# Episode 142: Abby Terhune & Jazmyn Hanks

**Source:** Pinball Profile  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2018-07-21  
**Duration:** 22m 18s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.pinballprofile.com/episode-142-abby-terhune-jazmyn-hanks/

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## Analysis

Jeff Teolis interviews Abby Terhune and Jasmine Hanks from Charlotte, North Carolina about their rapid ascent in competitive pinball after discovering the game only one to two years ago. Both players have become instrumental in launching and growing the Bells and Chimes women's league chapter in Charlotte at Abari bar, while Abby has already won the women's division at the prestigious Pinvasion tournament. The conversation covers their entry into competitive pinball, the importance of women-focused tournaments in reducing intimidation, tournament strategy, and their broader involvement in the pinball community.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Jasmine Hanks discovered pinball in February (approximately one year before this interview) by walking into a bar and playing casually before learning about tournaments. — _Jasmine states: 'I just found this last February. I walked into a bar and just started playing for fun.'_
- [HIGH] Abby Terhune started playing pinball sporadically about two years ago when a bar opened in Charlotte, then became serious about competitive play about a year ago after being dragged to a tournament by her now-fiancé. — _Abby explains: 'I moved to Charlotte two years ago in April... a little over a year ago, my now fiance dragged me to a tournament.'_
- [HIGH] The Bells and Chimes Charlotte chapter was started by Jasmine and Abby last fall and is already in their third season. — _Jeff states: 'you've started a Bells and Chimes chapter in Charlotte. And that was only just last fall, but now you're already into season three.'_
- [HIGH] Kevin Shanis (operator at Pinvasion) encouraged Jasmine to start a women's league in Charlotte. — _Jasmine says: 'one day he actually came to me and he's like, you know what, you should start a women's league.'_
- [HIGH] Abby won the women's division at Pinvasion (described as 'massive'), beating competitive players including Virginia Hendrix, Sunshine Bond, Elisa Parks, Deborah Tallman, and Elizabeth Cromwell in what was only her second women's tournament ever. — _Jeff asks 'how'd you do there, Abby?' and she responds 'I won the women's division,' then Jeff confirms the quality of competition: 'Virginia Hendrix was there. Sunshine Bond... Elisa Parks... Deborah Tallman... Elizabeth Cromwell.'_
- [HIGH] Abby is getting married on November 3rd and is combining her honeymoon with pinball tournament travel, including Flippers on the coast and Free Play Florida in Orlando. — _Abby states: 'I'm getting married November 3rd... we're going to do flippers at the tail end of that. And then also we were going to be in Orlando for part of that for Disney.'_
- [HIGH] Jasmine works with horror film productions and will be doing a cameo in a film called 'Shakespeare Storm' directed by Lloyd Kaufman (Toxic Avenger, Troma Films) in fall in New York. — _Jasmine says: 'I will be filming this fall for Truma Films with Lloyd Kaufman... He's working on a new movie. It's called Shakespeare Storm... I'll be helping out with that. I'll be doing a cameo in his film this fall in New York.'_
- [HIGH] Jasmine has three Friday the 13th tattoos, including a bowling ball with two finger slots and the number 13, obtained during Friday the 13th flash tattoo events that occur 2-3 times per year. — _Jasmine explains: 'I only have three Friday the 13th tattoos. I have a bowling ball with only two slots for two fingers on it and it has 13 next to it. I have the traditional black hat for Friday the 13th as well.'_
- [HIGH] Bells and Chimes Charlotte has received media coverage including news stories and radio mentions that have helped attract new women players to the league. — _Jasmine states: 'it has given us quite a few new women. We have a couple of stories right now... we have had people walk into a bar and be like, Hey, so I saw you guys on the news... I heard you guys on the radio.'_
- [HIGH] Bells and Chimes originally started in Oakland, California founded by Eka Schneider, with subsequent chapters started in other cities like Phoenix (Tracy Lindberg) and now Charlotte. — _Jasmine says: 'Tracy has been on this program as well. So has Eka for that matter. And I remember when Tracy played her first ever pinball... started in Oakland, California originally... Eka Schneider did that.'_

### Notable Quotes

> "I just found this last February. I walked into a bar and just started playing for fun. It was a casual thing."
> — **Jasmine Hanks**, ~3:30-4:00
> _Establishes how recently Jasmine discovered pinball and how quickly she went from casual player to league organizer._

> "You used the word intimidation. Now, was that a general setting of a mixed group of people? Because one of the reasons I've always heard about Bells and Chimes is it takes away some of that intimidation because it's a much more friendly atmosphere, almost a teaching platform in a way, too, for some people that were new to pinball."
> — **Jeff Teolis**, ~9:00-9:30
> _Articulates the core mission and value proposition of Bells and Chimes as reducing barriers to entry for women in competitive pinball._

> "I won the women's division."
> — **Abby Terhune**, ~11:00
> _Remarkable achievement in her second women's tournament ever, against nationally competitive players._

> "By the time I got to the finals on that, I was just, I've made it to the final four. So, you know, if I'm fourth, whatever, and I just had no nerves on that. It was very unusual for me."
> — **Abby Terhune**, ~11:30-12:00
> _Demonstrates mental game strategy and the role of managing tournament anxiety._

> "I'm not sure if we'll ever be like exactly where we want to be. Like we always want, we want as many women who feel comfortable to be a part of our tribe. Like that'll never change. The more, the better always."
> — **Jasmine Hanks**, ~24:00-24:30
> _Shows Jasmine's philosophy of inclusive growth for Bells and Chimes Charlotte beyond just membership numbers._

> "I get a little worse because you're trying too hard to do that versus keeping the ball alive. But once you keep practicing, it gets better."
> — **Jasmine Hanks**, ~28:00-28:30
> _Articulates the learning curve paradox in pinball: initial success through ball control, then struggle when learning rules, then improvement through practice._

> "I kind of tend to go through a process of playing for a while starting to read the rules starting to look more at the screen and see the different things and figure out what I'm doing, and then I eventually go watch a video because I need to understand what I'm watching when I see the video."
> — **Abby Terhune**, ~29:30-30:00
> _Describes effective learning methodology for new games: hands-on play first, then rules, then video instruction._

> "I didn't need your unsolicited advice. I was just trying to learn the game and learn the shots. Like, just go away, buddy."
> — **Abby Terhune**, ~33:00-33:30
> _Illustrates the community norm discussed by Jeff and Elizabeth Cromwell: solicit advice rather than imposing it on other players._

> "There are not any currently. I would really love to do one partially just because I want more women's points because I'd really like it to make it to the Women's World Championships."
> — **Abby Terhune**, ~23:00-23:30
> _Identifies a gap in regional women's tournament offerings and expresses ambition to reach the Women's World Championships._

> "I'll be doing a cameo in his film this fall in New York. That would help some of the kids who hate having to read Shakespeare in school Having a little twist on it would be great"
> — **Jasmine Hanks / Jeff Teolis**, ~18:30-19:00
> _Reveals Jasmine's involvement in film production outside of pinball, showing her diverse interests in entertainment and horror culture._

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Jasmine Hanks | person | Competitive pinball player from Charlotte, NC. Discovered pinball in February (one year prior to interview), co-founder of Bells and Chimes Charlotte chapter. Also works with horror film productions and conventions. |
| Abby Terhune | person | Competitive pinball player from Charlotte, NC. Started playing ~2 years ago, began competitive play ~1 year ago. Won women's division at Pinvasion in her second women's tournament. Lawyer by profession. Getting married November 3rd. Planning to compete in Whipped tournament at Replay FX. |
| Bells and Chimes Charlotte | organization | Women-focused pinball league chapter started by Jasmine Hanks and Abby Terhune in fall (one year prior to interview). Now in third season. Held at Abari bar in Charlotte. Received media coverage including news stories and radio mentions. |
| Bells and Chimes | organization | Global community organization for women and women-identifying pinball players. Founded by Eka Schneider in Oakland, California. Tracy Lindberg started Phoenix chapter and serves as go-to resource for starting new chapters in other cities. |
| Kevin Shanis | person | Operator/organizer at Pinvasion. Encouraged Jasmine Hanks to start Bells and Chimes Charlotte chapter. Trained her on match play, IFPA rules, and tournament organization. |
| Abari | organization | Game bar in Charlotte, NC that hosts Bells and Chimes Charlotte chapter. Owned by Zach Pulliam. Features horror-themed pinball collection including Scared Stiff, Monster Bash, Medieval Madness, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Adam's Family. Regularly cycles and maintains machines. |
| Pinvasion | event | Large pinball tournament where Abby Terhune won the women's division in her second women's tournament, defeating competitive players including Virginia Hendrix, Sunshine Bond, Elisa Parks, Deborah Tallman, and Elizabeth Cromwell. |
| Eka Schneider | person | Founder of Bells and Chimes women's pinball league in Oakland, California. Has appeared on Pinball Profile podcast. |
| Tracy Lindberg | person | Started Bells and Chimes chapter in Phoenix. Serves as go-to resource for other women starting Bells and Chimes chapters in different cities. Has appeared on Pinball Profile podcast. Played her first ever pinball in a tournament setting. |
| Virginia Hendrix | person | Competitive pinball player who competed at Pinvasion women's division tournament. |
| Sunshine Bond | person | Competitive pinball player described as having played 'everywhere.' Competed at Pinvasion women's division. |
| Elisa Parks | person | Competitive pinball player who recently won a women's tournament in New York City. Competed at Pinvasion women's division. |
| Deborah Tallman | person | Competitive pinball player, winner of OBX Classics. Competed at Pinvasion women's division. |
| Elizabeth Cromwell | person | Competitive pinball player who competed at Pinvasion women's division. Has discussed on Pinball Profile podcast the topic of solicited vs. unsolicited advice in competitive play. |
| Whipped | event | Large pinball tournament at Replay FX where Abby Terhune plans to compete. Prize includes a brand-new pinball machine for the winner. |
| Flippers on the Coast | event | Pinball tournament in coastal North Carolina. Abby Terhune and Jasmine Hanks plan to attend. Generates North Carolina rankings that attract players. |
| Free Play Florida | event | Pinball tournament in Orlando, Florida scheduled for the same weekend as Flippers on the Coast. Abby Terhune planning to attend as part of her honeymoon itinerary. |
| Lloyd Kaufman | person | Troma Films director known for Toxic Avenger, Nukem High, Poltergeist. Directing new film 'Shakespeare Storm' based on Shakespeare's The Tempest in which Jasmine Hanks is doing a cameo. |
| Zach Pulliam | person | Owner of Abari bar in Charlotte, NC. Maintains pinball machines and regularly cycles games on and off the floor. |
| Jack Tadman | person | Canadian pinball player from Toronto area. Jeff Teolis mentions being good friends with him and uses him as a comparison point for lawyer pinball players. |
| Teresa Nessel | person | Pinball player from New England area who had a pinball-themed wedding, with photos of her playing pinball in her wedding dress. Jeff suggests Abby contact her for ideas. |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Women in pinball and Bells and Chimes league growth, Rapid progression in competitive pinball from novice to tournament winner, Overcoming intimidation and building inclusive competitive environments
- **Secondary:** Tournament strategy and time management at large multi-event tournaments, Learning methodologies for new pinball machines and rules, Community norms: solicited vs. unsolicited advice in casual and competitive play
- **Mentioned:** Pinball-themed lifestyle and life integration (honeymoon travel, wedding arcade setup), Jasmine's involvement in horror entertainment and film production

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — The episode is highly positive throughout. Both players express enthusiasm for pinball and the Bells and Chimes community. Jeff is genuinely encouraging and celebrates their achievements. The only slightly negative moment is Abby's frustration with unsolicited advice from another player, but this is framed as a legitimate community concern. Overall tone is celebratory of the growth of women in pinball and the positive impact of inclusive league structures.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Bells and Chimes model of women-focused tournaments demonstrating effectiveness in reducing intimidation barriers for new female players and creating a more welcoming competitive environment than mixed tournaments. (confidence: high) — Jeff emphasizes: 'one of the reasons I've always heard about Bells and Chimes is it takes away some of that intimidation because it's a much more friendly atmosphere, almost a teaching platform.' Abby notes that while she wasn't intimidated initially, 'we finally got one of our members to go to one of the main tournaments and she said oh yeah this is actually really fun. It just kind of a little hurdle there.'
- **[event_signal]** Pinvasion emerging as a major regional tournament attracting competitive women players and serving as a high-profile achievement benchmark (Abby's women's division win recognized as significant accomplishment). (confidence: high) — Described as 'massive' event by Abby with strong competitive field including Virginia Hendrix, Sunshine Bond, Elisa Parks, Deborah Tallman, Elizabeth Cromwell. Abby's second-ever women's tournament victory is treated as major achievement by Jeff.
- **[community_signal]** Emerging trend of pinball-themed life events (weddings, honeymoons) in competitive pinball community, indicating deeper lifestyle integration beyond just tournament play. (confidence: medium) — Abby combining honeymoon with tournament travel (Free Play Florida, Flippers on the Coast). Abari hosting machines at her wedding. Jeff mentions Teresa Nessel had wedding-themed pinball experience and references Heliana from Colorado with similar wedding setup.
- **[community_signal]** Tournament structure challenges at large events (long waits, multiple concurrent events) creating strategic decisions for players about which competitions to prioritize, particularly impacting newer players' ability to compete effectively. (confidence: medium) — Abby describes tournament experience: 'I was having issues at the main event just because I was waiting so long for my turn. And then I was like nervous about blowing it... I'm just going to focus on these now because I feel like I'm just wasting money at this point on the other machines.'
- **[community_signal]** Charlotte, North Carolina emerging as a significant hub for women's pinball activity with strong tournament infrastructure and an active operator (Kevin Shanis at Pinvasion) supporting league development. (confidence: high) — Jasmine's rapid progression from discovering pinball in February to starting and growing a Bells and Chimes chapter within a year, with Kevin Shanis actively supporting the initiative and Abby winning a major regional tournament (Pinvasion women's division).
- **[community_signal]** Mentorship and knowledge-sharing infrastructure in pinball community: experienced players and operators (Kevin Shanis, Tracy Lindberg, Eka Schneider) actively supporting new league formation and player development. (confidence: high) — Kevin Shanis encouraged Jasmine to start the league, 'showed me how to use match play, and let me know how IFPA worked.' Tracy Lindberg serves as 'go-to gal as far as other women getting Bells and Chimes chapters started in different states and cities.'
- **[community_signal]** Bells and Chimes Charlotte chapter achieving rapid growth and media coverage (news stories and radio mentions) attracting new women players to the league within one year of founding. (confidence: high) — Jasmine states: 'it has given us quite a few new women. We have a couple of stories right now... we have had people walk into a bar and be like, Hey, so I saw you guys on the news... I heard you guys on the radio.'
- **[competitive_signal]** Regional tournament landscape in Southeast expanding with multiple women's events (Pinvasion, Flippers on the Coast) and opportunities for qualifying points toward national championships. (confidence: medium) — Abby mentions wanting to compete in more women's tournaments to accumulate points toward Women's World Championships. Jeff mentions scores coming in from Flippers generating North Carolina rankings.
- **[community_signal]** Evidence of successful women-focused tournament growth creating opportunities for competitive advancement: in the last 2-3 months, three new in-box machines have been given away as women's tournament prizes, indicating significant prize support. (confidence: medium) — Jeff states: 'In the last two, three months, there have been three new in-box machines given away. So there's certainly the excitement there.'

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## Transcript

 it's time now for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teels you can find our group on facebook we're also on twitter at pinball profile emails pinball profile at gmail.com and please subscribe on either itunes stitcher or google play and check out our new website under construction pinball profile.com we head to north carolina and we talked to two people that have really caught the pinball craze. Do you remember when you first caught that pinball craze? For me, it was only four short years ago. Well, it's been only about a year for these two, but they've already come leaps and bounds and they join us right now. Jasmine Hanks and Abby Terhune. How are you? I'm doing good. Doing great. The reason I wanted to talk to you is Kevin Shanus, who was looking after things at Pinvasion said, you know, you might want to talk to these two people because they've started a Bells and Chimes chapter in Charlotte. And that was only just last fall, but now you're already into season three and you've got a little bit of success under your belt. But how did Bells and Chimes start for you? And I mean, really, you're just getting into pinball and now you're thinking, okay, let's start a league. How did this all start for you, Jasmine? Well, it was already on my mind, but because I was so new into the game of playing, I was nervous to bring it to the owner of a bar and to Kevin because he runs most of the pinball competitions there and the leagues there. And so one day he actually came to me and he's like, you know what, you should start a women's league. And I'm like, I'm so glad you said that because I've been thinking the same thing. And then the ball just got rolling from there. He gave me the tips and tricks that I needed, showed me how to use match play, and let me know how IFPA worked, and gave me a little more in-depth training on points and whatnot. And I was like, all right, I guess we're going to do this. And we just started it. So this is new as far as the competitive scene for you, Jasmine. But have you been playing pinball for a long time, or did you just really find this just not too long ago? I just found this last February. I walked into a bar and just started playing for fun. It was a casual thing. We noticed papers on the on the pins that were like, hey, you know, join us for our selfie tournaments and high scores on these machines. You enter them and maybe you can be in the monthly tournament. And I was like, OK, let's give this a shot. And here we are. It's amazing that you've done this because I'll use myself as an example. When I first started playing leagues, I certainly didn't know rules. I wouldn't have known how to use match play, although it's very, very easy to use. I wouldn't have known how to run a tournament, what's the best format. I would have known, like yourself, it'd be great to get people together to play in a league that may not exist. I was fortunate enough that the leagues did exist. But how did you find out about Bells and Chimes to bring all these women together? Once Kevin let me know that there was a chapter of women leagues out there, he let me know that Bells and Chimes existed. So I reached out to Tracy Lindberg, who started it in Phoenix. She started her chapter. She's kind of the go-to gal as far as other women getting Bells and Chimes chapters started in different states and cities. So I reached out to her and she's like, she's the woman to go to as far as Bells and Chimes goes, even though it started in Oakland, California originally, which is where I was born. Yeah, Eka Schneider did that. And Tracy has been on this program as well. So has Eka for that matter. And I remember when Tracy played her first ever pinball. We were in the same round together. And you could just see the excitement of, wow, this is a great tournament. I'm really into pinball. And it was exciting to see. So good person for you to reach out and talk to for sure in Tracy. Now, Abby, you've been playing not that long either. It's only been a little over a year, correct? Right. I actually started just playing, I guess I moved to Charlotte two years ago in April, and we started, like, a bar he had just opened and started coming sporadically, and, you know, pinball's interesting, I'm terrible at this, and then started coming more and more, and it just was really fun. You can see the numbers improving. You can see, you know, oh, I wouldn't have been able to do that before, Now I caught the ball, you know, little improvements here and there. And then finally, a little over a year ago, my now fiance dragged me to a tournament and said, you know, we're going. I was not interested. I was really intimidated by the thought of all these people. I didn't know they're competing against them. And it was really fun, and I just got hooked. I'm like, this is a really fun. Everyone's super nice. It's actually really fun to compete at this. So, yeah. You used the word intimidation. Now, was that a general setting of a mixed group of people? Because one of the reasons I've always heard about Bells and Chimes is it takes away some of that intimidation because it's a much more friendly atmosphere, almost a teaching platform in a way, too, for some people that were new to pinball. And as I look at the first ever Bells and Chimes Charlotte League, those were all new people to women's tournaments. So did you find it less intimidating once you got into this? For me, no, because I'd already been doing the main tournaments. For me, it was just kind of scary. You know, I'm shy. All these people that I didn't know. And again, competing is a different thing than just, you know, me even meeting people. I know that is a big factor for a lot of the ladies who were kind of intimidated by the thought of the main tournament. They like I not good enough for this But then once they you know we finally got one of our members to go to one of the main tournaments and she said oh yeah this is actually really fun It just kind of a little hurdle there. But the Women's League is an easier intro for women who might be a little bit uncomfortable and just not used to the environment. And I'm sure no one knows how this works either until you go do it. And then it starts to make sense. So you get a little taste of it in bells and Chimes. Yeah, let's put things into perspective. Abby's first women's only event was the Bells and Chimes Charlotte Edition. Her second ever women's tournament happened to be at the massive Pinvasion. And how'd you do there, Abby? I won the women's division. Well done. Thank you. It was a really fantastic experience. We've never been to a tournament that big. And the machines we'd never seen before. And it was a really, really great experience. And the competition was really tough. So I was very honored to come out on that. Yeah, no kidding. Virginia Hendrix was there. Sunshine Bond, who's played everywhere. Elisa Parks, who just won in New York City. Deborah Tallman, who was the OBX Classics winner. Elizabeth Cromwell, I see, was there. You knocked all of these women off and said, you know what? I may be new, but I'm taking that Pinvasion crown. And very well done. That's a good group that you beat there. Yeah, you know, sometimes I get really nervous in tournaments, and I have trouble controlling it the way that I can in practice. But by the time I got to the finals on that, I was just, I've made it to the final four. So, you know, if I'm fourth, whatever, and I just had no nerves on that. It was very unusual for me. So it was, I was just so happy to be there to begin with at that level that all the nerves kind of went away, as weird as that is. Jasmine, it sounds like Abby's too modest. What do you think? Is Abby the real deal or what? We are so excited for her. I'm pretty sure I screamed at her 500 times at Southern Friday. I'm like, oh, my God, I can't believe you won. And then even after we got back to Charlotte, I'm like, oh, my God, I can't believe you won. And you're doing the right thing, Abby. You're parlaying that into Whipped, the big event at Replay FX, and that's a big one. You win that one, you know you get a brand-new machine. Yes. We're very excited about that, even though we have no place to put it right now. But we have some plans to maybe build a detached garage with a game room. So there would be room in the future. You're making it sound like that's an excuse. Look, if I don't win, it's because I didn't have room. Exactly, right? You just want an extra room. Yeah, exactly. Well, I know you're going to have fun there. You've both talked about a bar, a game bar. Tell us about that. I know they've got quite a few games there. That's where you hold your Bells and Chimes Charlotte chapter. I see that they've got Scared Stiff and Monster Bash, Medieval Madness, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Adam's Family. A little bit of a horror theme there. Oh, yeah. What are some of your favorites there? Well, Creature is actually one of my favorites for some reason. I just love that game. And Medieval I love. But they also do a good job of cycling out the game. So there's a lot of change. Zach Pulliam, who owns the bar, is always trying to get new things in, move things on and off the floor. There's kind of a core group of games that are always there, but he does a fantastic job maintaining the games and mixing it up, so there's some variety. Jasmine, I mentioned the horror theme there that we're seeing at Abari, but that's part of the reason you're not going to be going to Pinberg this year, but next year's a whole other story, because a little thing that people might not know about you, you're kind of busy with horror cons and some of the big events there. Okay, I've never been to a horror con. tell me what I'm missing by not going to a horror con. You've never been to a single horror convention? All right. I'm a scaredy cat. I'm, like, surprised. I know. You go. Not only do you get to meet, like, some of your favorite actors. I mean, maybe not your favorite. You said you're a scaredy cat, so you might not watch as many horror films. But, yeah, I go to the horror conventions, and I work for different booths. I have friends in different genres of the horror cons. Like I have people who actually work on films and the film events and people who just make, you know, very scary artwork and scary teddy bears with flesh falling off of them or people who work on things for people in movies. These people don't have a daycare on the side, do they? I hope not. Yeah, me too. I'm starting to get nightmares. Right. No, but you know what? You're close to Georgia there, and I know a lot of filming is done in Atlanta. I think it wasn't Walking Dead film there for quite some time, and I believe, I thought, I could be wrong, Stranger Things, all these kind of unique pop culture horror things. Have you ever gotten on set? Have you ever done anything with that? I have not gotten on set for any of those yet. I am going to be filming this fall for Truma Films with Lloyd Kaufman. He did Toxic Avenger, Nukem High movies, Poltergeist, if you've ever heard of that. But he's working on a new movie. It's called Shakespeare Storm, and it's based off of Shakespeare's The Tempest. It's like a parody version of one of Shakespeare's writings. I'll be helping out with that. I'll be doing a cameo in his film this fall in New York. That would help some of the kids who hate having to read Shakespeare in school Having a little twist on it would be great I always loved reading Shakespeare in school though So did I Now Friday the 13th just happened last week Did you do anything special for that I did not this time around, but usually I would go and get a Friday the 13th tattoo at a local parlor shop. Hold on a second. Like a permanent tattoo? Oh, yeah. Permanent tattoos. There are two or three Friday the 13th's a year. I didn't know people got tattoos on Friday the 13th. Yeah, they do. Usually all of the tattoo parlor shops, like pretty much every single state does one page of flash art and then they discount the flash art for that day and take walk-ins like all day. So right now I have a bowling ball with only two slots for two fingers on it and it has 13 next to it. I have the traditional black hat for Friday the 13th as well. Just random little, I only have three Friday the 13th tattoos. See, I thought I was being cool. I wear a Jason Voorhees Camp Crystal Lake shirt. I'm like, oh, look at how hip I am, right, Mr. Cool? Not a tattoo. That works too. I know, but it gets a little old after a few each year. But anyway, so you're both in North Carolina, and I want to know, Abby, I don't know if you've been yet, or are you planning to go to Flippers on the coast? Yes. Last year we thought about going, and we're just, you know, it's a six-hour drive. We weren't sure about it. And then we saw the scores come in in the North Carolina rankings after flippers. We realized we can't miss that again. But I'm getting married November 3rd, and my fiancé and I were going to take a trip anyways for our honeymoon. And so we're going to do flippers at the tail end of that. And then also we were going to be in Orlando for part of that for Disney. Yeah, and I was looking at the calendar and said, oh, wow, Free Play Florida is also in Orlando that weekend right before flippers. so it's going to be a little bit of a pinball honeymoon. That's great. You need to get in touch with Teresa Nessel from the New Robert Englunds area. She did something like that too. She'll be at the Whipped event. There's pictures of her in her wedding dress playing pinball. I don't know how you can top that, but talk to Teresa about that. Oh, well, I'm not really doing a full wedding dress, but we are actually going to have some machines from a bar at our wedding. A little arcade set up, just a few games. I think Heliana out of Colorado did something similar to that, too. So I like this. This is good. The pinball sort of themed wedding or something around it with the two trips, OBX and Freeplay Florida. Yep. Well done. Good idea. And I also understand you're a lawyer. Now, I'm good friends with Jack Tadman, who's a Canadian player in the Toronto area. And I can tell you already, Abby, you're my favorite lawyer in pinball. I'll just say that right away. Thanks. Jasmine, I saw the news piece, very, very well done, about bells and chimes in Charlotte. Has that helped build the player base yet? Are you at where you want to be? I'm not sure if we'll ever be like exactly where we want to be. Like we always want, we want as many women who feel comfortable to be a part of our tribe. Like that'll never change. The more, the better always. Right now, yes, it has given us quite a few new women. We have a couple of stories right now. I know you saw the first story that we did. We recently just had a new one published as of like a day or two ago, but it has helped a lot. Like we have had people walk into a bar and be like, Hey, so I saw you guys on the news and heard about bells and chimes. I actually have one lady. I heard you guys on the radio and I'm like, what? That's cool. But yeah, it's, it's definitely brought some new women to us and we're pretty grateful for that. As far as other tournaments, what big tournaments do you plan on going into that are maybe mixed or certainly other women's events? I know that Abby, you're going into the whipped tournament in Pittsburgh, but what are some of the other ones? Are there other women's tournaments around the area that you can hop onto or maybe even organize? There are not any currently. I would really love to do one partially just because I want more women's points because I'd really like it to make it to the Women's World Championships. But yeah, but currently there aren't really women's events around that I'm aware of within maybe in Atlanta. In North Carolina. Yeah, I would love that. I'm not sure quite how to go about organizing that other than I mentioned it to Kevin Shanis, and he was interested. But, yeah, I would absolutely love that. When you go to tournaments, and I don't know if you've seen this, Jasmine, or not, but, Abby, you maybe saw this at Pinvasion. When you go to tournaments and there's a main event and there's a classics event and there's a women's event, Do you have to find time to split between the three or do you just focus on maybe one or two of the events? I went in not planning to do the classics, planning to do the main event and planning to do the women's. And I was having issues at the main event just because I was waiting so long for my turn. And then I was like nervous about blowing it. And, you know, it would have to wait another 45 minutes to play. And that would just cause me to get nervous and blow it. So that's something I've got to learn. I've got to get better at with these big tournaments. At a certain point, I started realizing, you know, I had a couple decent scores on some of the women's games. I'm like, I'm just going to focus on these now because I feel like I'm just wasting money at this point on the other machines. But I want to figure out how to allocate time a little more efficiently in the future. But it's really hard to do multiple events like that to try to fit in both, especially when you've got such a long wait for the other games and you can queue for both while you doing that So it does take away time from whichever one you know other one you want to do So it a bit of a challenge It is difficult too and also too with something like Convasion there was a large crowd there. So you've got much more people, and that's why the lineups were a little bit longer, too. So when there are more people, it's obviously harder to qualify for the playoffs. So even those of us that are maybe just doing mains and classics, sometimes I know in New York City, for example, People said, you know what, I don't know if I can do both. And there was also a women's event there too. I don't know if I can do both or even all three because you got to pick and choose. So I think everyone's kind of in that dilemma. But I guess the best thing I can suggest is I'm glad that it's not just mains and classics. There are women's events now. They're becoming huge. In the last two, three months, there have been three new in-box machines given away. So there's certainly the excitement there. And like you say, you used the word intimidation too. Maybe it's a little less intimidating for newer players. I think as people are playing, they're finding, okay, hopefully it's not as intimidating. It doesn't matter, male or female. It doesn't matter, young or old. Anybody can win on any given day, correct? Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's no advantage to being male, female, young, old, other than experience and skill and learning to get your head in the right place. Because so much of this is mental. And so, you know, I'm trying to learn a lot from other people. And, you know, you see the skill level that some people have and you just kind of got to keep going and keep working at it and try to get there. Jasmine, what's the best advice you've had for learning games quickly? What has been your success? Oh, goodness. I'm the farthest person from learning games quickly. It definitely takes me time to warm up to anything. I guess the best advice that I can give is listen to other people's advice for sure. YouTube is perfect. So you do watch videos. Okay. Yes, definitely. I definitely advise reading the directions on each machine. I started off for a good while not doing that and thinking that I'll just keep the ball alive. But after reading the directions on each machine, and I feel like it gets harder before it gets better. So it's like you start off playing well because you're just keeping the ball alive. And then once you know what you're supposed to be doing, it gets a little bit harder for you and you do a little bit worse. because you actually know what you're going for and you focus so much on trying to hit certain shots and make certain moves in a certain order that it gets a little worse because you're trying too hard to do that versus keeping the ball alive. But once you keep practicing, it gets better. Abby, what's it like for you when you come up to a game you've never played before? Are you looking at the little cue card? Are you watching other people? I mean, I'm always excited to get on a new machine, right, to see something I've never played before. and beyond that I always have to play it a little bit and then start looking at the cue card and it always helps me to talk to other people and also have someone there with me while I'm playing helping spot things that are going on because especially on a new game that you don't know your head stays down too much it's hard to look up and see what's going on in the screen and what modes you've started so I kind of tend to go through a process of playing for a while starting to read the rules starting to look more at the screen and see the different things and figure out what I'm doing, and then I eventually go watch a video because I need to understand what I'm watching when I see the video. Otherwise, it's not very helpful. And we talk to a lot of people, a lot of other players at Abari, and get a lot of tips on things and, you know, something weird happened. What is this mode or what happened here? And go ask someone who's maybe studied up a little bit more. So it's kind of a good way to bounce things off each other and learn. You mentioned something that I think is a key point, and Elizabeth Cromwell has talked about it before on this program and elsewhere. It's okay to ask for advice, but to give somebody advice that didn't ask for it, sometimes that advice isn't taken too well. So feel free to ask for advice, but if you're wanting to offer somebody, make sure they're willing to accept it because some people just want to play and flip the flippers, and we have to respect that as well too. Absolutely. I don't want someone to come up unsolicited and start giving me tips. And I remember some guy was telling me about something on the Star Trek game when I was playing it somewhere. And I'm not very familiar with the game, you know, the newer Star Trek. And I'm like, you know, I didn't need your unsolicited advice. I was just trying to learn the game and learn the shots. Like, just go away, buddy. I wasn't interested, you know. I don't like. So I completely agree with that. It's one thing to have it be kind of a, you know, friendly banter, me asking. It's another thing. I don't want unsolicited advice. Fair enough. Well, I wish you the best of luck at Pinberg at the WIP Tournament, Abby, and also you and Jasmine at Bells and Chimes in Charlotte, North Carolina at Abari. Great to talk to you. It's great to get to know you through this interview. I appreciate what you're doing. I have a feeling the league is going to grow and grow and grow, and I love your enthusiasm. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Jeff. All the best, and hopefully we'll talk soon, okay? All right. Definitely. Likewise. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at pinballprofile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. And please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. Check out our new under-construction website, pinballprofile.com. I'm Jeff Teels.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 1feca73e-4d9c-4acf-aea3-2cc096619724*