our Saturday tournaments we offer a $50 prize for the top draw team, and also offer a point spot when a draw team plays a bring team. We’re not doing that for this tournament, because we expect a lot of players to partner up in preparation for Vegas.

Instead of our normal $50 added for the top draw team, we’re going to put that $50 towards a rookie playoff. The top 4 rookie teams from the event will qualify for a single elimination playoff. Only WFT rookies and lower are eligible.

But wait, you say! I’m a rookie, but I’m playing with an Amateur or an Expert in the main event. Can I still play in the rookie playoff? Yes, absolutely. You’ll have to find another rookie partner that played in the main event, but you can play.

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“Get in the Game” was a blast

The bayfoos crew did a field trip to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to check out the Get In The Game Exhibit, and in particular the famous 22 person Stadium foosball table created by Maurizio Cattelan in 1991. We had a great time. The table is one of the rare pieces of modern art that is meant both as serious social commentary and is extremely fun. Bayfoos players Dana Marr and Adrian Zamora worked the table during the “play with a pro” days several times. Last Sunday was the last day of the exhibition, and we had a great time goofing around on the table. Our game was a little shocking for the normies, but they caught on!

When SF MoMA first came to talk to us about the table, we considered a lot of options. We could have fielded a team of immigrants vs a team of native born Americans, like the original exhibition. (About half of Bayfoos players were born outside the US!) We could have hosted a competitive tournament with prize money. I’m glad that we decided to do none of those things, and just tossed some balls on the table and did our best to move them in the right direction. It was good times.

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