• It's best to arrive at the venue about a half hour before signup is due to close, so for a regular Tuesday event between 7pm and 7:30pm. This will allow you to warm up and get your bearings and perhaps a refreshing beverage.
• Go to the tournament sign in table, pay your entry fee (usually $5) and get your name into the draw.
• Approximately 15 minutes after sign in is closed, tournaments generally begin with some announcements and a brief overview of the rules.
• From there partners and board assignments for the first round of play will be announced.
• The length of a tournament depends largely on the number of players. Generally finals matches begin by 11:30pm.

• All entrants go into one pool of players.
• The entire pool will be used and names will be randomly drawn to form pairs.
• This draw will decide your playing partner for the event.
• This is why the tournament is often referred to as 'blind draw' or 'luck of the draw'.
• We do not currently do any seeding or ranking for regular GVDA events.

Playing Rochester Format

• A match begins with a coin toss to decide which team is 'Home'.
• The option to shoot first or second for cork goes to:
  • 1st leg: Home team
  • 2nd leg: Loser of the 1st leg
  • 3rd leg (if necessary): Away team (think 'Home, Lose, Away')
• For all legs the winner of the cork calls the game.
• The game can be 301, 401, 501 or Cricket.
• You cannot play the same game two legs in a row.
• Check the Rochester Open FAQ if you are not familiar with GVDA league play.

• In a double elimination event you will need to lose two matches before you are out of the tournament.
• It is possible to lose your first match, win the entire losers' (2nd chance) bracket and emerge at the end in the final guaranteed at least 2nd place.
• Once you have lost once in each bracket your team is eliminated from the tournament.
• We try to run a double elimination tournament whenever it is practical.

Winners' Bracket

• In the winners' bracket (i.e. before you lose a match) the game will usually be Rochester Format.

Losers' Bracket

• Most often a single leg of 501.
• The game changes to facilitate quicker matches.
• The winner of the coin toss deciding who shoots at cork first (and the winner of that cork throwing first at 501).

• When a match is called, you will be assigned to a board and an opponent to play.
• Please head to the assigned board and begin play as soon as possible.
• If you are chalking a match please notify the tournament organizer and they will will ask for a replacement so that you can go to play your match.
• Whenever you are not playing, please consider chalking a match - you'll appreciate it when others readily step up to chalk for your match!