A Newbie's Guide To Word Yacht (page 4)
5. It's Go Time: How To Play In Tournaments
Tournaments are competitions in which you can win Ladderbux by beating
out your opponents. A tournament typically costs between 5 and 20
Ladderbux to enter, although on special occasions the entry fee can be
as high as 100. The winner or the top few finishers split the pot.
Since most "tourneys" (as we call them) count toward your ladder
statistics, they also provide you with a great opportunity to move up
the ladder.
Tournaments can involve as few as 4 players or as many as more than 30.
A short singles tournament might be done in 45 minutes; a partners or
double-elimination tournament can take upwards of three hours.
How do I enter a tournament?
When a tournament is coming up, the Tournament Director (TD) will
begin announcing it in the lobby 30 to 60 minutes ahead of time. You
can also find out when tournaments are scheduled by checking at Table 1
(where they are usually advertised) or by going to the ladder web sites
and clicking on "Tournament Calendar".
In order to join the tournament, you'll need the jump number. The
TD will give this number when advertising the tournament by saying
something like "Join me for a 10:00 singles tourney, jump #130471".
Go to the ladder web site and click inside the box next to the words
"Tourney Jump". Type the jump number in this box and press Enter.
This will take you to the tournament home page. The TD may also give the
complete URL of the tournament page, in which case you can just enter it
into your browser.
Once you're there, click on "Rules" to read the rules for this
tournament, including the timer setting and any special formats. If
you don't understand them, ask the TD and they will answer any
questions you have.
Registering, checking in, and playing
Now you're ready to sign up. Click on "Register", enter your user
name and password, check the all-important "I have read over the
rules" box, and click the "Register" button.
If the TD has not yet opened check-in for the tournament, you will
have to return later to check in. TD's usually open check-in 30
minutes before the tournament starts. This is done to ensure that
only players actually present in the room are counted when the
tournament begins. To check in, click on "Teams/Check-In" (you may
have to hit "Refresh" on your browser) and enter your user name and
password again.
When it is time for the tournament to start, the TD will close
check-in and announce the matches for the first round in the lobby.
You can see the current standings at any time once play has started
by clicking on "Standings". When it's time for your game, you and
your opponent(s) just go to a table and start playing. The standard
tournament rule is that the higher-seeded player or team picks the
table.
As with other ladder games, the loser of a tournament game must
report the loss. However, instead of reporting through the ladder
web site, you do it by clicking "Report" on the tournament page and
entering your password there. The tournament system will automatically
update your ladder statistics after the tournament ends.
Types of tournaments
Unlike the games announced in the lobby, tournament games don't always
follow the standard 1-on-1, no-frills Word Yacht format. Some of the
more common variations used in tournaments are:
- Partners (or "pards"): Players compete in teams of two,
with partners sitting diagonally across from each other at the table.
During the game, partners may help each other out by using the chat
feature to suggest words to each other. The winner of the game is
the team with the higher total score. Depending on the tournament,
partners may be chosen by the players themselves or assigned randomly
by the system.
- Bonus words: A player may be awarded bonus points by
finding certain words or combinations of words.
- Fastest Finger: The timer decreases in each round of the
tournament.
- Top Down / Bottom Up: Players must fill in their categories
in a specified order, either from the top of the scorecard down or
from the bottom up.
- Short games: Instead of playing a whole game, players only
take a certain number of turns each. The most common short-game
tournaments are half-card, in which each player fills in 4 categories,
and "S cats", in which each player fills in only the categories
starting with S (Sevens, Starter, Straight, Slam, and Scorer).
- 1-on-1-on-1 (-on-1): Tournaments consisting of 3 or 4-player
games in which only the winner of each game advances.
Besides single-elimination tournaments, you will also occasionally see
two other types: double-elimination, in which a player is eliminated
after losing twice, and Swiss, a sort of mini-round robin in which
everyone can keep playing until the tournament ends.
Final words
I hope this document has given you everything you need to get started
playing on the Word Yacht ladder system. If you have any questions,
just ask in the lobby. Remember, always be courteous to your fellow
players. We are all a community and we're here to have fun, so relax
and enjoy yourself!
GL and GR! (Good Luck and Great Racks!)
-- Rich
