Competition Regulations

The series runs in levels. Each level narrows the field until one team remains.

• A team registers two or three players. Two play each match, and the captain declares which two before every game.
• Every player must be 18 or older and hold a South African ID.
• Every player has their own account. Nobody may register on another person’s behalf.
• A player represents one team for the whole season. Being dropped or eliminated does not free them to join another team.
• Officials, venue representatives and administrators may not play.

• Entry is R500 per team, paid in the app. Entry fees are not refundable, and the captain acknowledges this before paying.
• A place is confirmed once the fee is paid and two players have verified their email addresses. Places go to teams in the order they become complete.
• Each pub seats 32 teams. If your chosen pub fills before your team is complete, you have 48 hours to choose another pub in the same town.
• Registration closes three days before the tournament.
• During a pub’s promotion weekend, printed promo slips take R100 off an entry. A slip may be used once and expires at 23:59 on the Sunday.

Times assume a 12:00 start. A break of 30 minutes follows each stage, and each wave allows five minutes between games for scoring and dealing.

• Each player checks in individually by presenting their original ID document. Players from the same team may check in at different desks and different times.
• A team with fewer than two verified players when check-in closes is disqualified. Its place is vacated and its opponent receives a bye.
• A third player may arrive and check in at any point during the day, and may play once checked in.
• A team disqualified at the cutoff remains out, even if a player arrives later.

• A match is one game, played with 40 cards to a total of 11 points. There are no draws.
• Each team has 15 minutes on a chess clock. A team whose clock runs out loses 11–0.
• A team more than ten minutes late to its table forfeits. The ten minutes run from the moment the wave actually starts, and the schedule is never extended.

An 11–0 result is an Inqola. Whether a result counts as one depends on how it came about.

Each scorecard records points, spades and cards collected for both teams. Points must total 11, spades 10 and cards 40.

• The bracket is drawn at random once registration closes.
• If fewer than 32 teams enter, each empty place is paired against a real team, never another empty place. This guarantees sixteen teams reach the Last 16.
• A venue needs at least sixteen teams to run.
• The bracket becomes final twenty minutes before the first wave, once check-in has closed.

• Both finalists qualify when the semi-finals end. The final decides which is champion and which is runner-up.
• The Town Championship is held at a central venue. Qualified teams do not register or pay again.
• Every first-round match pairs a champion against a runner-up, never two teams from the same pub. Teams from the same pub are placed in opposite halves and can meet only in the final.

• Each province holds a Provincial Championship at a central venue. The champion and runner-up from each of its sixteen Town Championships qualify, drawn exactly as at town level: champions against runners-up, and teams from the same town in opposite halves.
• The National Championship is held at a central venue and takes the top 32 teams in the season’s national rankings, whatever level they reached.
• The national bracket is seeded by ranking. The first round pairs 1 against 32, 2 against 31 and so on, placed so that the top two can meet only in the final and the top four only in the semi-finals.
• The national draw is made once every Provincial final has been played.
• Venues and dates for both are announced by Mzansi Casino. Timings and check-in are the same as at every other level.

• A captain may ask a player to step aside. Nothing happens unless that player agrees.
• Once they agree, the captain may invite a replacement. The swap happens only when the replacement accepts, so a team is never left short.
• A team must keep at least one player from the level before.
• Replacements close three days before the event. A third player may be added at any time.
• Declining an invitation is final for that level.

Teams are ranked by total points, then spades, then cards, then Inqolas, at pub, town, provincial and national level. Totals are used rather than averages, so going further in the competition raises a team’s standing. A bye counts for nothing.

A dispute is raised at the table and heard by a panel of two recorders and two tournament directors, none of whom officiated the match. The table is cleared at once so play continues. The panel resolves disputes during the following wave, and all disputes are settled before the next round begins.