Won without a category win
2 of 4
meats called to the stage
BBQ+ won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 2 calls from 4 boards, best of them 3rd. Consistency beat fireworks.
- Chicken 13th
- Pork Ribs 3rd
- Pork 4th
- Brisket 13th
Tony Stone Low & Slow BBQ Competition 2018
May 19–20, 2018 · Hoofddorp, Netherlands · NETHERLANDS
BBQ+ won Grand Champion at the Tony Stone Low & Slow BBQ Competition on May 19, 2018 in Hoofddorp , 2314CG, scoring 681.1084 in a field of 60 teams. Westwoodfield BBQ (DK) took Reserve Grand Champion with 677.6456. Category winners: Chicken — PARKSTAD SMOKERS (176.0228); Pork Ribs — VIKING BBQ (177.1544); Pork — DE VLIEGENDE HOLLANDER BBQ-TEAM (178.2972); Brisket — 010 BRAAI (178.8572). This is the 6th of 6 editions of this contest on record; the 2017 edition was won by UNCLE TONY'S COCKNEY Q.
The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)
How the field scored
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
573.12
median 637.99
681.11 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 176.02
- Pork Ribs 177.15
- Pork 178.30
- Brisket 178.86
125.49
178.86
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2013 to 2018 — this edition picked out.
Entries
60
4 judged meats · 1 ancillary
Top score
681.1084
Winning margin
3.4628
GC over RC
Field average
639.12
573.12681.11
median 637.99 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Chicken
3.4172 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
665.0632
573.12681.11
10th place overall
Field spread
107.9884
winner to last place
Double threats
2
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 88%
beats 12% of 4714 Master Series wins in the data
Came back for more
38%
21 of 56 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Moderate
ρ = -0.38 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,525
avg power rating going in · stronger than 17% of contests
Storylines (4 found in this contest's numbers)
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 9 calls decided inside half a point
Pork places 6–7: BUNCH OF SWINES and PARKSTAD SMOKERS tied on 173.7144 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Brisket places 5–6: Fat Wally's Firehouse BBQ (CA) and VIKING BBQ tied on 168.5256 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 6–7: The Dutch chef (NL) edged BUNCH OF SWINES by 0.0344.
- Pork 6–7 · tie
- Brisket 5–6 · tie
- Pork Ribs 6–7 · 0.0344
- Pork 2–3 · 0.0344
Back to defend
3
past champions back in the field
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: LOWLAND SMOKERS (won 2013), BUNCH OF SWINES (won 2015), UNCLE TONY'S COCKNEY Q (won 2017).
- LOWLAND SMOKERS · 2013
- BUNCH OF SWINES · 2015
- UNCLE TONY'S COCKNEY Q · 2017
One of the big ones
60
teams on the grounds
Bigger than 92% of the 5,469 contests in the data
60 teams — bigger than 92% of the 5,469 contests in the data.
Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)
Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)
Score distribution
Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)
Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 2013 | Hoofddorp, Netherlands | Hoofddorp, Netherlands, | 32 | 647.4284 | LOWLAND SMOKERS | BUNCH OF SWINES |
| Jun 7, 2014 | Hoofddorp, NE | Hoofddorp, Ne | 43 | 685.1084 | The Smokey Bandits | Smokey Goodness (NL) |
| May 23, 2015 | Hoofddorp Netherlands | Hoofddorp Netherlands, | 68 | 688.0460 | BUNCH OF SWINES | iQ |
| May 14, 2016 | Hoofddorp Netherlands, NL | Hoofddorp Netherlands, NL | 65 | 686.2056 | FLAMING PIG BBQ (SE) | Rubmaster BBQ team |
| Jun 3, 2017 | Hoofddorp Netherlands | Hoofddorp Netherlands, 2314CG | 56 | 683.3940 | UNCLE TONY'S COCKNEY Q | LETZQ |
| May 19, 2018 ← this one | Hoofddorp | Hoofddorp , 2314CG | 60 | 681.1084 | BBQ+ | Westwoodfield BBQ (DK) |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 176.0228 | 172.6056 | 169.7600 |
| Pork Ribs | 177.1544 | 169.7144 | 166.2400 |
| Pork | 178.2972 | 174.2856 | 170.8456 |
| Brisket | 178.8572 | 168.5256 | 166.2400 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
60 entries · top 681.1084 · median 637.9890
Chicken
60 entries · top 176.0228 · median 162.8456
Pork Ribs
60 entries · top 177.1544 · median 159.4114
Pork
60 entries · top 178.2972 · median 162.2572
Brisket
60 entries · top 178.8572 · median 156.5772
Ancillary categories
Run by the organizers alongside the sanctioned contest. These are judged on their own terms and do not count toward the overall score, so they're kept out of the meat stats above.
Master Series — Dessert
32 entries · top 180 · median 170.8228 · 🔥 perfect 180