The store championship at PSC this month (just south of Louisville) might run into a hard cap on the amount of participants this year.

The owner, Rick, says he can probably accommodate up to 32 players. He has 16 mats, but the space is relatively small and that's about the max he can handle (weather permitting, he might be able to get "creative").

I bring this up only because as the game grows in popularity, alongside the increased awareness of the prizes offered, there seem to be larger turnouts to the events this season.

What I'd like to highlight as a part of this is that people are also travelling greater distances.

So as a public service announcement, I simply thought you should know that if you're not local to this store, be aware he's putting in place a "first-come-first-served" policy should that prove necessary. But, you can always register ahead of time as well.

http://petshopcomics.com/

What you should also know:

• The cost is $15 and it starts at 2pm, but the store will close at 9pm. So, not sure how many matches that will translate in to...the past two events I played there ended due to time (because 9pm was approaching).
• As indicated above, the venue is on the smaller size, so probably standing room only.

I'm not trying to start a "sky is falling" post; I simply thought it would suck for those who were on the road a few hours, only to discover they couldn't play upon arriving. (The week before, at an event further south of the one to be held at Pet Shop, 21 people showed up, many travelling an hour to attend, and it wasn't even a Store Championship. I don't think PSC getting near its limits is an unreasonable extrapolation.)

Yours Truly,

Chicken Little

I too was at Hard Knox for that tournament, I was one that traveled 1 hour with my 12 year old son who loves playing. I keep trying to get Silver Creek Game Shop to hold some tournaments, but they keep telling me, "there just isn't enough interest in our area." So all of you Louisville and Southern Indiana players, knock down their doors and tell them we want somewhere to play!

If you have 32 players and they are starting at 2, then there is no way to get 5 full rounds in in that time period unless they are only 1 hour long.

I also drove to the Hard Knox tourney from New Albany. Events in the area have been getting larger and larger for the past year. Silver Creek could land a large crowd if they tried. Maybe we should just start showing up to play.

For the less competitively inclined, we are running one or two heats of the "Hunger Games" format at the Louisville Game Shop (925 Baxter Ave) on the same day. We're not trying to steal the thunder from the Store Championship; just offering something for those on the 'casual' end of the spectrum. And I suppose for anyone who cant get a seat at the SC.

Link to Hunger Games rules.

Oh cool, Silver Creek is actually closer to me than Hard Knox.

bump...for tomorrow (although it seems at this point the weather will be the biggest determining factor for tomorrow's attendance...wintery mix with everyone having a different prediction)

Be careful today everyone roads are slick Drive Casual.