# Concord Open 2026 Main: Semi game 2/3 on Bally The Shadow. Streamed from The Flipper Room.

**Source:** DRI374  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2026-05-01  
**Duration:** 22m 39s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivauQYki3xc

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## Analysis

Tournament commentary from the Concord Open 2026 semi-final match (game 2 of 3) played on Bally's The Shadow at The Flipper Room in Concord, California. Commentators narrate competitive play across four players (Dan, Gabe, Dustin, Matt), discussing multiball strategies, jackpot modes, and scoring sequences. The match ends with game three to be played on Iron Man, with Dustin in the lead heading into the final game.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] The Shadow has one ball save in multiball mode — _Commentator explaining game mechanics during Gabe's multiball attempt: 'you get one ball save, right? And here come two balls and you know you're only going to get one back.'_
- [HIGH] Dustin won game 2 and is heading into game 3 with the lead — _Commentator closing summary: 'Dustin third, and Matt Rubottom last' (implying Dustin finished strong enough to lead into final game)_
- [HIGH] The tournament is a best-of-three format for this semi-final match — _Title indicates 'Semi game 2/3' and commentator announces 'game three' to follow_
- [HIGH] Game 3 will be played on Iron Man — _Commentator: 'game three. Iron Man, we haven't seen Iron Man on the stream yet.'_

### Notable Quotes

> "This game was Dan's pick. He loves the shadow."
> — **Commentator**, ~0:15
> _Establishes that Dan selected The Shadow as his game choice, indicating player preferences in tournament format_

> "you get one ball save, right? And here come two balls and you know you're only going to get one back."
> — **Commentator**, ~1:30
> _Explains critical game mechanic affecting multiball strategy on The Shadow_

> "Gabe knows how to play this mode, perfect."
> — **Commentator**, ~4:00
> _Acknowledges Gabe's strong play on a specific mode after executing a 100 million point bonus_

> "we are located in Concord, California, at the Flipper Room."
> — **Commentator**, ~9:30
> _Confirms tournament venue location_

> "Iron Man, we haven't seen Iron Man on the stream yet."
> — **Commentator**, ~13:15
> _Indicates that the final game on Iron Man will be the first time this title appears in the tournament broadcast_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Concord Open 2026 | event | Semi-final tournament event held in Concord, California with best-of-three match format |
| The Flipper Room | venue | Tournament venue located in Concord, California hosting the Concord Open 2026 |
| The Shadow | game | Bally pinball machine used for game 2 of the semi-final; features multiball modes, jackpot stacking, and battlefield multiball |
| Iron Man | game | Pinball machine selected for game 3 of the semi-final; has not yet appeared in tournament broadcast |
| Dan | person | Tournament player who selected The Shadow; known for strong performance on the game |
| Gabe | person | Tournament player competing in semi-final; demonstrates strong multiball and mode play on The Shadow |
| Dustin | person | Tournament player in semi-final; finished with lead heading into game 3 |
| Matt Rubottom | person | Tournament player in semi-final; finished in last place after game 2 |
| Bally | company | Manufacturer of The Shadow pinball machine |

### Signals

- **[competitive_signal]** Concord Open 2026 semi-final uses best-of-three match format with rotating game selections (confidence: high) — Title indicates game 2/3; commentator confirms game 3 to follow on Iron Man
- **[competitive_signal]** Gabe demonstrates exceptional proficiency on The Shadow's multiball and mode stacking mechanics; Dan selected the game as his pick; Dustin finished game 2 with the lead (confidence: high) — Commentator repeatedly praises Gabe's play ('knows how to play this mode'); Dan's selection noted; Dustin's lead confirmed
- **[gameplay_signal]** The Shadow features challenging drains and half-catch mechanics that players struggle with; jackpot stacking and regular/super jackpot progression require precise shot execution (confidence: high) — Multiple mentions of 'nasty drains' and 'half drop catches'; commentators analyze shot sequences and jackpot modes
- **[venue_signal]** The Flipper Room in Concord, California is hosting competitive tournament play with streaming capability (confidence: high) — Title indicates 'Streamed from The Flipper Room' and commentator confirms location
- **[content_signal]** Concord Open 2026 is being professionally streamed with expert commentary covering game mechanics and player performance (confidence: high) — Detailed play-by-play commentary with technical game analysis throughout broadcast

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## Transcript

Okay, yeah. Are Are we punching here or what's going on here? All right. This game was Dan's pick. He loves the shadow. There's always a shadow in Dan's banks and just by saying that I jinxed him. Yeah, so we saw Dan in the previous round with the playing very masterful on the the battlefield. Let's see what Gabe is Gabe is kind of cooking up here. He's no stranger to the shadow, either, so. All right, so he got that two ball multiball mode and I don't think he's going to get both balls back there, no. It's very It's very strict. It's just you get one ball save, right? And here come two balls and you know you're only going to get one back. Oh, that was a rough end. That was a rough slap save. Well, I mean, the thing is that was a bit of an edge case. I didn't kind of think he would be able to get away with it. To be honest. All right, it looks like Matt is not going to wait this one out and just Yeah. That's tilt ball. Oh. Honk. All right. Second time a charm. Let's go. All right, let's see where it goes. Oh my god, yeah, he went for the skill shot there. And just to get the next uh lock lit, but it kind of looks like It looked like the ball went over the flipper or did I just kind of dream that? No, it bounced and went All right, Dustin is desperate to find some points here to um be part of the game, so to speak. Nice read there, but did not quite help. Yeah, it's going to be a couple of rough balls here, I suspect. Yeah. Then we call you out. Then I can tell Jared that you run you run out of time. Yeah. Yeah, Dan is a strong man. He needs to relax his arms, right? Because if you rough it, Oh my god, it's just like why like everyone is cursed with those kind of like, you know, half half, you know, half drop catches. I don't know what they're called, you know, when [music] you try to do drop catch live catch and you you get that little little kind of, you know, thimble of a arc just straight down the middle. So shitty. [cough and clears throat] All right, we got conned lit if it wasn't lit already. Oh, wow. How did it end up on the top habitrail there? That was an wasn't airball to talk about. All right. Gabe knows how to play this mode, that's for sure. What is he thinking? Yeah, he really wanted the con, so here's con. All right, the ball was sitting there. I was starting to wonder. All the hurry up. I don't know how far up that switch is, but All right, 38 mil, so that's coming in the bonus, so It can still, yeah, keep looping. Why not? Yeah, Gabe knows how to play this mode, perfect. Oof. All right, yeah, I would be happy with that. 100 mil bonus there. That's not too shabby when we are only on ball two, so very well played, very well played. Oh. Full pots on the Mongol collect. It's got the lock lit, got the battlefield ready. We're playing the battlefield. Go through. Points on the board. I think the next battlefield No. It just looked like he knocked down the target, but I don't think he did. All right, Dustin, you know what to do. Just get it done. Yeah, Dustin wants to play the multiball. Which can be very lucrative when you can hit those shots that he just made. All right. So pretty, and I know Oh, oh, super is lit on the cone shot there now. I think that's it for 100 million. Yeah, there we go. Why not? Oh, yeah, start it over. Oh, we're down to one ball play. But the regular jackpot stayed at 20. I thought that would be little bit more valuable after you kind of done your first super there, but this is definitely points on the board, so this is what we want to see. Uh, and my food might be here. [groaning] All right, see you later. Uh, okay, so what happened there? Look at that, 438. Good job, Dustin. Good job. And I didn't quite follow the action there, so did it tilt? Did chat see if it tilted? All right, Dan needs to get his act together here and gets the multiball out and see if he can do that kind of neat staging and jackpot trick that Dustin showcased. So, that was three two regulars, right? Or was it three? Don't know. Oh, nice. He's just like lobbing them up there. Oh, in the Okay. Oh, he's going to have two sitting in the loop there. Oh, nice. Okay, super is lit there now. So, I guess you need five regular. There's the super, and I think there's the next set of regular jackpots ready. Okay, get in there. And he backhands the other one. It's just like beautiful. It's just so pretty. No, traffic. Oh, no. Damn, and there's no grace on that. No. Oh, all right, but I mean, he's he's got a couple hundred mil on that, right? I mean, must Yeah, so he's at 400 already, so so he's kind of catching up with the crowd. Yeah, nasty drains there. Got some bonus and pocket change on the board there, and kind of puts him in the lead, but this is a tough crowd, so there's going to have to be a tilt on plunge here for for Gabe to lose against that score. Uh, we are located in Concord, California, at the Flipper Room. Oh, no, Gabe, no. Oh, yeah, all right. Managed to sneak past Dan there. That's a That's at least one point on the board, so Yeah, a lot of interesting things can happen here if uh player three and four kind of pull pull some points uh from this game, right? And uh makes it a very exciting game three. All right, now we need to shoot ramps all day. Oh, no. But it looks like it that's not what he's going for. All right. All right, so that's a dead last for Matt and uh Dustin just needs to find 100 million points. All right, what are you thinking? Like getting a vengeance here. That would be a fairly safe kind of strategy to Oh, we're going for a mode. No, we did not go for a mode. game three. Iron Man, we haven't seen Iron Man on the stream yet. Dustin third, and Matt Rubottom last. All right. Next game coming up.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v5)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-06-06 | Item ID: c9048aa3-9d18-4706-a45f-14ae5359b987*