RULES & REGULATIONS

PLAYER CLASSIFICATIONS:

Let us start with thanking you for choosing to play the smokin gunz paintball tournament series. Please read this rule book carefully because their has been quite a few changes over the off season which we are confident will add a tremendous amount of excitement for everyone involved. Listed below are the definitions of the divisions we will be offering this the 2007 season to help you and your team figure out which division is right for you.

promoters notes: these classifications define players coming into the Smokin Guns series. Once a team or player has played a smokin gunz event then that player falls under our rules of player / team classification and advancement.

Once a team and or player have played two or more events they are now considered the level they played at. (ie a beginner players two rookie events he is now a rookie). Any national experience in a recognized league such as PSP, NPPL, XPSL or CFOA super seeds all other qualifications and makes you an open player.

Smokin Gunz Player Ranking
START = Beginner
NEXT = Young Gun
THEN= Rookie
FINAL= Open

Beginner: A beginner player can not have or gain experience in any tournament or series in which he was rostered on a team higher than beginner and can not have any national event experience including PSP, NPPL, XPSL & CFOA.

Beginner Players & Outside Experience: Any player who gains experience outside the smokin gunz series must do so at the beginner level. Playing as a rookie or higher will cause you to loose your beginner status regardless of your smokin gunz series standings. A beginner player who does not meet any or all of these requirements shall advance to the next eligible division. The EXCEPTION RULE DOES NOT APPLY TO BEGINNER PLAYERS. If you play at higher than a beginner level you are no longer a beginner.

Returning Smoking Gunz Beginners: Players that have not played as a beginner before the 06 season. Players that did not finish in the top five overall spots in the 06 season and/or did not have two or more podium finishes during the 06 season (a 06 podium finish was 1st, 2nd or 3rd place) are eligible for beginner this year. Players who did finish in the top five overall spots and or had two podium finishes during a season must bump up to the next eligible division.

Young Guns: (NOTE: DEFINED BUT NOT USED AT THIS TIME.) A Young gun can be any player from the age of 10 years old up to 15 years old. A player may turn 16 during the season so long as they have played a 2007 smokin gunz event before they turn 16. All young gun players will have a issued proof of age with them at each event. Failure to provide proof of age upon request from the promoter can result in an ejection from the event(s) lasting until proof of age has been provided and excepted by the promoter. We will except state ID cards, copy of birth certificate or any other state or federal issued ID and NO mom is not a valid form of ID. A young gun player also must not meet the rookie or higher requirements. A young gun can remain a young gun until he hits the maximum age (a young gun who turns 16 during a season may finish that season so long as he played his first event when he was 15) or finishes the season in the top five overall spots and or has two podium finishes during a season)(a podium finish in 2007 is 1st thru 4th place)

Rookie: A rookie player can not have played in more than TWO events per calendar year as a rookie prior to January 2007. A rookie may only gain national event experience in the PSP, NPPL, CFOA or XPSL by using the EXCEPTION RULE listed below.

Returning Smokin Gunz Rookies: Players may remain a rookie in the smoking gunz series so long as they do not finish in the top five over all spots and/or had two podium finishes during a smokin gunz season (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th place at an 07 event is a podium finish)

Rookie Players & Outside Experience: Any player who gains experience outside the smokin gunz series must do so at the rookie level. Playing higher than rookie will cause you to loose your rookie status regardless of your smokin gunz series standings.(see the EXCEPTION RULE listed below) A rookie player who does not meet all of these requirements shall be a open player.

EXCEPTION RULE: It is not the intention of the SGS to stop a player or team from getting the most out of their tournament paintball experience and with this in mind we completely understand the opportunity for a team or player to play up may arise. Each rookie, young gun, and open player shall be granted TWO event exceptions per calendar year, that allow a player to play at a higher division that they are currently ranked. The spirit of this ruling is to allow players to take a sneak peak at other formats as well as fill in on a roster that may other wise not be able to attend an event. If you choose to play up it is in your best interest to notify the SGS that you will be doing so to avoid any complications or sandbagging issues that could arise from you being seen by others playing at a higher level than you are currently ranked. If you exceed the two event exception you will then be classified by the SGS as that level of player. This only applies when playing up. (i.e. you are a rookie and you play three open events you are now a open player)

Open: A open player regardless of age is a player with more than two events per year experience in the PSP, XPSL, NPPL, CFOA or any other nationally recognized series. Further more any player who has played more than two events in a year on any roster in any format and ranked higher than rookie is a open player.(i.e you played four events on a novice 5 man team two years ago you are a open player.)An open player shall remain an open player so long as he does not play Division one, semi pro or pro.

No player having division one, semi pro, or pro experience and or ranking shall participate in the smoking gunz series with the exception of a promoter approved exhibition.

Rosters:

The smokin guns series is a 3-person tournament series which allows 6 members to be on a teams roster per event, only players on a roster may participate in an event. Further more players may only be on one roster per event and all players on that roster may not be ranked any higher than the team they are playing for.

TEAM NAME & OWNERSHIP:

Team names may not be considered offensive or contain profanity. The registered team captain is considered by the smoking gunz to be the team owner for the purpose of points and all points both event and season follow the team captain in the event of a team merger or name change. Two teams may not combine points in the event of a merger the highest ranked teams points will be used for seeding and standings.

EVENT FORMAT:

During the 2007 season the following divisions will be offered at all of our events.
Beginner
Rookie
Open
Be sure to read the classifications defined section of the rule book to properly select the division in which you wish to play.

Event format is 3-person “center flag” with a 5 second blind start silent countdown and a maxium game time of 4 minutes.

The following options are voted on each event by the team captain at the end of the captains meeting. Once a vote is cast their will be no revote for that event.

1. Positive sideline coaching allowed or silent sidelines

2. Gun firing modes, meaning to allow PSP ramping or strictly semi auto mode.

If Ramping then gun must have actual PSP mode or player must use semi auto.

OR

If Semi then gun must be in semi auto mode with only one shot resulting per trigger pull. (trigger bounce will not be tolerated)

Center flag defined: Two teams start at opposing ends of the field with a flag located in the center of the field. ( 50 yard line ) Both teams having the same goal of obtaining possession of the flag ( preferably first ) and taking the flag to the opposing teams start station before time runs out while eliminating as much of the opposing team as possible without being eliminated themselves.

EVENT STRUCTURE:

The smokin gunz paintball tournament series will have a completely different event structure than we have had in the past. All divisions will be broke up into brackets. Each bracket will have 4-5 teams per bracket and all teams will play with in their own division. A maxium of 16 teams per division will be allowed. Each bracket is going to be seeded by season points with all new teams seeded in a middle of the pack bracket. For example say at the second event there are 16 teams in the rookie bracket with 14 returning teams and 2 new ones then their division would look like this. Their will always be a 7 day period after an event for returning teams to register before registration is open to new teams. We strongly suggest you use this window to register and guarantee your spot in the next event. As we will only take the first 16 teams per division to register.
Promoters note: we reserve the right to use spots from a smaller division to acomidate a division larger than 16 so long as the total number of teams does not exceed 48 per event.

Rookie

Bracket 1 first event seed 1 first event seed 2 first event seed 3 first event seed 4
Bracket 2 first event seed 5 first event seed 6 first event seed 7 new team 8
Bracket 3 first event seed 9 first event seed 10 new team 11 first event seed 12
Bracket 4 first event seed 13 first event seed 14 first event seed 15 first event seed 16

Each team will play the other teams in their bracket twice with a possible third game for a best two out of three scenario. With the top team from each division going to finals. If a division does not have enough teams to make four brackets we will take the top team out of each bracket then take the next highest overall score until we have four finals teams. regardless of score the top scoring team from each division will move on to finals before consideration is given to a teams score. In short you can be the number two team in your bracket with more points than the number one team in another bracket but the number one team in that bracket will always advance were as the only way a number two or lower ranked team will advance is if their is less than four brackets in your division. Once again this was just an example to give a preview.

Game rules & conduct:


ELIMINATIONS & MARKINGS:

A player is eliminated from the game when he is ordered off the field or eliminated by a judge, or when a player signifies his elimination by verbally saying the word "hit" or by removing their arm band (voluntary or not). These actions will eliminate a player from the game whether they are marked or not. For a players safety you should always immediately take off your arm band and raise your marker hi above your head after you have been eliminated and while traveling to the dead box. A player who continues to wear is arm band after they are eliminated shall not receive the benefit of an infraction imposed on their opponent for marking that player while traveling to the dead box or any time the eliminated player is still in the field of play. A player is only allowed to announce he is "hit" one time and shall not talk to anyone for any reason after being eliminated. If a player talks after being eliminated a penalty of +1 per outburst will be issued. Once the game has been declared over by the head judge then all eliminated players are allowed to return to the field gather belongings and converse as necessary.  

Out of bounds: A player whose body or equipment accidentally or deliberately extends beyond the vertical plane of the boundary shall be eliminated. 

A player who deliberately shoots at another player across a boundary or from out of bounds commits an infraction. When witnessed by a judge, a player marked by a paintball from across a boundary will be returned to active status.

A player who climbs on a tree, a bunker, a structure or a prop will be eliminated. 

A player who deliberately alters terrain or structures, or tampers with a bunker, will be eliminated.

A player who deliberately uses a non-participant or a movable object as a shield will be eliminated.

Start of Game: The countdown and “game-on” signals will be issued to both teams simultaneously. All players will start “blind” with their backs facing the other team. No more than the prescribed number of players may be on the playing field when the game-on signal is given or at any time during the game. A team may start the game with fewer than the prescribed number of players. Games will not be delayed for late players or for equipment malfunctions. A referee will eliminate any player who is not within his teams starting area when the game-on signal is given or who leaves the starting area before the “game-on” signal. If a player has checked in to the start box and receives a arm band before the game on signal but leaves the start box before the game on signal that player may "tag up" and then begin the game so long as he has 1. checked in & received a arm band 2. does not point his marker down field 3. does not fire his marker and 4. returns to the start box and touches the box before resuming play.

Each player must maintain possession of any equipment or clothing (including his arm band) that he carried onto the field except for the following disposable items: paint pods/loading tubes, squeegees and spent 12-gram cartridges. Intentionally discarding equipment is an infraction. Unintentionally losing possession of non-disposable equipment for more than five seconds also is an infraction. Any equipment more than 3 feet away from the player is considered discarded equipment.

A player is eliminated from the game when he is marked anywhere on his body, clothing or equipment with a quarter-sized or larger splat caused by a direct hit from a single paintball. The size of the paint mark is cumulative. If two splat marks (ie, one on the loader and one on the goggle) and are larger than a quarter when combined, then the player is eliminated. If a judge does not witness the mark but finds a player with a hit on them the judge will eliminate that player unless provided information or instruction from another judge that did bear witness and can attest to that player being alive player due to bunker rub, kneeling on a ball, late hit from a eliminated opponent etc...

A player is eliminated from the game when he is marked anywhere on his body, clothing or equipment with a quarter-sized or larger splat caused by an indirect (when a paintball breaks against a secondary object and splatters/sprays the player) hit from a single paintball, except when the indirect splatter was witnessed by a judge. The referee shall remove indirect paint from a player when ever it is possible to do so without causing interruption to the game.

If two or more players are marked simultaneously, both shall be eliminated. A judge will decide which player(s) is eliminated when the players involved do not agree on the order in which they were marked. In the event no judge witnessed the exchange all parties with a mark shall be mutually eliminated from the game.  

It is the players responsibility to notify a judge and receive the judges acknowledgment when he is marked other than by a shot (ie, by kneeling on a paintball, from cleaning his paint gun, from leaning against a paint-stained object, etc.). If the judge determines the mark was not from a hit, the judge will wipe off the mark. failure to declare such a marking is a failure on the players part and shall not be considered fact by a judge when eliminating a player.

It is each players responsibility to check themselves and call themselves "HIT" when he has been marked from an obvious hit. An “obvious” hit is a direct impact that leaves a quarter-sized or larger splat and that, in the judges determination, the player should physically sense by sight, sound or touch.  

When a player receives an “obvious” hit that the player can visually verify, he must signify his elimination immediately. A player may seek reasonable cover in the immediate area if he is unable to visually verify an obvious hit and if remaining in his current position while waiting to be paint checked will leave the player exposed.

Blatantly shooting a player after he has properly signified his elimination is an infraction. (+1 to +3)   Known commonly as bonus balling.

A player who fails to continuously call for a paint check after an obvious hit which the player cannot visually verify commits an infraction. +1

A player who receives an obvious hit and continues aggressive play (shooting, advancing, communicating with teammates, handing off supplies, etc.) commits an infraction. +1

A “questionable” hit is a mark that, in the determination of a judge, the player probably did not physically sense. A player who receives a questionable hit will be eliminated from the game but has not committed an infraction. If, however, a judge determines that the player became aware of a questionable hit and then continued to play, the player has committed an infraction by continuing aggressive play after an obvious hit.  +1 (all hits except your pods & pack are usually considered a obvious hit.)

A player who has been eliminated and/or signals himself eliminated, and who then shoots at an opponent or tries to communicate with live players from on or off the field, commits an infraction. + 3

A player who deliberately attempts to hide, remove, or conceal a paint mark commits an infraction. +3  

* NOTE: all + infractions will follow a team to their next game(s) if the penalty can not be fully satisfied during the current game. A team may not substitute players in order to avoid playing a man down.