# Episode 341: District 82 Great Lakes Open recap

**Source:** Pinball Profile  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2022-04-17  
**Duration:** 23m 43s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.pinballprofile.com/episode-341-district-82-great-lakes-open-recap/

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## Analysis

Jeff Teolis attended District 82's Great Lakes Open tournament in Wisconsin, conducting interviews with 130 players from across North America and Australia. The event featured five tournaments over three days and highlighted District 82's emergence as a nationally significant pinball hub, with speakers praising its facility quality, tournament organization, and role in growing competitive pinball.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] District 82 attracted 130 players, their biggest tournament ever — _Eric Thorne directly states: 'We have 130 people here right now. It's amazing. Rarely do we get over 100, and just to push it to 130, it's really comfortable in here still.'_
- [HIGH] District 82's leagues now have almost 60 players — _Michael Weinberg states: 'our leagues now have almost 60 players, and so I've been playing competitively now for about a year and a half.'_
- [MEDIUM] Less than 40 of the 130 players were locals — _Travis Murray reports: 'somebody had told me, I think even Eric said something like, 40 of the players or less than 40 of the 130 or 135 were locals.'_
- [HIGH] Texas Pinball Festival Classics division had nearly 240 competitors with only 24 qualifying spots — _Jeff references Stephanie's achievement: 'That Classic, there were almost 240 people. Only 24 made it.'_
- [HIGH] Travis Murray started a new position handling marketing and content marketing with The Pinball Company — _Travis directly states: 'The gig will be I'll be handling marketing and content marketing with the pinball company.' with Dominic as his boss._

### Notable Quotes

> "We have 130 people here right now. It's amazing. Rarely do we get over 100, and just to push it to 130, it's really comfortable in here still."
> — **Eric Thorne**, ~3:30
> _Establishes record attendance and demonstrates successful scaling of District 82 operations_

> "It's a regional facility that's gone national to where it's kind of changed the game in terms of tournaments because a lot of people want to come and be able to play four or five different tournaments as opposed to one or two."
> — **Travis Murray**, ~48:00
> _Explains District 82's strategic competitive advantage through multi-tournament format_

> "As soon as you walk through the doors, you know you're in a pinball facility. That's the bottom line. You don't feel like you're in an arcade. You're in a pinball facility, which to me in 2022 is excellent."
> — **Travis Murray**, ~50:30
> _Emphasizes the importance of dedicated pinball-focused venue identity_

> "I would tell anybody out there, if you're really wanting to draw players from a regional or even a national level, if you have multiple tournaments, that will go a long ways, just up front."
> — **Travis Murray**, ~46:00
> _Provides actionable tournament strategy advice for other potential venues_

> "Stephanie, you've got the goods."
> — **Jeff Teolis**, ~26:30
> _Recognition of rising competitive player achievement_

> "This is the one that sets the bar, and you can't find too many places like this."
> — **Chris Hare**, ~15:00
> _Establishes District 82 as benchmark venue for competitive pinball_

> "When you first came in here, you saw it and you realized, this is a special place. And more people need to know about this."
> — **Travis Murray (quoting himself)**, ~37:00
> _Explains how word-of-mouth marketing grew District 82's national reputation_

> "It's probably a future home of major, major tournaments, but you've got to like it so far. Oh, it's a rip-off."
> — **Simon Peel / Jeff Teolis (exchange)**, ~10:00
> _International player recognizes venue's potential for major championship hosting_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| District 82 | organization | Pinball tournament venue and arcade in Wisconsin (near Green Bay/Stevens Point area); hosts multiple tournaments over weekends; operates dedicated pinball facility with 100+ machines |
| Eric Thorne | person | Head organizer/owner of District 82; runs tournament operations and facility management; manages 130-player Great Lakes Open |
| Travis Murray | person | Pinball player, content creator, recently relocated from Oklahoma to St. Louis; newly hired by The Pinball Company for marketing/content role; promotes District 82 growth through word-of-mouth |
| Simon Peel | person | Australian competitive pinball player attending District 82; travels internationally for tournaments; participates in Brisbane Masters and Australian pinball events |
| Michael Weinberg | person | 2021 IFPA Rookie of the Year; competitive player from Wisconsin; joined District 82 league through Rachel Risto's encouragement; league now has ~60 players |
| Bruce Nightingale | person | Host of Slam Tilt Podcast; prolific pinball collector (200-300 machines in lifetime); tournaments traveler; attending District 82 |
| Stephanie (Pinball Princess) | person | Competitive pinball player from Texas; qualified for both Classics and Maine divisions at Texas Pinball Festival; frequently places second to Zach at RPC events; now competing in Rochester area |
| Logan Smith | person | 11-year-old competitive pinball player from North Ogden, Utah; plays both league and home pinball; participates in Slap League |
| Tom Graff | person | Competitive pinball player from Wisconsin; streamer for Fox Cities Winter Bash tournament; co-host of Triple Drain podcast; plays well in RPC and District 82 events |
| Carlos (Laser Los) | person | Competitive pinball player from California; attending District 82 for 4th or 5th time; top-3 finishes at multiple tournaments; Twitch streamer; plans tournaments in Allentown, Kalamazoo, Delaware |
| Rachel Risto | person | Pinball player involved with District 82 leagues; recruits new competitive players; associated with Fox Cities pinball community |
| Jeff Teolis | person | Host of Pinball Profile podcast; attended District 82 Great Lakes Open; conducted interviews with tournament participants; established pinball media personality |
| Chris Hare | person | Competitive pinball player from Milwaukee; travels 2 hours regularly to District 82; participates in local Milwaukee tournaments; plays at RPC events |
| The Pinball Company | company | Pinball manufacturer/company; sponsors District 82 tournaments; recently hired Travis Murray for marketing/content role; Dominic Loiselle is associated with company leadership |
| Dominic Loiselle | person | Associated with The Pinball Company leadership; Travis Murray's new boss; visible at District 82 event |
| Great Lakes Open | event | 5-tournament series held at District 82 over Friday-Sunday; 130 players; drew international competitors; considered major success |
| Texas Pinball Festival | event | Major pinball tournament with Classics division attracting ~240 competitors; Maine division also held; Stephanie qualified for both divisions |
| Fox Cities Winter Bash | event | Tournament with streaming coverage; Tom Graff involved as streamer/commentator; generates significant viewer interest |
| Rochester Pinball Collective (RPC) | organization | Regional pinball venue hosting competitive events; frequented by Zach, Stephanie, Bruce, and other top players; mentioned alongside District 82 |
| Brisbane Masters | event | Australian pinball tournament held in July; draws international participants; Simon Peel participates |
| Slam Tilt Podcast | media | Pinball podcast hosted by Bruce Nightingale and Ron; covers tournament coverage and pinball discussion |
| Triple Drain Podcast | media | Pinball podcast hosted by Tom Graff; covers pinball discussion and analysis |
| Slap League | organization | Pinball league based in Salt Lake City/Utah area; includes young competitive players like Logan Smith |

### Topics

- **Primary:** District 82 tournament venue and facility operations, Multi-tournament event format as competitive draw strategy, International and cross-regional player travel and competition
- **Secondary:** Competitive pinball skill development and player mentorship, Tournament streaming and media coverage (Fox Cities, Triple Drain), Expansion of District 82 and replication model for other venues
- **Mentioned:** Young/junior pinball player participation and development

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.92) — Episode is overwhelmingly positive about District 82, the Great Lakes Open, and the pinball community. Interviews reflect enthusiasm, appreciation, and recognition of the venue's success. No significant criticism or negative commentary.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Travis Murray hired by The Pinball Company for marketing/content role, indicating company investment in content and community marketing strategy; suggests potential expansion of Pinball Company's media presence. (confidence: high) — Travis directly states: 'The gig will be I'll be handling marketing and content marketing with the pinball company' with Dominic Loiselle as supervisor; positioned in St. Louis.
- **[community_signal]** District 82 has grown competitive pinball league participation to ~60 players through active recruitment and retention (Michael Weinberg example of growth in ~1.5 years of participation). (confidence: high) — Michael Weinberg: 'our leagues now have almost 60 players' and credits Rachel Risto recruitment; awarded 2021 IFPA Rookie of the Year.
- **[sentiment_shift]** Strong word-of-mouth effect driving District 82 growth; Travis Murray credited with spreading awareness, leading to expanding attendance and establishment as 'special place' in pinball community. (confidence: high) — Travis: 'when I first came in here...this is a special place. And more people need to know about it. And so I tried to spread the word as much as I could. And more and more people started showing up.'
- **[community_signal]** District 82 positioning as potential future host for IFPA World Championship; demonstrates venue's credibility and competitive status among tournament organizers. (confidence: medium) — Jeff asks Eric: 'This would make a nice place for the IFBA World Championship. Is that something maybe down the line?' Eric responds 'Absolutely. We just got to tell Josh.' (Josh Sharp reference)
- **[competitive_signal]** Multiple venues (District 82, RPC, Texas Pinball Festival) adopting multi-tournament format over single-tournament model as strategy to attract regional/national-level players rather than local-only participation. (confidence: high) — Travis Murray: 'this is more or less, it's almost like it's the regional facility that's gone national to where it's kind of changed the game in terms of tournaments because a lot of people want to come and be able to play four or five different tournaments as opposed to one or two.'
- **[competitive_signal]** Delaware Pinball Collective explicitly attempting to replicate District 82 model with 'District 82.3' designation, indicating successful franchising/inspiration model for multi-tournament venues. (confidence: medium) — Carlos mentions: 'They're trying to do a District 82.3' referring to Delaware Pinball Collective tournament format.
- **[event_signal]** Texas Pinball Festival Classics division demonstrates massive competitive depth with ~240 competitors competing for 24 qualifying spots (10% qualification rate). (confidence: high) — Jeff references Stephanie's accomplishment: 'That Classic, there were almost 240 people. Only 24 made it.'
- **[event_signal]** District 82 Great Lakes Open successfully attracted 130 players (record attendance) across 5 tournaments over 3 days, establishing venue as major regional/national tournament hub. (confidence: high) — Eric Thorne states 'We have 130 people here right now. It's amazing. Rarely do we get over 100' and event drew international competitors including Simon Peel from Australia and players from Canada, UK, California, Ohio, Minnesota.
- **[market_signal]** Young/junior pinball players (11-year-old Logan Smith) competing at national-level tournaments suggests growing youth pipeline in competitive pinball, previously underrepresented demographic. (confidence: medium) — Logan Smith, 11 years old from Utah, competing at District 82; Jeff notes: 'I saw a couple of young kids here that are just extremely talented, extremely talented.'
- **[venue_signal]** District 82 expanding event portfolio (Friday night $25 unlimited play, Tuesday events, food truck, tent infrastructure) beyond core weekend tournaments to build recurring revenue and community engagement. (confidence: high) — Event features food truck between tournaments, tent outside, variety store and McDonald's nearby, multiple hotel options, accessible from Chicago/Green Bay airports, emphasis on Friday night $25 unlimited play option.
- **[venue_signal]** District 82 emphasizes moderns/classics separation, spacing, tight machine maintenance, and deliberate capacity management as differentiation strategy versus typical arcade venues. (confidence: high) — Travis: 'moderns and classics are split up. So you're guaranteed during the tournament you'll never have somebody playing right next to you' and Eric maintains 'runs a tight ship' with machines in 'perfect condition'

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## Transcript

 Sunday, Monday, happy days. Tuesday, Wednesday, happy days. Thursday, Friday, happy days. The weekend comes, my cycle hums, ready to race to you. It's time for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host, Jeff Teels. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com. All your past episodes, subscriptions and more. We've got a Facebook group. We're on Instagram and Twitter at pinballprofile. Email pinballprofile at gmail.com. I finally made it to District 82, just outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and boy was it ever incredible. So many players from all over, five really big Whopper-tunities, big tournaments. Done over three days, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, last weekend. And here's what some of the players had to say. He is the head farmer here at District 82. Yes, the Whoppers are flowing. Eric Thorne, how are you, buddy? Doing great, Jeff, doing great. It's good to be here. I've heard so much about it. You've got people from all over, and this is actually your biggest tournament you've ever run. It is. We have 130 people here right now. It's amazing. Rarely do we get over 100, and just to push it to 130, it's really comfortable in here still. And I'm just looking forward to all five of these tournaments. When you first started these Super Series and you looked at the people that were coming, you already had a great Wisconsin crowd and some of the people from Illinois would come up here, but you're seeing people from all over. Yeah, we actually got Simon Peels from Australia. We got yourself from Canada. It's just amazing how it's grown. And a lot of the people that came to the Super Series all came back, which really tells you they had a good time and they just want to play more pinball. The collection's great. The machines are in perfect condition. It's beautiful to see. I mean, even if you're not playing, just all the playfields and the back glasses, it's quite the space. Could you even grow bigger than this? there's so much here what's next for district a2 it's already perfect wow thanks i uh how do i answer this we'll try to grow you know i i really love it i i still feel we can get bigger but you know there's there's still a fine line as to i still want to deliver a pinball experience uh that is top notch and uh and i can do that for 100 people 130 people uh we'll keep an eye on on how big to get. But we're doing great so far, and it just keeps getting bigger and better each time. When you walk in, you see a big IFBA banner here, and a couple of the pros and I were talking. You know, this would make a nice place for the IFBA World Championship. Is that something maybe down the line? Absolutely. We just got to tell Josh. Hear that, Sharp? And he'd love it. Nice drive up. He'd probably be allowed to play for that weekend. Yeah, he actually came to the Winter 2X and had a good time, and so did Zach, and they did really well. We want people to listen to this podcast, so we won't talk about Josh. Eric, congratulations. I'm going to talk to some others. All right. Thanks, Jeff. People have come up to me here at District 82 and said, boy, you've come a long way from Canada. That's nothing. How about this guy? Simon Peel from Australia. How are you? G'day, Jeff. Pleasure to be here, mate. Absolute pleasure. It's good to see you, and you really came for this massive event, didn't you? well I guess I did but um after today's performance you know it leaves a lot to be desired but uh having a ball and as I said to you earlier you never get a place like this in Australia so many great games and the quality of players obviously is pretty solid well you've got Brisbane Masters which is going to be spectacular that'll be fun in July that's that's a big event and some of the North Americans come over for that but yeah District 82 is is special and they do it quite often. It's probably a future home of major, major tournaments, but you've got to like it so far. Oh, it's a rip-off. A couple of other blokes were going to come along, which would have been a good... It's always good to have a wingman when you travel. So I've come over here by myself, and I really, you know, wasn't so disappointing yet. And with this four... The great thing about this, five tournaments in the three days, so who knows what might happen. You never know. And you and I played in a tournament in Australia. I forget who won that. Let me cast my mind back. I think I beat you in the first round, actually. Oh, then you must have won. One for one, do you say that? Yeah, one for one, for sure. You know what, that's fine. It was fun. I've got to get back to Australia. I sent a picture of you and I to my good friend Marty Robbins and Ryan C. And I sent them the picture. And Ryan sent me a note and said, Hey, tell Simon thanks for not coming to my event. I actually won with him not being there. Well, there's a lot of great players here. And I think Ryan does pretty well down at Bayside. Kudos to you, Brian. Ryan, I didn't know you'd won that, so well done. He didn't win at his house. I'll just say that when I was there. I'll just leave it at that. Simon, safe travels. Good to see you, man. Yeah, great. Thanks for the welcome. Good on you. I'm here with Chris Hare. He's from Milwaukee, and we've had a few games together. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Well, I've met you before tonight. But yeah, earlier tonight, earlier tonight, yes. Yeah, yeah, for sure. But this is a great location, and you must just come here all the time. I do. I try to make it up at least every month or two for sure. It's an easy drive? It's an easy drive. Two hours, it's totally worth it. I mean, I would drive more than two hours for this venue. It's a great spot. So here's the thing. I said to you, I got a special Milwaukee shirt for Sunday. And you said, ooh, is it sports? It could be Laverne and Shirley. And I went, oh, you just named my favorite show of the 70s. I don't have a shots beer shirt. I would love one. But I said, you're close. And you said, oh, Happy Days. You got a Fonz thing. How did you guess that? Well, I mean, so, you know, Milwaukee is very easily stereotyped from outsiders. And so usually you go for like classic pop culture like Laverne and Shirley or Happy Days. Or you go for something like maybe a sports team like the Bucks or the Brewers Forget it The Bucks Are you kidding They might play my Raptors Not a chance Oh I still hurting from the playoff series a couple years ago You won it all for crying out loud. Well, last year, but a couple years ago. Take it easy. All right. Listen, it's been fun playing here. Do you get to other tournaments, or you don't really have to go anywhere? Just for Giddy, too. I prioritize here a lot. I travel more if I could, but... A million kids, right? Yeah, yeah. Or, you know, local tournaments, I do Milwaukee quite a bit. Yeah, sure. Good scene there? Yeah, it's a good scene. You know, it could be better, considering, like, this is such a good scene here. We should be doing a lot better in Milwaukee, to be honest. This is the one that sets the bar, and you can't find too many places like this. But it's nice to play you. Good luck to your Bucs, unless they play the Raps. But your Brewers look good. Well, I'm hoping good things for the Bucs and the Brewers, but we'll see how that goes. All right. Nice to talk to you, Chris. All right, you too. He is the 2021 Rookie of the Year in the IFBA, Michael Weinberg. How you doing, Michael? Hey, very good. How about you? Good to see you. Congratulations. I bet you didn't even know there was a Rookie of the Year award. I did. You told me that you were the creator of the award. Well, I bugged little Josh Sharpe and I said, you know, it'd be nice to honor some of these rookies. And here you are. You've got this big thing. Yeah, it was awesome. It was New Year's Day and my phone started blowing up. Everybody started messaging me saying congratulations. and I logged into Facebook and I saw the recognition, so that was greatly appreciated. Did you get some hardware? Yes, I did. I just received a really nice plaque, beautiful, put it up on the wall, but really appreciative of the IPA of District 82 that they got me into pinball. Rachel Risto, I was here for a Flipping Friday once and did pretty well, and she said, hey, you've got to join the league. and our leagues now have almost 60 players, and so I've been playing competitively now for about a year and a half. And doing very well, and of course, being a District 82, it's easy to get hooked. Rachel is wonderful. We see her on Fox Cities Pinball. What's your favorite thing about competition pinball? I just love the mental component, learning the different games. It's not like if you're a dart player, I always say, you're throwing the same darts at the same board. There are thousands of machines out there, so being well-versed in the machines. And then secondarily now, enhancing my flipper skills, if you will. So the drop catch, live catches, dead bounces, things like that. Being more patient. Patience is important. Accuracy is important. But again, the rules, knowledge. For a rookie of the year, you've done very well in such a short time, and it can only be bigger and better things from here to come. Congratulations. Great. Thank you so much. Well, this guy knows a thing or two about big collections. He's had over two, maybe 300 in his life. Bruce Nightingale from the Slam Tilt Podcast. How are you, Bruce? All righty, Jeff. How are you, sir? What do you think of this place? It's impressive. Very impressive. Over 100 games. I like it a lot. I'm doing like bonk, bonk. But, you know, hey, you know, it's a good time had by all. That's nice. Now, I can only assume, based on travel history I've heard on Slam Tilt over the years, that you have probably said to Eric Thorne, hey, you selling any of these? No, I'm not today. I know he actually has a couple up for sale. He really does. He actually messaged me. A lot of guys do. Like when Jim from the Sanctum was selling his games, he told me a week before, which was kind of cool. I do know you've got a road trip coming up, don't you? I do. I have three games coming up. And I actually just, I'm going to surprise you, I have one more coming up after that, going to Jim's. Where are you going? Oh, I'm going Atlanta, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Oh, we laugh, but we love, don't we, Stephanie? Guide is here, the pinball princess. How are you? Hello, how are you? I have to say, you are the pinball princess, but actually the pinball queen of Texas Pinball Festival. What a showing you had. Yeah, I was surprised that I ended up coming out as well as I did. I thought I was just playing all right and then looked at the standings and almost fell over realizing that I somehow managed to qualify both for Classics and Maine. I mean, I got kicked out pretty quick, but I made it. I did neither, so I'll take your shoes any day. That's impressive because limited entry. And that Classic, there were almost 240 people. Only 24 made it. Well done, Stephanie. Thank you. Yeah, she's kicking some butt lately. She really is. Well, I see at a lot of the RPC events, too, you know, that Zach certainly wins a few. But if you look who's second, it's good old Seth. Yeah, I've managed to take second to Zach, what, like three, four times in a row? Yep. Yep. So here's what I think, Bruce. You know, I hear Stephanie say, I can't believe I did this. At some point when you do as well as Stephanie does, when she starts saying, I can't believe it, you just have to say, Stephanie, you've got the goods. She's got the goods. I know she does. And actually, you've really kicked up your game since you've come to Rochester, which is nice. And we're very proud to have you up there. Probably because I'm busy playing against you and Zach all the freaking time. This is true. I'm sure Ron's around here somewhere, either voicing a Gene Simmons or a Stewie or something. But congrats on Slam Tilt Podcast. And say hi to Kat for me. I will. Thank you very much, sir, as always. Thanks, Steph. Thank you. I got to play with this young man here at District 82, Logan Smith. Hi, Logan. Hello. I want to know about your playing. It's in Utah, correct? Yep. Where? North Ogden. And is this a league? Do you play at home? What do you do? Both. I saw you play. It looks like you've been playing for a while, but you're a young guy. How old are you? 11. 11 years old. You were blowing up machines with your scores. There might have been a rage tilt on Mata Hari. We don't need to talk about that. I did it right after you, too. So what did you think of the games here? Definitely need to be tighter, but, yeah, fun. Need to be tighter You want it harder Yes Holy cow Most people like it easier No So you play your games tight Yeah unless it Iron Maiden Maiden's already tough enough. What about things like rubbers and posts? Yeah, I normally want to keep the posts on unless it's Stern Star Wars. Okay. What about Utah? I know there's the Slap League there. Are you a part of that? Yeah. Oh, good. I've got a nice slap pin, too. So, things going well in Salt Lake City? Yeah. Nice. Thanks for coming out here. I hope to see you again. I'm sure I will. You're a great player. Thank you. A little birdie told me that on final round, when I mentioned that District 82 was a whopper farm, somebody took offense to it, and that person is the dentist of Wisconsin. I don't think there's only one. Tom Graff. Hey, Tom. How are you? The burgers are flipping great around here. I saw your April Fool's joke. It was good. You know that's not a negative when you call this a Whopper Farm. It's the fact that this place is a dedicated pinball place that has a lot of tournaments. It is the envy of other places. Look at where people come from to get here, myself included. It's because there's so much going on. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, just looking at all the high-level talent here, is it's just amazing how many people came out here from around the globe to come here. I'm speechless. Well, you're normally speechless. I've heard your Triple Drain podcast. There's usually a yes, no answer or whatever. I get that. But good job on Fox Cities. You've had a lot of viewers. And one broadcaster I know might have started a hype train and pleaded for some bits and some followers. So you're welcome. Yes, thank you, Jeff. It was pretty good. And it's a race. I've been on there, I think, once, only just because I was sitting down playing on a machine beside it. It's such a grind, I needed a seat. But you've got a race of people. Just give me the bike, give me the bike. Yeah, people are fighting for getting in the booth. It's pretty humbling, actually. It's pretty cool. Not me. This leather couch I'm sitting on right now, my ass is imprinted in this thing. I don't know how I'm going to get out of here. It's been a pretty long weekend, 15 hours of pinball. It's a lot for anybody in one day. you should do it next weekend if you really want my honest opinion oh let's do it tom uh your son neil's done very well but you're doing just as well it's good to see you and all the great wisconsin players eric's done a great job thank you i appreciate that we're gonna keep it going here we we love doing it laser los in the house carlos you've been blowing it up this weekend i've been trying here and there you know ups ups and downs but as overall it's good weekend a top three finish at least in one of them yeah yeah uh didn't yeah that felt really good but uh didn't make it the finals of maine and got like 11th and 14th and on the ones on friday so it was pretty good you schooled me on tron i think you went c assimilation on ball one free all right there champ uh yeah i saw you do very very well and you actually have been here a few times this is my first time but what are you five times four or five now yeah i think four you have a bed out back Yeah, I got a little hammock on the roof. It'd be nice to be a little closer here because they've got so many great events. Yeah, and it's quite the trek getting out here. It's always like a multi-stop trip just to come out here. So where are we going to see you? Obviously a lot in Ohio. Yeah, you'll see me often on Twitch streaming. But in terms of tournaments, I've got a few plans in the next few months. Going up to Allentown, going to Kalamazoo. I'll be there. Nice. I'll see you there. Going to Delaware Pinball Open at the Delaware Pinball Collective. They're trying to do a District 82.3. Yeah. And then after that, I felt like they're coming back here in June for their triple flip. Busy man. We'll see if you drop the free bombs there. Hopefully. That's the plan. If I get you, you know I'm going to feed you. I hope. I hope. Carlos, good luck. There's no doodle bug here. No doodle bug. Not yet. So you might know him from Oklahoma. You might know him from the odd podcasts and the odd reveal streams here and there. But Oklahoma no more. I don't even know if he's going to go to Cactus Shacks. He's now in St. Louis. I'm talking about Travis Murray. Hey, Travis. Hey, Jeff. How are you doing there? What are you doing in St. Louis? I'm just doing some stuff. You know, I got a new job and wife has a new job as well. So, you know, we got some stuff going on. What's the gig? Come on, reveal. All right. The gig will be I'll be handling marketing and content marketing with the pinball company. Very nice. I saw Dominic here. He's there, too, isn't he? Yes. He's actually going to be my boss. So I got to kind of answer to him. I saw some kissing of the butt. Yeah. Well, it's happening. But, you know, the good news is. I didn't say it was Dominic. I just thought you were practicing. But the good news is since they sponsor the tournaments up here at District 82, that means I get, I guess, business trips to pinball. Can we count that? Go ahead. I don't do your taxes, but if it works for you, set me up as well. You've been here before. Got to love it. Yes. Yeah. No, one of the first times I came here was, I think it was November 2020. And when I first came in here, I saw it and I realized, I was like, this is a special place. And more people need to know about this. And so I tried to spread the word as much as I could. And more and more people started showing up. And now as a result, we have stuff like the Super Series and now the Great Lakes Pinball Open, which, of course, is just a tremendous facility. But more than anything, you have tremendous people here. You have great competition here as well. And I get to hang out with you now since you showing up here as well People come from all over We had Simon here from Australia Neil McCrae been here from the UK 100 pinball machines and a lot of people are coming in on things like Friday nights $25, unlimited play. It's a great deal. Yes, no, absolutely. And, I mean, the best part of it, too, they've got a food truck now in between tournaments, so that makes up for it. And then they've got a tent outside. And, I mean, besides the Carl Weathers, but you're probably used to that. You're Canadian, right? It's cold out there. Well, this is summer. Is this summer to you? 50? Yeah, it's pretty balmy outside, isn't it? I got the shorts. Yeah, but, I mean, there's a variety store just around the corner. There's a McDonald's. There's other places. So you've got stuff nearby. You're not out in the middle of nowhere, and there's a lot of hotels, too, which is important. Some people flew into Chicago, some right into Green Bay. So there are options. You've got people from Minnesota that make the easy drive, Ohio and things. So, yeah, it's just a matter of, okay, one of these big tournaments, when can I maximize my vacation time, my trips, my hotels? and there are a lot of opportunities. Yeah, and it's one of those things that we were talking about this before, and especially just last night we were talking about, that this is more or less, it's almost like it's the regional facility that's gone national to where it's kind of changed the game in terms of tournaments because a lot of people want to come and be able to play four or five different tournaments as opposed to one or two. So that in itself, that's what kind of makes it a special place. And also the fact that Eric takes care of all these games, he keeps, he runs a tight ship. And the little nuance I love is that moderns and classics are split up. So you're guaranteed during the tournament you'll never have somebody playing right next to you. So that little nuance I like as well. Lots of spacing as well? Yes, yes. It's just an exciting place to play. I think it's great for pinball to have a facility like this. No, it's good, and it's only going to grow, and it's probably going to maybe, hopefully, make some copycats too. It's a big requirement and commitment to put in this time, put in the money. But you've got a good fan base here. You've got a lot of great Wisconsin players. And, again, if you do a big enough tournament where you have more than one tournament, and tournament directors out there, if you want to attract people, more than one tournament is the key because if you run one tournament, it'll be great. It'll be fun. It's probably going to be locals, and that's it. Yeah. No, absolutely. I would tell anybody out there, if you're really wanting to draw players from a regional or even a national level, if you have multiple tournaments, that will go a long ways, just up front. But, of course, you want to run a tight ship, you want to run a great tournament, but, yeah, having multiple chances. And also, don't be afraid to charge for it either. I mean, because we expect to have to pay an entry fee. That's just part of it. And, yeah, we just all enjoy traveling. We enjoy seeing each other, and we enjoy just playing great pinball. So this is, to me, if people can take what they're doing here at District 82 and kind of just piggyback off of it or copy it just straight out, right? I mean, that'll go a long ways. I think a lot of players enjoy this type of venue and this type of atmosphere. Because as soon as you walk through the doors, you know you're in a pinball facility. That's the bottom line. You don't feel like you're in an arcade. You're in a pinball facility, which to me in 2022 is excellent. It is excellent. I will be back. I know maybe it's this year. This is the kind of place I want to come to a few times a year because it's fascinating. And hopefully there'll be more like it, but it does require a huge commitment. So to Eric Thorne, to Tom Graff, and everybody who puts their assistance in here, they had a good volunteer staff. Fun time had by all. Yeah, no, it's phenomenal what they've been able to do here and the support system they have. I mean, just as a matter of fact, just to give you an example, I think somebody had told me, I think even Eric said something like, 40 of the players or less than 40 of the 130 or 135 were locals. So there's still a lot of locals that aren't even showing up to here. So their community is just huge. Well, that's one of the things. When you run a big tournament like this, you're not going to get a lot of, well, I kind of like pinball. You're going to be, okay, I know I'm in it for 12, 15 hours a day for three days, and then you go back to your day job the next day, but you know you're in for a grind. It's going to be tiring, but you crave it, And you're bagged by the end of it. But, I mean, it's just not that common to see things like this. So we gravitate to these big events. Yes, no, absolutely. And something like this, I mean, as much as we want to talk about the tournament, the bottom line is this pushes pinball further, and it gets more people involved in pinball. Because I saw men, women, young kids here. I saw a couple of young kids here that are just extremely talented, extremely talented. So, I mean, a place like this, I think it's great. It's excellent for pinball. and I would encourage anybody out there to consider coming up this way and get your F5 fingers ready for whenever there's a tournament here because I know a bunch of people want to come here. I look forward to big things out this way. Travis, safe travels back to St. Louis. I'll be seeing you in the St. Louis area come June. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge. Yeah, no, we've got a place for you right underneath the Walking Dead. Arch? No, the Walking Dead pen. You can sleep in our basement. It's fine. You won't even notice. I'll just blend in with the side cab. Excellent. Okay, take care, buddy. All right, you too, Jeff. Thanks. The Great Lakes Open was a huge success, although everything they seem to do is very successful. Lots of events, events on Friday nights, events on Tuesday nights, big weekend tournaments, sometimes some super series. Check your IFPA calendar to see what's going on at District 82. It is well worth the trip. I know I'll be back. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com, all your past episodes and more. Check out our Facebook group. We're on Instagram and Twitter at pinballprofile. email pinballprofile at gmail.com. I'm Jeff Teels.

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