# Part 03 | 2018-19 IFPA NA Championships & 2019 Women's World Championships

**Source:** IE Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2020-05-21  
**Duration:** 54m 4s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO3n__Gwo9k

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## Analysis

IE Pinball provides live coverage of the 2018-19 IFPA North American Championships and 2019 Women's World Championships held at Flipper Steel Underground in Las Vegas. The broadcast features match play analysis on games including Iron Man, Game of Thrones (Premium Edition), and Tron, with commentary on player strategies, machine setup modifications, and tournament logistics. Hosts discuss game difficulty, rule exploits, and player skill assessment across both the main and women's brackets.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] The venue (Flipper Steel Underground) has significantly improved logistics from prior year, with better outdoor seating and a second-floor balcony overlooking the city — _Host commentary comparing current venue setup to previous year's experience at same location_
- [HIGH] Game of Thrones (Premium Edition) was deliberately set to casual mode (Stark only) because last year the machine had shooter lane switch chattering issues preventing some players from selecting their house — _Josh (referenced) explained the setup decision; hosts acknowledge this changes strategy but guarantees everyone gets the same path to victory_
- [HIGH] Iron Man is set to factory settings with no modifications, making it extremely difficult and requiring short plunge strategy — _Host commentary analyzing machine difficulty and gameplay patterns observed across multiple matches_
- [HIGH] Karen is referred to as 'the women's world champion from last year,' indicating she won the 2018 Women's World Championship — _Host introduction of Karen as a player in the 2019 tournament_
- [HIGH] Adam Barajas is the IFPA approval authority—the person who reviews and approves tournament submissions — _Host explains 'Adam is the guy when you run a tournament through the IFPA, you submit results, you ask for tournament approval, he's the man'_
- [MEDIUM] Travis (Oklahoma player) is described as a 'tremendous player' who 'scouted last month' — _Host commentary during bracket analysis in round one_
- [HIGH] Short plunge strategy is risky on Iron Man because insufficient momentum causes the ball to bounce out toward the sling — _Host analysis of Matt Scott's gameplay: 'It's like if you don't get enough momentum to have it ride the rail, it's going to want to go for the top of that sling'_
- [HIGH] Game of Thrones (Premium Edition) has a tight left flipper-to-middle lock shot that is difficult to execute — _Host observation about machine playfield: 'that left flipper to the middle where the lock is, that's a tricky shot. That is tight.'_
- [HIGH] The outdoor temperature in Las Vegas during the tournament was a comfortable 56 degrees with sunny weather and breeze — _Host real-time weather observation during broadcast_
- [HIGH] Tournament players get approximately one hour of scheduled practice time before competition, but limited to single game on one machine due to high player volume — _Host explanation of tournament logistics: 'You get an hour scheduled before the start of the tournament, but there's so many players. Yep. You're lucky if you get one game in'_

### Notable Quotes

> "Adam is the guy when you run a tournament through the IFPA, you submit results, you ask for tournament approval, he's the man."
> — **IE Pinball Host**, unknown
> _Establishes Adam Barajas's critical role in IFPA tournament administration and oversight_

> "It's like if you don't get enough momentum to have it ride the rail, it's going to want to go for the top of that sling."
> — **IE Pinball Host**, unknown
> _Technical analysis of Iron Man's difficulty and the risks of short plunge strategy_

> "I don't understand the batting ram on this game because people say, oh, the batting ram's stiff or something like that or it doesn't always register. But I took the glass off this game, and I can move that thing with my finger with the slightest touch."
> — **IE Pinball Host (Kyle implied)**, unknown
> _Notes mechanical inconsistency on Game of Thrones battering ram—appears responsive to touch but fails during actual ball contact_

> "You get an hour scheduled before the start of the tournament, but there's so many players. Yep. You're lucky if you get one game in on one machine of your choice."
> — **IE Pinball Host**, unknown
> _Documents tournament practice time constraints for large-scale IFPA events_

> "Rule number one of the underground is you don't talk about the underground. Rule number two of the Underground is you do not talk about the Underground."
> — **IE Pinball Host (humor/reference)**, unknown
> _Joking reference to the 'Flipper Steel Underground' venue name and its marketing strategy (deliberate obscurity)_

> "It does not stink in here. We actually have two doors open because this is two suites. so the airflow in here is actually really good I'd say the smell is 80% better than last year."
> — **IE Pinball Host**, unknown
> _Compares venue conditions and air quality improvements from previous tournament year_

> "I really respect that like deliberate play, you know, very tactical plan and what you're doing."
> — **IE Pinball Host**, unknown
> _Commentary on Sunshine's methodical approach to Game of Thrones gameplay, contrasting deliberate control with improvisational play styles_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| IE Pinball | organization | Video content creator and broadcaster covering pinball tournaments and gameplay |
| Adam Barajas | person | Proprietor of Flipper Steel Underground arcade, IFPA tournament approval authority, player in 2019 championships |
| Kyle | person | Co-host/commentator for IE Pinball, pinball player competing in tournament |
| Flipper Steel Underground | organization | Arcade venue in Las Vegas hosting the 2018-19 IFPA NA Championships and Women's World Championships, hidden within Grand Line Games |
| IFPA | organization | International Federation of Pinball Association; organizes the North American Championships and Women's World Championships |
| Karen | person | 2018 Women's World Championship winner, competing in 2019 tournament |
| Matt Scott | person | Tournament player; claims state championship victory as best achievement in pinball, competed in 72 events |
| Travis | person | Pinball player from Oklahoma described as 'tremendous player' who scouted the tournament last month; advanced through round one |
| Zach Sharpe | person | Tournament attendee wearing retro Sam Stern pinball shirt and MTG apparel |
| Dan | person | Tournament player competing against Adam on Game of Thrones |
| Sunshine | person | Tournament player in women's bracket, noted for deliberate tactical ball control |
| Hannah | person | Women's bracket competitor with score of three in round two |
| Robin | person | Women's bracket competitor with score of two in round two |
| Sage | person | Tournament player in game seven round one match against Matt Scott on Teed Off |
| Carlos | person | Tournament player who advanced from round one |
| Iron Man | game | Stern pinball machine used in tournament; extremely difficult factory settings, requires strategic ramp/monger stacking |
| Game of Thrones (Premium Edition) | game | Stern pinball machine used in tournament; set to casual mode with Stark as only selectable house mode |
| AC/DC (Pro Vault Edition) | game | Stern pinball machine mentioned during broadcast; Norm Clark played on it |
| Tron | game | Pinball machine used in tournament; hosts plan to move coverage to this machine for upcoming matches |
| Teed Off | game | Pinball machine used in round one tournament match between Sage and Matt Scott |
| Star Trek | game | Pinball machine potentially in tournament setup, hosts uncertain if coverage will focus on this or Game of Thrones |
| Chad | person | Co-owner of Flipper Steel Underground arcade with Adam Barajas |
| Sal | person | Former Nevada State pinball champion, attending tournament |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Tournament format and logistics, Machine setup and modifications, Player strategy and skill analysis, Game-specific rule sets and mode stacking
- **Secondary:** Venue conditions and improvements, Women's pinball tournament competition, Mechanical reliability and machine ergonomics
- **Mentioned:** Practice time constraints in large tournaments

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.78) — Hosts express enthusiasm for the tournament event, players, and venue improvements. Commentary is encouraging and analytical. Criticism is constructive (e.g., battering ram inconsistency, machine difficulty). Overall tone is celebratory of competitive pinball community.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Tournament supports large-scale player participation despite practice time constraints; venue accommodates 100+ players across main and women's brackets (confidence: high) — Host notes: 'You're lucky if you get one game in on one machine of your choice' within one-hour practice window due to high player volume
- **[event_signal]** Tournament venue upgraded from previous year with improved outdoor seating, second-floor balcony with city views, and significantly better air circulation (80-90% improvement in air quality) (confidence: high) — Host comparison of facilities: previous year 'looking at a dumpster' vs. current year outdoor seating, balcony, two open doors, 56°F weather with breeze
- **[community_signal]** Adam Barajas holds critical IFPA institutional role as tournament approval authority reviewing all tournament submissions and results (confidence: high) — Host explanation of Adam's function: 'he's the guy when you run a tournament through the IFPA, you submit results, you ask for tournament approval, he's the man'
- **[competitive_signal]** Iron Man tournament play dominated by monger-stacking strategy with bogey as safer alternative; short plunging creates significant risk due to sling drain vulnerability (confidence: high) — Host analysis: 'for me in tournament this boils down to playing Monger and and playing Bogie' and player commentary on short plunge risks
- **[design_philosophy]** Game of Thrones (Premium Edition) deliberately modified to single-house casual mode (Stark only) to address prior-year technical chattering issues and standardize tournament experience (confidence: high) — Host explanation: 'Josh why he did that and he said it's because last year the game was sometimes it was not hitting the shooter lane switch or it was it was chattering so some people wouldn't get to select their house so this way we're guaranteed everyone selects'
- **[event_signal]** Karen confirmed as 2018 Women's World Champion based on her return participation in 2019 tournament (confidence: high) — Host introduction: 'Karen, our women's world champion from last year'
- **[event_signal]** 2018-19 IFPA North American Championships and 2019 Women's World Championships held in Las Vegas at Flipper Steel Underground (confidence: high) — Live broadcast coverage with bracket progression, match results, and multiple game platforms documented
- **[product_concern]** Game of Thrones battering ram exhibits inconsistent responsiveness—appears mechanically loose when glass is off but fails to register solid ball contact during play (confidence: high) — Host observation: 'I took the glass off this game, and I can move that thing with my finger with the slightest touch. But there's something about the way the ball hits it sometimes where it just will not move it'

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## Transcript

 Oh for half a second. And then let's transfer it into another double Elway into a double catapult super. What are we witnessing here? Let's flip all of this. Oh, great, got it. Clark. Is it Clark? Clark got it first. Oh, what? What? What just happened? So again, this is the IFPA North American Pinball Championship. Taking a look at the bracket here for the North American Championships, and we'll scroll down and take a look at the bracket for the women. I think every round one match is done. Nope, we've still got one to go. We've got a game seven here between Sage and Scott. And this just finished. So Carlos will move over. So we have one game left in round one, and then round two is in swing where we're able. Got a few underdogs. Getting some upsets moving on, but I would say by and large, the favorite in each bracket has moved on here. Travis from Oklahoma. He came in scouted last month. Tremendous player. Let's take a look at the women's bracket. I believe. So all of round one is done. And we are moving on here with round two. And I know this is Hannah has three and Robin had two last time we checked because we saw them play Black Rose. few underdogs moved on for the women. Switch check and see carries up playing. And I believe she's on the main bracket. See if she made it out around one. I didn't actually check. So she's. Unfortunately back to single duty, right? Mike want to the stores table. Iron Man This is a great game Carl Trying to get a balance of matches here Between both tournaments Running at the same time It's not so simple But we have an elimination match Coming up on here also After this game Looking at the bracket There's one round one game left That's going to showdown Game seven All right, so we have Kate versus Louise. This Ironman was certainly... We had it hard before the Sharps came in and started, you know, burning into the magnifying glass, making these games extra, extra hard. Not much you have to do to Ironman, is there? No, it's Iron Man. Yeah. As mean as it is, it is brutal. Yeah, I would say from this era of sterns, this is one of the games that it feels great when you just start ripping shots to get into do or die. I think the game's also on factory too for all the settings so nothing's on you know you don't have to shoot the middle to raise the monger yeah it's all as it should be I assume the orbit up top is turned off up here yes the post is disabled that is that's right so it's a real skill shot So I'd say this is a game, Carl, that's all about stacking modes. Ramps with Monger Ironman with Monger I would never pull Ramps in with Monger though No? Never because it blocks the shot on the left ramp So fair enough That's a good point No for me in tournament this boils down to playing Monger and and playing Bogie Well typically you'll get one of each unless you're unfortunate And then if you know you can get lucky with some drones or with some whiplash shots. Yep Thank you. That was a nice save. Yeah, get out of the way. Starts her monger. What she needs to do is shoot one of the three spinners to bring up the monger, then shoot the monger six times, and then shoot the center spinner for $3 million. She's been so close up the middle twice. No love. All right, nice save there. on the practically did an alley pass to save the ball from draining all right munkers up let's say back to the old drawing board here Yeah, and even without starting, you know, getting the super jackpot, it still points. It still puts something on the board. It is. So at this point, I'd be going for bogey. Great backhand on that left ramp. Two shots away from bogey. Alright, there we go. So the ramps are bogey shots along with the spinner shots. those orbits or the center lane. The ramps advance the value, whereas the orbits or spinner lane do not. She also has longer ready to go to bring it up. So I would really try to avoid bringing up the monitor. So you can just work the ramps. She'll get a shield award to extend her time with the, she got it on the war machine shot right here. This flashing lamp means there's an additional award on that war machine shot and in tournament mode bogey running you'll always get time extended do you need to have a certain shield level before it pays no okay because i believe for like out of all at the war machine you need to have mark four right honestly i don't know she's going for bogey as well smart play it's getting double scoring here for each of the cumulative shots in the ramp and it's ready to go She's also got Monger ready to go. Alright, 9 million versus 3 million. All right. So I assume Louise is going to bring up her monger. Try and start that. Oh, rough drain there. That's gone. There's no ball saved. That's very unfortunate. So Kate's saying there's a chance, Carl. There's a chance, yeah, but she's got a decision now. Because that ball took so long to go around the orbit, it brought the monger up when it hit the spinner. Yep. So she's locked in the monger at this point. So even if it's not ideal play, are you still thinking, you know, you got your endure die right here? I would go for that ramp and bring up, you know, and try to get Monger both. I would still not bring my bogey into this. I would rather save it for afterwards. Fair enough. All right. Nice job getting all. I'm certainly hoping that the Monger's nice to you, you know. Yeah. And doesn't just whip it out the side. That might come back, maybe. Yes, it is. All right. That's good. Tried to save it with that one. Yeah, that was a good attempt. Certainly bogeys, right? So, again, yeah. So, she wouldn't have gotten any points for that bogey if she had started it. Fair enough. An unfortunate trade. All right, that'll end that match. One to one. They're both alive. All right, coming up next is an elimination match. I believe this is the final round one match. I thought Scott Elliott though. Oh yeah. Yes you right This is the final round one match Scott says that his best achievement in pinball is winning the state championship and that was his act first actual win Wow Wow. Let's see how many events he's played in. What's that profile? Refreshes are 72. 72. Certainly noticed the same short plunge. Wants to come up. down and bounce and out. Happened to him on, happened to Scott on his test ball there. It's like if you don't get enough momentum to have it ride the rail, it's going to want to go for the top of that sling. Ray Day says it's 25 bucks in Iron Man's hands. Yep, that's right. Could be in Mickey Rourke's hands if they're on the whiplash magnet. Looks like we're going to get joined by the proprietor of Flipper Steel Underground. How's everybody doing? Welcome. Are you happy with the turnout, Adam? Very pleased. I think everybody's having a good time. This is Adam Barajas, and we are in his shop. All right, here we go. Elimination match. Scott. Tagle. Tagle. He's already got his monger ready to come up. Oh. Everything lit. Oh. Great nudge. I think you double-dangered on that. Yeah. So we are in a two-ball game, two house balls. Scores look about typical when I play this, when it's not hard. Great nudge. Trying to get double-dangered again. Great catch. So, Carl, what do you think is, like, if you're going to set the over-under on the score, the way this game is set up, like 5 million? I'm not pushing for 10 if I'm here. Yeah? Yeah. Seems like from the few games that we've seen, 10 million is for sure going to win. But that's just brutal. Oh, my gosh. I feel that pain. Note to self, don't short plunge. I don't know. You got to nudge it off the side. You have to. You have to give the machine a bump right here. I mean, really, this is basically a one-ball game. It is. Even though Scott's got his monger up, but it's still four dangerous shots to the monger. And that's it. Wow. Wow. So let's see. Oh, my gosh. I mean, at this point, I try for bogey. I do. Yeah, that's going to be the safest. Because I don't want to bring the monger up. Because you're in jail now. You are in jail. You have to hit that monger. Or, no, you could shoot spinners. If the spinners are juiced, you can get points that way. And maybe you can pull out just 3 million. Oh, my gosh. The magnet just threw it away. You got mongered. Yeah. That's it. All right. Let's move on. Carl's going to head out. Move the machine. Again, we're here. If you're just joining us, this is the IFPA National Championship and the IFPA Women's World Championship in tremendous Las Vegas, Nevada. Isn't it weird how it doesn't look as crowded in the video as it feels in here? Like it looks like there's at least a little bit of room in there. It does look like there's a little bit of room, But, ladies and gentlemen, I can assure you it is packed in here. Adam and the other owner, Chad, have done a great job getting the venue set up. The Sharps came in, got their magnifying glass out, started burning ants, a.k.a. players, with the way they got the game set up. The Carl Weathers is beautiful. Yeah, fortunately there's a lot of outdoor seating area. Something we didn't have last year. No. No, that's been nice. The balcony is kind of cool. Being on the second floor, you get a nice view of the city. It is. A little breeze. For reference, last year, if you're sitting outside, you're basically looking at a dumpster. Games seem to be playing well, Adam. I haven't seen any major malfunctions yet. No. I mean, knock on wood about that. Looks like Carl got set up on Star Trek, maybe. We have a big queue, so I'm guessing that's why. And it's a great game. Is it Star Trek or Game of Thrones? I think it's Star Trek. My money's on Star Trek. Could be Thrones. If Will wasn't so selfish and would just get himself eliminated, he could go get some meat. It is Game of Thrones. We got Adam and Dan getting ready to get set up here. I'll tell you what, they set this game up significantly different than how you have it set up, Adam, for league and tournaments. Casual mode. Yeah. Zac Stark. They got the little rubber here on this out lane that wants to feed here as opposed to here. Oh, I think it goes to that kicker. I think it goes to the left kicker, doesn't it? When I've been watching it, it goes right off that right to there. I guess we're going to see here. We'll hope that no machines break while Adam is playing. Yeah. I'll tell you what, that guy's a hero to have around here. It's great. You know what? Yeah, because nothing... He can fix most any problem real quick. Nothing stresses me out than having to repair machines quickly. And he's cool as a cucumber. It's not his first rodeo. No. You can see that in his warm-up gear. It was great having him here last year. It's been great having him this year as well. His warm-up consisted of seeing how the post passes work and if you can back in that steep right Zac Stark ramp. See? Yep, you're right. You know, I don't understand the batting ram on this game because people say, oh, the batting ram's stiff or something like that or it doesn't always register. But I took the glass off this game, and I can move that thing with my finger with the slightest touch. But there's something about the way the ball hits it sometimes where it just will not move it, even though it seems to be a nice solid hit. Yeah. It has to be square on this. What? You know, that was a hit there. That was solid, yeah. I've seen glancing blows, you know, that also register that battering ram. It's kind of. And then a more direct hit, and then it doesn't do anything. Yeah. It just barely moves. I don't get it. Just checking the tilt. And then it'll be showtime here, I think. There it is. Alright. This will be the first game between Adam and Dan here. Thank you. We might have to send DoorDash out for Carl. He's shriveling away behind us, trying to get a snack in. Ultra Super Pro in the chat there. Notice that Krang jersey that's floating around. That is cool. That jersey is on point. Oh, yeah. This is a... There you go. I was going to say you can backhand that left orbit easily. Getting the Greyjoy work done. I noticed on your machine, Adam, that left flipper to the middle where the lock is, that's a tricky shot. That is tight. Great save. Okay, double danger. This is cool. Bang, right into the dragon. Maybe. Probably post-pass, right into the dragon, you think? Oh, backhanded it. Shows how much I know, that's why I got eliminated in round one. Guessing he's going to get his locks going next. Whoa Quick flipper work Oh come on You're right that's that left flipper There you go Pulled it off there It's got to be a perfect angle Okay It looks like he's definitely getting set up for those locks Lock is lit He's got to get one of those houses going for the multiball, yeah. I would think Yeah But it looks like he started one house at a time here That a wow What a save That was close It an interesting strategy Yeah I knew it Yeah. It's all good. He did. He set up for a big big game with that ball one. Dan steps up. He's going to let the tilt pop settle. I like Zach's shirt. Yeah. Judd. Old school MTG. Oh, John's shirt is great. The old school MTG. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Zach has a retro stern pinball shirt. Zach has all the string swag. All right. Oh, it's casual mode. You can't pick what mode you start. It just goes. Yep, horse start. In fact, there's a note on the machine that if you override the casual. It's a EQ, right? Yeah. Don't forget that. We got the former Nevada State pinball champion, Sal's giving me condolences for getting destroyed. I actually like playing Zac Stark anyway, you know. I like Zac Stark as well. I was asking if you could mute Adam. We're good. Pretty close here after ball one. And both Adam and Dan are ready to get big points. Looks like Adam is looking to short plunge. Alright, that accidental bumper hit, you know, cost of the playfield strategy he was going for. Those are both Dan and Adam drained exactly the same way. Targets the left out lane. Yep. Common drain. Yeah. We were talking in this Thrones in particular it's pretty tough. That's a tight shot if you're going to try to backhand the center shot, the center ramp. Yeah, the center ramp's really hard, it looked like. I mean, we saw people do it over and over and over. All right. This is it. One ball game. Wow, those scores are close. Delta's less than a million after two balls. I would think for Adam, I think he already has two balls locked. it's plunge, catch, and then right to multiball. And I notice here Adam says his biggest achievement would be to be unchained from submission approvals to play in the tournament. Yeah, he is. For those who may not know, Adam is the guy when you run a tournament through the IFPA, you submit results, you ask for tournament approval, he's the man. I guess you could just start, start, start, get multiple. Can't find the middle, can't find the middle shot, the middle ramp with the dragon? Yeah. No problem. Oh, we can play start. Oh, right, right, right. Oh my god. All right. Here it goes. Great. He's got it here. Now he's got super jackpot ready to go. Might be able to get one last shot at the super. No, no boots on. Well, sometimes it hangs in there. Even if the light just blinks out to give you just a hair. Or you can get that great period there. Had ended at that point. I know it sticks around a while and I'm back in just stuff not He's been trying and trying. There you go. That's the better way. I think that's probably the strategy, right? Just to get back into multiple again. He's making really good value here with this vote. Wow, survives. Perfect. Look at this. Getting paid. I mean his score. Ready to get couple hundred million just for that mode, yeah? 159 and the real. Yep. Yeah, those are definitely some fortuitous. Bounces off the shots off the lock targets. So what are we looking to do here in hand of the King Carl? Keep it alive. I'm guessing it's all the wet flashing shots, yeah. So left orbit right now in right ramp. Man, he's having a great ball. He is, and now he's going to backhand the Zac Stark ramp. Bang. And the battering ram is lit for, I imagine, big points. There it is. There it is. 40 million. I'm going to go with the right hand. This is really what I want to bonus round. 20 seconds to the shot. Not going to last that much longer though. Ripping the ramp. That'll be it. Wow. He's got a big ball going. Ball two locked. Nice backhand. Wow. Finish that. Nice. All right. Ball three. Blackwater. I think obviously he would like to have had a mission going with this, but it'd take what you're going to get in this format. Great save This is why you can't be discouraged by a slow start You know You can have a couple of weak two balls And then ball three just blows up Oh yeah You see it all the time It is super Another one Another one. Good catch there too. Oh look at that. Wow, unbelievable catching. Ted 2X playfield scoring going to. Yes. You can see that one of all looking like right there. Yep, What a ball. He will not be disappointed with that effort on that game, I don't even think. Look at that score. All right, Dan's got a lot of work. He doesn't have any, he's only got one house ready to go. One lock, I think? One lock, yeah. Basically, this is a one-ball game for him. And again, that backhand. It's not happening. All right. He's gonna get one ball locked. That's a ball, too. Excuse me. Yeah, ball two. And start great. Excuse me. Combine them, right? So really, he wants to try and light that third lock while these are running. Get the multiball. Nice double dave there. Yeah, good save. Oh, man. A snake bit there. Yikes. Shout out to the Krang jersey. brackets are super out of date how let me take a look Josh and Zack were doing that I think they're doing other things at the moment. Let's see. Yes, they do look like they're updated. Let me give some updates here if I can. It does not stink in here. We've actually got two doors open because this is two suites. so the airflow in here is actually really good I'd say the smell is 80% better than last year I might I might be willing to go to a 90% better than last year Thank you It a comfortable 56 degrees outside very sunny out nice breeze A lot of people hanging out outside the arcade, not just because there's not so much room inside but it's just such a beautiful day, why not? I kind of like to watch my lady. I will do whatever makes you happy. Looks like we're ready to start. Here we go. That practice time is really important since there's not a lot of time to practice before these games. You get an hour scheduled before the start of the tournament, but there's so many players. Yep. You're lucky if you get one game in on one machine of your choice. So you really got to take advantage of those 30 seconds they give you. They give you an idea of where the tilts are, give you an idea of any major changes that the game... Yep, look at where the rubbers have been pulled or any rule changes. There's notes on, posted notes on all the machines to kind of give you a quick at-a-glance view of what to expect. The Crank Jersey is like hijacking the comments on Twitch. It's hilarious. Nope, that backhand is just... Nobody's in that shot. It's good to know for tomorrow the back end doesn't work. Yeah. For pin masters. You playing in pin masters, Carl? Yeah. Let's see. Amy versus Marine is 3-2 right now. Go chat room. I'm actually thinking of moving this over to Tron after this game is over. We have a couple matches coming up on that. I think we should highlight. Man, those dangers come quick. Ugh, too much shake. Thank you. mode with Zac Stark being your only selection and and if anyone wasn't in earlier we asked Josh why he did that and he said it's because last year the game was sometimes it was not hitting the shooter lane switch or it was it was chattering so some people wouldn't get to select their house so this way we're guaranteed everyone selects everyone has a shirt yep everyone has the same path to victory essentially changes strategy but no one ever plays a star that's right this makes you play a star that's right All right. All right, Sunshine's looking to post pass and shoot the middle ramp to start her great joy, I believe. Oh, no. Nope. She's trying to backhand the right ramp. All right, is she going for a winner is coming? Yeah, I'm curious what she's doing. I'm just waiting to watch. I'm waiting to see. Okay. She's got really good ball control. I really respect that like deliberate play, you know, very tactical plan and what you're doing. People are really good at on the fly, just keeping the ball moving and other people just, you know, really take control of the ball. Yep. That's going well. Yep. Not a lot you can do about that. All right, Karen stepping up. Karen, our women's world champion from last year. That post pass is not exactly It's not the safest post pass in the world Alright Get the lock, start Scrayjoy Time to do a one ball game. Yeah. I feel Sunshine has a bit more setup than Karen does. I think they both still only have one vault locked, though, yeah? Right. But mission-wise, yeah, she has two houses ready to go. This guy only has one. But, yeah, they're pretty much both in a very similar situation. So where are the points right now? All right, that was a good short one. She's still not in a validated play field, so she had made a mistake. We've been okay. So yeah, the modification is there's a big giant yellow rubber right there, which makes the ball come down and hit it and go to the left instead of coming down to a nice easy trap on that right flipper. Doesn't seem that dangerous, but it changes it up. On the fast orbit shot, it definitely makes a difference. Right. Right. All right, so she's going to shoot more orbits. One more and then I believe she can cash it in, right? Correct. Oh. Oh. I feel like that could have been saved. Alright. Not insurmountable. Put some points on the board at least. Yeah, at least it's something. Oh, nice. Wow. Back end actually worked. Oh, no, that's tragic. All right, let me get the camera moved. All right. And if you're just joining us, this is the IPA National Championship and the IP Women's World Championship in beautiful, sunny Las Vegas, Nevada at the Flipper Spiel Underground Arcade Club, hidden within Grand Line Games. It's really an above-ground arcade club. It used to be much more underground. Much more like Fight Club when I first started coming here. Yeah. Rule number one of the underground is you don't talk about the underground. Rule number two of the Underground is you do not talk about the Underground. You know, that was really just an excuse for me to not do any marketing for this place because I'm lazy. Call it Underground, call it theater. People are like, where the heck is this place? If you really want to be here, you'll figure it out. Yeah, it was real enjoyable when you went from the Wonderland to the Underground in the one month where I tried to come here for the first time. And I thought someone was trolling me on Google. Carl's waiting patiently. He's heading over for Tron. I'm going to go ahead and get out of the way here. catch up later maybe I don't know what I'm doing anyway it's a nice to get pinball so I'm not the best commentator no one believed that he's tremendous at pinball yeah yeah I'm the best don't tell anybody

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 5213053c-d595-4240-a9b4-afd3d906772d*