# Episode 41: Zach Sharpe, IFPA VP and current #1 player

**Source:** Pinball Profile  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2017-05-16  
**Duration:** 17m 15s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.pinballprofile.com/episode-41-zach-sharpe-ifpa-vp-and-current-1-player/

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## Analysis

Jeff Teolis interviews Zach Sharp, IFPA Vice President and world #1-ranked pinball player, discussing his recent tournament success at Papa (winning the circuit event and Classics 1), his competitive record against his brother Josh and Keith Elwin, the IFPA's new prize pool strategy for 2018, media coverage goals, and upcoming tournaments including IFPA 14 in Denmark. The conversation covers competitive strategy, mental toughness, training for an Ironman, and his appreciation for his father Roger Sharp's classic game designs.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Zach Sharp is currently the #1-ranked pinball player in the world — _Jeff Teolis introduction and Zach's own acknowledgment of his ranking_
- [HIGH] Keith Elwin is undefeated in player-versus-player head-to-head records with no one else achieving a winning record against him — _Zach's direct statement: 'he doesn't have anybody in the red... he's undefeated in that player versus player'_
- [HIGH] Zach and Josh Sharp have a 'split' agreement where they pool prize money if both make tournament finals — _Zach's detailed explanation of the formal arrangement and its application at Papa_
- [HIGH] IFPA increased prize pools for 2018 to boost media coverage and state-level tournament visibility — _Zach as IFPA VP discussing the endorsement fee and prize pool strategy approved for 2018_
- [HIGH] Cyclops is Zach Sharp's favorite of his father Roger's game designs — _Direct statement from Zach about his father's designs_

### Notable Quotes

> "I mean, again, I got to say thank you, Keith Allen, for not showing up. I appreciate it."
> — **Zach Sharp**, ~05:50
> _Humorous acknowledgment of competition dynamics at Papa circuit; shows Zach's wit and personality_

> "When it comes to the ranking, I don't pay too much attention to it. I mean, obviously I know where I sit, but I just try to win. It doesn't matter if I'm playing a monthly tournament in level 257 or classics one, two, and three, the A division. I just always try to win and have fun."
> — **Zach Sharp**, ~10:30
> _Core competitive philosophy and mental approach; reflects professional mindset regardless of stakes_

> "Me personally, I love the idea of it. Not to echo Josh's same message, but if it doesn't work, we could always try something else. But coming from my background in marketing and advertising, what gets the biggest draw from a news outlet perspective? And bigger prize pools definitely help."
> — **Zach Sharp**, ~20:45
> _IFPA VP perspective on prize pool strategy and media outreach; explains rationale for 2018 endorsement fee_

> "I do think about the wins, don't get me wrong, but I always think the losses always motivate me the most."
> — **Zach Sharp**, ~43:30
> _Insight into competitive psychology and what drives peak performance_

> "If I didn't win, as long as I beat Josh, that's all that matters."
> — **Zach Sharp**, ~65:20
> _Reveals sibling competitive dynamic and primary motivation beyond rankings_

> "The split. In order to qualify for the split, we both have to qualify for the finals. So for Papa, this past Papa, Josh laid an egg in Classic."
> — **Zach Sharp**, ~66:30
> _Explains the formal Sharp family pooling agreement and how it incentivizes mutual support_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Zach Sharp | person | IFPA Vice President, world #1-ranked pinball player, competitive tournament competitor, son of Roger Sharp |
| Josh Sharp | person | Zach's brother, competitive pinball player, IFPA tournament competitor, co-author of interview questions |
| Roger Sharp | person | Legendary pinball designer and industry historian; father of Zach and Josh; designer of classic games including Cyclops and Barracuda |
| Keith Elwin | person | Legendary pinball designer/player; undefeated in head-to-head records; only competitor with winning record against Zach Sharp |
| Jeff Teolis | person | Host of Pinball Profile podcast; interviewer |
| Phil Birnbaum | person | Ottawa player, ranked #2 in world, defeated Zach in Classics 2 Round 2 in decisive fashion |
| Jorian | person | Competitive pinball player, competed against Zach at Papa Classics 2 |
| Ali | person | Competitive player who defeated Zach at Papa Classics 2 despite never having played that particular game before |
| Keith Allen | person | Competitive pinball player mentioned as not attending Papa event; Illinois resident |
| Escher | person | Competitive pinball player, eventual Papa A finals champion, defeated Josh Sharp in tiebreaker |
| Raymond | person | Competitive pinball player, competed in Papa A finals tiebreaker with Josh Sharp |
| IFPA | organization | International Flipper Pinball Association; governing body for competitive pinball; Zach serves as VP |
| Papa | event | Major pinball tournament circuit event where Zach won the circuit event and Classics 1 recently |
| Classics | event | Multi-round papa tournament component; Zach won Classics 1 but lost in Classics 2 |
| Pinberg | event | Major international pinball tournament; Zach won in 2015; planning to return for IFPA 14 |
| IFPA 10 World Championship | event | Tournament in Germany where Zach faced Jorgen in game nine playing Harlem Globetrotters |
| IFPA 14 | event | Upcoming world championship tournament in Denmark in June; Zach planning to compete and defend title |
| Indisc | event | January pinball tournament organized by Jim, Carl, and Bob; Zach circled as definite wish list |
| Cyclops | game | Rare classic game designed by Roger Sharp; Zach's favorite of his father's games; approximately 400 produced worldwide |
| Barracuda | game | Classic game designed by Roger Sharp; helped Zach win his first circuit belt |
| Harlem Globetrotters | game | Game from IFPA 10 World Championship where Zach faced pivotal strategic decision |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Competitive tournament performance and strategy, IFPA prize pool increases and media strategy for 2018, Head-to-head record dynamics and competition benchmarks (Keith Elwin, Josh Sharp)
- **Secondary:** Mental toughness and motivation from losses, Family dynamics in competitive pinball (Sharp family), Classic game design (Roger Sharp's work), Media coverage expansion goals for pinball
- **Mentioned:** Upcoming tournament schedule and IFPA 14

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Zach is articulate, humble, and gracious throughout; demonstrates wit and humor (Keith Allen joke, penis museum comments). Shows respect for competitors and family. Some self-deprecating humor about losses. Overall tone is upbeat and professional despite discussing competitive defeats. No antagonistic or negative sentiments expressed.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Sharp family dominance in competitive pinball with formal financial pooling arrangement ('the split') for tournament winnings, indicating tight coordination and mutual support structures (confidence: high) — Zach's detailed explanation of the split agreement and its application at Papa event; Josh laid an egg in Classics but Zach's strong performance helped him advance
- **[competitive_signal]** Zach Sharp discusses strategic decision-making in high-stakes tournament play (Harlem Globetrotters drop target vs. spinner strategy debate), indicating depth of competitive analysis (confidence: high) — Extended discussion of IFPA 10 World Championship game 9 decision tree and performance analysis
- **[event_signal]** IFPA 14 World Championship confirmed for Denmark in June; Zach Sharp positioning as likely favorite given #1 ranking and confirmed attendance (confidence: high) — Zach states 'Denmark's coming up in June for IFP 14' and confirms plans to compete and 'defend your title'
- **[market_signal]** IFPA implementing increased prize pools for 2018 specifically to generate media coverage and news outlet interest; Zach as VP emphasizes media/PR outreach strategy (confidence: high) — Zach states: 'coming from my background in marketing and advertising, what gets the biggest draw from a news outlet perspective? And bigger prize pools definitely help' and 'when I'm talking to all these news outlets and I have to tell them how much a state winner is getting and it's $100, it's kind of met with not the most enthusiasm'
- **[community_signal]** Zach Sharp exhibits reflective, introspective competitive analysis; discusses contemplating tournament decisions during physical training (half-Ironman preparation) (confidence: high) — Zach: 'my wife and i are training for a half ironman this summer... on our long run today sometimes it's kind of you just go through some random old thoughts in your head and i just thought about that game that exact situation today on my run'

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## Transcript

 it's time for another pinball profile i'm jeff teolis you can find us on facebook also on twitter at pinball profile email us pinball profile at gmail.com and please subscribe on itunes he is the vice president of the ifpa he is the number one pinball player in the world and the silent one the harpo marks of the sharp family even when cbs news did that piece with him his brother Josh and his dad Roger were there. They asked Zach a direct question. Josh even answered it. But now we get to hear from Zach Sharp. Zach, how are you? Hi, Jeff. It's great to be on. Thanks for having me. Whoops, sorry. Technical problem there. Just a little sped up here. Let's try that again. Zach, how you doing? I don't know. I'm tempted to just stay quiet for this whole interview so you actually don't get me, boys. But I'm doing good. Let's go back to last month and talk about Papa because it was a great start for you. You began by winning the Papa circuit event on the first day. That's pretty amazing. Yeah. I mean, again, I got to say thank you, Keith Elwin, for not showing up. I appreciate it. Did you kind of put up a roadblock in Illinois now that he lives there or was he just not planning on being there? Oh, the Carl Weathers takes care of that. I don't need to do anything out here. And then it just kept going. Classics won. You won that. So back to back championships. It was pretty crazy. You know, sometimes, you know, the balls just roll your way. Well, in Classics 2, you hit a wall. I mean, you were on a roll. You won the Papa Circuit event, you won Classics 1, and then you had to play in Round 2 of Classics, the legend of Classics, Phil Birnbaum from Ottawa. Number 2 in the world, Jorian, and a guy who had never played the game Ali until that day, and he beat the living hell out of you. You never won again at Papa, and I'm just wondering, was that kind of where you saw it all kind of crumble? My jaw's still recovering from that sucker punch he gave me, but I just kind of kept going. You know, I was trying to do a rope-a-dope strategy, and it didn't quite work out. And then, of course, Keith L1 showed up in the building, and then all my fortunes just went downhill from there. I wish that game was streamed, but luckily we have some stills from Gene and other people of that knockout punch. But really, I mean, it was a great pop event for you, and it actually propelled you to the number one person in the world. Yeah, I mean, it's funny. When it comes to the ranking, I don't pay too much attention to it. I mean, obviously I know where I sit, but I just try to win. It doesn't matter if I'm playing a monthly tournament in level 257 or classics one, two, and three, the A division. I just always try to win and have fun. But big events too, certainly are, you know, you kind of want to step it up for the big ones too. I know how exciting it was for you to win Pinberg in 2015. Oh yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong. Winning level 257 is great, but the big events is where I truly want to shine as much as possible. When did you realize that you were better than your brother Josh at pinball and that you didn't have to take his crap anymore? He would like to say when he had his first child, but I would say it's a little bit before that. We kind of have a brotherly agreement that's our head-to-head record. So on your ISPA profile, if you click on the player versus player page, it has your kind of historical record against anyone and we always like to say whoever is in the green is the better player and I would say whenever I superseded that record is when I became better than him well I've seen your player versus player and there's only one guy not in the green and you mentioned him earlier Keith Elwin and he doesn't have anybody in the red not even five games nobody got lucky a three versus two maybe Keith had to leave early nothing like that he's undefeated in that player versus player. You're actually second there. You've only got him against you. Well, technically, not to make this a political podcast, but there is a suppressed player who has a better record than me, as well as Keith. I have no idea who that is. Those are the only two. Now, I mentioned on a previous pinball profile that you'd be coming on. So I actually received a few emails from people that wanted to ask you a question or two. Do you mind if we take some of those questions now? As long as it's not from Josh, sure. Okay here the first question Let say hi to Roger Jr As IFPA Vice President since we never get to hear your comments and you don really have to deal with any of the hate that gets thrown the IFPA way I'd love to know what your opinion is on the dollar endorsement fee that's coming out for 2018. Ooh, good question. Let's find out from the VP. Wow, you know, I did just say I wouldn't answer any questions from Josh, but I guess I kind of have to since I'm on the air. Me personally, I love the idea of it. Not to echo Josh's same message, but if it doesn't work, we could always try something else. But coming from my background in marketing and advertising, what gets the biggest draw from a news outlet perspective? And bigger prize pools definitely help. So I am all for it. And if it fails miserably, then we can reset and go back. But I'm sure you and both Josh are pretty confident that there's been a pretty good track record to see that the bigger prize pool certainly draw more attention. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I know for me being the vice president, I do a lot of the media and PR outreach. And when I'm talking to all these news outlets and I have to tell them how much a state winner is getting and it's $100, it's kind of met with not the most enthusiasm, to put it lightly. That's a good point. You know, I never thought of it from that perspective. So what would be considered a success after the 2018 rules come into play? You know what? That's probably more of a Josh gut instinct metric. For me, it's just more media coverage, more exposure. So if an increased prize pool gets me two more news stories or however many more in each state, I would consider it a win. You have to admit there has been a lot more about pinball in the last few years, almost in an exponential way. Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's funny how media coverage works because, at least from my perspective, when I'm reaching out and I'm kind of gathering these news stories, I'll notice other publications pick up the same story, even though I never actually got in touch with them. So it kind of snowballs. So the more momentum and more exposure it gets, it kind of just builds on itself. Is TV the ultimate goal? I mean, we're seeing some articles in print. There was a nice ESPN magazine article. You were featured in that. We saw the Wizard Mode documentary with Robert Gagno and other little pieces, HBO in May with their special. Is it TV? Are you looking at maybe something like a poker kind of broadcast where they take a bunch of footage from a big poker tournament and they edit it down into half-hour shows? Would you like to see something like that for pinball? Sure. I mean, I'm from the camp of beggars can't be choosers. So any type of media, TV exposure that we can get, I think would be fantastic because it'll just enlighten more and more people, you know, what pinball is and how they can get involved. Let's get another question from Roger Jr., shall we? If you had a chance to do it over again, at game nine of the IFPA 10 World Championship against Jorgen out in Germany, There came a time where, towards the end of the Harlem Globetrotters game, he had a ball cradled on the upper left flipper. And you could tell that there was a decision that was made to go back at the drop target versus passing the ball over and trying to spin her out for the win. He went with the drop target that shot it down the middle after his second successive drop target shot. if you had a chance to do it over again, would you have passed over and tried to spinner your way to victory? Good question. Ooh, that is a really good question. And it's pretty ironic that I actually had this thought today of all days. And, you know, you were not feeding me these questions prior. Josh didn't even let me know that he was providing you questions to ask me. Who's Josh? What do you mean, Josh? Sorry, Roger Jr. That's right. junior segue and i don't want to be long-winded like my father sometimes but my wife and i are training for a half ironman this summer and the workouts get pretty lengthy so on our long run today sometimes it's kind of you just go through some random old thoughts in your head and i just thought about that game that exact situation today on my run so that kind of funny so So long story short what I would have done would be shoot the middle spinner So I would not have tapped it over I would not have tried to shat the in lane in fear of it going up and out. Obviously, shooting the drop target didn't work. So in my head, if I had to retry it again, I would just gut it up the middle, up the middle spinner, which would increase my bonus, which would only help. hopefully get control of the ball somehow on the right flipper ideally and then shoot the 2000 spinner and win but I didn't so I always got that second place forever so thank you Josh or Roger Jr for opening up that wound it's funny you say you're training for a half ironman I know with the running aspect your mind goes everywhere and you're really trying to that's actually probably one of the harder parts of the run is what's going on upstairs in your head you know grinding it out. So yeah, you think of a lot of different things. Do you think more about the losses or things that cost you a championship versus some of the victories? Yes, without a doubt. I mean, I do think about the wins, don't get me wrong, but I always think the losses always motivate me the most. So Josh and I have plenty of motivation between the two of us. Okay, mental note for anybody going to Denmark or Pinburgh, wear Ali shirts. I'm just telling you, it's going to get in his head, man. That's interesting too about the Ironman. I had no idea. I mean, that's from what I hear, my wife has actually done one of these as well, and my sister-in-law, and the swim part. If you're not a good swimmer, I mean, that can beat you up, but it's smart that they do that right off the bat, too, because if they did that at the end, people would be drowning all the time. How's your swimming? It's going well. You know, we've been rocking out the training. It's been interesting when the Saturdays are the long training sessions. So this past weekend, we had a 50-mile bike ride followed by a 12-mile run. So when we have our monthly league that pops up on a random Saturday, it's always fun doing that in the morning and then having to stand on my legs and play pinball at night. If you're training for swimming, don't play Baywatch. That's not training for an Ironman, all right? You actually have to get in the water. Sea Witch. Sea Witch. Oh, very nice. Well, Denmark's coming up in June for IFP 14. I know you've had some experience in Europe, too. Tell us what you like about going to Denmark. I actually was in Denmark four years ago in 2013. I had a work stint that had me stationed out in Munich for three months. So naturally, you know, what is a sharp to do? Look at the IPA tournament calendar and see what tournaments are kind of around the area. And I went to the Danish Pinball Open. So I've actually been to the pin lab, laboratory, fantastic guys, awesome facility, and beautiful city. So I'm definitely looking forward to just visiting that country again. My wife and I are going to parlay after the tournament. We are going to Iceland for a week. So that I'm actually looking forward to even more. Check out the penis museum while you're there. It's actually, I'm not trying to be funny here. It's a big, big deal there. In Iceland? I swear to God. You think I'm joking. Look it up. Maybe it's not a big deal. My wife just got back from Iceland. She ranted and raved about that. And I was like, wait a minute. Is this a museum or just some kind of... Well, maybe I'll save that search for my home computer, not my work computer. I promise you, I'm not joking. When my wife went there, I said, okay, was it just a bunch of cougars going there and checking this out? And she said, no, I think there was even a school trip there. Okay, fine. Very educational. Freaky deaky, if you ask me, but you're going to jump in the Blue Lagoon? We are. That's actually going to be, we're mapping out our week and that's going to be the last day. Very nice. Well, have a good time there for sure. We've mentioned your dad before. He designed so many great games. To me, Barracora might be one of my favorites of his. Which ones do you like? I mean, I love them all. Barracora is definitely up there. And I'm not only saying that because it helped me win my first circuit belt, but Cyclops, without a doubt, is my favorite of his games. What do you like about that? That game drives me nuts, by the way. I'm not saying I dislike it, just I'm not very good at it. Well, I'm curious. Before I answer, what don't you like about it? Or what frustrates you about it? Maybe it's just rule set. See I love how deep that rule set is in terms of the monster bonus the dual spinners If you set up a difficulty hard the multi is a little bit more difficult to get where you have to clear both sets of drops on a single ball to light your lock the artwork minus you know my half-naked mom on the back glass is fantastic it's just it's a it's a total package i i love it and it's so rare i mean there's only so many of these games around the whole world i think the total is like 400 i don't know if it's 400 exactly and the fact that josh my dad and myself all own one is pretty cool i played it it was on one of the side banks at papa and i played it a little bit and just tried to get better at it you know what it is for me it's when i'm not good at the game of course i don't like it right but as you play it more and more then you realize okay it's not really the game it's me so i'll have to get better there and learn the rules and rip those spinners i guess Yeah, the sounds are great. It was actually in, I think it was Classics 2. It unfortunately took a dump, so it didn't last the whole day, but I love it. I've lost many a tournament on it, and I don't care. I still love it. So after Denmark, what Pampa circuits are you going to be looking at? You've got to defend your title. let's see i know for sure pinbird i mean that's without question i believe i'll be able to make it back out to buffalo buffalo open there is the b division championships out northwest which i am hoping to go to that as well i love how they changed the format to the old papa ticket qualifying system so if i can make it out to that i think that would be a lot of fun i'm not sure what the date is, I would love to try the Sanctum Marathon one, the 24-hour Sanctum event. I don't know if the dates will work out, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled for that just because, you know, the year that I do a half Ironman, why not try a 24-hour pinball marathon? Maybe San Francisco City Champ. My wife and I have some friends out in San Francisco, so it's always a nice excuse to get out there at the airfare. It's cooperative. And then always try to go to Indus. I love what Jim and Carl and Bob do for that show. I've circled that one for myself, too, as a definite wish list. I've got a few. I've got about six for the year that I'm going to do, but the big one I've circled is INDISC in January. That would be fun. Yeah, INDISC is fantastic. Well, best of luck to you in Denmark, and come away with that belt, and be a nice nod, especially after such a strong start at Papa, to come away with the IFPA 14 championship. Thank you. I will try. You know what? If I don't win, as long as I beat Josh, that's all that matters. By the way, for those who don't know, what is the thing? When you guys both make playoffs, you kind of pool your money together. Is that kind of the unwritten rule? It is. It is called, in quotes, the split. The split. In order to qualify for the split, we both have to qualify for the finals. So for Papa, this past Papa, Josh laid an egg in Classic. I mean, I know he missed a day for his daughter's birthday, But when he tried, I think it was Classic 3 maybe, or maybe it was Classic 2, he failed to qualify. So I didn't have to split my money. But we both made the A finals. So we pool our winnings and divide it by two. Therefore, we're kind of even more our biggest cheerleaders for each other. And he had a good Papa A finals too, making it to fifth too, losing to the eventual champ and a tiebreaker in Escher. And it's a fact. Adam and Escher were just on recently, and Adam talked about how strong you started out. You won your first six games in the A Championship in the playoffs. I did. And funny enough, if I did not play as well as I had, Josh would have been eliminated in that first round. Because I swept my group, it opens up the door for other people to get points. So he ended up in a tiebreaker with Raymond. And if I hadn't won the last game, then Raymond would have advanced. So I kind of helped him out there by playing pretty decent. All right, buddy. Well, all the best and have a safe trip in Denmark and enjoy Iceland in that penis museum. Definitely. Take care, man. See you, Zach. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find us on Facebook, also on Twitter at pinballprofile, email us pinballprofile at gmail.com, and please subscribe on iTunes. I'm Jeff Teolas.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: d4f3350b-cd7a-4e18-b469-17ead9748cbe*