# I Competed in my First Tournament... **Source:** Cary Hardy **Type:** video **Published:** 2022-09-12 **Duration:** 6m 46s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eqAgV2hEU0 --- ## Analysis Kerry Hardy competed in his first pinball tournament—a memorial event for Barry Owsler organized by Louis Marks at Kevin Moore's house with ~50 participants. Hardy placed second in C division and won a trophy, but concludes that competitive tournament play is not for him; he prefers casual, unrestricted pinball playing. He praises tournament organizers and thanks the community for their support. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Kerry Hardy had never competed in a pinball tournament before this event despite extensive involvement in the hobby (repairs, restorations, buying/selling, reviews, etc.) — _Opening statement: 'With all that I have done in the hobby of pinball... I have done it all, except for one thing. And that is compete in a tournament. Well, now I have.'_ - [HIGH] The tournament was a memorial for Barry Owsler, with approximately 50 participants — _Direct statement: 'This tournament was a memorial for Barry Owsler... there was about 50 maybe a little more than that people involved in it'_ - [HIGH] Hardy placed second in C division and won a trophy — _Explicit claim: 'I had a very good last ball in that game and that placed me in second place in the C division'_ - [MEDIUM] Tournament divisions roughly correspond to skill rankings: A division (top 10), B division (11-20), C division (20-30+) — _Hardy's explanation with caveat: 'And for those of you that don't know the divisions... I'm probably getting this wrong at least, but think of it as...'_ - [HIGH] Hardy did not play well overall in the tournament despite owning some of the games and being familiar with them — _'Overall, I definitely did not play to my best. And that includes whenever I had to play a game that I even own.'_ ### Notable Quotes > "I guess for me, pinball and playing it needs to be kind of like sex I want to be able to do what I want when I want and how I probably" > — **Kerry Hardy**, ~3:20 > _Core philosophy: Hardy values unrestricted, casual play over structured tournament competition_ > "Hats off to you that if you organize tournaments, that is something that I definitely would not volunteer to do. because that looks like a lot of work" > — **Kerry Hardy**, ~4:30 > _Expresses respect for tournament organizers while acknowledging the complexity of running events_ > "I have nothing against those of you that go to these tournaments religiously especially and even more so to those that organize it" > — **Kerry Hardy**, ~4:15 > _Clarifies he has no negative judgment toward tournament players/organizers, just noting it's not his preference_ > "So I got to play against two other people on three different games. And I want to say I did okay for the first couple of games And in another game I did quite poor" > — **Kerry Hardy**, ~9:15 > _Honest self-assessment of tournament performance across different games_ > "Some of which even recognized me to let me know that They do watch my content and some of my videos have helped them in certain tasks" > — **Kerry Hardy**, ~5:00 > _Confirms Hardy's content reaches and helps community members, establishing his credibility and influence_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Kerry Hardy | person | Pinball content creator, YouTuber, and hobbyist competing in his first tournament | | Barry Owsler | person | Pinball community member whom the memorial tournament honored | | Kathy Owsler | person | Barry Owsler's wife, who competed in the memorial tournament | | Kevin Moore | person | Host of the tournament at his house; associated with Pinball Elite Restorations; paid for the trophies | | Louis Marks | person | Tournament organizer for the Barry Owsler memorial tournament | | Pinball Elite Restorations | company | Kevin Moore's business, mentioned as associated with the tournament | | Lord of the Game Room | company | Crafted the trophies for the Barry Owsler memorial tournament | | The Getaway | game | Pinball machine Hardy owns and played in tournament; he had best familiarity with this game but still underperformed | | Sea Witch | game | Final game Hardy played in tournament where he scored second place in C division with strong last ball | | James Bond 007 | game | Stern's next release mentioned at video end; Hardy anticipates covering it in upcoming content | | Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer with upcoming James Bond 007 release | ### Topics - **Primary:** Pinball tournaments and competitive play, Community events and memorials, Content creator personal experience - **Secondary:** Tournament structure and divisions, Pinball hobbyist lifestyle - **Mentioned:** Upcoming Stern releases ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.75) — Hardy is appreciative of the tournament experience and community, grateful to attendees and organizers, and respectful toward competitive players. However, he explicitly concludes tournaments are not for him, tempering enthusiasm with personal preference. Overall tone is warm and reflective rather than negative. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Content creator Kerry Hardy's participation in community memorial tournament signals growing engagement between content producers and competitive players (confidence: high) — Hardy participated in organized tournament and was recognized by attendees; notes several viewers thanked him for helpful content - **[event_signal]** Barry Owsler memorial tournament organized by Louis Marks at Kevin Moore's house with ~50 participants represents significant community gathering (confidence: high) — Event described with ~50 participants, trophies commissioned from professional craftsman, multiple divisions of competition - **[community_signal]** Hardy's content approach emphasizes hands-on experience; he felt compelled to actually compete in tournaments despite acknowledging it's not his strength in order to authentically understand and discuss the experience (confidence: medium) — 'I felt that a part of me needed to do i needed to get into it at least try it' indicates deliberate choice to gain firsthand experience for content authenticity --- ## Transcript With all that I have done in the hobby of pinball, repairs, restorations, buy, sell, flip, trade, review, tips and tricks, etc. I could go on. I have done it all, except for one thing. And that is compete in a tournament. Well, now I have. And I even won a trophy. What's up guys and welcome back to my channel where I talk and do everything pinball. So if that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below. Now don't let the subject of this video turn you away from watching it. I'm going to try to make the video brief but I know there's a lot of you out there including myself that listen to podcasts or even watch a lot of other content. and when it goes into talking about tournaments it turns into so the video will not be going into great detail on talking about whoppers or other kinds of currencies or whatever i'm not that knowledgeable on tournaments that is why this is something that i felt that a part of me needed to do i needed to get into it at least try it and um save it something for me. And in a nutshell, no, it's not for me. I guess for me, pinball and playing it needs to be kind of like sex I want to be able to do what I want when I want and how I probably going into way too much detail about my life And just so we clear I have nothing against those of you that go to these tournaments religiously especially and even more so to those that organize it Hats off to you that if you organize tournaments, that is something that I definitely would not volunteer to do. because that looks like a lot of work and uh no. Louis Marks organized this tournament and I want to say there was about 50 maybe a little more than that people involved in it. The tournament was held at my buddy Kevin Moore's house and I will obviously show you his collection here. Now this tournament was a memorial for Barry Owsler. His wife Kathy also even competed in the tournament. I met a lot of new people in this tournament some of which even recognized me to let me know that They do watch my content and some of my videos have helped them in certain tasks. And that's always a nice thing to hear. Now, of course, how it went down usually was like, hey, Kerry, I like your videos, great content. And then they proceed to just kick my ass in a particular game. So it's kind of a mixed bag. Now, I will be showing you some of the games that I've played, if not all of them, in this tournament. Now, overall, I definitely did not play to my best. And that includes whenever I had to play a game that I even own. Because every game that I was scheduled to play, like you're going to this game, you're playing these people, people. Like every game I was somewhat familiar with, but definitely did not know how to play them to win a tournament That is until I was scheduled to play The Getaway And I'm not going to lie, guys, even with the knowledge and skills that I have on The Getaway, I still didn't play that damn well on that game. I got a very low score in comparison to what I usually get. Maybe it might have been all the rum. That might have been a little bit of a contributor, but I think that just enhanced my enjoyability of what was going on. Not that it wasn't enjoyable. It's just, like I said, you have the sex that you would prefer and the sex that gets the job done. I'm making horrible metaphors here. In regards to how horrible I was playing, I definitely did not make it to A or B division, so I was in C division. And for those of you that don't know the divisions, basically think of a division as like a span of like, and I'm probably getting this wrong at least, but think of it as, you know, A division is basically your top 10, B division is your like, you know, 11 to 20, and then C division is like 20 to 30 people or whatever kind of thing, going down the list. So that way you have like a first, second, and third place for a division below that kind of thing. So A division I definitely didn't make. B division I definitely didn't make. But I did make C division. So I was in the top 30-something, I guess. And so I got to play against two other people on three different games. And I want to say I did okay for the first couple of games And in another game I did quite poor and in the last game we had to play Sea Witch and my first two balls were wretched but my last ball did amazingly so well and I was the last player of the game to where I had to just drain it once I knew that I beat everybody else in the game I had to drain the ball so I had a very good last ball in that game and that placed me in second place in the C division so I want to say thank you to all of you out there that joined in on the tournament and contributed to the Barry Owser Memorial and congratulations to all of you out there that competed and won a trophy as well. The trophies for this tournament were paid for by Kevin Moore with Pinball Elite Restorations and were crafted by Lord of the Game Room. So pinball tournaments, are they for me? No. I mean, not to the extent then I'm going to be seeking them out to compete. That's not for me. So there you have it. But guys, we are on the eve of Stern's next release, 007. So by all means, the rest of this week is more than likely going to be filled with James Bond content regarding their next game. Give me the thumbs up, subscribe button, ding my dong, and until next time, guys, peace out. Outro Music _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: cfe6ccfb-b3a1-47e8-b26e-96bed384466f*