What’s on our Mystical Minds……

*Welcome to all of our new members!! The Mystical Minds are a very friendly bunch (of nuts!) Please don't hesitate to ask questions or participate in chat...We want everyone to be comfortable and have fun! We are all family whether we've know each other for days or years! Welcome to the Nuthouse!

With the many, many new members that have joined us we understand that trying to learn the ropes and find your away around the website can be a bit overwhelming. This newsletter is geared towards helping make things a little easier. We hope you find it helpful!

LEAGUE BASICS 101

UNDERSTANDING THE TOUR CALENDAR: The daily tournaments are listed here. Unfortunately it's not an automatic refresh, so check the calendar often by right clicking it and selecting "refresh", this way you can be sure not to miss out on anything....tournaments are always added, and sometimes taken away.

The style of the tour determines the color of the box in which it is shown on the tour calendar.

Single Elimination (BLUE) is the most common style and means once a round is lost to your opponent you are eliminated from the tournament. Tournament ends when there is only 1 player left that is undefeated. Also called S/E.
Double Elimination (RED) means you need 2 losses before being eliminated from the tournament. Tournament ends when there is only 1 player left that is undefeated. Also called D/E or a jellybean tour.
Regular Swiss System (LIGHT PURPLE) means whether you win or lose you play all rounds until the tournament is over which could be any number of rounds. This style is played until there is only one player remaining who is undefeated.
True Swiss System (DARK PURPLE) has a set number of rounds (typically 3). Whether you win or lose you play all 3 rounds and this style can have multiple winners of any players who won all 3 rounds. If there were multiple winners it will be listed on the calendar as "No Winner" when the tournament is over.

*Match Formats: 1 vs 1 is a head to head match between two individuals and 2 vs 2 is team play. Team tours can be random or "pick your partner", determined by the host. In random, all players that jump will be teamed up randomly and in "Pick your Partner" you have the ability to team up with whomever you choose and create a team name and play the tournament together (team members cannot be in the same household). Those that do not jump as a team will be teamed up with another player randomly.

Again, pay attention to the colored boxes on the tour calendar so you know which style of tour you are jumping!

*UNDERSTANDING THE LADDER: LADDER STATS, LADDER MATCH, LADDERBUX

STATS
The Ladder is a simple ranking system referred to as "rungs". The goal is to "climb" the ladder to the top. Here's how it works: When you first join you are placed in the "unranked" category of the ladder and do not become "ranked" until you win your first Ladder match. A match is simply anytime you are playing against another player in a formal game so if you defeat another player in the first round of a tournament, that was your first winning match.
*When you defeat a higher ranked player you move up the ladder half the distance between their rank and yours. Ex. If you are ranked #50 and your opponent is ranked #1 and you defeat them, your new rank will be #25.
*Your rank on the ladder does not go down if you lose a match unless your opponent is ranked right below you. Ex. If your rank is #5 and the #6 player defeated you, your rank would now be #6 and theirs #5.
*Your rank however will slide down if other players beat people above you and jump over you in rank.

The scrolling list of the Top 20 Players is the Ladder Stats of the highest ranked players on our Ladder. As tournaments are played throughout the day you will see it change automatically based on who defeated who in matches, so the order of the top 20 is constantly changing. To see the Entire Ladder, click on STANDINGS under the STANDINGS TAB on the main page.

Any tournament on the calendar that shows an "L" means it is a Ladderstats game, which means your stats could be affected based on who you play in that tournament. A "NL" tour means No Ladderstats, so regardless of who you play your stats will not be affected.

MATCH
In a tournament the tournament director (host) reports all the wins and losses to the ladder. If you didn't jump the tour or you've been eliminated from the tour you can still compete in a Ladder Match. When the host asks for "ladders" that means you can play against someone else in a single round following the same rules of the tournament but the loser of that round must report it to the ladder themselves. To report the loss to the ladder you need to click on REPORT LOSS under the STANDINGS TAB on the main page.....put in your name and pw and your opponents name and click on "report loss". That's all there is to it!

BUX
Ladderbux is fake money used for entry fees to most tournaments. Every player who registers for a tour will have the entry fee automatically deducted from their ladderbux balance and it will be pooled into the tourney pot. The tourney pot is then automatically divided based on the amount of players and awarded to the top winners of the tour! You can check your ladderbux balance by clicking on LADDERBUX under the MY ACCOUNT TAB and entering your player name. If at any time you are running low in ladderbux, you post a request on the tagboard and someone will help you out. We don't want anyone missing out on the tournament fun because of a shortage of bux!

Premium members receive additional bux for being a paid member to Cases Ladder. The Premium Memberships are Gold, Platinum and Diamond, you can read more about memberships by clicking on BUY MEMBERSHIP under the MY ACCOUNT TAB on the main page. Be aware that premium members bux awards for placing in a tournament will be higher than non premium members so don't be alarmed if a 2nd or 3rd place winner received more bux than a 1st place winner in a tournament.

UNDERSTANDING TOURNAMENT PLAY

*Ok you've jumped a tour, now what? First, make sure you get to the game room in plenty of time so that you don't miss Roll Call or the rules for that game. At the bottom of our main page you will find buttons for all of our game rooms, called "backdoors". A backdoor is simply a direct link to the room itself, as opposed to going through Pogo, choosing the game, then choosing the room. They are there for your convenience, and at times if the room is full, you will have a better chance getting in by using the backdoor. Once you're in the room it's important to watch for the Hosts instructions prior to the start of the tournament, and of course, during the tournament. Until you've learned the rules for each game it's best to brush up on the basics before the tour starts. You can find the rules for every game under the GAME RULES button on the main page and for table games you will find a "Table Setup" link which can also be found under each of the table game backdoor buttons. These are actual pictures of the table settings for that game for visual reference. No matter what the rules are for a particular game, always make sure to watch for special instructions from the host.
*The playing of the tournament is actually the simplest and best part! At tourney time the host will close the tour and come back with pairings of opponents for the first round. If it's a table game (ex. Gin) then the first name in the pairing sets the table, in a Leaderboard game (ex. Lottso) just wish your opponent luck, in a timed game (ex. Mahjong) each of the pairings need to give their individual token counts as their starting score (ex. the last 4 digits of your Pogo token balance). At the end of the round you will need to give your token count again as your ending score. Important: Be sure to click on "new game" before giving your ending score to make sure all your points for that game were tallied. In some Pogo games there isn't a "new game" button so obviously that step isn't necessary. In table games and leaderboard games it's important for both players to report in the main chat the winner // loser of that round. Every round of the tournament is run in this manner. The tournament is over when there is only 1 player left undefeated, or in the case of True Swiss, when the set amount of rounds has been completed. In tournaments where there isn't a perfect number of players at the start, then one or more players will receive a "BYE" which is an automatic win for that round.
It's important to understand the meanings of "poofing", "DQ'ing", "being put on timer", and "missing the line" which can all be found in the "GAME RULES" button or if you cannot find the meanings or don't understand please feel free to ask a host.
*If you have been eliminated from the tournament you are free to leave if you choose or you can stick around and chat or play a ladder match! The hosts love the company!

*To know where you stand in a tournament, you can click on the hosts tour page, then click on standings and you will see the progress of the tournament. You can refresh that page after each round to follow along with the tour.

UNDERSTANDING THE TOKEN LINE AND SPIN LINE

At the end of each round in a tournament we have what is called the "one minute macs". When there is only 1 minute left to the round the host will warn us in 15 second intervals and then say STOP. At any time during the minute you can put in your ending token count, but once the STOP is announced you then have 20 seconds to get in your token count before the "TOKEN LINE" comes up. Once the token line has come up, if you did not enter your token count it is considered "missing the line" and your score will not count, thus resulting in a loss, so it's very important to put in your token count before the token line. However, if at any time before the token line you say in chat that you are in a "spin" you are then granted 20 more seconds before the "SPIN LINE" comes up. This is your last chance to get your token count in. Again if you miss the line it will result in a loss. TIPS: If you are in a spin and waiting for your score to tally, you can report your current score, just in case the spin doesn't tally fast enough and that way there you haven't missed the line. The score that made it in before the line is the one that will be counted. No tokens are accepted after the spin line. If by chance both you and your opponent miss the token and/or spin line, then whoever had the higher score will be marked as the winner however you will not be able to play the next round.

UNDERSTANDING SPECIAL TOURS

Aside from daily tournaments, our hosts also provide special tournaments which have special rules, qualifications, themes and/or prizes. You can find the monthly calendar buttons of special tours and events on the main page. A few of the most common special tours are:

*Tournament of Champions (TOC): This is an invitation only tournament. If you win a daily tour, as an individual or team or multiple in swiss, you will receive a special invitation to attend the TOC and compete against all the other winners for that month. Your invitation will come in your email with all the details.
*Wednesday Winners (WW Tour): The same as the TOC except the winners for that month are only those who won a daily tour on a Wednesday.
*Battle of the Sexes (BOTS): A tournament where the ladies play against the men. The ladies jump one tournament, the men jump another and both tournaments are held at the same time in the same room. The ladies play against ladies until there is only 1 lady undefeated. Same for the men. Then the undefeated lady plays a ladder match against the undefeated man to determine the ultimate winner. This tour can go by several names based on a theme of female vs. male.
*Staff vs. Members: A tournament where the staff plays against the members in the same format as the BOTS.
*USA vs. World: A tournament where the members from USA play against the members from other countries of the world in the same format as the BOTS..
*Young vs. Old: A tournament where members from one age group play against the members from another age group in the same format as the BOTS. Age groups are determined by the host.

Our hosts have many other special tours so always check the monthly events calendars!

*For invitation only tournaments, every player that received an invite has already been registered for the tournament, so all they need to do is "Check In" on the hosts tour page. You will find your name on a drop down menu, enter your pw and click "check in". At tourney time when the host closes the tour , if you haven't checked in you will be unable to participate.

As we grow bigger, the staff of Mystical Minds are continually coming up with new kinds of tournaments and contests so that all of our members will have a chance at some different competitions and winning some great prizes! In order to keep up with this demand we have decided to open up to our members who would be graciously willing to donate prizes to help us in providing our members with these kinds of prize tournaments! Please contact a member of the Admin team if you would like to donate! Thank You!

UNDERSTANDING THE LINGO

A list of some of the most common tour related abbreviations used in tournaments and chat: Sorry, but I'm not going to list them alphabetically (yes gator, you read that right!):

WTG=way to go, GG=good game, GL=good luck, TYFH=thank you for hosting, TYFP=thank you for playing, TYFJ=thank you for joining, MP=my pleasure, NP=no problem, BRB=be right back, HWG=here we go, TYFT=thank you for tour, TYFPM=thank you for playing me, GH=good hand, GLNR=good luck next round, BLNT=better luck next time, BLNR=better luck next round

This concludes our League Basics 101. While this doesn't cover every single thing on the subject hopefully to those of you who have never been in a league, it has helped you to understand it a little better and to those of you who are veterans, maybe you learned something new that you always wondered about!

RULE REFRESHERS

*We want you to know we are working on stopping the incorrect token giving during a tour. Please do not get offended if you are asked to refresh your room by the host. We are randomly having people refresh
to update their tokens in an attempt to stop the few who are giving improper counts. It is sad we have to go to these extremes to get fair games, but we think it will be worth it. Remember, it's not about whether we win or lose but how we play the game!

*DQ'ing in a tour....We want to remind all of you that once you give your final token count in a tour, you may not disqualify yourself and give the win to your opponent. If you dq yourself before you give your token count, then your opponent wins. If you give your token count and then try to dq, the win will go to the person you are matched against in the next round. The rules state that the person with the highest token count moves forward and the host must stick by this rule.

TOP 100 LEAGUES

Currently we are a member of the Room Registry which is conducting a monthly Top 100 Leagues contest. The league with the most votes at the end of each month is the winner for that month. We have a Vote button on our main page. Click the button then click on "Enter RR Best 100 Leagues" and that will automatically give us a vote. In the league page you will see a Votes In column and a Votes Out column, the Votes In is generated from clicking the button on our main page and the Votes Out is generated from anyone clicking our logo through that site. Click the button to vote now!! Repeated clicking does not give us multiple votes.

HOST FOR US!

Want to host your own tournaments? We'd love to have you on our hosting staff team! Click on the Host Application Button under the staff yahoos on the main page. Want to know what it's all about first? Just IM RED by clicking on the Yahoo Button next to Redhenri4 with a request and I will send you by email the Hosting Guidelines.

A NOTE ON BEING BOOTED, REPORTED OR BANNED

As we all know there are some people out there who like to start arguments whenever they see a tournament set up in a game room. Some people just like to give their 2 cents and there are others who purposely try to provoke league members so as to have a reason to boot them or report them. We can't stress enough to all of our league members...PLEASE REFRAIN FROM ENGAGING IN ARGUMENTS IN A GAME ROOM. It is best to just mute that person and go on with your game without saying a word...even a simple remark or comment can encourage them to continue. If things are to get out of hand, it's best to let the host, staff or admin team handle it, IM them to come in if necessary as reinforcement. If you have a screenshot program please feel free to take shots of chat but make sure it is your full screen with the computer clock and date.

At one time, 2 of our members were booted from a tournament and banned from Pogo for a few days because someone in the room was complaining and making insults, however our 2 members did not engage in an argument but simply made comments such as "are you talking to me?" and "feel free to mute me". Once that person cursed at them with a nasty name, all 3 of them were booted and banned. It was a very upsetting situation considering our members had done nothing wrong. This is why it is so important to just not say anything at all. We hope that you take our advice.

NEWSLETTERS

If you are not interested in receiving the league newsletters through email then please go to MY ACCOUNT under the MY ACCOUNT TAB on the main page, enter your user name and pw, click on Change User Information and put a check mark in the appropriate box to opt out, please do not respond to this email asking me to take you off the newsletter mail list. Thank You.

All current and past newsletters can be viewed by clicking on the Newsletter button on the main page.

HOPING THIS FINDS YOU AND YOURS HEALTHY AND HAPPY!

Have fun and enjoy our Mystical Minds!!