At its meeting in Reno, the USBF Board considered the issues of players entered in multiple USBCs. Their decisions, for 2023, are:

  • There will be online qualifying stages for face-to-face Knockouts in all of the USBCs, with 16 teams qualifying for face-to face KO play in the Open, and 8 teams qualifying for face-to face KO play in the Mixed, Seniors, and Women’s, unless fewer than 8 teams enter an event, in which case 4 teams will qualify for the face-to-face KO stages.
  • Players may enter any USBC for which they are eligible.
  • A team that has qualified for the KO stage of an event is eligible to compete face-to-face so long as it meets these requirements:
       a. If it played 4-handed in the qualifying stage, at least 3 of the players who played in the qualifying stage play in the KO; if it played 5 or 6 handed in the qualifying stage, at least 4 of the players who met the play requirement in the qualifying stage play in the KO; AND
       b. For the Mixed USBC, at least 2 men and 2 women who met the play requirement in the qualifying stage play in the KO stage
  • A player on a team that qualifies for the World Championship in any event may not play in a subsequent USBC for a conflicting World Championship event.
  • If a team loses one or two players because the player(s) qualified for the World Championship in an earlier USBC or because the player(s) have died, and the team is eligible for face-to-face KO play, it may replace the lost player(s) with any player(s) it chooses, including player(s) who played in the qualifying stage on a team or teams that did not qualify.
  • If a team loses one or two player(s) for any other reason, it may replace the player(s) only with USBF Board approval.
  • Except for replacements as above, all players in the KO stage must have met the play requirements in the qualifying stage. No additional players may be added to a qualified team for the KO stages.