# ARCADIA: HUNGARIAN PINBALL OPEN 2016

**Source:** Pinball News Website  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2016-12-14  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2016/12/14/arcadia-hungarian-pinball-open-2016

---

## Analysis

Pinball News coverage of the 2016 Hungarian Pinball Open (HPO) held at the Dürer Conference Centre in Budapest, expanded into the 'Arcadia' multi-game festival combining pinball, video games, retro computers, and arcade machines. The event featured three main tournaments (HPO, Classics, Pingolf) with 81+ players competing across multiple rounds, though scheduling delays plagued the tournament execution throughout the weekend.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] The Hungarian Pinball Open outgrew the Hungarian Pinball Museum's capacity, requiring relocation to larger Dürer Conference Centre — _Last year we reported from the Hungarian Pinball Open which was held at the Hungarian Pinball Museum in Budapest. That event was such a success that the number of players increased and the HPO outgrew the Museum's confines._
- [HIGH] The event was rebranded as 'Arcadia' to include video games, retro computers, and coin-op amusements alongside pinball — _Thus the Arcadia show was created, combining pinballs, video games and assorted coin-op amusements, as well as retro console gaming._
- [HIGH] HPO qualifying qualification was divided into nine groups of 28 players, each playing nine rounds of four-player games — _The format of the HPO divided players into nine groups (A-I)of twenty-eight, with each player playing in nine rounds of four-player games._
- [HIGH] Significant scheduling delays occurred throughout the tournament, with qualifying starting over an hour late on Saturday — _Not that the schedule was adhered to any more accurately in the main HPO. The timings looked reasonable on paper but once again delays crept in, with the main HPO qualification round on Saturday not starting until after 10am – an hour late._
- [HIGH] The Classics Tournament finals did not begin until 2am due to cascading delays — _Despite the time now being 2am, there was a good-sized and good-natured audience for the final._

### Notable Quotes

> "That event was such a success that the number of players increased and the HPO outgrew the Museum's confines."
> — **Pinball News reporter**, N/A
> _Explains the motivation for relocating the event to a larger venue and expanding scope_

> "Thus the Arcadia show was created, combining pinballs, video games and assorted coin-op amusements, as well as retro console gaming."
> — **Pinball News reporter**, N/A
> _Clarifies the strategic pivot from single-game focus to multi-game festival format_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Hungarian Pinball Open (HPO) | event | Annual pinball tournament held in Budapest; expanded to larger venue in 2016 due to growth |
| Arcadia | event | 2016 multi-game festival in Budapest combining pinball, video games, retro computers, and arcade machines |
| Dürer Conference Centre | organization | Venue in Budapest hosting the 2016 Arcadia/HPO event; single-story complex with multiple rooms |
| Hungarian Pinball Museum | organization | Original venue for HPO prior to 2016; housed the event in 2015 before capacity was exceeded |
| Altar | company | Gaming furniture company with display at Arcadia featuring themed coffee-table pinballs (Star Wars, Phantom of the Opera) |
| RS Pinball | company | Vendor at Arcadia representing Heighway Pinball and PinSound audio system |
| Heighway Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer represented at Arcadia by RS Pinball |
| PinSound | product | Audio upgrade system for pinball machines; demonstrated on Indiana Jones at Arcadia |
| Krakow Pinball Museum | organization | Polish pinball museum with vendor booth at Arcadia event |
| Sághy Kálmán | person | Hungarian pinball player; finalist in Classics Tournament and tournament organizer |
| Lieven Engelbeen | person | Belgian pinball player; finalist in Classics Tournament |
| Santiago Elices | person | Pinball player; finalist in Classics Tournament |
| Taco Wouters | person | Pinball player; finalist in Classics Tournament |
| Playseat | company | Gaming seats vendor at Arcadia |
| Konzolok Szervize | company | Vendor selling gaming toys and clothing at Arcadia |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Tournament organization and logistics, Venue and event expansion, Multi-game festival format, Scheduling and operational delays
- **Secondary:** Pinball machine variety and availability, Vendor ecosystem and aftermarket products, Adjacent gaming markets (retro, arcades, video games), International pinball community

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0.55) — Reporter maintains objective journalistic tone covering event logistics, venues, and tournament details with factual, non-judgmental documentation. Mild criticism of scheduling delays and operational issues (manual score entry, cascading delays) is presented matter-of-factly. Community participation and multi-game appeal appear positive but are not explicitly emphasized with enthusiastic language.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Vendor participation from manufacturer representatives (Heighway Pinball, RS Pinball) and aftermarket product vendors (PinSound, Altar gaming furniture) indicating robust supplier ecosystem (confidence: high) — Multiple vendor booths including RS Pinball, Krakow Pinball Museum stand, Playseat, Konzolok Szervize, gaming furniture displays
- **[event_signal]** International pinball community participation with players from Belgium, Poland, Hungary and other nations competing in organized tournament structure (confidence: high) — Multiple nationals competing including Lieven Engelbeen (Belgian), Sághy Kálmán (Hungarian), international participants in HPO qualifying
- **[event_signal]** HPO successfully expanded from single-game tournament to multi-game 'Arcadia' festival, indicating growth in player base and demand for broader gaming entertainment (confidence: high) — Event moved to larger venue and expanded scope from pinball-only to include video games, retro computers, and arcade machines due to increased player numbers
- **[operational_signal]** Significant tournament execution delays cascading through entire event weekend, with manual score entry processes creating information bottlenecks (confidence: high) — Friday qualifying delayed before start; Saturday qualifying started over 1 hour late; Classics Tournament delayed to 2am finals; manual carbon-copy score entry cited as source of delays
- **[technology_signal]** PinSound audio system integration on pinball machines being demonstrated at commercial events, suggesting growing adoption of audio upgrade technology (confidence: medium) — PinSound-fitted Indiana Jones noted as being easily heard over other games in free-play area; featured by RS Pinball vendor booth

---

## Transcript

**Date:**
18th - 20th November, 2016

**Location:**
Dürer Rendezvényház, Ajtósi Dürer sor 19-21 Budapest 1146, Hungary

[Last year](https://www.pinballnews.com/shows/hpo2015/index.html) we reported from the Hungarian Pinball Open which was held at the [Hungarian Pinball Museum](http://www.flippermuzeum.hu/en/) in Budapest. That event was such a success that the number of players increased and the HPO outgrew the Museum’s confines.

So for 2016 the organisers moved to the larger Dürer Conference Centre in the north-west of the city, a short walk from Heroes’ Square.

[![The entrance to the Dürer Conference Centre](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/105.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/105.jpg)

The entrance to the Dürer Conference Centre

With the move to a larger space, the opportunity was taken to expand the event beyond just the pinball tournaments, to make it appeal to gamers of different types. Thus the Arcadia show was created, combining pinballs, video games and assorted coin-op amusements, as well as retro console gaming.

[![The Arcadia show banner](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/106.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/106.jpg)

The Arcadia show banner

[![Not forgetting the Hungarian Pinball Open](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/108.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/108.jpg)

Not forgetting the Hungarian Pinball Open

The Dürer Conference Centre is a single-storey complex comprised of several rooms of various sizes. We arrived on Friday evening when it was dark outside and the building was nicely illuminated.

[![The Dürer Conference Centre at night](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/67.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/67.jpg)

The Dürer Conference Centre at night

[![The Dürer Conference Centre](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/107.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/107.jpg)

The Dürer Conference Centre

Once through the entry doors and past the registration/payment desk, we come to the lobby where all the cool kids hang out and the warm coats hang up.

[![Chilling in the lobby](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/63.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/63.jpg)

Chilling in the lobby

[![Coat storage cost 200HUF ($0.70/?0.64/£0.55) a day](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/60.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/60.jpg)

Coat storage cost 200HUF ($0.70/?0.64/£0.55) a day

Gaming furniture company [Altar](http://altars.co/) had a nice display in the lobby featuring two themed coffee table pinballs – Data East’s Star Wars and Phantom of the Opera games – alongside several less-playable but equally stylish pieces of gaming furniture.

[![The Altar area](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/59.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/59.jpg)

The Altar area

[![Altar's two coffee-table pinballs](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/19.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/19.jpg)

Altar’s two coffee-table pinballs

[![The Star Wars table](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/17.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/17.jpg)

The Star Wars table

[![The Phantom of the Opera table](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/18.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/18.jpg)

The Phantom of the Opera table

Also in the lobby was a stand selling Hungarian Pinball Museum T-shirts and other merchandise. We picked up a couple in orange and purple to give away as prizes.

[![Hungarian Pinball Museum merchandise](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/16.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/16.jpg)

Hungarian Pinball Museum merchandise

The largest of the three rooms in the Dürer was the free-play area which contained a nice mix of pinballs, video games, skill games and retro computers. It also contained the larger of the two bars.

[![Inside the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/8.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/8.jpg)

Inside the free-play hall

[![Inside the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/9.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/9.jpg)

Inside the free-play hall

[![Inside the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/11.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/11.jpg)

Inside the free-play hall

[![Inside the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/4.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/4.jpg)

Inside the free-play hall

[![Inside the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/5.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/5.jpg)

Inside the free-play hall

[![Inside the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/55.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/55.jpg)

Inside the free-play hall

[![Inside the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/26.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/26.jpg)

Inside the free-play hall

[![Inside the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/25.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/25.jpg)

Inside the free-play hall

[![Hercules - big as ever](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/2.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/2.jpg)

Hercules – big as ever

[![Head-to-head pinball](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/32.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/32.jpg)

Head-to-head pinball

[![Collaborative pinball on Granny & the Gators](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/54.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/54.jpg)

Collaborative pinball on Granny & the Gators

[![The retro computing section](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/27.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/27.jpg)

The retro computing section

[![The retro computing section](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/28.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/28.jpg)

The retro computing section

[![The retro computing section](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/29.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/29.jpg)

The retro computing section

[![Retro consoles and handhelds](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/35.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/35.jpg)

Retro consoles and handhelds

[![Kids these days wouldn't understand](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/36.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/36.jpg)

Kids these days wouldn’t understand

[![Video games and video/pinball combos in the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/1.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/1.jpg)

Video games and video/pinball combos in the free-play hall

[![Video games in the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/30.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/30.jpg)

Video games in the free-play hall

[![Video games in the free-play hall ](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/34.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/34.jpg)

Video games in the free-play hall

[![Video games and other skill games in the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/3.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/3.jpg)

Video games and other skill games in the free-play hall

[![The hockey games were popular](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/33.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/33.jpg)

The hockey games were popular

[![Some older mechanical games](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/37.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/37.jpg)

Some older mechanical games

[![A four-player racing game](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/53.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/53.jpg)

A four-player racing game

Here’s a list of all the free-play pinballs:

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| |  |  | | --- | --- | | * Lord of the Rings, The * Bride of Pinbot, The Machine * Fish Tales * Whitewater * Judge Dredd * Dr. Dude\* * Twilight Zone * Roadshow, Red & Ted’s * Elvira & the Party Monsters * Demolition Man * Godzilla * Addams Family, The * Cirqus Voltaire * Roadshow, Red & Ted’s * Indianapolis 500 * Teed Off * Super Mario Bros * Safecracker * Dracula, Bram Stoker’s * Congo * Champion Pub, The * Scared Stiff * No Fear * Shadow, The\* * Corvette * World Cup Soccer * Streetfighter II * Freddy – A Nightmare on Elm Street * Mario Andretti * Jolly Park * Flipper Football * Pinball Magic * Breakshot * Striker Xtreme * Shrek * Lord of the Rings, The * South Park * Apollo 13 | * Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s\* * Guns N’ Roses * Last Action Hero * Batman (DE) * Baby Pac-Man * Granny & the Gators * Star Wars (DE) * Star Wars Episode 1 * Happy Clown * World Fair * Mayfair * Power Play, Bobby Orr * Space Shuttle (Zac) * Locomotion * Caveman * Haunted House * Genesis * Road Kings * F-14 Tomcat * Heavy Metal Meltdown * Robocop * Orbito 1 * Attila the Hun * Banzai Run * Funhouse * Bride of Pinbot, The Machine * Whirlwind * Taxi * Diner * Earthshaker! * Indiana Hilton Jones * Terminator 2 * Alien * Full Throttle * Terminator 2 * Hercules * A G Soccer Ball * Hearts & Spades | |
| \* denotes game was not working at the time of the survey |

Inside the free-play hall there were several vendors with demonstrator games for visitors to play or gaming-related goods to buy.

[![RS Pinball were representing both Heighway Pinball and PinSound](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/7.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/7.jpg)

RS Pinball were representing both Heighway Pinball and PinSound

[![This PinSound-fitted Indiana Hilton Jones could easily be heard over the other games](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/58.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/58.jpg)

This PinSound-fitted Indiana Hilton Jones could easily be heard over the other games

[![Alien Pinball was here together with Full Throttle](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/15.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/15.jpg)

Alien Pinball was here together with Full Throttle

[![Alien's playfield](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/14.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/14a.jpg)

Alien’s playfield

[![Full Throttle](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/6.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/6.jpg)

Full Throttle

[![The Krakow Pinball Museum had a stand](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/13.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/13.jpg)

The Krakow Pinball Museum had a stand

[![A bullet-proofed T2](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/57.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/57.jpg)

A bullet-proofed T2

[![Konzolok Szervize were selling gamer toys and clothing](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/52.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/52.jpg)

Konzolok Szervize were selling gamer toys and clothing

[![Playseat were showing their gaming seats alongside some sit-down arcade games](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/51.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/51.jpg)

Playseat were showing their gaming seats alongside some sit-down arcade games

[![The bar in the free-play hall](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/31.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/31.jpg)

The bar in the free-play hall

We generally found the prices of food and drink to be a little higher than we would have expected. Although some of the low-end beers were 300HUF a can, the nicest dark beer was 700HUF ($2.40/€2.24/£1.90) for a can, while cans of Pepsi were 400HUF ($1.36/€1.28/£1) in a country where prices are generally found to be reasonably cheap.

If visitors wanted something a little more substantial to eat, there were two food vendors set up just outside the main entrance to the building.

[![Outside the main entrance](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/12.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/12.jpg)

Outside the main entrance

One was selling freshly-made savoury folded flatbreads, while the other sold hot toasted and flavoured nuts and… well, we’re not quite sure what the dishes were exactly, although they did look colourful.

[![The flatbreads had cheese and meat fillings available](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/64.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/64.jpg)

The flatbreads had cheese and meat fillings available

[![The hot nut stand](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/65.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/65.jpg)

The hot nut stand

[![Although pretty, we didn't sample them](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/66.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/66.jpg)

Although attractive-looking, we didn’t sample them

So that’s the setting for the competitions, and there were three main pinball tournaments held at Arcadia – the Hungarian Pinball Open (HPO), the Classics Tournament and Pingolf.

Qualification for the HPO began in a dedicated room on the opposite side of the lobby on Friday with a scheduled start time of 7pm, although there was a delay before the scoring system and the machines were ready and the games could begin. This was to prove to be a precursor to more delays across the whole weekend.

[![Players wait for the start of qualifying](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/20.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/20.jpg)

Players wait for the start of qualifying

[![Organisers working furiously to be ready to start the qualifying](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/21.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/21.jpg)

Organisers working furiously to be ready to start the qualifying

More on that later, but the format of the HPO divided players into nine groups (A-I)of twenty-eight, with each player playing in nine rounds of four-player games. In each round their opponents were different, so that by the end they had played against all twenty-seven (nine rounds of three opponents) other members of their group.

[![Belgian players check out a Roadshow prior to qualifying](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/22.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/22.jpg)

Belgian players check out a Roadshow prior to qualifying

Each group was allocated an area in one of the two tournament rooms with nine machines in area. These were mostly dot-matrix machines with a mix of Williams/Bally, Stern and Data East titles, plus a smattering of alpha-numeric titles from Williams and Bally.

Here are the machines in the five areas

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| |  |  | | --- | --- | | GROUPS A & F  * Star Trek (Stern) * Flintstones, The * World Cup Soccer * Sopranos, The * Hurricane * Scared Stiff * Terminator 2 * Transformers * Whitewater | GROUPS B & G  * Shrek * Walking Dead, The * Star Trek: The Next Generation * Tales of the Arabian Nights * Party Zone * Indiana Hilton Jones (Williams) * Creature from the Black Lagoon * Sopranos, The * Getaway: High Speed 2, The | |
| |  |  | | --- | --- | | GROUPS C & H  * Creature from the Black Lagoon * Twilight Zone * Cirqus Voltaire * Family Guy * Corvette * Demolition Man * Dirty Harry * Ghostbusters * Shadow, The | GROUPS D & I  * Mustang * Creature from the Black Lagoon * Kiss * Dracula, Bram Stoker’s * Earthshaker! * Fish Tales * Monster Bash * Ripley’s Believe It or Not! * Tales of the Arabian Nights | |
| GROUP E  * Attack from Mars * Diner * Simpsons Pinball Party, The * Terminator 2 * Addams Family, The * Game of Thrones * Getaway: High Speed 2, The * Family Guy * Dracula, Bram Stoker’s |

[![The first round of qualifying begins](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/23.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/23.jpg)

The first round of qualifying begins

After each match, points were awarded for position in the game. 7 points went to the winner, 5 points to second place, 3 to third and 1 point to last place.

The first four groups (A-D) played on Friday evening and the remaining five on Saturday morning/afternoon.

[![Friday's qualifying for the HPO](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/24.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/24.jpg)

Friday’s qualifying for the HPO

When all 9 rounds had been completed, the top 9 players in each group (a total of 81 players) moved on to the next round. The top four women players from the HPO also qualified for a separate Women’s Tournament final held on Saturday evening regardless of whether they qualified for the main tournament or not.

For those not currently competing in the HPO, the lure of the Classics Tournament awaited in a smaller room next to the free-play hall.

[![Qualifying for the Classics Tournament](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/38.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/38.jpg)

Qualifying for the Classics Tournament

There were twenty classics machines available, from which competitors could choose six to play. Having chosen a machine, players would put their magnetic name badge next to the machine name on one of two boards. If nobody else was playing the machine they could start straight away, otherwise they had to wait for their badge to reach the top of the waiting list.

[![Qualifying for the Classics Tournament](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/48.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/48.jpg)

Qualifying for the Classics Tournament

[![The Classics Tournament machine boards](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/46.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/46.jpg)

The Classics Tournament machine boards

[![The Classics Tournament machine boards](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/47.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/47.jpg)

The Classics Tournament machine boards

Once a competitor got to their chosen machine, tournament officials started a 3-player game using a key fob to prevent players starting or restarting games themselves. The entrant played all three player’s games simultaneously, and when they were over the scores were recorded, added together and then ranked alongside all other competitors’ total scores. This system helped temper the impact of any unduly low or any runaway scores.

[![Qualifying for the Classics Tournament](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/39.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/39.jpg)

Qualifying for the Classics Tournament

[![Qualifying for the Classics Tournament](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/40.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/40.jpg)

Qualifying for the Classics Tournament

[![Qualifying for the Classics Tournament](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/41.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/41.jpg)

Qualifying for the Classics Tournament

The machines used in the Classic Tournament were:

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| * 1 – Kiss * 2 – Space Invaders * 3 – Circus * 4 – Spider-Man, The Amazing * 5 – Firepower * 6 – Gorgar * 7 – Fathom * 8 – Medusa * 9 – Sexy Girl * 10 – Iron Maiden | * 11 – Rocky * 12 – Fireball * 13 – Pink Panther * 14 – Capt. Fantastic * 15 – Centaur * 16 – Airborne Avenger * 17 – Criterium 75 * 18 – Wizard! * 19 – Space Time * 20 – Rolling Stones, The |

Score recording here was a little odd. Rather than enter the scores directly into the tournament system with a tablet, phone or laptop, they were hand-written on carbon copy paper, with the top sheet being given to the player as their record. It was a little quaint seeing carbon copy paper being used again. This added an extra stage into the score entry process and hence another opportunity for a mistake to be made, but it seemed to work, more-or-less.

The bigger problem was how it introduced a significant delay between the scores being recorded and them appearing in the computer system. That made it difficult for players to know where they stood at any given time and resulted in the timetable for the latter stages slipping.

Not that the schedule was adhered to any more accurately in the main HPO. The timings looked reasonable on paper but once again delays crept in, with the main HPO qualification round on Saturday not starting until after 10am – an hour late.

[![The planned timetable](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/74.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/74.jpg)

The planned timetable

[![Players wait to start their qualifying round on Saturday](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/44.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/44.jpg)

Players wait to start their qualifying round on Saturday

The time taken to complete each of the nine rounds closely matched the anticipated thirty minutes, giving a total of four-and-a-half hours for the whole session. But it took some time to produce the full list of 81 qualifiers and to gather them together to begin the first of the play-off rounds.

In addition, with the clock ticking for the qualification round in the Classics Tournament which was running alongside the HPO, some qualifiers were trying to squeeze in their final few classics games as well.

The first play-off round of the HPO divided the qualifiers into nine groups of nine, and set them to play one game against every other member of their group – eight games in total.

[![The play-offs in the HPO begin](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/68.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/68.jpg)

The play-offs in the HPO begin

[![The play-offs in the HPO begin](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/69.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/69.jpg)

The play-offs in the HPO begin

When all the games had been played, the four players from each group with the most wins progressed to the second round. In the case of ties, the results of the games between the tied players were taken into consideration with the player(s) who beat the other tied players the most progressing. If that still didn’t resolve the tie, a tie-breaker game was played.

The remaining thirty-six then played the same format for the second round of play-offs, only this time there were just four groups of nine taking part.

Those sixteen played in four groups of four, playing three machines and using the same 7-5-3-1 points system to determine which two from each group moved into the final eight.

The Classics Tournament’s play-offs then followed, with the scores on the qualifying machines ranked and the top 32 progressing to the first round of play-offs.

[![The classics tournament play-offs begin](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/70.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/70.jpg)

The Classics Tournament play-offs begin

The format here was a little simpler, with the thirty-two split into pairs and playing best-of-three matches to decide who moved on and who was out.

The same method was used to reduce the remaining sixteen down to eight and then to a final four. They were: Lieven Engelbeen, Sághy Kálmán, Santiago Elices and Taco Wouters.

The final was held in the free-play hall in an area at the end of the room where the single machine to be used was set up alongside the trophies for this and the HPO. As well as playing in the final, Sághy Kálmán was running the tournament final and introduced the four finalists.

[![The Fathom machine used in the classics tournament final](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/79.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/79.jpg)

The Fathom machine used in the Classics Tournament final

[![The trophies for the classic and HPO tournaments](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/72.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/72.jpg)

The trophies for the classic and HPO tournaments

Despite the time now being 2am, there was a good-sized and good-natured audience for the final.

[![The audience for the classic tournament final](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/82.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/82.jpg)

The audience for the classic tournament final

Taco began the final, with Lieven playing second, Santiago third and Sághy fourth.

[![Taco begins the final](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/80.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/80.jpg)

Taco begins the final

After the first ball it was Santiago who had a slender lead with his score of 275K ahead of Taco on 226K, Sághy in third on 152K and Lieven, who had bad luck on his first ball, in fourth on 23K.

On the second ball it was Taco’s turn for bad luck, as he added almost nothing to his score. Lieven’s bad luck hadn’t left him yet either, and he only added 5K, while Santiago didn’t fare much better.

But Sághy had a great ball, raising his score up to 1.018M, putting him a long way in the lead with just one ball left to play.

[![Sághy puts up a big score on his second ball](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/81.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/81.jpg)

Sághy puts up a big score on his second ball

Taco had a better third ball but could only reach a total on 481K. Lieven finally got to play a ball but his total of 145K was still fourth.

[![Lieven gets to play a little, at last](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/83.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/83.jpg)

Lieven gets to play a little, at last

Only Santiago could now stop Sághy, but his third ball ended with only 301K on the scoreboard, putting him in third place.

[![Sághy is congratulated on his classics tournament win](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/84.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/84.jpg)

Sághy is congratulated on his Classics Tournament win

The trophies and prizes were then presented.

[![Third place, Santiago Elices](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/85.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/85.jpg)

Third place, Santiago Elices

[![ ](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/86.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/86.jpg)

Second place, Taco Wouters

[![Winner of the classics tournament, Sághy Kálmán](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/88.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/88.jpg)

Winner of the Classics Tournament, Sághy Kálmán

[![Winner of the classics tournament, Sághy Kálmán](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/87.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/87.jpg)

Winner of the Classics Tournament, Sághy Kálmán, with his prize

Here are the full results:

|  |
| --- |
| **Classics Tournament Results** |
| |  |  | | --- | --- | | **1** | **Sághy Kálmán** | | 2 | Taco Wouters | | 3 | Santiago Elices | | 4 | Lieven Engelbeen | | 5 | Markus Stix | | 6 | Sandor Varga | | 7 | Ollivier Francq | | 8 | Peter Blakemore | | 9 | Julio Vicario Soriano | | 10 | Rich Mallett | | 11 | Mathias Leurs | | 12 | Levente Tregova | | 13 | Gábor Fekécs | | 14 | Tamas Odler | | 15 | Rafael Masedo Rodríguez | | 16 | Kim G. Hansen | | 17 | Daniele Celestino Acciari | | 18 | György Kovács | | 19 | Piller Zsolt | | 20 | Greg Mott | | 21 | Jim Lindsay | | 22 | Rafal Bytomski | | 23 | Andrej Rižner | | 24 | Andrzej Cieslik | | 25 | Jürgen Gärtner | | 26 | Ernö Rotter | | 27 | Andras Horvath | | 28 | Fabio Squadrani | | 29 | Olivier Renders | | 30 | Lene Andersen | | 31 | Joël Wozniak | | 32 | Juan Antonio Martín Amaya | | 33 | Boldizsár Botka | | 34 | Dominique Decock | | 34 | Vargha Ákos | | 36 | Peter Andersen | | 37 | Gergely Csonka | | 37 | Andrej Demsar | | 39 | Stefan Karlhuber | | 39 | András Kató | | 41 | Philippe Bocquet | | 42 | Péter András Simon | | 43 | Zoltán Polgár | | 43 | Ales Rebec | | 45 | Cesare Datri | | 46 | Aaron Gale | | 48 | Berndt Ion Teodorescu | | 48 | Roland Schwarz | | 48 | Zoltán Dósa | | 50 | Zsolt Szabo | | 51 | Berecz Istvan | | 52 | Bart Vyvey | | 54 | Pierangelo Villa | | 54 | Csapó dr Imre | | 54 | Robby Henkelmann | | 56 | Laszlo Horn | | 57 | Markus Ramsner | | 58 | Jasmin Ibric | | 58 | Andreas Matt Frank Meyer | | 60 | Pawel Nowak | | 62 | Kyoo Barbaix | | 62 | Kornél Kosdi | | 62 | Marcin Moszczynski | | 64 | Maciej Olesiak | | 65 | Vincent Chardome | | 67 | Dirk Meckes | | 67 | Miklós Szebenyi | | 67 | Kovács Gábor | | 69 | Arno Nöbl | | 70 | Peter Varga | | 71 | András Lugosi | | 72 | Florian Horvath | | 72 | Matteo Filippin | | 75 | Fred Van Den Bosch | | 75 | Cinthya Messiaen | | 75 | Vid Kuklec | | 77 | Mario Vercauteren | | 78 | Ojvind Strömsholm | | 78 | Cezary Glowala | | 80 | Armin Kress | | 81 | Daniele Baldan | | 81 | Tamas Benke | | 83 | Jochen Schuhmacher | | 83 | Stefan Riedler | | 85 | Didier Dujardin | | 85 | László Kadala | | 87 | Wolfgang Wetl | | 88 | Béla Gyenes | | 89 | Konrad Maslowski | | 90 | Peter Van den Bergh | | 90 | János Dakos | | 93 | Gabi Molotov Gavrilita | | 93 | Evelyne Desot | | 93 | Gemma Tejedor Jiménez | | 93 | Szabó Tibor | | 96 | Martin Ayub | | 96 | ieronim pogorilovschi | | 98 | Péter Szamosi | | 99 | Daniel Nowak | | 100 | Michael Heiler | | 101 | Artur Natorski | | 102 | Jürgen Wünschmann | | 103 | Péter Busa | | 103 | Bartosz Radomyski | | 105 | Evert Brochez | | 106 | Olivier Leurs | | 107 | Markus Schrodt | | 108 | Bernhard Binder | | 109 | Laszlo Hornyik | | 109 | Zoltán Harangozó | | 111 | Dávid Laár | | 112 | Paul Jongma | | 112 | Devis Pierantozzi | | 114 | Jaroslaw Rupiewicz | | 115 | János Sándor | | 115 | Glenn Verhoosele | | 118 | John van der Wulp | | 118 | Gabriel Ortiz | | 118 | Zsolt Csiszka | | 120 | Martin Janczyk | | 120 | Zoltán Szemes | | 122 | Rob Breyne | | 123 | Ernestine Lachnit | | 123 | Zoltán Kiss | | 125 | Zsolt Mészáros | | 126 | Radoslaw Slotwilski | | 127 | David Schrittwieser | | 128 | Sebastian Gwizdala | | 130 | Giuseppe Violante | | 130 | Reiner Pfeiffer | | 130 | Michael Kerylidis | | 132 | Peter Boncza | | 133 | Matt Frank Goeltl | | 134 | David Mainwaring | | 135 | Timm Dollinger | | 135 | Fekete Tibor | | 137 | Attila Abonyi | | 138 | Željko Vasic | | 139 | Tom Geneyn | | 139 | Flavio Baddaria | | 141 | Marko Ritosa | | 142 | Angel Martínez Navajas | | 143 | Anthony Struelens | | 144 | Jakub Cieplinski | | 145 | Ari Sovijärvi | | 146 | Karin Ruhmannseder | | 146 | Laszlo Tari | | 148 | Wolfgang Haid | | 149 | Benjamin Ruso | | 150 | Dennis Verleyen | | 151 | Joonas Haverinen | | 152 | Zöllei S. Márk | | 153 | Bencsik László | | 153 | Somogyi Nándor | | 155 | Dina Fukson | | 156 | Antti Peltonen | | 156 | Thomas Kunstfeld | | 159 | Valter Odler | | 159 | Andrej Bukovšek | | 159 | Shachar Liberman | | 161 | Mirko Bogic | | 162 | Begoña Motilla Mulas | | 164 | Harald Czernoch | | 164 | Thomas Binder | | 164 | Lukasz Dziewulski | | 166 | Pascal Leroy | | 167 | Erno Lahdenperä | | 167 | Ovidiu Cacina | | 169 | Peter Molnar | | 170 | Daniel Kaczmarek | | 171 | Steven Demets | | 171 | Laszlo Tempfli | | 173 | Mihaly Makray | | 174 | Albert Pavlovsky | | 175 | Milan Caranovic | | 176 | Robert Glashuettner | | 177 | Zsolt Somogyvari | | 178 | Felix Radinger | | 179 | Mario Kaufmann | | 180 | Tamás Kerék | | 180 | Peter Kurti | | 182 | Maarten Lemey | | 183 | Antti Pitkamaki | | 184 | Attila Tóth-Szeles | | 184 | Ferencz Jozsef Norbert | | 187 | Daniel Gorecki | | 187 | Rafal Jodelko | | 187 | Daniela Ickler | | 189 | Bogdan Constantin Ghiga | | 189 | Uwe Ramsner | | 192 | Dimitri Verhoosele | | 192 | Szabo Istvan | | 192 | Andra Raicu | | 195 | Balint Olah | | 196 | Julia Scriba | | 197 | Sara Martínez Bueno | | 198 | Sabine Ramsner | | 199 | Gabriella Medgyesi | | 200 | Marta Scibisz | | 201 | Alejandro Yepes Piedra | | 202 | Flora Karap | | 204 | Gergely Gergelyfi | |

While the Classics Tournament was progressing, machines from the HPO room were removed so the remaining machines could be set up for Sunday’s Pingolf which would use the same room.

[![Machines are removed in preparation for Sunday's pingolf tournament](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/77.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/77.jpg)

Machines are removed in preparation for Sunday’s Pingolf Tournament

With the classics decided it was back to the HPO, and the same four-player group format used for the last sixteen was used in the semi-finals to find the four players who would contest the final.

The last eight players in the two semi-finals were:

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Semi-Final 1** |  | **Semi-Final 2** |
| Sandor Varga  Julio Vicario Soriano  Andrej Demsar  Flavio Baddaria |  | Krisztián Szalai  Gabor Solymosi  Ernö Rotter  Daniele Celestino Acciari |

It was clear this was going to be running very late indeed. The semi-finals began at 2:30am.

Semi-final 1 was played on World Cup Soccer, Kiss and Dracula, while semi-final 2 used Mustang, Ghostbusters and also used World Cup Soccer.

[![The semi-finals of the main HPO tournament](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/91.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/91.jpg)

The semi-finals of the main HPO tournament

[![The semi-finals of the main HPO tournament](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/89.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/89.jpg)

The semi-finals of the main HPO tournament

It took until 03:30 before the final four were decided. They were: Daniele Celestino Acciari, Flavio Baddaria, Gabor Solymosi and Julio Vicario Soriano.

As with the Classics Tournament, the final was held on a single machine in the free-play hall. In this case it was a Stern Star Trek. On the other side of the room was the Road Kings machine which was the grand prize for the winner.

[![The finals machine - Star Trek - along with the trophies](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/71.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/71.jpg)

The finals machine – Star Trek – along with the trophies

[![The Star Trek had various cameras fitted so the final could be projected on the screen](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/76.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/76.jpg)

The Star Trek had various cameras fitted so video of the final could be projected on the screen behind

[![The grand prize - a refurbished Road Kings](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/75.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/75.jpg)

The grand prize – a fully refurbished Road Kings

A smaller crowd remained for the HPO final, but despite the late hour Sághy Kálmán entertained them with an Elvis impersonation before the last game began.

[![Sághy does his Elvis impresonation](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/92.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/92.jpg)

Sághy does his Elvis impersonation

Gabor began the final with the player one position, but he didn’t have a great start.

[![Gabor starts the final](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/93.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/93.jpg)

Gabor starts the final

His 2.586M first ball score looked low, but none of the other players got much on their first balls either. Daniele did the best with 8.308M ahead of Julio on 5.567M and Flavio who just scored least with his 2.282M.

[![Daniele did best on ball one](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/94.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/94.jpg)

Daniele did best on ball one

None of the players took a grip on the game on their second ball either. Gabor only managed a total of 3.941M, Daniele added little to stand on 9.103M, Julio did similar with his 6.855M score, but Flavio did rather better to edge into the lead with his 10.499M.

[![Flavio leads after the second ball](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/96.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/96.jpg)

Flavio leads after the second ball

However, the third ball changed everything.

Gabor had a nice ball, getting his main multiballs going and ending with a much better score of 49.520M.

Daniele did likewise but not quite as well, finishing his game on 37.192M.

Then it was Julio’s turn. Could he match the nice third balls of Gabor and Daniele?

[![Julio plays his third and final ball](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/95.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/95.jpg)

Julio plays his third and final ball

He didn’t just match the other two, he easily surpassed them, getting to Kobayashi Maru mode and racking up an impressive total of 86.710M

Could Flavio catch him with the last ball of the final?

[![The audience watches as the final reaches a conclusion](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/98.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/98.jpg)

The audience watches as the final reaches a conclusion

Sadly not everyone had a nice third ball, as Flavio only nudged his score up to 11.938M, dropping from first to last.

[![The scores in the final of the HPO 2016](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/97.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/97.jpg)

The scores in the final of the HPO 2016

So Julio was the winner, with Gabor second, Daniele third and Flavio fourth.

[![Fourth place, Flavio Baddaria ](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/99.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/99.jpg)

Fourth place, Flavio Baddaria

[![Third place, Daniele Celestino Acciari](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/100.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/100.jpg)

Third place, Daniele Celestino Acciari

[![Second place, Gabor Solymosi](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/101.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/101.jpg)

Second place, Gabor Solymosi

[![Winner of the Hungarian Pinball Open 2016, Julio Vicario Soriano](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/102.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/102.jpg)

Winner of the Hungarian Pinball Open 2016, Julio Vicario Soriano

[![The top four](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/103.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/103.jpg)

The top four

Here are the full results:

|  |
| --- |
| **Hungarian Pinball Open Results** |
| |  |  | | --- | --- | | **1** | **Julio Vicario Soriano** | | 2 | Gabor Solymosi | | 3 | Daniele Celestino Acciari | | 4 | Flavio Baddaria | | 5 | Ernö Rotter | | 6 | Andrej Demsar | | 7 | Krisztián Szalai | | 7 | Sandor Varga | | 10 | János Sándor | | 10 | David Mainwaring | | 10 | Cesare Datri | | 12 | Paul Jongma | | 13 | Piller Zsolt | | 14 | Didier Dujardin | | 14 | Jakub Cieplinski | | 16 | Benjamin Gräbeldinger | | 18 | Santiago Elices | | 18 | Konrad Maslowski | | 18 | Ollivier Francq | | 18 | Roberto Pedroni | | 21 | Peter Varga | | 24 | Roland Schwarz | | 24 | Philippe Bocquet | | 24 | Jürgen Wünschmann | | 24 | Valter Odler | | 24 | Joël Wozniak | | 24 | György Kovács | | 29 | Joonas Haverinen | | 29 | Péter Grafl | | 29 | Andrej Bukovšek | | 31 | Laszlo Horn | | 32 | Daniele Baldan | | 33 | Berecz Istvan | | 33 | Florian Horvath | | 35 | Olivier Leurs | | 36 | Reiner Pfeiffer | | 39 | Levente Tregova | | 39 | Giuseppe Violante | | 39 | Matt Frank Goeltl | | 39 | Tamas Odler | | 39 | Wolfgang Haid | | 44 | Gabriel Ortiz | | 44 | John van der Wulp | | 44 | Evert Brochez | | 44 | Gábor Fekécs | | 44 | Peter Andersen | | 47 | Cezary Glowala | | 47 | Erno Lahdenperä | | 52 | Markus Stix | | 52 | Mark van der Gugten | | 52 | Taco Wouters | | 52 | Jaroslaw Rupiewicz | | 52 | Peter Van den Bergh | | 52 | Greg Mott | | 52 | Artur Natorski | | 52 | Kim G. Hansen | | 57 | Daniel Kaczmarek | | 59 | Andreas Matt Frank Meyer | | 59 | Angel Martínez Navajas | | 59 | Pascal Leroy | | 59 | Sághy Kálmán | | 63 | Thomas Kunstfeld | | 63 | Szabo Istvan | | 63 | Rich Mallett | | 63 | Török Antal | | 70 | Rob Breyne | | 70 | Kay Kuster | | 70 | Vincent Chardome | | 70 | Peter Blakemore | | 70 | Michael Kerylidis | | 70 | Cinthya Messiaen | | 70 | Tamás Marjai | | 70 | Andrej Rižner | | 70 | Zoltán Kiss | | 77 | Ovidiu Cacina | | 77 | Tom Geneyn | | 77 | Maciej Olesiak | | 77 | Rafal Jodelko | | 77 | Armin Kress | | 80 | Antti Peltonen | | 81 | Robert Pomazi | | 82 | Odler Axel | | 86 | Gabi Molotov Gavrilita | | 86 | Pawel Nowak | | 86 | Dirk Meckes | | 86 | Zoltán Dósa | | 86 | Attila Abonyi | | 86 | Gemma Tejedor Jiménez | | 86 | Andras Horvath | | 91 | Jochen Schuhmacher | | 91 | Maarten Lemey | | 91 | Thomas Binder | | 91 | Jürgen Gärtner | | 95 | Berndt Ion Teodorescu | | 95 | Laszlo Imre | | 95 | Péter András Simon | | 98 | Timm Dollinger | | 98 | Daniel Nowak POL | | 98 | Dominique Decock | | 98 | Jim Lindsay | | 101 | Stefan Holzäpfel | | 106 | Lieven Engelbeen | | 106 | Mario Kaufmann | | 106 | Milan Caranovic | | 106 | Mathias Leurs | | 106 | Jasmin Ibric | | 106 | Csapó dr Imre | | 106 | Anthony Struelens | | 106 | Zöllei S. Márk | | 106 | Wolfgang Wetl | | 113 | Andrzej Cieslik | | 113 | Ari Sovijärvi | | 113 | Bernhard Binder | | 113 | Peter Boncza | | 113 | Peter Molnar | | 117 | Ojvind Strömsholm | | 117 | Bart Vyvey | | 117 | Kornél Kosdi | | 122 | Bogdan Constantin Ghiga | | 122 | Markus Schrodt | | 122 | Juan Antonio Martín Amaya | | 122 | Michael Heiler | | 122 | Lene Andersen | | 122 | Zoltán Polgár | | 122 | Zsolt Csiszka | | 126 | Laszlo Tempfli | | 127 | Vargha Ákos | | 129 | Martin Ayub | | 129 | Matteo Filippin | | 129 | Marcin Moszczynski | | 132 | Stefan Karlhuber | | 132 | Boldizsár Botka | | 132 | Kovács Gábor | | 132 | Akos Tottos | | 135 | Tamas Benke | | 140 | Robby Henkelmann | | 140 | Gergely Csonka | | 140 | David Schrittwieser | | 140 | Rafael Masedo Rodríguez | | 140 | Zsolt Mészáros | | 140 | Zoltán Harangozó | | 140 | Sara Martínez Bueno | | 140 | Radoslaw Slotwilski | | 140 | Marta Scibisz | | 140 | Fekete Tibor | | 146 | Miklos Csaba | | 150 | Alexander Muer | | 150 | Fabio Squadrani | | 150 | Olivier Renders | | 150 | János Dakos | | 150 | Verebi András | | 150 | Szabó Tibor | | 150 | Mihaly Makray | | 154 | Arno Nöbl | | 154 | Ferencz Jozsef Norbert | | 159 | Rafal Bytomski | | 159 | Miklós Szebenyi | | 159 | Evelyne Desot | | 159 | Csaba Fodor | | 159 | Béla Gyenes | | 159 | Rudi Haferl | | 159 | Željko Vasic | | 163 | Harald Czernoch | | 163 | Zsolt Szabo | | 167 | Dennis Verleyen | | 167 | Alex Butnaru | | 167 | Benjamin Ruso | | 167 | Tamás Kerék | | 167 | Antti Pitkamaki | | 171 | Dimitri Verhoosele | | 171 | Ales Rebec | | 171 | Steven Demets | | 176 | Julia Scriba | | 176 | András Lugosi | | 176 | Zoltan Farle | | 176 | Liv Decay | | 176 | Somogyi Nándor | | 176 | Mirko Bogic | | 176 | Gergo Csetneki | | 180 | András Kató | | 180 | Fred Van Den Bosch | | 182 | Kyoo Barbaix | | 184 | Jenna Muer | | 184 | Bencsik László | | 184 | Balazs Novak | | 189 | Glenn Verhoosele | | 189 | Devis Pierantozzi | | 189 | Mario Vercauteren | | 189 | Dina Fukson | | 189 | ieronim pogorilovschi | | 189 | Felix Radinger | | 189 | Evelien Crevits | | 189 | Shachar Liberman | | 194 | Albert Pavlovsky | | 196 | Pierangelo Villa | | 196 | Katona Tamás | | 196 | Gergely Gergelyfi | | 200 | Daniel Gorecki | | 200 | Zsolt Somogyvari | | 200 | Agnes Budai | | 200 | Markus Ramsner | | 200 | Aaron Gale | | 203 | Reinhard Hager | | 203 | Flora Karap | | 205 | Balint Olah | | 205 | Grau Beatrix | | 208 | Péter Busa | | 208 | Zoltán Szemes | | 208 | Peter Kurti | | 210 | Alejandro Yepes Piedra | | 211 | Dávid Laár | | 213 | Martin Janczyk | | 213 | Lukasz Dziewulski | | 213 | Karin Ruhmannseder | | 213 | Vid Kuklec | | 217 | Stefan Riedler | | 217 | Mercedesz Gyimothy | | 217 | Attila Tóth-Szeles | | 219 | Guttmann Zsolt | | 221 | Bartosz Radomyski | | 221 | Sebastian Gwizdala | | 221 | Uwe Ramsner | | 221 | Miron Vasilescu | | 225 | Andra Raicu | | 225 | Ernestine Lachnit | | 225 | Marjaine Brasso Adrien | | 227 | Robert Glashuettner | | 227 | László Kadala | | 229 | Péter Szamosi | | 230 | Eszter Hoppán | | 230 | Daniela Ickler | | 232 | Mihaly Vandor | | 233 | Benedek Novak | | 234 | Begoña Motilla Mulas | | 234 | Sabine Ramsner | | 236 | Marko Ritosa | |

By the time the final was over it was getting close to 5am, and we didn’t get back to our hotel until 5:15am. The streets of Budapest are surprisingly busy at that time of the morning.

[![Maybe it's time for bed](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/104.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/104.jpg)

Maybe it’s time for bed

With the Pingolf Tournament due to begin in just under five hours’ time, we grabbed a quick nap, had a speedy breakfast, checked out of the hotel and headed back to the Arcadia show to report on Sunday’s action.

[![Instructions for the pingolf tournament](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/109.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/109.jpg)

Instructions for the Pingolf Tournament

Sunday’s Pingolf Tournament began at 10am and competitors could choose one of two ‘courses’. One was in the area used for the Classics Tournament where them machines moved the previous night were set up alongside some remaining classics machines. The second was in the main HPO room where the HPO play-offs had taken place a few hours earlier and which now featured several machines from the Classics Tournament. Both areas contained around twenty machines from which competitors chose eighteen to play.

[![The pingolf tournament is underway](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/110.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/110.jpg)

The Pingolf Tournament is underway

[![The pingolf tournament is underway](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/111.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/111.jpg)

The Pingolf Tournament is underway

Rather than use game feature objectives, each game has a score threshold which needed to be reached in as few balls as possible. If it was achieved within the normal three balls then the number of balls used set the number of ‘strokes’ for that ‘hole’. If the target wasn’t reached with the three balls, the number of strokes recorded increased depending on how close the final score was.

[![Scoring in the pingolf tournament](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/112.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/112.jpg)

Scoring in the Pingolf Tournament

[![Pingolf in the former HPO room](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/113.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/113.jpg)

Pingolf in the former HPO room

The carbon copy paper was brought out again to record scores, and this appeared to lead to some confusion later on when scores were entered into the computer system. We were told that some scorers had written down the player number, machine number and number of strokes, but not necessarily indicated which number was which.

[![The tournament team entering the scores](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/114.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/114.jpg)

The tournament team entering the scores

Inevitably this led to delays and not a little confusion. One player knew he hadn’t played at all well and went off for dinner. He was surprised to receive a text message telling him he had been given a score which qualified him for the play-offs (which he thus missed).

[![Pingolf players wait to discover who had made the play-offs](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/116.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/116.jpg)

Pingolf players wait to discover who had made the play-offs

The Pingolf Tournament was due to finish by 7pm. Unfortunately we had to leave the venue for our flight home at 7:15pm, by which time the first round of play-offs had only just started.

[![The format for the play-offs](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/115.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/115.jpg)

The format for the play-offs

The top twelve players from each area qualified for the play-offs for a total of twenty-four. The top eight received a bye through the first round, leaving the remaining sixteen qualifiers to be split into four groups of four and set to play on their first of the three games in this round.

[![The pingolf play-offs](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/117.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcadia-hpo-2016/117.jpg)

The pingolf play-offs

The top two from each group progressed and joined those with the byes to play the same best-of-three four-player group format. This continued all the way through until an eventual winner was found.

That winner was Paul Jongma, with Daniele Celestino Acciari in second place, Taco Wouters in third and Mario Kaufmann fourth.

|  |
| --- |
| **Pingolf Tournament Results** |
| |  |  | | --- | --- | | **1** | **Paul Jongma** | | 2 | Daniele Celestino Acciari | | 3 | Taco Wouters | | 4 | Mario Kaufmann | | 5 | Julio Vicario Soriano | | 6 | Roberto Pedroni | | 7 | Tamas Odler | | 7 | Robby Henkelmann | | 9 | Cesare Datri | | 9 | Joonas Haverinen | | 11 | Lieven Engelbeen | | 12 | Dominique Decock | | 13 | Zsolt Mészáros | | 14 | Rafal Bytomski | | 15 | Tom Geneyn | | 16 | John van der Wulp | | 17 | Markus Stix | | 18 | Daniel Nowak POL | | 19 | Jasmin Ibric | | 19 | Evert Brochez | | 21 | György Kovács | | 21 | Rob Breyne | | 23 | Zoltán Dósa | | 24 | Rich Mallett | | 25 | Stefan Karlhuber | | 26 | Bogdan Constantin Ghiga | | 27 | Kim G. Hansen | | 27 | Levente Tregova | | 30 | Gabriel Ortiz | | 30 | Philippe Bocquet | | 30 | Dina Fukson | | 33 | Roland Schwarz | | 33 | Maciej Olesiak | | 33 | Jürgen Wünschmann | | 35 | Santiago Elices | | 35 | Mario Vercauteren | | 37 | Ovidiu Cacina | | 40 | Ferencz Jozsef Norbert | | 40 | Mathias Leurs | | 40 | Anthony Struelens | | 40 | Didier Dujardin | | 40 | Zsolt Szabo | | 43 | Rafael Masedo Rodríguez | | 43 | Peter Blakemore | | 45 | Vincent Chardome | | 45 | Jakub Cieplinski | | 47 | János Sándor | | 47 | Željko Vasic | | 50 | Devis Pierantozzi | | 50 | Piller Zsolt | | 50 | Andrej Demsar | | 52 | Ales Rebec | | 52 | András Lugosi | | 56 | Andrzej Cieslik | | 56 | Fabio Squadrani | | 56 | Antti Peltonen | | 56 | Ollivier Francq | | 56 | Thomas Kunstfeld | | 56 | Peter Boncza | | 61 | Michael Kerylidis | | 61 | Olivier Renders | | 61 | Sághy Kálmán | | 63 | Vid Kuklec | | 63 | Kyoo Barbaix | | 66 | Mirko Bogic | | 66 | Arno Nöbl | | 66 | Matt Frank Goeltl | | 69 | Giuseppe Violante | | 69 | Mark van der Gugten | | 69 | Zoltán Polgár | | 69 | Dirk Meckes | | 72 | David Mainwaring | | 72 | Peter Andersen | | 75 | Antti Pitkamaki | | 75 | Jürgen Gärtner | | 75 | Andrej Rižner | | 75 | Peter Molnar | | 79 | Markus Ramsner | | 79 | Daniele Baldan | | 79 | Olivier Leurs | | 79 | Martin Janczyk | | 83 | Gergely Csonka | | 83 | Daniel Gorecki | | 83 | Jim Lindsay UK | | 86 | Peter Van den Bergh | | 86 | Ernö Rotter | | 86 | Jochen Schuhmacher | | 86 | Boldizsár Botka | | 89 | János Dakos | | 89 | Vargha Ákos | | 91 | Laszlo Imre | | 91 | Sandor Varga | | 94 | Steven Demets | | 94 | Andreas Matt Frank Meyer | | 94 | Zoltán Szemes | | 97 | Matteo Filippin | | 97 | Martin Ayub | | 97 | Ojvind Strömsholm | | 100 | Stefan Holzäpfel | | 100 | Stefan Riedler | | 100 | ieronim pogorilovschi | | 102 | Felix Radinger | | 102 | Evelyne Desot | | 104 | Glenn Verhoosele | | 104 | Péter András Simon | | 106 | Fred Van Den Bosch | | 107 | Berecz Istvan | | 108 | Laszlo Tari | | 108 | Joël Wozniak | | 111 | Erno Lahdenperä | | 111 | Wolfgang Haid | | 111 | Marko Ritosa | | 113 | Timm Dollinger | | 114 | Michael Heiler | | 114 | Pierangelo Villa | | 117 | Armin Kress | | 117 | Reiner Pfeiffer | | 117 | Dennis Verleyen | | 120 | Greg Mott | | 120 | Thomas Binder | | 120 | Cinthya Messiaen | | 122 | Karin Ruhmannseder | | 123 | Artur Natorski | | 123 | Pawel Nowak | | 125 | Markus Schrodt | | 126 | Agnes Budai | | 126 | Marjaine Brasso Adrien | | 128 | Daniel Kaczmarek | | 131 | Daniela Ickler | | 131 | Balint Olah | | 131 | Gabi Molotov Gavrilita | | 131 | Rafal Jodelko | | 131 | Benjamin Gräbeldinger | | 134 | Uwe Ramsner | | 135 | Ernestine Lachnit | | 136 | Dávid Laár | | 137 | Attila Abonyi | | 137 | Béla Gyenes | | 139 | Sabine Ramsner | | 140 | Tamás Marjai | | 141 | Gabriella Medgyesi | | 141 | Maarten Lemey | | 143 | Bart Vyvey | | 145 | Reinhard Hager | | 145 | Pascal Leroy | | 145 | Rudi Haferl | | 147 | Harald Czernoch | | 148 | Miklos Csaba | | 149 | Wolfgang Wetl | | 150 | Angel Martínez Navajas | | 151 | Gábor Varga | |

The conclusion of the Pingolf Tournament ended the competitive events and brought the Arcadia show to a close.

Last year’s Hungarian Pinball Open at the Hungarian Pinball Museum was a big success, with a lot of goodwill generated along with plenty of positive recommendations for the Museum. Everyone went home from last year’s HPO with a warm feeling which wasn’t simply from the free Goulash.

However, the space at the Museum was clearly limited and so in order to expand the HPO an alternative or additional location was needed. The Dürer Conference Centre provided that extra space and allowed expansion of the scope of the event to encompass video games and retro gaming.

That expansion brought in an audience beyond the HPO players and, perhaps most importantly, became attractive to families and youngsters. It’s hard to recall an event where so many young kids and teenagers were enjoying the games, which was an encouraging sign for the future.

It did, though, take away much of the intimacy and homely feel of the event, which was something unique to the Museum setting. When we were playing in the darkened caves and exhibit rooms of the Museum’s basement home it felt as though we were supporting the Museum and helping to promote the good work they are doing. In the Dürer Conference Centre, not so much.

The schedule last year also allowed for a tour of the city and a visit to a late night rooftop club which helped make the whole trip special. This year there was no time for such excursions which was a pity.

Running an event such as a major pinball tournament requires far more than just machines. People with multiple skillsets are needed, with a large amount of planning to ensure everything goes smoothly.

While there were lots of scorers and organisers who did a sterling job and worked incredibly hard throughout the three days, some of the processes didn’t work so well; in particular the results systems and machine preparation/maintenance.

As anyone who has ever moved a pinball machine from one location to another knows, things break for no apparent reason. Several of the games in the free-play hall were faulty from the start and while some were fixed, not all were. That may in part have been because there was no readily-identifiable way to report a machine fault other than switching the game off and hoping someone notices.

Some of the tournament machines were also sub-optimal in their set-up, with inconsistent flipper alignment and tilt sensitivity being common complaints we heard.

Using carbon copy paper to record scores in the classics and Pingolf Tournaments was also far from ideal. Most events now use tablets to enter results directly into the tournament system, and while that isn’t entirely without its problems it does eliminate a lot of paper score entry, produces instant updates and speeds up progress through the tournament.

On that final point, we won’t dwell on the delays and late-running of the tournaments. Suffice to say nobody really wanted to be playing (or watching) the final of a major international tournament at 4:30am, and we are sure the organisers will be looking to ensure that doesn’t happen again.

While we have been critical of certain aspects, as a whole the Arcadia show was certainly a success.

Budapest is an amazing city to visit with incredibly friendly people, and the location of the Dürer Conference Centre, while not as attractive as the Museum, was pretty convenient. We stayed at a quality hotel fifteen minutes away on foot opposite Heroes’ Square, with a nice walk through the park opposite the venue always an option.

We would certainly come back again, and try for a longer stay next time to enjoy more that the city has to offer.

Finally, you can take a look at the whole Arcadia show for yourself, including all the tournaments, free-play machines, vendors and food sellers in our exclusive Twenty Minute Tour video walkaround.

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: ef36e996-f6f8-4057-b767-e66a8489a33b*