# Stern Pro Circuit – 2018 Pinball Expo Flip Out Tournament Recap

**Source:** Stern Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2019-03-05  
**Duration:** 5m 57s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnyavjiAS5c

---

## Analysis

Stern Pro Circuit coverage of the 2018 Pinball Expo tournament, a 120+ player double-elimination event showcasing elite competitive pinball players including Keith Elwin, Raymond Davidson, and the Sharp brothers. The video features player interviews discussing tournament experience, family pinball heritage, competitive pressure, and specific match highlights including strategic game selection and high-pressure final rounds.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Pinburgh is in its 34th year and is the longest-running tournament in the world — _Opening statement about the tournament's history and prestige_
- [HIGH] Keith Elwin is one of the greatest players of all time — _Player directly references Elwin's reputation during tournament commentary_
- [HIGH] One player won PAPA 20 World Championships in the A division — _Player describes it as 'my finest pinball moment of my life'_
- [HIGH] One player dropped from ranked 1 to ranked 7 after having a newborn, citing 'the curse of the newborn' — _Player describes ranking drop and phenomenon where new parents' rankings decline_
- [HIGH] Tournament format is best two out of three, double elimination bracket with 120+ players — _Player explains tournament structure_

### Notable Quotes

> "In our family, pinball is around 24/7 since day one of birth, so it's like a family member."
> — **Unnamed player (family-oriented background)**, ~2:30
> _Illustrates deep cultural integration of pinball in competitive families_

> "There's always this like the curse of the newborn, where whoever has a newborn, they start just plummeting down the rankings."
> — **Unnamed player**, ~3:00
> _Identifies a recognized phenomenon in competitive pinball rankings_

> "I got nothing to lose. I gotta hit a home run."
> — **Unnamed player (in final match pressure)**, ~8:15
> _Captures competitive decision-making philosophy under pressure_

> "He basically did what he needed to do when he needed to do it, and that's how you win pinball tournaments."
> — **Unnamed player**, ~8:45
> _Articulates core principle of tournament-winning pinball strategy_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Keith Elwin | person | Legendary pinball player referenced as 'one of the greatest players of all time'; competed against other top players in the tournament |
| Raymond Davidson | person | Elite pinball player competing in the 2018 Pinball Expo tournament |
| Josh Sharp | person | Tournament participant; brother of Zach Sharp; competes against family members |
| Zach Sharp | person | Tournament participant; Stern Pinball employee; brother of Josh Sharp; designer of pinball games |
| Escher Lefkoff | person | Elite pinball player competing in tournament; competitor mentioned as putting up 'highest score of the whole weekend' |
| Stern Pro Circuit | organization | Official professional pinball tournament series organized by Stern Pinball |
| Pinball Expo | event | Major annual pinball industry event featuring the Stern Pro Circuit tournament |
| PAPA 20 World Championships | event | World pinball championship tournament where one player won the A division |
| Metallica | game | Stern pinball machine selected multiple times during tournament matches; used as strategic game selection example |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer organizing the tournament; prize includes brand new Stern pinball machine |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Competitive pinball tournament structure and strategy, Elite player profiles and competitive pedigree
- **Secondary:** Family participation in competitive pinball, Game selection strategy in head-to-head matches
- **Mentioned:** Life balance and competitive ranking impacts (newborn curse)

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.78) — Tournament excitement and camaraderie dominate; players express enthusiasm despite competitive pressure. Family involvement adds emotional resonance. Some self-deprecating humor about performance, but overall tone is celebratory of competitive pinball community and skill.

### Signals

- **[event_signal]** 2018 Pinball Expo Stern Pro Circuit tournament featured 120+ players in double-elimination format with elite competitors, demonstrating scale and prestige of Stern's official tournament series (confidence: high) — Opening statement describes 100+ player tournament; player commentary on bracket structure
- **[competitive_signal]** Game selection strategy highlighted as critical tournament advantage; players choosing familiar games for multiple rounds to leverage knowledge of mechanics and angles (confidence: high) — Player states 'If you can pick a game and stick with it for the tournament, that's definitely an advantage because you know all the angles'
- **[community_signal]** Zach Sharp identified as both competitive tournament player and pinball game designer at Stern, suggesting designer recruitment from elite competitive player pool (confidence: high) — Player states 'He gets me into it...I design games'; identified as Stern employee

---

## Transcript

we are at the pinball Expo for the stern pro circuit tournament it's one of the largest it's gonna be over 100 players here disturbance in its 34th year it is the longest-running tournament in the world my name is Josh Sharpe my name is Zach Sharpe my name is Keith Elwin my name is Zack Bart my name is Raymond Davidson my name is Esther left off I'm not at a fluff ball spin ball player on Esther's Dada I started playing competitively in 1993 there's not a whole lot of people here that have been playing competitively longer than I I played in at least 200 tournaments I've won at two years in a row so I feel good I've won this tournament before I like my chances until I don't like my chances there's a lot of pressure being ranked number one to try to win this thing I'd say my odds are not as good as I want them to be just because there's so many great players here this weekend actually one that was for my dad took me to Expo it's probably a bit young to take your kid to a pinball tournament but I loved every second of it and ever since then he's been taking me to tournaments and I've been getting better and better two years ago at a popper 20 World Championships I won the World Championships the a division it was him winning Pappas you know my finest pinball moment of my life in our family pinball is around 24/7 since day one of birth so it's like a family member this is my first tournament since having my first child in the pinball tournament seed there's always this like the curse of the newborn where whoever has a newborn they start just plummeting down the rankings and you know I was ranked one at the end of last year and I am currently ranked seventh when I was a kid I always played pinball my older brother play he got me into it started playing tournaments in the early 90s here we are now I design games yeah so the way this tournament works it's best two out of three double elimination bracket 120 plus players one soul winner prizes a brand new Stern pinball machine I qualified in the top eight and then a couple of matches this morning and probably the highlight was the the brother duel I won this one I'm 2 & 1 against my brother since he's become a [ __ ] he gets the bragging rights for now by a 680 million point jackpot it was like absurd and I looked up at the screen I saw it I thought it was like a bug now I'm playing keep Elwin who is one of the greatest players of all time and it's like a mere boilerplate them all not and sit around with five tournaments about endurance to I watched a curry parks a lot because he was having an amazing run he plays amazing for a fifteen year old they're really good they're really good about how I played as sure went out in eighth place and I kept winning I won the winter side so I can be no worse than second now is my dad still in it he's in it to linic you know if anyone was gonna bet which luck off would perform butter everyone's money would have been on a shirt so right now there's a battle the Titans and the winner of them will face Adam left off I got to Napoli and I'm kiss he'd put up the highest score of the whole weekend so I don't really feel bad about losing that one keep kind of threw me a bone he chose to go second rather than choose game first and so I picked Metallica I didn't have a very good game but he had a terrible game and so he lost Game one and so now it's his pick and he picked Metallica again if you can pick a game and stick with it for the tournament that's definitely an advantage because you know all the angles you know how it plays I get to go second self which is always important in a tournament pinball cuz I know what school I might need on ball three so ball three he had a big lead he finished at about a hundred million and I was at about 50 million it's like you know what I got nothing to lose I gotta hit a home run and I just sort of went for it and beat them he basically did what he needed to do when he needed to do it and that's how you win pinball tournaments a little bit in shock this expletive I mean it was a lot of fun dueling competition but I hope to make my mark at the circuit final I ended up a second place see you next year

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v1)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 71867fab-b9e1-44b0-89b4-815a2760d3ef*