PBA Tour Playoffs

The PBA Tour Playoffs is an annual invitational event on the PBA Tour in North America that debuted in the 2019 season. The tournament is set up in a 16-player bracket-style format for 2021.^[1]

Tournament Structure[]

PBA Tour Playoffs participants are chosen and seeded based on points earned in qualifying to-date tournaments of the current season. (For 2019, this included 13 events, from the PBA Hall of Fame Classic through the USBC Masters; for 2020, this included 12 events due to the cancellation of the USBC Masters.) PBA Tour points are awarded on a tier system, as follows:

• Tier 3: PBA short format or limited field tournaments (2500 points for first, and descending thereafter)
• Tier 2: PBA standard tournaments with a fully open field (double the points of Tier 3 events)
• Tier 1: PBA major tournaments (triple the points of Tier 3 events)

The top eight players in points receive byes into the second round (round of 16). The #9 through #24 seeds compete in single-elimination matches (one standard ten-frame game each) to determine who advances to the second round.^[2]

For 2019, Round 2 and all subsequent rounds featured double-elimination matches, also known as the "race to two points". Any player winning both games in a match earns two points and advances to the next round. If the match is split one game each, the players bowl a 9th/10th frame roll-off to determine who wins the second point and the right to advance. If the 9th/10th frame roll-off results in a tie, a one-ball, sudden death roll-off is used until a winner is determined. For 2020, only the championship finals used the race to two points format. All other rounds were single-elimination matches.

The PBA Players Committee originally voted to make the Playoffs a non-title event, citing the low number of games bowled as the primary reason.^[3] However, on December 6, 2019, the PBA announced that the winner of the 2019 PBA Playoffs would retroactively be awarded a PBA Tour title, and that the winner of the 2020 PBA Playoffs and subsequent events will be credited with a PBA title.^[4] As of 2020, winners also receive a WWE championship belt, as part of a cross-promotion with WWE wrestling, which is also broadcast on Fox Sports (current home of the PBA).^[5]

Tournament history[]

Past winners[]

2019 event[]

The inaugural PBA Playoffs took place April 8–10 and June 1–2, 2019 at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine.^[1] The PBA called it the "spotlight event" for its first year of television coverage on Fox Sports.^[6] The tournament had a total prize fund of $276,000 with a $100,000 first place prize.^[7] The first three “elimination” rounds were held April 8–10, with broadcasts of these events held on eight consecutive Monday nights (April 8 – May 27) on FS1. The final four then competed on live broadcasts held June 1 & 2 on Fox.^[8] Ninth-seeded Kris Prather won the event, sweeping the two matches in the final round over Bill O'Neill.^[9]

2019 event bracket[]

2020 event[]

On June 2, 2019, PBA Commissioner Tom Clark announced that the 2020 PBA Tour Playoffs would take place April–May 2020 in four cities, as part of the partnership agreement with Bowlero Corporation (now the parent company of the PBA). However, due to the suspension of the 2020 PBA season in mid-March caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was rescheduled for October 10–12, 2020. All events were held in Centreville, Virginia with no fans in attendance. The opening round on October 10 (Round of 24, Group 1) was broadcast live, with subsequent rounds aired on a tape-delay basis between October 17 and November 8.^[11] The overall prize fund was $320,000 (a $44,000 increase over 2019), with a $100,000 winner's share. Second-seeded Bill O'Neill avenged his 2019 runner-up finish, sweeping Anthony Simonsen in the two final round games to take the title.^[12]

2020 event bracket[]

2021 event[]

The 2021 Kia PBA Playoffs featured a 16-player field rather than a 24-player field used in the previous two events due to fewer tournaments in the 2021 season (only 9 title events), and ran from Saturday, April 24 to Sunday, May 16. The 16 players below qualified and were seeded for the 2021 playoffs based on points earned in the five majors and the four additional 2021 WSOB tournaments. The tournament had a $288,000 prize fund with a $100,000 first prize. All 2021 PBA Playoffs matches were double-elimination ("race to two points") except for the final match, which used a "race to three points" format.^[13]

NOTE: Jason Belmonte qualified 14th but chose to return home to await the birth of his fourth child. Andrew Anderson, who was 17th in points, moved up to the #16 seed, while the original #15 and #16 seeds moved up one spot.

Round 1 (Round of 16)[]

All matches until the finals were a race-to-two points format. Competitors who won both games earned two points and advanced to the Quarterfinals. Any match resulting in a 1-1 tie was broken by a 9th/10th frame rolloff.

Winners (bold type) advance to the quarterfinals; losers earn $5,000.

Saturday, April 24th

(1) Kyle Troup 2 vs. (16) Andrew Anderson 1 FINAL

Game 1: Troup wins 234–233
Game 2: Anderson wins 225–212
Rolloff: Troup wins 58-26

(8) Anthony Simonsen 0 vs. (9) Thomas Larsen 2 FINAL

Game 1: Larsen wins 244–238
Game 2: Larsen wins 279–224

Sunday, April 25th

(4) François Lavoie 2 vs. (13) Dick Allen 1 FINAL

Game 1: Lavoie wins 266–185
Game 2: Allen wins 258–238
Rolloff: Lavoie wins 59–50

(5) Jakob Butturff 1 vs. (12) Bill O'Neill 2 FINAL

Game 1: Butturff wins 257–193
Game 2: O'Neill wins 227–222
Rolloff: O'Neill wins 49–39

Saturday, May 1st

(2) Chris Via 0 vs. (15) Cristian Azcona 2 FINAL

Game 1: Azcona wins 258–226
Game 2: Azcona wins 238–215

(7) Kristopher Prather 1 vs. (10) E. J. Tackett 2 FINAL

Game 1: Tackett wins 267–170
Game 2: Prather wins 205–188
Rolloff: Tackett wins 38–26

Sunday, May 2nd

(3) Tom Daugherty 2 vs. (14) Jason Sterner 1 FINAL

Game 1: Daugherty wins 245–204
Game 2: Sterner wins 225–213

Rolloff: Daugherty wins 39–39, 10–9

(6) Jesper Svensson 1 vs. (11) Sam Cooley 2 FINAL

Game 1: Svensson wins 268–248
Game 2: Cooley wins 223–223 (9–9, 10–9)

Rolloff: Cooley wins 35–16

Round 2 (Round of 8)[]

Quarterfinals

Winners (bold type) advance to the semifinals; losers earn $10,000.

Sunday, May 9th

(1) Kyle Troup 2 vs. (9) Thomas Larsen 0 FINAL

Game 1: Troup wins 260–204
Game 2: Troup wins 239–199

(4) François Lavoie 2 vs. (12) Bill O'Neill 1 FINAL

Game 1: O'Neill wins 190–182
Game 2: Lavoie wins 217–188
Rolloff: Lavoie wins 46–40

Monday, May 10th

(10) EJ Tackett 1 vs. (15) Cristian Azcona 2 FINAL

Game 1: Tackett wins 257–213
Game 2: Azcona wins 240–214
Rolloff: Azcona wins 49–47

(3) Tom Daugherty 1 vs. (11) Sam Cooley 2 FINAL

Game 1: Daugherty wins 226–209
Game 2: Cooley wins 236–218
Rolloff: Cooley wins 37–26

Round 3 (Final 4)[]

Semifinals

Winners (bold type) advance to the Finals; losers earn $24,000.

Saturday, May 15th

(1) Kyle Troup 2 vs. (4) François Lavoie 0 FINAL

Game 1: Troup wins 248–237
Game 2: Troup wins 259–224

(11) Sam Cooley 2 vs. (15) Cristian Azcona 0 FINAL

Game 1: Cooley wins 264–243
Game 2: Cooley wins 232–219

Round 4 (Finals)[]

Winner earns $100,000; runner-up earns $60,000.

Unlike the previous two Playoffs tournament finals, both of which featured a race-to-two format, this year's championship had a race-to-three format, with a maximum of four full games. Winning a game earned a player one point, with the first player to three points winning the title. Should the match be tied at two games apiece, a 9th/10th frame rolloff would award the third point and determine the winner.

Sunday, May 16th

(1) Kyle Troup 3 vs. (11) Sam Cooley 1 FINAL^[13]

Game 1: Troup wins 235–206
Game 2: Cooley wins 300–248*
Game 3: Troup wins 223–210
Game 4: Troup wins 221–209

• *Sam Cooley earned $70,000, as he also earned an additional $10,000 for a 300 game in the second match.

References[]