# Episode 426: When in Rome **Source:** Pinball Profile **Type:** podcast_episode **Published:** 2025-09-24 **Duration:** 8m 32s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.pinballprofile.com/episode-426-when-in-rome/ --- ## Analysis Jeff Teolis records an impromptu Pinball Profile episode from a restaurant in Rome with competitive players Daniele Acari and Johannes Ostermeyer, discussing their tournament experiences at EPC and upcoming competitions. The three combined have six world championships between them. Johannes is focused on studies and limiting tournament play, while Daniele remains Italy's top-ranked player and Jeff plans to attend the UK Open with Daniele. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Combined six world championships between Jeff Teolis, Daniele Acari, and Johannes Ostermeyer — _Jeff's introduction of the three guests_ - [HIGH] Johannes Ostermeyer won EPC Classics and finished second in EPC main event — _Jeff directly states Johannes' EPC results_ - [HIGH] Daniele Acari is Italy's number one ranked player — _Daniele states 'No way' he will let anyone take his spot as number one Italian_ - [HIGH] Johannes Ostermeyer won an IFPA 16 match on Dracula at age 17 — _Direct conversation about the historic match; Johannes confirms 'When I won that, 17'_ - [HIGH] Johannes is prioritizing studies over tournament play in 2025-2026 — _Johannes states 'a lot of studying, preparing for my finals that are coming up next year' and 'studying is a priority'_ ### Notable Quotes > "When in Rome you contact Daniele Acari." > — **Jeff Teolis**, Opening > _Establishes the episode's location and context, showing Daniele's prominent role in Rome's pinball community_ > "I think it's four in total. That you can speak and also Latin and a little bit of Greece." > — **Johannes Ostermeyer**, Early conversation > _Reveals Johannes' linguistic abilities beyond pinball_ > "Oh, he can have it. And then there's Lucas Ott. He can have it as well." > — **Johannes Ostermeyer**, Tournament rankings discussion > _Shows Johannes' humble attitude about German rankings despite strong tournament results_ > "No way. Maybe Pedroni in the future. But in the past, no." > — **Daniele Acari**, About Italian rankings > _Asserts Daniele's dominance in Italian pinball while acknowledging potential future competition from Pedroni_ > "Studying is a priority." > — **Johannes Ostermeyer**, End of interview > _Explains Johannes' limited tournament participation and future availability_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Jeff Teolis | person | Host of Pinball Profile podcast, competitive pinball player with world championship titles, currently traveling in Rome and Europe | | Daniele Acari | person | Italian competitive pinball player, IFPA-ranked top player in Italy, restaurant host in Rome, tournament competitor | | Johannes Ostermeyer | person | German/Austrian competitive pinball player, EPC Classics winner, second place EPC main, multilingual, prioritizing university studies over tournament play, age 17 when won IFPA 16 Dracula match | | Pinball Profile | organization | Long-running interview podcast series hosted by Jeff Teolis, landmark fixture of pinball community | | Paul Englert | person | German competitive pinball player mentioned as potential German ranking contender | | Lucas Ott | person | German competitive pinball player mentioned as German ranking contender | | Pedroni | person | Italian competitive pinball player Daniele believes could become top Italian player in future | | Markus Stix | person | Austrian pinball community member, helped transport Jeff at EPC in Austria | | EPC | event | European Pinball Championship, recent major tournament in Austria where Johannes and Daniele competed | | UK Open | event | Upcoming major pinball tournament that Jeff and Daniele plan to attend, streamed on Twitch | | Dutch Pinball Open | event | Upcoming tournament that Johannes plans to attend | | IFPA 16 | event | Historic pinball tournament featuring legendary Dracula match between Johannes and Daniele, widely watched and remembered by community | | ECS finals | event | European pinball competition held at Kurt's place in Belgium that Johannes attended | | Bali Strighieri | organization | Restaurant in Rome where the episode was recorded, friend-recommended to Daniele | ### Topics - **Primary:** Competitive pinball tournament results and rankings, Top-level international pinball players, Historic matches and memorable tournament moments, European pinball community and events - **Secondary:** Player backgrounds and personal lives beyond pinball, Future tournament participation and planning ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.92) — Lighthearted, friendly conversation between friends at dinner. Nostalgic references to historic matches. Warm tone throughout with humor and camaraderie. No negative sentiment or conflict. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Pinball Profile maintains active grassroots community engagement through impromptu content recording at informal locations like restaurants, demonstrating organic connection with players (confidence: high) — Recording an entire episode from a Rome restaurant while eating with players, treating it as valuable content rather than requiring formal studio setup - **[event_signal]** UK Open upcoming major pinball tournament with streaming on Twitch via Backhand Pinball, run by Neil McRae and Pinball Republic as Stern Pro Circuit event (confidence: high) — Jeff announces 'You can watch all the action Friday through Sunday. It'll be on twitch.tv. That's on Backhand Pinball for the Stern Pro Circuit event run by Neil McRae and Pinball Republic' - **[competitive_signal]** IFPA 16 Dracula match between Johannes Ostermeyer and Daniele Acari remains the most watched and culturally significant pinball match in community memory (confidence: high) — Jeff asks 'How many times have people come up to you two gentlemen and talked about that greatest, first of all, the most watched pinball match ever?' and references it as 'legendary' --- ## Transcript It's time for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host, Jeff Teels. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com or on Twitter, X, Instagram at pinballprofile. We've got a great Facebook group as well. If you'd like to show your support, that would be wonderful. Don't worry, the show will always be free, but it's pinballprofile on Patreon. So go to patreon.com slash pinball profile. And thanks to great supporters like Lua W. And Derek S. And Sean I. And Fox Cities Pinball and more. You know there's a saying. When in Rome. And I forget how the rest goes. But for me the rest goes. When in Rome you contact Daniele Acari. And who's here for three weeks studying or doing a little bit of co-op. Johannes Ostermeyer. The three of us together combined six world championships between these three people. and Australia's most efficient player ever, Johannes. Daniele, how are you? We're good. Tutto bene, grazie. Tutto bene. Tutto bene. Grazie. Tutto bene. Now, how many languages do you know, Johannes? I think it's four in total. Four in total. That you can speak and also Latin and a little bit of Greece. Now, where would you use Latin? Greek. Greek. Okay. Latin. So you think, we're at a wonderful restaurant. What's this restaurant called, Daniele? The restaurant was called the Bali Strighieri. A friend of yours recommended it. It's been fantastic. The house wine's nice. The little starters. You'll hear some dishes because we're still eating, but I thought I'd record while I'm with these guys. He recommended us especially tonnarelli, cicoria, and salsiccia, and carbonara. Carbonara è buona. Did you like? Sì, sì. È piú giusto. He likes. I'm just wrapping up my trip here with my lovely wife Anne and my Aunt Debbie, her first ever trip to Italy I was in touch with Daniele I was in touch with Johannes I like I hardly get to see Johannes I saw him at the EPC but because he so busy with school he won be able to continue on to the UK Open which Daniele and I are going to next. But Johannes, what have you been doing? Like this year? Yeah. And so? Not a lot of pinball, right? Not a lot of pinball. I've done like the big things, EPC, IFPA, both in Austria. I've played also ECS finals at Kurt's place in Belgium. Those were great experiences, I guess. But apart from that, a lot of studying, preparing for my finals that are coming up next year. Yeah, not a lot of tournaments right now. Even though you haven't had a lot of pinball, you've had some great finishes. The EPC, you were the Classics winner, and second in the main, because the other German, little Paul Englert, is he taking the German crown from you? Oh, he can have it. And then there's Lucas Ott. He can have it as well. Daniele, are you going to let anybody in Italy take your spot as the number one Italian? No way. Maybe Pedroni in the future. But in the past, no. But not right now. No, not right now. But I have to tell one thing. Johannes told a lie. What? What's your next tournament this year? My next tournament this year? Dutch Pimbala Open. You didn't take. But I was talking about the tournaments that I played. In the past. Okay, okay, okay, I forget. No, no. No, I like this. We might have a fight, another battle, like the legendary IFPA 16 battle, except this time not on Dracula, the big comeback. How many times have people come up to you two gentlemen and talked about that greatest, first of all, the most watched pinball match ever? How many times have people talked to you about that, Daniele? The best match ever. Well, just when people talk to you, do they talk about, oh, I remember seeing you in Italy. The Dracula was historical I think he the best maybe Yeah yeah yeah But your game was great Daniele and then like you know that's when the cyborg was born, and he came back. Maybe I had my strategy to lost the ball because there was a malfunction on pinball. Oh, yes. I had to lost the ball because I fear of another malfunction and I finished my pinball machines. Yeah, to choose from. The translation there is, he let you win, Johannes. That's all I'm hearing. Yeah, I take it, I guess. My favorite, how old were you when you won that? When I won that, 17. Yeah, I knew you were underage because as soon as you won, I saw you crack a beer. Marcus Six came in front of the camera and brought me a beer. and I remember that Dina was afraid because I was not, I haven't like turned 18. But you're from Germany where you have an Oktoberfest every two months, I believe. I could be wrong. Not every two months, but regularly. It wasn't his first beer, everyone listening to Pinball Profile. But yeah, that was fun. And Markus Stix from Austria, what a wonderful guy too. Can I tell you something I learned at EPC in Austria? Sure. He was my driver to go back to the hotel. He was wonderful. He gave us a ride and other people. And I noticed, I'm not, don't jump to conclusions. I noticed there were beers in the car and I'm like, no, no, no, I don't want it. And they said, no, no, it's legal as long as you're not over the limit. Yeah, there's a limit of how much you can drink until you're not allowed anymore to drive. On behalf of everyone in North America, what the what? It's normal here in Germany. you have the same rule. I don't know about Italy. Can you drink and drive a little bit? No, no, no. Zero alcohol. Zero? Zero, that's right. Italy and North America. Yeah yeah We sleep together Oh there you go Guys I know this is kind of a quick impromptu I want to get back to my meal but it great to to be here in rome and thank you so much daniele for uh you welcome a wonderful restaurant recommend you recommended by your friend and johannes i not going to see you for a while but i do wish you well at the dutch pinball open and uh you got a lot of studies so 2026 probably not a lot of pinball for you no i'm not going to the world i'm not i don't know where epc is going to be but maybe i'm I'm going there. Maybe Robert Englunds. Who knows? Robert Englunds. Who knows? We will see. We will see. Maybe I'm going there, but yeah, studying is a priority. Okay. And having a good time here. But you're going back to Munich, aren't you? Yeah. Yeah, I am. Well, have fun in Rome. And Daniele, you and I are heading to the UK Open and that'll be good. We'll win one for Johannes, okay? Thank you. Yeah, okay, okay. Okay. Okay, okay. Quick impromptu, this has been your Pinball Profile. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com. We're on Twitter and X at Pinball Profile, Facebook group as well. You can email pinballprofile at gmail.com. And if you'd like to show your support, don't worry, the show will always be free, but it's patreon.com slash pinballprofile. How do you say have a good night in Italian? Buona notte a tutti. Buona notte. All right. And in German? Gute Nacht. All right. And in Canada? Hey, how's it going, eh? All right. Nighty night. Nighty night. Next day follow-up. Dinner was great. Good to see some old friends. Wish Johannes could join us, but so busy with school and a bright young man with a huge future ahead of us. So we've got Daniele and myself headed to the UK Open. You can watch all the action Friday through Sunday. It'll be on twitch.tv. That's on Backhand Pinball for the Stern Pro Circuit event run by Neil McRae and Pinball Republic. Hope you can join us, and we'll talk to you soon on Pinball Profile. On an evening in Rome Satto celle di Roma On an evening in Rome _(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: d2b0a013-1cad-44b4-a065-5b0b4f1d4cba*