I'm frequently asked about the rules for having a 5th &/or 6th member of a knockout team.
The rules are pretty specific, although they can be a touch confusing to read or hear. The rules state that each member of a team must play at least 50% of the total boards available for the overall award they are to win. Secondly, a player who fails to play 50% of the boards in the MATCH in which an overall award is won is not eligible to win THAT overall award. Finally, overall awards are only given to teams (players) who ACTUALLY WIN 2 or more matches.
For 4 rounds, the following overall awards are won for each match:
after winning 1st match - none
after wininng 2nd match - 3/4
after winning 3rd match - 2nd
after winning 4th match - 1st
For 3 rounds, the following overall awards are won for each match:
after winning 1st match - none after winning 2nd match - 2nd after winning 3rd match - 1st
In certain situations (it is partially based on the number of teams that enter a given bracket, and partially on what the sponsor and/or DIC want) there can be a playoff - for 3/4 in a 3 round knockout, and for 5/8 in a four round knockout. The drawback to this is that the awards are not very big, in most cases, not much more than the award for winning just the first match. Because of this change in the masterpoint award chart, the option of a playoff is becoming less and less popular.
Here are the situations in a 4 round knockou to help wade through the mire:
1 - a player plays at least 1/2 of every match. No problem, eligible for all awards.
2 - a player plays at least 1/2 of the first 3 matches, but none of the last match. This player is eligible for 2nd place award only, even if the rest of the team goes on to win the event.
3 - a player plays in only the first 2 matches: 1/2 of each match 1/2 of one match, and 100% of another match 100% of both matches or 100% of the 2nd match (if the player doesn't play at least 1/2 of the second match, he is ineligible for 3/4 overall). This player can only win 3/4 overall award, no matter how the team ranks in the end.
4 - a player plays only in the last 2 matches. Again, to maintain any eligibility, he must play in 50% or 100% of EACH match. He will be eligible for 1st place only, all or nothing, as he must win 2 matches to be eligible for overalls. This player must be signed up from the beginning of the event, he won't be added to the team roster after the first match, unless there is an actual emergency.
The points are NOT "pro-rated", you're eligible, and receive 100% of the overall award, or you're not eligible, in which place you don't, and can only receive match win award(s).
I remember being on a 5-bagger a couple of years ago -- we had this whole thing worked out. I was going to play the entire first and final match (due to other scheduling issues).
