UIC SWISS ADMIN MEETING
On this page it's our intention to keep you informed of the things we discuss and decide at Admin Meetings (conducted via email, Trillian, Spark or WhatsApp).
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DECISIONS of UIC Swiss Admin made for Season 30 on Friday 5th June 2020
Participating (via WhatsApp ): Nigel (Head Admin), Kerry (Admin) and Marie (Admin).
1. Tourney winners (overall and shared) cannot play a second time.
RULE 2.3. A player winning a tournament with any overall or shared win (5-0 or 4-1) may not participate in a second tournament on the same day. If a player previously winning a tournament, whether overall or shared, participates a second time on the same day, neither scores will count as a penalty for ineligibility in the second tournament.
Explanation: Not allowing tournament winners to play again gives others a better chance of winning another tournament played on the same day. The penalty is there to prevent a winning player from tactically playing a second tournament to stop other challengers from gaining points.
2. Modified points system – one point per win with NO bonus tourney win points.
RULE 2.5. The following points system will apply to both the Team standings and Individual standings: One point will be awarded for each game won, up to a maximum of five points per player. Where a player participates in two tournaments, his or her higher points total will apply to the Individual standings. (Bonus points awarded for staying five rounds and for winning a tournament no longer apply. The average points system no longer applies.)
Explanation: Simplifying the points system by removing the bonus points will bring players closer together in the Individual standings, hopefully making the competition more competitive. Removing the previous average points system again simplifies everything and takes away penalising low scores.
3. New compensation scheme for unavailablity, covering two weeks.
RULE 2.6. A new Unavailability Compensation (UC) scheme will apply for players who miss up to two weeks during the season due to unavailability (such as a vacation, illness or bereavement). This will apply from Week 3 and thereafter, and a player must claim UC to a member of the Admin team within one week of the unavailability. In each case UC is awarded, three points will be added to the player's total in the Individual standings (equivalent to a score of 3-2), on no more than two occasions, and will NOT apply to the Team standings at any time. Back-dated UC claimed more than two weeks after the unavailability will not be applied. Once a maximum of two cases of UC have been applied, no further claims will be considered. It must be stressed that UC will ONLY be considered when claimed and will NOT be automatically applied. No UC will be considered or applied after Week 10.
Explanation: Missing out a week or two weeks due to unavailability could affect a player's chances of doing well so this compensation scheme will help those forced to miss out. It can only apply to a maximum of TWO WEEKS between Week 3 and Week 10 and MUST be claimed within one week. Remember, you MUST claim UC within ONE WEEK of your unavailability because it will NOT be back-dated.
4. Proposals rejected.
Two other proposals were dismissed. The first was to return to having 30 seconds timers on the tables (we only removed that rule for Season 29) and the other was making UIC Swiss No-Ball-In-Hand (NBIH). From its earliest days in 2005, UIC has always been BIH and will always remain BIH.
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DECISIONS of UIC Swiss Admin made for Season 29 on Monday 10th February 2020
Participating (via WhatsApp ): Nigel (Head Admin), Kerry (Admin) and Marie (Admin).
1. Proposal to revert the format of UIC Swiss to league v league.
Explanation: With ILC enjoying stability after four seasons, Nigel proposed to go back to league v league instead than geographic. After five seasons playing in the geographic format, it's now in the best interests of UIC Swiss to make the switch. This proposal was approved.
2. Proposal to set a player's eligibility to 25 games.
Explanation: To deter stacking, which was a major issue the last time UIC Swiss was league v league, all players must have played at least 25 games on their league's ladder to be eligible. This proposal was approved.
3. Proposal to cap a league's participation to 6 players per tourney.
Explanation: To encourage the smaller leagues and to make competition more even, larger leagues such as BW and SS should not have more than six players jumping a tourney. If a seventh or subsequent player jumps he or she can still play (rather than be removed which used to be the rule) but the score will count for NL rather than the league, although it will count in the player's individual total. This proposal was approved.
4. Proposal to abolish the 30 seconds table timers.
Explanation: 30 seconds tables were adopted for Season 18 to quicken up tournaments but were never really popular with players. Since ILC do not use timed tables, and in an effort to improve attendances now that UIC Swiss has returned to league v league, a proposal to drop the timers was approved.
5. Other rules needing modification.
Explanation: Reverting back to league v league means quite a few other rules need to be modified for 'good housekeeping' purposes, to keep everything in line. These emendments were all approved 'en mass'.
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DECISIONS of UIC Swiss Admin made for Season 27 on Tuesday 18th June 2019
Participating (via WhatsApp): Nigel (Head Admin), Marie (Admin) and Shelle (Admin).
1. Proposal to revert the format of UIC Swiss to league v league.
Explanation: Ele proposed to go back to league v league rather than geographic. With a possible matchday competition in the pipeline, it was felt that going back to the league format would not be in the best interests of UIC Swiss at this time and may also be detrimental to ILC if not UIC Swiss itself. Therefore the proposal was not accepted.
2. The 11pm tournament has been introduced.
Explanation: Although there was a concern about attendance figures for Season 27 if the 11pm tournament returned, the feedback from a few members who were disappointed that it had been dropped at the end of Season 25 was taken into consideration. It was felt that the gamble was worth taking so the proposal was approved.
3. Application for a new TD from Kerry.
Explanation: With the adoption of the 11pm, Kerry's application was approved unanimously. She last hosted during Season 24.
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DECISIONS of UIC Swiss Admin made for Season 26 on Thursday 14th February 2019
Participating (via WhatsApp): Nigel (Head Admin), Marie (Admin) and Shelle (Admin).
1. The 11pm tournament has been scrapped.
Explanation: Attendance figures for Season 25 at the 11pm tournament in particular were poor, with a maximum of only 8 players taking part in Week 6 and 7, taling off to the lowest total of 5 in Week 11. It is hoped that dropping the 11pm will help increase attendances for the other two tournaments, especially the 7pm.
2. The 30 seconds per table rule will be retained.
Explanation: The question asked on the UIC Swiss website requested a 'yes' or 'no' response to "should the 30 seconds timer be kept?" One player responded by email and asked for the timer to be retained. After consideration the timer was retained by Admin.
3. The rule covering reduced tournament win points where there are fewer than 6 players taking part has been scrapped.
Explanation: With the 11pm tournament being dropped, and increased attendances envisaged, this rule is no longer required. In two seasons (24 and 25) the rule applied three times.
4. The AEN and AES teams have been merged to form AE (America East) and EUR has been folded and players moved to ROW.
Explanation: With a reduction of AEN players being involved, there is no longer a need to have separate East teams. The merger should help to make the AE team stronger. The same can be said of EUR players who have been switched to ROW for the same reason. The ASIA team is under consideration and will be left as a separate team until further notice.
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HEAD ADMIN'S ADDRESS prior to the UIC Swiss Meeting on Friday 1st December 2017
Like me or hate me, my role is to uphold the values of UIC Swiss, to protect the integrity of the competition and to make it an enjoyable environment to play competitive pool.
Whilst the majority will compete to enjoy playing, be sporting and adhere to the rules, there will always be a small minority of haters who want to cause trouble. I have absolutely no time for these people and if they don't like the way I run UIC Swiss – or what I stand for – then I invite them to stay away. Simply put, we do not need the trouble-makers and dissenting losers who plague us from time to time.
I have been the Head Admin for quite a few seasons now and I am merely carrying on the good work that Roy initially put into this competition to make it enjoyable and successful. There is a lot of time-consuming organisation on a weekly basis and any decent player will appreciate the effort that goes in so that you can all enjoy your pool.
As I have said there is a small minority who cannot appreciate this. They include the whingers and the moaners and the cheats. My message to them is quite clear – go and play somewhere else.
Yes, you could have another Head Admin and different staff in UIC Swiss but I guarantee that nobody could uphold the virtues and integrity of this competition better than I can. I will carry on being honest and sporting and I would never, ever cheat – this is why Roy originally passed the Head Admin role to me.
Those who oppose me -- jog on!
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DECISIONS of UIC Swiss Staff for Proposals made for Season 22. The voting has been ratified by Admin on Friday 1st September 2017
Participating: Ben (HTD), Boo (HTD), Bryan (Admin), Sandi (Admin) and Shelle (Admin). Vote conducted by Nigel (Head Admin).
1. Proposal from ELE (bl_elektra1301w)
Ele proposed to ban playing IDs that cannot type in the lobby.
Ele's explanation: "You tell me the reason why ppl do that, making an ID they can't talk instead of using IDs they can talk. Would you go to every table saying GL if it would not be your best buddy? If there are 10 ppl who can't talk, would you go to every table? Same with changing ID's – sometimes you don't know vs who you play."
Vote: For 1, Against 4 – DEFEATED
2. Proposal from OMKAR (ds_KraZy_KiLLa)
Omkar proposed to change the 3pm EST tourney to 1 hour earlier, but having the tourneys 5 hours apart. Therefore, the 3pm EST tourney starts at 2pm EST, the 7pm EST tourney stays at 7pm EST and the 11pm EST tourney starts at 12am EST (one hour later).
Omkar's explanation: "The current timings are 12:30am IST (3pm EST), 4:30am IST (7pm EST) and 8:30am IST (11pm EST). (IST = Indian Standard Timings). The 8-hour slot that we have between 3pm EST to 11pm EST is sleeping time for Indians. If UIC Swiss is a global competition, we must care for everyone and find timings that suit for players from any continent. So basically I would prefer the 3pm EST to be 1 HOUR EARLIER, and all tourneys 5 HOURS APART instead of 4. Also I don't know when the clocks change – its a headache to play 1:30am IST when it shifts one hour further in winter or something. So instead of 3pm-7pm-11pm EST, I propose 2pm-7pm-12am EST, by increasing the time span in between tourneys to 5 hours so it's convenient for all."
Vote: For 1, Against 4 – DEFEATED
3. Proposal from OMKAR (ds_KraZy_KiLLa)
As an alternative, Omkar proposed to bring ALL tourney times one hour forward, but keeping the tourneys 4 hours apart (as they are now). Therefore, the 3pm EST tourney starts at 2pm EST, the 7pm EST tourney starts at 6pm and the 11pm EST tourney starts at 11pm.
Omkar's explanation: The current timings are 12:30am IST (3pm EST), 4:30am IST (7pm EST) and 8:30am IST (11pm EST). (IST = Indian Standard Timings). Starting at 2pm EST makes the Indian time 11.30am which is more acceptable than starting at 12.30am! These times would probably suit the Europeans better too. This alternative proposal keeps the tourneys FOUR HOURS apart, and not 5. So instead of 3pm-7pm-11pm EST, I propose 2pm-6pm-10pm EST, by increasing the time span in between tourneys to 5 hours so it's convenient for all."
Vote: For 1, Against 4 – DEFEATED
4. Proposal from NIGEL (ss_ENDK)
Nigel proposed that a member of UIC Swiss must have played at least ONE pool game on his or her league's standings to make them eligible. Failure to have done so will make him or her ineligible to represent his or her league, and any scores will be moved to NON-LEAGUE in the Team and Individual competitions.
Nigel's explanation: "A player representing a league should play or have played in that league. It is not important for a league to be active as such, but a player should, at the very minimum, be named on the standings of that league (quite a few were not last season). I think it is morally wrong for a player to represent a league without even playing any tourney or 'league' games for that league. So the minimum eligibility to represent a league in UIC Swiss is for any player to play ONE game on the ladder of the league he or she is representing. This would encourage leagues to play tourneys or 'leagues' to get their players eligible. If a player is unable to play a game, then he or she will be changed to Non-League in UIC Swiss. This could have been set at 5 games, 10 games or 20 games (as it used to be once upon a time in UIC Swiss). Basically, it is important to have PLAYED for the league you represent."
Vote: For 5, Against 0 – CARRIED
Note: Nigel conducted the voting and did not participate.
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MINUTES of the UIC Swiss Admin Meeting: Thursday 5th May 2016
In attendance: Nigel (ss_en_dk), Roy (ds_judge1), Shelle (ss_shelle4461). Unable to attend: Bryan (ds_Mr.Pool.Champ) and Heather (ds_spoiled.princess).
1. Head Admin’s Report – Season 17
Nigel made his report in brief. You may find a full copy by clicking on the ADMIN REPORTS page.
2. Appointment of the new Staff Members
Heather (ds_spoiled.princess) was appointed onto the Admin team. Ben (php_BenThereDoneThat) and Stewart (ss_sstewart) had been invited to join staff as TDs.
3. Results of proposals for Season 18
The following proposals were confirmed:
Proposal 1. Heather (tricksr4rabbits) proposed to reintroduce the Australian Tourney at 11pm EST. This would increase the tourney count from 24 to 36.
Vote: For 7, Against 0 – CARRIED
Proposal 2. Nigel (en_dk) proposed that, should Proposal 1 be carried, the times of the UK and US tourneys be adjusted to 3pm EST and 7pm EST respectively (currently 3pm EST and 8pm EST), so that there is a standard gap of 4 hours between each tourney.
Vote: For 7, Against 0 – CARRIED
Proposal 3. Nigel (en_dk) proposed that, should Proposal 1 be carried, the maximum number of players permitted to jump for each league should revert back to 5 per tourney.
Vote: For 6, Against 1 – CARRIED
Proposal 4. Chevy (chevy.babe_10) proposed that any player going into the 4th round on 3-0 has to cam the last 2 games.
Vote: For 2, Against 5 – DEFEATED
Proposal 5. Nigel (en_dk) proposed that, should Proposal 4 be carried, tapes should be retained by the players on 3-0 to be requested by Admins only who will view them after the tourney. Any adjustment to the scores can be made retrospectively. No player should be permitted to view any tapes.
WITHDRAWN
Proposal 6. Heather (tricksr4rabbits) proposed that, should Proposal 4 be defeated, camming be brought in for all players in all rounds. Only TWO tapes can be requested by a player out of the FIVE rounds played. Requests must be made to Admins only who will view the tapes after the tourney. Any adjustment to the scores can be made retrospectively. No player should be permitted to view any tapes.
Vote: For 1, Against 6 – DEFEATED
Proposal 7. Roy (judge.0000) proposed to introduce timed tables of 30 seconds for all UIC Swiss games.
Vote: For 6, Against 1 – CARRIED
Proposal 8. Nigel (en_dk) proposed that, should Proposal 7 be carried, TDs must not host and play in the same tournament, unless it is required in an emergency as essential cover.
Vote: For 6, Against 1 – CARRIED
Proposal 9. Heather (tricksr4rabbits) proposed to scrap all coaching.
Vote: For 3, Against 3, Abstention 1 – See Item 4, Proposal 15
Proposal 10. Nigel (en_dk) proposed that the use of [Skype Screen Share – See Item 4, Proposal 16], Team Viewer or any other screen sharing device or application during a tournament is strictly prohibited. Any breach of this rule would make a player liable to be penalised under Rule 7.1(i) – (maximum box/kicked for cheating).
Vote: For 7, Against 0 – CARRIED
Proposal 11. Kev (8bs_McBalls) proposed to scrap Ball in Hand (BiH).
Vote: For 1, Against 6 – DEFEATED
Proposal 12. Dave (cbc_cueballcrusher) proposed that when a player needs a timer and asks either in PM or in the lobby, the timer should be self-established upon request by the time stamp indicated.
Vote: For 2, Against 5 – DEFEATED
4. Matters arising from Item 3
As a result of some of the proposals above, modifications were deemed necessary as follows:
Proposal 13. Due to Proposal 1 being carried, Roy (judge.0000) proposed to change the tournament names as follows:
UK Tourney – 3PM; US Tourney – 7PM; the new Tourney – 11PM
Explanation: Players refer to tourneys generally by using times. Renaming the tourneys as 3pm, 7pm and 11pm is self-explanatory and makes everything much clearer. So the terms UK and US are no longer needed.
CARRIED
Proposal 14. Due to Proposal 8 being carried, Nigel (en_dk) proposed to amend the rule to read: ‘1.11. Due to timed tables, a TD is recommended to refrain from hosting and playing in the same tournament, unless it is required in an emergency as essential cover.’
Explanation: There needs to be more flexibility for TDs – some might only be able to attend one tourney per week – rather than outlawing hosting and playing completely.
CARRIED
Proposal 15. Due to Proposal 9 being undecided, Roy (judge.0000) proposed to remove “and coaching are permitted” from Rule 3.5. The rule now reads: ‘3.5. Safety shots (snookers) and Ball In Hand are permitted at all times.’
Explanation: The answer to the question ‘is coaching allowed?’ is ‘please yourself!’
CARRIED
Proposal 16. Due to Proposal 10 being carried, Shelle (shelle4461) proposed to delete the wording ‘Skype Screen Share’.
Explanation: Unlike Team Viewer, Skype does not offer the capacity to access another person’s computer, so Skype Screen Share does not apply.
CARRIED
5. Any Other Business
Ray (nl_Poker.Ray) asked if his new league, Lucky Draw Poker Parlor, could take part in UIC Swiss for Season 18. Since Rule 1.1 reads: 'Any league may participate in UIC Swiss, whether playing in Gamedesire or any other gaming site, as long as a player is correctly signed up to Gamedesire in accordance with Rule 2.2', it was decided to allow his league to participate. The league's prefix would be ld_.
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MINUTES of the UIC Swiss Admin Meeting: Monday 28th September 2015
In attendance: Nigel (SS), Shelle (SS), Roy (DS)
1. Head Admin Report:
Nigel made his report in brief. You may find a full copy by clicking on the ADMIN REPORTS page.
2. New staff members:
Nigel reported that Bryan had been appointed as the new Admin to replace Angela who stepped down at the end of Season 15. Heather and Sammy had applied to be TDs and have been given tourneys in Season 16.
3. Proposals:
i) Nigel suggested adding a new contrived team to be filled with non-league players not connected to, or not wishing to play for, any league. After a discussion, it was decided to have a new team called 'NL Allstars' whose players may continue to compete under nl_ as before. NL will appear in the standings and those points previously wasted in the Team competition will now be used to give NL a score. Hopefully this will provide more competition.
ii) Proposal from Robert, HA of PHP: He suggested that the US tourney should be moved back another hour or two. He suggested that the 7pm EST tourney should move to 9pm. In Robert's words: "Trust me, you will get all of the US and Canadian players!" It was agreed to move the tourney times to 3pm (UK tourney) and 8pm (US tourney) for Season 16.
4. Any Other Business:
i) Preparation for Season 16 was hindered somewhat by somebody managing to access the UIC Swiss server and deleting all files there. Roy (ds_judge.0000) managed to bring back the UIC Swiss website to its former appearance.
ii) CBC will be returning to compete in Season 16 so any ban on players using cbc_ has been lifted.
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MINUTES of the UIC Swiss Admin Meeting: Sunday 7th June 2015
In attendance: Nigel (SS), Shelle (SS), Roy (DS) and Angela (DS)
1. Head Admin Report:
Nigel made his report in brief. You may find a full copy by clicking on the ADMIN REPORTS page.
2. Appointing new Staff Members:
Thanks go to Shelle and Angela for all their excellent hosting, and to new host Bryan as well who did a good job too. Congratulations to Angela on becoming the newest UIC Swiss Admin. New Staff: Bryan and Joe (who replaced Brandon) brought on as TDs.
3. Proposals:
i) Proposal by Shelle: Remove 5 players max and make unlimited. Vote: Rejected.
ii) Proposal by Angela: Change maximum entries per tournament to 6 per league. Vote: Carried.
iii) Proposal by Dave: Allow team captain to have league initials in Caps. Vote: Rejected. Deemed unnecessary.
iv) Proposal by Dave: Eliminate the use of nl_ (non-league). Vote: Rejected. Allowing players to use nl_ has been a good policy which has benefitted participation.
There was no actual rule covering non-league in Season 14 so the following will added for Season 15: 2.8. A player may sign up as a non-league player using nl_ as the prefix, example 'nl_superduper'. Any non-league player's score will only count towards his or her individual standings and will have no effect on the team standings. 2.9. A player joining a tournament using a league prefix, who cannot play due to the league's allocation being full, may change his or her screen-name to non-league (nl_) in order to participate in that particular tournament. Such a change need not necessarily be posted in the UIC Swiss shoutbox. The player may change back to his or her league after the tournament at his or her discretion but no shoutbox post is required. Any points gained whilst playing under nl_ will be allocated to the player's individual score, as long as this rule is adhered to. A player may change to nl_ from an existing league prefix at any time during the season.
v) Proposal by Steve: Make competition all-cam. Vote: Rejected. Roy said that if a player is suspected of cheating, we should stick to asking him/her to use Camtasia. This was agreed.
vi) Proposal by Lee: Alteration of pairings by hosting TD should be permitted. Vote: Rejected. Messes up 'True Swiss' format, TD could manipulate pairings in favor of one team over another, takes away the true competition of playing someone with same record.
The following new Rule will added for Season 15: TDs may not, under any circumstances, alter any pairings in a tournament. This is strictly forbidden irrespective of the number of repeated pairings in any round. A TD who alters any pairing will be removed and be dealt with under 7.1. Category A(i).
4. Any Other Business:
i) Proposed by Angela: Limit league ID change to one per player per season. Vote: Carried.
The following new Rule will added for Season 15: A player may not change his or her screen name more than once each season. Should a player use an unauthorised ID, he or she will forfeit any points gained whilst using that ID. UIC Swiss Admin may change any unauthorised ID back to the previous one if deemed necessary.
ii) Proposed by Roy: Mitchell resurrected CBC to which Dave (former HA) objected. Veto use of CBC prefix (cbc_) in UIC Swiss. The cbc_ prefix belongs to Dave and not Mitchell who created CBC to mock Dave's old league. Vote: Carried. The use of cbc_ banned.