# Episode 200: Daniele Acciari, 4x World Champion

**Source:** Pinball Profile  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2019-06-01  
**Duration:** 31m 45s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.pinballprofile.com/episode-200-daniele-acciari-4x-world-champion/

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## Analysis

Pinball Profile Episode 200 features an in-depth interview with Daniele Acciari, the only 4x World Pinball Champion, discussing his journey from a 7-year-old player in Rome to elite competitive status. The conversation covers his early arcade experiences, breakthrough 2010 World Championship win, tournament strategy, the state of pinball in Italy, and preparation for IFPA 16 held in his home country.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Daniele Acciari is the only four-time World Pinball Champion — _Jeff Teolis introduces him as 'the only four-time world champion' and later states 'no other player has won more World Championships than you Daniele. You've won four.'_
- [HIGH] Acciari won his first World Championship (IFPA 7) in 2010 in Minnesota, defeating Andy Rosa in the final — _Daniele confirms: 'I remember it. I didn't speak English totally... And I remember that for me in that tournament the final was again with Jorian and Jim Braxton... I won all the matches, 4-1, 4-1, 4-0. I don't remember with Andy Rosa, the players were not so strong for the final.'_
- [HIGH] Acciari came close to winning a fifth World Championship at IFPA 15 in Canada but lost due to illness (fever) — _Daniele: 'I remember from last year, I began the qualification at IFPA, very very bad until the first play off i felt uh not well not so well because in fact later i i asked to jasmine paracetamol because i had i had fever and after paracetamol my performance improved... in the final i was very bad because the fever increased again'_
- [HIGH] Acciari qualified for the Papa Circuit final in 2013 from the bottom (24th) position and won it, defeating Keith Elwin — _Jeff: 'Back in 2013, you qualified for the then Papa Circuit final... You were at the bottom of the ladder, and you won it all. You beat Keith Elwin in the circuit final.' Daniele: 'I begin from the bottom as the 24th player... I employed eight hours to arrive from the bottom to the top to play the final with Zach Sharp, Keith Herwin.'_
- [MEDIUM] Pinball is growing stronger in the USA than in Europe, but Europe is expected to grow significantly in the next 5-6 years — _Daniele: 'I think USA is growing up more than Europe, but maybe in the next future. But I think five, six years in Europe grows so much.'_
- [MEDIUM] In Italy, newer Stern machines are preferred in bars/pubs because they break less often than older Williams-Bally machines — _Daniele: 'in the bar or pubs you can find new machines because I think new machines don't break usually, often. And for renters it's more comfortable... Instead if you put in the pub Williams-Bally, it was broken.'_
- [HIGH] Acciari only plays pinball about one hour per week at home for fun and lacks regular access to modern Stern machines for practice — _Daniele: 'When I am at home, I can play one game for fun, only one hour per week... the difficulty for me is to find Stern machine and play it to learn... I have much trouble to play tournament and to play pinball because the rules now are complex'_
- [HIGH] Acciari's three favorite pinball games for flow and rules are Jackpot, Twilight Zone, and Walking Dead — _Daniele: 'Surely I choose a fast game like Jackpot is one of my favorites also... Jackpot, Twilight Zone and Walking Dead is my favorite game.'_

### Notable Quotes

> "I was standing on the chair to play because I was too short to push the bat and to see the ball. And slow and slow, later I removed the chair and I played standing only."
> — **Daniele Acciari**, early in interview
> _Illustrates Acciari's origin story starting at age 7, establishing his lifelong dedication to the game_

> "I played on the Pimbal from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. with one token only."
> — **Daniele Acciari**, early career
> _Demonstrates exceptional skill and endurance during early competitive development on Twilight Zone_

> "I remember I began the tournament with qualification, and it was okay. and after that we had a playoff and I played the semi-final with Jorian and Joe Braxton with that at Circus Voltaire Machine I did 180 millions with the first ball I saw Jorian like a senior ok I play but this score is impossible to reach and I won the first game"
> — **Daniele Acciari**, discussing 2007 European Championship
> _Key moment in Acciari's tournament career breakthrough, showing confidence against the eventual champion_

> "When I am at home, I can play one game for fun, only one hour per week... I have much trouble to play tournament and to play pinball because the rules now are complex very very complex"
> — **Daniele Acciari**, later in interview
> _Reveals the challenge modern competitive pinball presents even to world champions due to complex rulesets and lack of practice access_

> "I saw Total Nuke Annihilation. It's very fast, too. And I believed that I could beat him with the speed of the game"
> — **Daniele Acciari**, discussing Cabin Fever pin golf
> _Shows Acciari's strategic game selection at IFPA 15 pin golf, choosing an unfamiliar but fast game to match opponent strengths_

> "in your mind you are very stressed and it's difficult to play well with relax... I employed eight hours to arrive from the bottom to the top to play the final"
> — **Daniele Acciari**, discussing 2013 Papa Circuit
> _Demonstrates the mental and physical toll of climbing the Papa Circuit ladder format from 24th position to victory_

> "I believe to lose, and sometimes when you play and you don't mind of your results you play better because i usually play and i don't I don't mind my results because this is a way to feel better, to avoid the nervousness"
> — **Daniele Acciari**, discussing pin golf strategy
> _Reveals Acciari's mental approach to competitive pinball: detachment from outcomes improves performance_

> "Raymond he deserved to win. Raymond played excellent"
> — **Daniele Acciari**, discussing IFPA 15 loss
> _Shows sportsmanship despite missing opportunity for fifth World Championship due to illness_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Daniele Acciari | person | 4x World Pinball Champion from Rome, Italy; elite competitive player; subject of Episode 200 |
| Jeff Teolis | person | Host of Pinball Profile podcast; conducting the interview |
| IFPA 16 | event | 16th World Pinball Championship being held in Italy; upcoming major tournament |
| IFPA 7 | event | 2010 World Pinball Championship in Minnesota where Acciari won his first world title |
| Papa Circuit | event | Pro circuit tournament; Acciari won the final in 2013 starting from 24th position |
| Stern Pinball | company | Modern pinball manufacturer; Acciari notes difficulty accessing Stern machines for practice in Italy |
| Williams-Bally | company | Classic pinball manufacturer; games heavily present in Italian arcades and collections |
| Gottlieb | company | Vintage pinball manufacturer; Acciari's first game was a Gottlieb machine |
| Zaccaria | company | Vintage Italian pinball manufacturer; games present in Italy but considered boring by elite players |
| Twilight Zone | game | Classic Williams game; Acciari's early tournament game and current favorite for gameplay flow |
| Walking Dead | game | Modern Stern machine; Acciari's current favorite game with excellent rules and flow |
| Jackpot | game | Acciari's favorite fast game; where he won the Northwest Pinball Championship |
| Total Nuclear Annihilation | game | Modern pinball machine Acciari played for first time at IFPA 15 pin golf event; impressed by colors and mechanics |
| Raymond Davidson | person | Recent World Pinball Champion (won IFPA 15); won last two world championships |
| Keith Elwin | person | Elite player; defeated by Acciari in 2013 Papa Circuit final; top competitor at modern tournaments |
| Zach Sharp | person | Elite pinball player; faced by Acciari in Papa Circuit final and other major tournaments |
| Johannes Ostermeyer | person | Young German elite player; won IFPA 15 pin golf tournament defeating Acciari |
| Lyman Sheets | person | Elite player from 2007 European Championship era; won that event; impressed young Acciari with his playing style |
| Jorian | person | Elite player from 2007 era; finished second to Lyman Sheets at European Championship |
| Andy Rosa | person | Finalist at IFPA 7 (2010); lost to Acciari in world championship final |
| Nicola Piero Bon | person | Acciari's pinball friend and teacher about game rules; now living in Colombia |
| Indiesc | event | New major pinball tournament in January in California; Acciari considering participation for 2020 |
| Rome, Italy | location | Acciari's home city; will host IFPA 16; Acciari recommends for tourists visiting Italy for the championship |
| Pinball Profile | organization | Long-running interview podcast featuring this episode; Episode 200 milestone featuring Acciari |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Competitive pinball history and career milestones, World Pinball Championship (IFPA) tournaments and structure, Pinball machine design and gameplay mechanics, Mental approach and strategy in tournament play
- **Secondary:** State of pinball in Italy and Europe, Modern vs classic pinball machine preferences, Challenges facing elite players in practice and skill development
- **Mentioned:** International competitive pinball player development and talent pipeline

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Acciari is reflective and humble despite his record achievements. Interview tone is warm and celebratory (Episode 200 milestone). Discussion of competitive challenges and illness at IFPA 15 introduces some melancholy, but overall sentiment is optimistic about pinball's growth and respectful of competitors. Acciari expresses genuine appreciation for younger players and the sport's development.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Limited pinball availability and practice opportunities for elite players in Italy impacts their ability to stay competitive; lack of modern Stern machines for study (confidence: high) — Acciari: 'the difficulty for me is to find Stern machine and play it to learn... I have much trouble to play tournament and to play pinball because the rules now are complex very very complex and you have to study... I have this handicap now'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Italian casual players prioritize machine aesthetics and IP themes over gameplay rules and mechanics; elite players find this limiting for competitive development (confidence: medium) — Acciari: 'people talk about money about the value of pinball. They like pinball only for the pictures printed on it and we don't talk about rules, about gameplay, about the flow of the playfield... they like people because he's a beautiful to see... they like medical menace because it's beautiful to see because there is a castle'
- **[community_signal]** International major tournaments (Papa, IFPA) attract stronger attendance when held in geographically accessible regions; fewer Americans attend European IFPA events and vice versa (confidence: medium) — Acciari: 'Papa is the biggest event in the world... if IFPA is played in Europe, less Americans come here. And the same is for USA. Many Europeans don't go to USA to play the World Pinball Championship'
- **[competitive_signal]** Modern tournament rules are significantly more complex than classic/Williams-Bally era games; elite players need deep ruleset knowledge; Stern games require extensive study (confidence: high) — Acciari: 'the rules now are complex very very complex and you have to study you have to know the rules because otherwise you have low scores... I saw for example Game of Thrones I saw Keith Irwin with 16 million. I don't know how I can do 16 million on Game of Thrones'
- **[market_signal]** Young European players (ages 11-20+) like Johannes Ostermeyer, Escher, Kolevkov are rising rapidly in competitive rankings and defeating established champions (confidence: medium) — Acciari: 'I saw another German guy of 11 years old. Very good, very, very good. And he beat me on the last Dutch Pinball Masters on the creature. I was amazed from him'
- **[market_signal]** In Italy, newer Stern machines in commercial locations are more reliable and preferred by operators than classic Williams-Bally machines due to lower maintenance costs (confidence: medium) — Acciari: 'in the bar or pubs you can find new machines because I think new machines don't break usually, often. And for renters it's more comfortable because they let a Pima machine there and don't worry. Instead if you put in the pub Williams-Bally, it was broken.'
- **[community_signal]** Elite players employ mental detachment strategies (not caring about results) to reduce nervousness and improve tournament performance (confidence: medium) — Acciari: 'i usually play and i don't I don't mind my results because this is a way to feel better, to avoid the nervousness, you know? And you can play better. Because if you play with nerves, you lose.'
- **[community_signal]** Acciari declining tournament participation frequency due to increased work responsibilities despite being 4x World Champion, reflecting broader challenge of sustaining elite play (confidence: high) — Acciari: 'now it's more difficult to play pinball tournament than in the past because to work, I have a degree more, and now I have more responsibilities. I need to be more present at work also'

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## Transcript

 it's time now for a special pinball profile episode 200 i'm your host jeff teals you can find our group on facebook we're also on twitter at pinball profile email us pinball profile at gmail.com and please subscribe on your favorite podcatcher for episode 200 we go to one of the greatest players in the world and it just so happens the world's greatest players are coming to his country for IFPA 16. He is the only four-time world champion and one of the best players of all time. Joining us today, Daniele Acari. Buongiorno, Daniele. Thanks. I'm ready to go to the work after the interview. For those who don't know, when did you start playing pinball? I started playing pinball when I was seven years old. It was 1991. Until I was 12 years old, until 1996. And I began to play on the chair. I was standing on the chair to play because I was too short to push the bat and to see the ball. And slow and slow, later I removed the chair and I played standing only. Once you got taller, yeah, the chair had to go. But, you know, as you get older, sometimes the chair comes back. So what games did you play when you were younger? I began on the Kubo Wizard of Gottlieb. I played on this pinball machine. And I remember it was broken because you could win the game when you finish on the match. You have two numbers equal and you win the game. And I played all the time for free until the technician replaced it with a light zone. and on it I spent a lot of money, I remember, for my age. Slow and slow I increased also the skill on Twilight Zone and after one month I won games with replay and not with matches. And I remember the people of the bar, the game room, complained of myself because I durred too long time. I played on the Pimbal from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. with one token only. And after that, I remember in the bar, they put also Street Fighter 2, World Cup Soccer, and Terminator 2 to satisfy the request of people because from that time, the people increased to play Pimbal. It was unbelievable. and it wasn't believable I respect it now because now people don't play pinball enough. Not like they did in the heyday, that's for sure. It's good that they got other machines in there so that other people can play and you're not hogging the machines. So you're in Rome, is there a lot of pinball there and in Italy? There are a few machines in Rome I saw very rarely in the pubs or bars. When I see a machine the machine is bad, it's in bad condition. because it's not very good for rent, maybe, I don't know. And the people don't like so much, and in other, there is a pimple in bad condition, therefore you can understand that the people don't like more, don't play. But now, in the last year, maybe something is increasing, maybe more people is increasing to play. I tried also to rent my machine to a pub of my friend and I saw if you follow the people during the gameplay, people know what to do to win on Pimble Machine and play so much. I think we have to do our work to follow the people when they play and maybe increase, maybe the persons can increase that play pinball. In Italy, are there a lot of newer games or older games? At the moment there are more Williams Valley 90s. 90s. These Pima machines are at home of people and in the bar or pubs you can find new machines because I think new machines don't break usually, often. And for renters it's more comfortable because they let a Pima machine there and don't worry. Instead if you put in the pub Williams-Bally, it was broken. And you can find in the house of people also old machines, like classics, old Gottlieb or old Bally-Williams. Daniele, you mentioned a lot of the Bally-Williams games, like Twilight Zone, T2 and World Cup Soccer. Is it safe to say in Italy there were a lot of Zaccaria games? I'm seeing in Italy the sellers had machines and began from Medieval Madness, Cactus Canyon, Williams Valley, 90s. At the beginning, they sold this big title. After that, I think they finished this title and the target was others. It was always a sell machine, but Medieval Madness, Cactus, Cactus, was finished and they began to promote Bally Williams 90s like Getaway, Doctor Who World Cup Soccer after that they finished also this and now they promote old machines like Zacharia and Old Gottlieb but I think for a good player now Zacharia and Old Gottlieb are so ugly games, so boring and And we like to play a new, stirred machine. I think also Williams-Ball in the 90s now, for a very good player, are boring. Because, like, Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones is too slow. Yeah, you make perfect sense. I guess with Indiana Jones, you're just hitting the center and starting multiball over and over again. Maybe do some modes, but really just getting back into multiball. That's interesting to me to hear you say that you find Zachariah games a little perhaps boring and maybe not very attractive. I find them absolutely beautiful, and I love the sounds of them. Games like Farfella, and I remember playing Clown at Pinburg one year. It was me beating the hell out of Josh Sharpe. Nate Shivers will agree. He was there. Do you have any favorite Zachariah games? My favorite, and I have it, is Pinball Champ 82. And of Zachariah, these years, I love the flip on the how-to-aim, for example. And the sound, because it was the first sound in the world I remember of Zachariah, right? And I love also Moonflight and Aerobatics, all the machines of Zachariah, mechanical. These are two good games that I like of Zachariah. Yeah, I don't get to see a lot of Zachariah games, and I wish I could because I find them beautiful and I find them fun to play, just like I do any game you don't get to see that often. With work and travel, we don't get to see you play that much. Is it really hard for you to play nowadays? Yeah, now it's more difficult to play pinball tournament than in the past because to work, I have a degree more, and now I have more responsibilities. I need to be more present. at work also and sincerely also the history of Team pinball for me is the crisis because around me italian people i have people that if you talk about pinball they talk about about money about the value of pinball. They like pinball only for the pictures printed on it and we don't talk about rules, about gameplay, about the flow of the playfield for example. And I participate also at the discussion in the forum but the argument is the value and the draw on the draw zone on people they like people because he's a beautiful to see now because it's beautiful to place the the rules are beautiful no and they like they like medical menace because it's beautiful to see because there is a castle the ramp with dragon okay and in In Italy, I can consider just 20, 30 great players. And the bad luck is these players are so far from me. I don't know if they are in my area, but they are in the north of Italy. And every player is far from other. Daniele, let's go back in time. The first tournament you played in was back in 2007. It was the European Championship. There were so many great players there, including Mats Runsten from Sweden, who was the number one player in the world at the time. Jorien was there, Lyman was there. There were 156 players, and you finished sixth. Were you nervous back then, or were you always confident? It was my first tournament, and I remember it like yesterday. I remember I began the tournament with qualification, and it was okay. and after that we had a playoff and I played the semi-final with Jorian and Joe Braxton with that at Circus Voltaire Machine I did 180 millions with the first ball I saw Jorian like a senior ok I play but this score is impossible to reach and I won the first game and there I understood that that I was in the semi-final because I didn't know nothing about tournament, about my position. I was playing only, playing ping, I had to win, no problem. And after that I realized that I was in semi-final and the nerves began because after we played World Cup soccer, I lost and also on Adams. I lost the second game, I was best of three, and I was out from tournament. I remember the final with Lyman Sheets, Mastrasen, Jorjen, and Lyman Sheets won the tournament. And during it, I saw Lyman Sheets many times, and I was amazed from his position when he played. When he was crouched down, yeah. Yes, I love it. And for me, he was the best player in the world in that tournament. And I was amazed because when I meet again him on IFPA 7, my first World Pinball Championship, I believed that he won again. He still did not. He's one of the best for sure. Let's fast forward to 2010. So this is only three years later. You were one of the Italian representatives at IFPA 7 in Minnesota. It was your first pinball tournament in America. Your English back then, as I'm told, was not very strong. I think you sound amazing right now. But none of that mattered. You beat Andy Rosa to win your first world championship. You must still get goosebumps thinking of that first major win. Yes, I remember it. I didn't speak English totally. I spoke with it, for example. I did the playoff very good and there I met my good friend, pinball friend, Nicola Piero Bon. I don't know if you know. He now is in Colombia and I miss him now because Nicola was my teacher about the rules of Pimbal Machine because I didn't know. And I remember that for me in that tournament the final was again with Jorian and Jim Braxton because I had a very hard match with him. I remember for example we played Family Guy Pimbal. I was at my second ball with 51 million. He was at 2-3 million at his third ball and he did 53 millions and I started again my third ball. You can think it's easy to win because you need two millions only. And he said, by means of my nerves, I lost the ball at my 52 millions. The nervousness was very high and we finished that match 5-4 for me. For me, the final was was the battle, the match with Yorian, because after that, I won all the matches, 4-1, 4-1, 4-0. I don't remember with Andy Rosa, the players were not so strong for the final. So I guess when you get over that hump, it's a lot easier once you get past that mindset. You've just had a tough battle and things are going to be okay. You got past the tough one, so to speak. Yes. Daniele, there are people coming from all over the world to play in IFPA 16 for the World Championships. Where are some of the places you'd recommend people go check out when they're in Italy? For the first time, I recommend to come to Rome in Italy because Rome is a wonderful tourist. Not, for example, for me because I work in Rome. and if you come in Rome, the traffic hits you and the stress you is unbelievable. I do every day two hours of traffic to go to work and two hours to come back. It's a nightmare. And for a tourist that visits the center of Rome, it's wonderful. You can see wonderful monuments, wonderful people, many restaurants with very good food, very good pasta. because you have to know that pasta is good in the south of Italy, and when you raise up the country, the pasta is worse. If you go to Milan and you eat pasta, pasta is worse than Rome, than the south of Italy. It's too far north in Italy, isn't it? Yeah. And after Rome, to go to Milan, you can stop to Florence, Firenze, and after going to Milan. In Milan, I think you need one day to visit Milan. That is only the center. It's so small. I was just there in the fall with my wife and we went to Lake Como Lake Como yes It so cloudy But it was so pretty It so lovely Yes So no other player has won more World Championships than you Daniele You've won four. Raymond Davidson has won the last two. Bowen Kerins has won two, and so has Rick Stetta. You almost made it five last year at IFPA 15 here in Canada. What do you remember about coming so close last year? I remember from last year, I began the qualification at IFPA, very very bad until the the first play off i felt uh not well not so well because in fact later i i asked to jasmine paracetamol because i had i had fever and after paracetamol my performance improved and i had a good tournament until the final because uh in the final i was very bad because the fever increased again and on attack from Mars, the ball comes down. This is the flip and... On the in lane, yeah. I missed it. Airflex was... I missed it and I understood there that I lost the tournament. I lost the tournament now because I have no chance. This don't mean that Raymond didn't deserve to win it. Raymond he deserved to win. Raymond played excellent and yeah he deserved to win that was nice of you to say that but it would have been nice to see you play without that fever that's too bad I had no idea. One thing I remember last year at IFPA 15 before the tournament got underway there was a pin golf tournament at Cabin Fever and you qualified first you were driving the bus and in the final you chose Total Nuclear Annihilation which amazed me because you told me earlier in the day that was the first time you had ever played the game and you still picked it. Yes, yes. I can see this I understand when I can win and when I can't understand when I believe to lose, I didn't play that machine before but someone explained me the rules and I chose it because I would like to try it because when I saw that machine I was amazed because the colors are very, very wonderful. I had a curiosity of a new Pimol machine, less ramps. I had a curiosity to play it because many people told me about it. It's a good machine, beautiful. It's very good. I like it. I would like to play and I played but I lost. and credit by the way to johannes ostermeyer from germany who won the event you had no fear of playing a game in which you had no knowledge but you just let your skills be enough i find that amazing sometimes when i can understand when i win when i when i believe to lose and sometimes when you play and you don't mind of your results you play better because i usually play and i don't I don't mind my results because this is a way to feel better, to avoid the nervousness, you know? And you can play better. Because if you play with nerves, you lose. And I forgot to tell you that I didn't know Ostermeyer. I didn't know. And I knew that he played before on Walking Dead and he lost. He lost with me. And I thought that Walking Dead is a game very, very fast. And I saw Total Nuke Annihilation. It's very fast, too. And I believed that I could beat him with the speed of the game, but he won. Yeah, that's right. I think in his first game in the final, he took a nine and then went hole-in-one, hole-in-one. But you picked the game because it was fast. Interesting. Since 2008, there have been six Europeans to win the World Championships and five Americans. I'm amazed how many Europeans make up the top 100 players in the world, simply because it seems some of the bigger tournaments happen to be in North America. Do you think there would be more Europeans in the top 100 if there were an equal amount of majors on both sides of the pond? This is a good question because I think I'm not able to answer you. I think there are different periods of time. One time the Europeans are better, one time not. And I think this consideration depends on the people that participate at tournaments because before we can think we are the papa, no? At Papa I remind that many, many people go to play Papa because it's a huge tournament. And you there, you can find all kind of people, European, Americans, from all the world. Because I think Papa is the biggest event in the world. And join all people, all players, all pinball players. Instead, IFPA, I saw that, for example, if IFPA is played in Europe, less Americans come here. And the same is for USA. Many Europeans don't go to USA to play the World Pinball Championship. And I don't know. I don't know. There are very good players in USA and very good players in Europe. And now I saw the very good players I increased from the younger guys. Like Johannes Ostermeyer, like Escher, like Kolevkov. They are very good. I saw another German guy of 11 years old. Very good, very, very good. And he beat me on the last Dutch Pinball Masters on the creature. I was amazed from him, to watch him. We need more tournaments in bars so some of these young kids can't get in and then older people like you and I can maybe win some more tournaments. Yes, I'm very glad of this because it means that pinball is growing up in the world. And I think USA is growing up more than Europe, but maybe in the next future. But I think five, six years in Europe grows so much. We need seniors tournaments for us older people. Next year, the Stern Pro Circuit is switching back to the top 20 players, and it's a complete ladder match. Four players playing one game, players 17 through 20. The loser out. They bring in the next player and go until they have the finals. Back in 2013, you qualified for the then Papa Circuit final. You got in with a win at the Northwest Championships. You were at the bottom of the ladder, and you won it all. You beat Keith Elwin in the circuit final. How hard was it to climb all the way back from the bottom to the top? To arrive on the Pimple Circuit, Pampa Circuit final was very, very hard because you had to win a circle of tournament in USA and I won a Northwest Pimple Championship with only one tournament I was qualified. and I begin from the bottom as the 24th player It very hard to do that tournament because you know in your mind that if you lose one game you're out. And the stress is huge because you have to play good every game. You have to play very, very good. And it depends also on the score of the other players. but in your mind you are very stressed and it's difficult to play well with relax. I had two or three games, it's a so lucky game because I had a bad score and there was another guy that has a bad score than mine and was very lucky. I employed eight hours to arrive from the bottom to the top to play the final with Zach Sharp, Keith Herwin. I took about two, three painkillers because I had a pain on my arms, on my breast. And after eight hours, I had the final. But in that point, I had an advance respect to other players because I knew very well every machine. Zach Sharp, Keith Herwin, Joshua, no. They played for the first time on that game. And in the final, I think I had an advantage. I respect them. Daniele, that's a good point. You had so much experience playing these games. Everyone coming in was cold and you were already warmed up. I guess you did have an advantage. You had to win more games, but you had experience on the machines. Yes, after three hours and the final, the other four hours. I played 12 hours in a row. It was unbelievable. When I won, I was amazed of myself. Yeah, really. A lot of other people were amazed, but not surprised by what you've done on your pinball resume. So here we are looking at next year, the last two years there hasn't been a Papa Championship. Fingers crossed it'll be back in 2020. But there is a new major at Indisc in January in California. Do you see that event as an opportunity for you to come back to the U.S.? Yes, for me it's a good opportunity to come back there. And I'm glad also because January for me is more possible to come there instead of the summer because in the summer I have a problem with my work to have day off because all people ask for vacation. And in January for me it's better. I surely can go next year to Indiesc. I don't know if the flight is so expensive, but I can go there. I heard from other players that Indiesc is like Vava, it's the same tournament. I don't know, but I heard that. And maybe next year I participate, maybe. Maybe, yes. Yes, it is. It's very similar and a lot of fun. Yeah, because I heard also that technology is very high in that tournament. There is a streaming computer like that. Plus the Carl Weathers will be very nice in California. I know you'll enjoy that. So let's talk about pinball playing. What flipper skills do you think made you improve your game and go to the next level? My next level, I think I have to learn to do the life catch. I have to learn it and I need more training because I don't play pinball. When I am at home, I can play one game for fun, only one hour per week. I know that I need more training because I saw now that the tournaments, respecting the pass, are more difficult. You can meet people like Ozermeyer, Keith Elwin, Zach Sharp, whole big players. And every player is improving slow and slow in the time. and slowing, the tournaments are getting very, very hard. And you need the concentration from the beginning to the end, and you need also more skill and more constantly. I hope in the future I can do it, because otherwise I don't win. Do you watch tutorials and videos? No, because they are in English and I have some trouble to follow it. I see Pintips and there I can find some rules, some important rules, but I don't know very well the rules because there are a few rules, the most important. If you would like to know very well the machine, I think you have to see a tutorial. I have trouble to see it and I have trouble also in my city to play new Stern machine because the difficulty for me is to find Stern machine and play it to learn. As old Bally Williams, old Bally Williams I know in total and Stern not. and I have this handicap now and if we go in front of the time I have much trouble to play tournament and to play pinball because the rules now are complex very very complex and you have to study you have to know the rules because otherwise you have low scores I saw for example Game of Thrones I saw Keith Irwin with 16 million. I don't know how I can do 16 million on Game of Thrones. I have to develop how, but I have to study. I hope that I have much time to study pinball in the future. Daniele, before I let you go, if you had to pick three games, perfect flow, great rules, what would those three games be? Surely I choose a fast game like Jackpot is one of my favorites also. And I remind me of the Northwest Pinball Championship, the game with Caley George, 8 billion with 7 billion. Oh, you won the Jackpot, that's right. Jackpot, Twilight Zone and Walking Dead is my favorite game. Walking Dead, yeah, that's a great game. Okay, Daniele, I'm trying to work on my Italian. Tell me how this sounds. Io mangio il pane. To mangio il pane, you eat bread. I eat bread. Okay, I came across. All right, all right. Grazie, my friend. This has been wonderful. All the best to you at IFPA 16 in Italy, and we hope to see you stateside soon. Thanks, Jeff. When you want, you're welcome. Bye-bye, Jeff. Well, there you have it. Daniele Acari live from Italy getting ready for IFPA 16. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at Pinball Profile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. And please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. I'm Jeff Teolas.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: cb54e49b-9749-4cf0-94eb-5207220e2ef8*