Going to complete this because I have poe to give away still
Rules:
1) Players will initially be divided into groups of either three or four depending on the number. From this, one or two players from each group will go forward to the next stage, which will either be a final group or in straight knock-out format, again depending on the number of participants.
2) Games within the groups will be best-of-three, unrated, 'normal' rumble games (i.e. not boxing) with the bring your own bludgeon option. The winner receives a point, the loser no points. Group winners (and possibly runners-up) will be determined initially by the number of points each player has.
3) The sign-up period will last from now until next Friday, and the tournament will start immediately after that. A time limit will be imposed for the completion of each stage.
4) Entry is 2k per player. The winner receives half of all the entry poe collected, plus a ticket for flag booty or no booty (with possible top prizes of a ship or 50k; see the spades thread for details). The runner-up and semi-finalists (or others in the final group) will also receive a prize.
Uh, well according to Photobucket this is the correct size. Least no-one should have too much trouble reading it. The groups are now of six instead of the initially stated 3 or 4. I tried all sorts of number combinations but 3 4's left me with 3 semi-finalists and no clear method of finding a fourth, and 4 3s meant all sorts of problems in getting a group winner (esp. if A beat B beat C beat A which is messy). So, groups of 6 made life much easier. Fairly straightforward, play the others in your group. Winner gets a point, loser receives no points. Pm/e-mail//tell/msn/passenger pigeon me the results. The top two in each group go through to the semi-finals as shown.
In the case of a tie for a top two place, the following will apply:
If it is between two people, the winner of the match between them will proceed.
If more, I will firstly throw a temper tantrum and then arrange for some kind of play-off between those players.