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Total Confusion 2010
Puffing Billy® Tournament Categories

Category 1 - Ticket to Ride and all Ticket variants
Category 2 – Railroad Tycoon, Union Pacific, Chicago Express, Santa Fe,  Street Car, Metro, Linie
1, Transamerica, On the Underground, Steel Driver
Category 3 - 1830, 1825, 18AL, 18GA, and all other 4 hour 18xx games
Category 4 - 1835, 1856, 1870 and all other 5 hour or longer 18xx games
Category 5 - Eurorails, Empire Builder, North American Rails, Iron Dragon, Lunar Rails, Martian
Rails
Category 6 – British Rails, Australian Rails, Nippon Rails, India Rails, Russia Rails, China Rails
Category 7 - Express, Freight Train, Station Master, Hell Rails, Ticket to Ride Card game
Category 8 - Silverton, Rail Baron, Age of Steam, Steam, Steam Barons
Category 9 - Railway Rivals, Dampfross, Tracks to Telluride, Tracks to Titicaca, Trainsport,
Stephenson's Rocket, Lancashire Rails, Prairie Rails, Pacific NW Rails

Puffing Billy® Tournament Scoring

Your score for the weekend-long Puffing Billy® Tournament is the total of scores from your best
four different categories.  Your category score consists of the best individual PBT score for any
one game in that category, PLUS your best finals bonus earned within that category.

Your score for the weekend-long Iron Man is the total of your best individual PBT scores in all nine
categories, excluding finals bonuses.  There is no award for Iron Man at Total Confusion.

Your PBT score for an individual game is based on where you finish.  First place receives a base
of 3 points, second place gets 2 base points, third place gets 1 base point, and fourth place gets 0
base points.  In addition, second through fourth place receives a bonus score based on how close
they were to first place, and the winner receives a bonus based on the scores of all other players.  
The closer the game, the higher your score.  If you play more than one game in a category, your
best score in that category will count for the tournaments.

Only the first four positions on the board are awarded points (for purposes of qualification in a
category). The maximum bonus for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places is 0.5.  If you place in an individual
tournament final, you will receive a bonus of 10% of your PBT score for the final game, which is
added to your best score in that category.

Tournament Rules
Some tournament rules differ slightly from the printed rules, and some games (e.g. all Empire
Builder style games) require the players at the table to agree on how they will play certain rules.  
Please refer to the Players Handbook and the bottom of each printed score sheet for important
game specific rules and tournament clarifications.  Please also see definitions of Qualifying and
Pick Up Games described below.  If you have any questions about the overall tournament or any
game rules, please ask the conductor.


Game Time Limits:
Most games are scheduled in 4 hour time slots. 18XX games are scheduled in double slots, but are
expected to only take 6 hours (except finals) with breaks.

In order to allow a wide variety of games and to fit into the overall convention schedule,  many of
the 18XX games are on a tight schedule.  Please allow players of a previous game sufficient time to
take a 30 minute break before a new game starts, even if this means delaying the start beyond the
scheduled time.

Please try to finish games within the allowed time period.  This means ending the play of the game
“early” enough that final scoring and pick-up can be accomplished by the actual end of the time
slot.

Delay of Game:
Players must play their turn in a reasonable period of time (usually less than five minutes).  If a
player delays more than this, they will be warned.  On subsequent turns, they may be penalized by
a fine in the money of the game system.  This rule is meant to encourage the completion of the
game within the time period.

Dropout Penalties:
Players are expected to play a game to completion.  If someone abandons a game in progress,
they will be disqualified from that event category, forfeiting any other game score.  If they drop out
of two games, they will be disqualified from the tournament.

Pick-up Games:
Unscheduled games, if approved in advance by the conductor, are allowed to score in non-finals
event categories, finishing by 12 noon on Sunday.  An official score sheet must be submitted, with
the final score and all player’s full names.  The regular event fees (generic tickets) must also be
paid by all players (four players minimum).

Kibitzing:
Players may only communicate with other players over the board if allowed to do so under the
rules of the game.  Under no circumstances may any player literally play another player’s position
or delay the game by attempting to persuade a player to take a specific action.  Secret agreements
are not allowed.

Secrecy & Disclosure:
Players should play with the disclosure rules as written.  Some game rules are not clear (such as
1830), in which case the players should agree how they will play at the beginning of the game.  
This writer prefers secret player cash, and open corporate cash or all open cash.

The Puffing Billy Conductor has additional specific rules information and clarifications available
upon request.


Finals:

To play in a final you must first qualify. Qualification is by the following methods and varies from
game to game. There are no semi-finals at Total Confusion.

Which Game? Where more than one game is possible for use in the final, such as in 18XX or EBI,
each player makes a choice of the game they wish to play. Each player’s choice is weighted, by the
number of players in the game, less the player’s entering position, and then randomized to select
the game. For example, assume a four player final using a cup as the randomizer. The first place
player gets three chits in the cup of the game he prefers, the second place player two, the third
player gets one, and the fourth player is thankful to have made it in! One chit is then drawn and
that game will be the game used in the final. Every player in the final must have played the
selected game at least once and a game choice may be vetoed by the conductor.


1830: You must win an 1830 game a preceding regular round. The 1830 finals game is scheduled
for 1 PM Saturday.  There may be more than one final board of 1830. All finals boards get full
finals bonus points.
Empire Builder: To qualify you must win an Empire Builder game in a preceding regular round. The
Empire Builder finals game is scheduled for 7 PM Saturday.  There may be more than one final
board of Empire Builder. All final boards get full finals bonus points.
18XX: The winners in different 18XX games from preceding qualifying rounds in both Categories 3
and 4 excluding 1830 are ranked. The top four players get first option to play. Should a qualified
player pass on the opportunity to play in this final, the next person in the rankings becomes
qualified. Only games from Category 4 are eligible to be played in the 18XX final the exact game to
be chosen as described above under Which Game. There is only one final board for 18XX. (Note
that you can only play in one of the 18XX or EBI Final as they are at the same time.)  The 18XX
final will be allowed to start as early as the players are able in order to finish on time.

Empire Builder International (EBI): Your three best place finishes in different EBI games from
preceding qualifying rounds in both Categories 5 and 6 are added together. Top five players get
first option to play. Should a qualified player pass on the opportunity to play in this final, the next
person in the rankings becomes qualified. Only games from Category 6 are eligible to be played in
the EBI final the exact game to be chosen as described above under Which Game. (Note that you
can only play in one of the 18XX or EBI Final as they are at the same time.) There is only one final
board for EBI.

Should there be insufficient qualifying round winners willing to play in the final in any game; second
place finishers may be added to make even game(s) of 3, 4 or 5 people at the discretion of the
Conductor. Second place finishers who advance to the final in this manner will be advanced in
order of their PB points that they scored in the qualifying round(s) of that game.
Puffing Billy Tournament Rules:
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