[FSPA] playoff qualifiers

[Joe Schober]

28 players just turns out to be tricky to divide.  There are basically three solutions:

1) A=7 / B=7 / C=7 / D=7, 3/7 qualify for playoffs (current solution)
2) A=7 / B=7 / C=7 / D=7, 4/7 qualify for playoffs
3) A=10 / B=9 / C=9, 5/div qualify for playoffs (53.6%, closer to 50% than the other two options, but we try to avoid 5 player playoffs for time reasons)

#1 and #2 are the same "distance" from 50% (0.5 / 7 = 7.14%), just a question of whether we're more or less generous about who makes playoffs.  Financial considerations have some sway here (playoff participants get free games, prize picks, etc).

Other than having 28 be in a lonely little row by itself, this isn't a big deal: the computer deals with the details, and the breakouts and qualifying line are shown to players in the results long before playoffs, so no one should be surprised by the situation.

Another potential solution would be to change 5-player playoffs to just be a single round of head-to-head games (no semis/finals)... this would fix the lengthiness, but IMHO it'd be a shame to lose the all-play games.

--Joe