Can USCF rating floors be obtained by winning certain tournaments?

I've always thought people could only have USCF rating floors 200 points below their peak post-tournament rating (rounded down to the hundreds place.) However, I have looked up some players who did really well at some big open tournament that got rating floors that corresponded to the section they won. For example, four players tied for first in the U1800 section of one big open tournament and they all got a rating floor of 1800 despite the fact that none of them ever had a rating of 2000 or higher. I also saw the rating stats of another player who won the U2000 section of a tournament and got a rating floor of 2000, although he didn't have the NM title. I've played in a few big opens before, but I've never won one so I never got a higher rating floor from a tournament. Also, when I looked at the information for these tournaments, information about rating floors was not included so I never knew this was possible.

How does this work? Does it also work for people who won a class section (for example, someone (I'm not referring to a real person, this information is just for the purpose of showing an example) who won the U1600 section of a tournament but had a post-tournament rating of 1585 and had never been over 1600 before) but ended up with a post-tournament rating that would still allow them to play in that same section? Does it work for people who won the U2200 section and had never previously made master or didn't have the Original Life Master title (or, didn't break 2200 after winning the tournament?) Also, which tournaments give out rating floors?

Yes, a player can get a floor by winning a certain amount of money in a tourney. I would have to look up the actual regulation for the amount to be sure.

I actually thought that the rating floors were created based on staying at a rating for a certain amount of time, I don't really know tho.

I won over $1000 in the U2200 section of a big tournament once - between $700 and $800 (I forgot the exact number) for tying for 5th place and $300 for being the highest scoring female in the section. Would that have been enough to get a floor (I highly doubt it because I don't think this procedure works for U2200 sections and I never had a rating over 2200...)?

P.S. I know this sounds like a really silly question and I'm also not trying to brag, but I just want to know if floors are possible in U2200 sections... sorry it's probably a really silly question.

I'm still trying to find the amount but it isn't in the rulebook and I'm not finding it on their site. I think it used to be $2,000.  The statement in the rules is that "the minimum post-tournament rating of players winning such a prize shall be the lowest rating which would not be eligible for the section or class prize the player won."

So, if a player won enough in an Under-2200 section, they would get a post-tourney rating of 2200. In the examples given, that would become the rating floor. This would also be true for any Under section.

@MPS500, the rating floors are based on having a post-event non-provisional rating of at least 1400. A 2200 rating floor us normally acheived by maintaining a 2200 rating for 300+ games, though it looks like getting 2400 would also provide that in the 6th edition rules.

It's definitely by money. Too lazy to look it up, but I don't think $1000 is close to the actual amount ($2000 sounds more likely).

The amounts are listed in the 5th edition rulebook but they took them out of the 6th, probably to future proof, in case they needed to change them, and they may have, since the examples have amounts over $2,000; so it is likely the lowest amount is $2,000 since the 6th edition rulebook took effect.

Here is what they used to be:

U2200, or below: $1,000

U-2300: $1,500

U-2400: $2,000

That rulebook also says a floor "may" be imposed for the U2300/U2400 options. The examples again show that the floor is placed or all other under categories.

So basically you would instantly become a master if you won enough in a U2200 section?? I've never seen or heard of any examples of that - are there?

I'm sure they also look at the players in an event to make sure no one tries to game the system.

list? I couldn't find one - I didn't even know CCA has a list of players who made master from winning U2200 sections.

There are definitely people that can't play in U2200 sections anymore. Ctrl-F "2200" on this list: http://www.chesstour.com/mr.htm

Practically though, it's extremely likely that someone who wins a major U2200 section will have made master at some point already.

When did USCF start allowing the " accumulation " of prizes ?  They used to require a player eligible for more than one prize to choose which one they wanted and werent allowed more than one prize , has this changed ? 

Right but not all those people made master from that tournament. However, they earned CCA minimum ratings of 2200, which means they can't play in U2200 sections anymore. For example, Aydin Turgut's post-event rating was 2198 (and he made master very soon after that), but his CCA minimum rating was 2200 which means he can't play in that section anymore. I didn't know that there were separate CCA ratings until I read that list. Also, some people seem to have been omitted from that list (e.g. Bryan Weisz, who received a floor of 2000 after winning the U2000 section of the Philadelphia Open.)

Apparently so... I never knew USCF used to have a rule that doesn't allow players to win more than one prize.

They changed it so that if you win at least $4000 in a section u2100 or below then the floor may be imposed. It used to be $2000.

http://www.uschess.org/docs/gov/reports/BlitzRulesChanges.pdf

So, I just read this and saw that touch move is a rule in blitz as well. I always thought in blitz, the move isn't completed until you hit the clock and the touch move rule doesn't exist in blitz...

Even the 5th edition book said the blitz rules were covered by normal Sudden Death rules and touch move is enforced. Some events use clock move so that if you haven't hit the clock you can change your move.

Do you have a link for that? It is supposed to be on their site and I didn't find it in a quick search.

That is still the rule. With the exception of special prizes. So, a player can only receive one cash place prize but they could receive some other special prize, like best senior, best scholastic, etc.

However, a player is supposed to get the most prize money they qualify for, while still only receiving one prize. So, if a player scores enough points to qualify for U2200 and some other place overall and there were other players tied for those places but not qualified for the U2200, then the U2200 prize could be combined with the place prize and split if that give the only player that qualified for the U2200 prize more money that way.

However, it is also possible the TD didn't know the rule about multiple prizes.

my other prize was "best female", which falls under the category of a special prize.