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Episode 153: Say bonjour to Germain Mariolle

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·18m 56s·analyzed·Sep 12, 2018
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Germain Mariolle on becoming a top-25 world player, machine repair passion, and Seattle's pinball scene.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Germain Mariolle, a top-ranked competitive pinball player (currently 14th in IFPA world rankings) based in Seattle. The conversation covers Mariolle's exceptional 2018 tournament year (including his first IFPA top-40 finish at Pimberg with a 12-0 round), his preference for competitive multi-player formats over single-player machines, his passion for machine repair and restoration, and his role organizing major West Coast tournaments including the Northwest Pinball Championship and Vancouver Flipout. Mariolle emphasizes the competitive advantage of Seattle's active pinball community and discusses how tournament format changes (capping events at 20 for ranking purposes) are affecting the regional tournament landscape.

Key Claims

  • Mariolle achieved his first and only 12-0 round in match play at Pimberg and made the top 40 playoffs for the first time

    high confidence · Mariolle directly states this as a significant milestone in his tournament career during his interview with Jeff Teolis

  • Mariolle plays approximately 80-90% of his pinball in competitive multiplayer formats rather than single-player at home

    high confidence · Mariolle explicitly states 'I played 80% of my pinball, 90% of my pinball with people' and owns a dozen home machines he rarely plays solo

  • Washington State has the most active IFPA tournament scene with 182 tournaments recorded at time of recording, nearly $3,000 in state pool

    high confidence · Teolis provides specific tournament statistics for Washington (182 tournaments), Ohio (146), and Michigan (152)

  • The IFPA implemented a cap of 20 events counting toward annual rankings in the current year

    high confidence · Teolis states 'this year they are capping it to 20 events' and both discuss implications for players like Chris Chen

  • Mariolle moved to the U.S. approximately four years prior to this recording and returned to competitive pinball after a 15+ year hiatus

    high confidence · Mariolle states 'when I moved to the U.S. about four years ago' and 'a hobby that I hadn't touched in over 15 years'

  • Seattle is one of the most active cities for pinball in North America, with multiple tournaments every week and nightly league play available

    high confidence · Mariolle and Teolis both affirm Seattle's exceptional activity; Mariolle notes 'you can play every single night in either a league, a tournament'

  • Mariolle is the defending champion of the Vancouver Flipout tournament (prior year's biggest IFPA win) which occurs September 7-9, coinciding with his birthday

    high confidence · Teolis references Mariolle as 'defending champ' and notes his 'biggest win on IFPA' and that it 'bleeds in a year'

  • Mariolle's weakness is historically with EM (electromechanical) machines; he had a breakthrough with zero zeros on EMs on day one of Pimberg this year

Notable Quotes

  • “I played 80% of my pinball, 90% of my pinball with people. I have you know a dozen machines at home that I rarely play by myself so it such a great environment for the pinball players to learn and to get better”

    Germain Mariolle @ ~15:00 — Reveals fundamental philosophical difference in how Mariolle approaches pinball vs. typical home collectors; explains his competitive success despite minimal solo practice

  • “I don't believe I'm a true top 25 player... Every sport, the amount of events you do help your ranking. I am very lucky to be able to travel and have the time and the family situation that let me do that.”

    Germain Mariolle @ ~35:00 — Demonstrates humility and self-awareness about ranking mechanics; acknowledges privilege of tournament access as key to high ranking

  • “you can play every single night in either a league, a tournament. We're very jealous of that kind of opportunity.”

    Germain Mariolle @ ~50:00 — Characterizes Seattle's competitive pinball environment as exceptionally active compared to other regions

  • “when it's your biggest, yeah, that's a bit of a hit. So you've got to defend. It does.”

    Germain Mariolle @ ~32:00 — Reflects on IFPA ranking volatility when defending major tournament wins; illustrates competitive pressure

  • “If you don't win it all it doesn't really matter if you go there top ranked or last ranked right? Like it's about really taking that championship, winning the States and going to the National.”

    Germain Mariolle @ ~42:00 — Articulates competitive mindset: final results matter more than seeding or ranking for major tournaments

  • “I think it's just a state of mind. I just like tinkering and figuring out the issues. And, you know, I've bought a lot of container games... you just spend the time to fix them.”

    Germain Mariolle @ ~22:00 — Explains his approach to machine restoration and repair as a satisfying puzzle-solving activity distinct from playing

  • “it doesn't really matter I was one of the top ranked last year but then I got to the final of the state championship and I ran into Raymond and he knocked me out with 4-0”

Entities

Germain MariollepersonJeff TeolispersonPinball ProfileorganizationSeattle Pinball MuseumorganizationNorthwest Pinball ChampionshipeventVancouver FlipouteventPimbergeventSeattle Pinball Super Leagueorganization

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Mariolle deeply engaged in Seattle pinball community infrastructure: runs Seattle Pinball Super League, organizes Northwest Pinball Championship, co-organizes Vancouver Flipout, involved in monthly match play at multiple locations

    high · Teolis references Mariolle organizing major tournaments; Mariolle confirms 'I run the Seattle pinball super league... I run a monthly match play at one of four local locations'

  • ?

    community_signal: Seattle positioned as most active competitive pinball hub in North America with nightly league/tournament opportunities, Seattle Pinball Museum, and high concentration of serious players and collectors

    high · 'you can play every single night in either a league, a tournament... Seattle is one of the most active cities for pinball in North America'; 182 tournaments in Washington vs. 146 in Ohio, 152 in Michigan

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Seattle area pinball dominance: Mariolle and other top Washington players like Raymond, Chris Chen, and others competing at highest levels; regular opportunities for practice against elite talent driving skill development

    high · Mariolle attributes his improvement to Seattle's competitive environment; multiple references to top players in Washington area; 182 IFPA tournaments recorded in Washington state

  • ?

    community_signal: Mariolle's unique competitive development trajectory: returned to pinball after 15+ year break; learned primarily through competitive multiplayer play (80-90% of pinball time) rather than solo machine mastery; complements competitive play with passion for machine repair/restoration

    high · Mariolle: 'I played 80% of my pinball, 90% of my pinball with people... I have a dozen machines at home that I rarely play by myself'; 'when I moved to the U.S. about four years ago and I started playing pinball for competition, which I haven't played pinball in many years'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.057

0:00
It's time now for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host, Jeff Teols. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at pinballprofile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. And please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. and check out our Under Construction website. Yes, I know it's still under construction. I've been busy. Pinballprofile.com It has been a big year for this guy. It's about time we talk to, I think, one of the few remaining top 20 players in the world that hasn't been on Pinball Profile on his own show. We've talked to him a few times, but now it's all about Jermaine Mariot. Hello, Jermaine. Hey, Jeff. How are you? Good to talk to you. A fantastic year for you, and not even to do with pinball. I'm talking about the World Cup with France winning. Yeah, that was a good year, for sure. No Zidane Zidine with the headbutts this year. You kept it clean.
1:03
Yeah, well, it was pretty surprising. I mean, I wasn't expecting for them to go all the way. I have to say, we brought a pinball machine to my daughter's preschool for the summer. It was World Cup soccer, and I think that helped the French team winning the World Cup. The kids only cared about striker, let's be honest. Pretty much just scoring goals, and then they stopped playing. You know, it's nice and simple. It has been a good year pinball-wise for you as well, too. In fact, even Pimberg is your best finish, too. You can't start any better than going 12-0 in round one, which you did. Yeah, that was actually my first and only 12-0 round, so I had a good feeling about this year, and it did end up being pretty good. It was my first time making the top 40. I'm actually shocked that in match play, which, especially at Pimberg, where you play all the different variations of games and the different eras of games, that someone who's been near the top as long as you have hasn't made, the playoffs until this year. Yeah, I've always had my issue with EMs. It's never been my strong suit. And in Pimberg, looking at my stats, it's always been lots of points being lost. This year, somehow, day one was magical. I got no zeros on any EMs on my first day. I think I pretty much won or I was second on all of them, which really helped me put a lot of points in the bank on the first day. and even though on day two I got one point out of five EMs, which was back to more of what I usually do, I had enough from the first day to make the top 40, unfortunately. You say classics are where you have some troubles, or at least EMs, but it never drains in Southern California. You were second in classics this year. You did very well at Yegpin in Edmonton, I recall. You were certainly top ten there. And I think even at the Northwest show, weren't you top five in the classics there as well? Yeah, I mean, I'm not saying I'm bad all the time. It's more where I'm more often having issues, being more consistent. I have my good days, like you said. Never Drenth last year was amazing. It was, you know, Raymond and Karen in the finals, and I was that close. Raymond came back on his last ball, last player, to take the first place away from me. And I had a couple of good finishes. But I think in general, I'm still more of a solid stage slash modern player. I imagine your entire gameplay has just increased with all the amazing players in that Seattle area. I mean, you talk about you and Raymond flip-flopping there at It Never Drains and some other events. Just the competition you see on a regular basis, you must learn a lot and it must bring your game up. It's kind of like that cold golf theory. You know, if you golf with someone better, you're probably going to step it up because you don't embarrass yourself. if you're golfing or playing pinball with someone who's maybe not as good. Maybe it's just not there. Do you find that true? Definitely. I mean, so when I moved to the U.S. about four years ago and I started playing pinball for competition, which I haven't played pinball in many years, I think the environment, I mean, Seattle as a whole, let alone some of the top players that we have here, right, I feel like there's a lot of good players. I mean, a lot of players and a lot of very good players. The league are very strong. There's tournaments all the time. So early on, I went to a couple of tournaments a week. I played a lot of different players, a lot of different machines, and I learned a lot from them. I mean, you know, strategy, flipper skills.

high confidence · Mariolle states 'I've always had my issue with EMs' and credits his top-40 finish to 'day one was magical. I got no zeros on any EMs'

Germain Mariolle @ ~41:00 — References competitive loss to Raymond (likely Raymond Martineau) in state finals, illustrating that ranking doesn't guarantee tournament success

  • “I mean, there is a lot of location. There is a lot of league. There is the Seattle Pinball Museum. There is a lot of opportunity to play. There is also great collectors, people that maybe don't play in IFPA tournaments.”

    Germain Mariolle @ ~52:00 — Provides comprehensive picture of Seattle's multi-faceted pinball ecosystem beyond just competitive tournaments

    • Raymond
    person
    Chris Chenperson
    Dave Stewartperson
    Kaylee Georgeperson
    Washington Stateorganization
    Ohioorganization
    Michiganorganization
  • ?

    competitive_signal: IFPA implemented 20-event cap for current year rankings, reducing emphasis on tournament volume and increasing focus on quality/average finish; appears to be affecting tournament scheduling in Washington with shift from weekly IFPA to monthly or non-IFPA tournaments

    high · Teolis: 'this year they are capping it to 20 events'; Mariolle: 'a lot of the weekly tournaments have either consolidated as far as going as a monthly IFPA tournaments or are only running non-IFPA tournaments now'

    • 4:27
    There is so much to learn from people directly, not just playing the machine. Like I've never been big playing single player games. I played 80% of my pinball, 90% of my pinball with people. I have you know a dozen machines at home that I rarely play by myself so it such a great environment for the pinball players to learn and to get better That so funny because a lot of us that have games at home are used to playing in single games whereas even pump and dumps, too. You're playing a single-player game, and then you might be on fire, but the dynamics change when you have to play in a four-player group, and maybe you're in a groove, and now you have to wait. Or, heaven forbid, you have a house ball, and then it's that much time to rebuild, and you watch everyone else have great balls and you're thinking, oh, this is a huge uphill climb for me. But you're more used to playing in groups. So this is the first time I think I've heard someone say that. So maybe that's what's missing.
    5:20
    Yeah. You know, best game, I can't say is my favorite format either. Like I love having different formats. I love playing different formats. So I have nothing against best game, but I'm not the best, you know, like you said, single player depth game. Like I rarely go for wizard mode. I have done very few wizard mode on a lot of pinball machines. Most of the time I spend at home is fixing pinball machines. I love tinkering with machines as well. So, you know, you can do both, right? Like I have a job and a family, so the few time I have at home is usually spent on fixing machines, and I do most of my playing in competition outside of the house. I ask this to everyone because it really is something that's puzzling to me, and sometimes I listen to advice and sometimes I don't. I'm going to listen to you, Jermaine, here. When you say you tinker and you fix games, how do you go about doing this? I'm a total noob when it comes to this. Don't know where to start. I'm afraid to ask in the forums, hey, how do you fix this? For fear that Tealos knows nothing. I admit I know nothing, but I'm trying to figure stuff out. How did you figure this stuff out? You know, I was a complete noob, and I don't say I'm good at it now. I think it's just, you know, patience. I've always had a bit of an engineering mind, so troubleshooting. has always been something that I enjoy, you know, the way to map where are the issues, to try to narrow it down, to bring it to specifics, you know, is it on the ball, is it on the playfield? There's so much great resource out there between the wikis and the forums, and spending just reading that, you will be able to fix 80% of our problems. I have asked people and forums as well when I got stuck, and there's so many people out there that are just happy to help. That's one of the main reasons I still go on Pinside, It's usually, as you could see in my profile, all of my posts are usually related to fixing machines and helping people or getting help from people. But if you are motivated, and it's not for everybody, don't get me wrong. I know a lot of players that don't fix machines, and it's fine. It's a choice, and you have only so much time, and you have to find what you like. But if you're interested, and it's something you can't really pick up by yourself, and there's a lot of resources out there to help you, and people, of course, that can help you as well. I'm lost just by your answer. Let's be honest.
    7:37
    Yeah, I think it's a state of mind. I just like tinkering and figuring out the issues. And, you know, I've bought a lot of container games. I can see a lot in other places in the U.S., I'm sure. You know, there's people selling games in Europe, taking them out of routes and shipping them to the U.S. or Australia. Then you're receiving the game and they are more or less working, but most often not working than working. And then you just spend the time to fix them. I have swapped full playfield several times, and then you bring the whole thing to life, and it works. And, you know, sometimes it takes longer than others. And, you know, when it's there, it's just, I don't know, it's an accomplishment. It's right there. You've done it, and it's working. It looks great. I have done a full machine restoration when I did the whole cabinet. I did the decal, put a new playfield in there. The machine looks beautiful, the first machine I ever bought. You know, when I look at it, I don't feel like playing it. just the machine itself is an accomplishment. You want to admire it. Okay, let's put things into perspective. I have done Legos with my son for years and years and years. Now, we're talking when he's five and stuff, and I felt that sense of pride. Even though the box is ages, you know, four to ten, when we complete it, I feel pretty good about that. And I even say to my son, you know, someday when you get older, you know, you're going to be having to put things together, and Lego is a good training base for that. I just have an advance from that. Like my son and I, we also like to do puzzles and things. Wow, people are thinking, wow, this guy's a real party animal. Yeah, you're right. Anyway, these great big, huge 2,000-piece Star Wars puzzles and stuff, and we just find it fun. It relaxes you. It clears your mind, all that kind of stuff. I like to do a few before I go to bed. What a loser. I get it. I'm hobbled now, by the way, with the bad leg, so I need these kind of activities. Anyway, my point is some of the puzzles get too difficult. I'm like, ah. I stick it through, but they take a lot longer. So put that into perspective into a pinball machine where you have to troubleshoot and swap out a play field I mean I proud that I can Novus 2 and clean the darn thing That a big step for me Soldering, got it. I can do that. That's it. And I'm afraid to ask. I say this because I know you're on the East Coast. I'm hoping you can drive back, hit my place, maybe fix a few games. You'll get that sense of pride. I won't play them. You can fix them. I'll admire them just like you admire your games. If you could do that, Jermaine, that would mean a lot to me. Yeah, you know, there's no issue there, right? I mean, people can have fun playing games or fixing games. Like, you don't have to fix your game. Obviously, it's easier to spin the machine because they tend to break quite a bit. But, you know, if you have more fun spending the time you have to play your game instead of fixing it, just get somebody else to fix them for you. It's just a priority thing, right? Like, you only have so much time out there available to do what you want to do, right? If you don't really like it, don't spend your time on it. You have many other ways to do things that you like instead of fixing, you know, pinball machines, right? I mean, for me, it's like a big puzzle. You know, it's a different 2D instead of 3D. I like puzzles, too, by the way. I do puzzles quite often and Legos as well. But, you know, it's just different kind of thing. Like everybody has their own hobbies and things they like. Well, thank you for making me feel good. Welcome to the Nerd Club, Germain. Oh, I'm a big nerd. I've been for many, many years.
    10:44
    The Northwest Pinball Championship in Linwood, just outside of Seattle. This is a huge, huge event. Kaylee George, who we just heard, talked about how he and Eden started this, and you guys kind of took over. We had our best attendance ever in both men and classic. We've added a rookie division to the open tournaments, the men's tournaments. We have the classics, as usual, and we've also delegated more time and resources to the women events, which we are trying to grow to bring more competition to the pinball overall. So we got a lot of feedback from the location last year. People really liked that. When we moved from Bellevue to Linwood, it's a very cool bowling and skating arena with a full furnished bar, which players like a lot after playing a tough game of pinball. So I think it will be very successful. Any puzzles or Lego?
    11:38
    No, I don't know if they have. I mean, it's very intense. Unfortunately, a lot of puzzles is to make sure the machines stay working the whole weekend. They get hit with like over 300 plays. So between, we bring around 20 machines for all three divisions. We also have some side division, you know, like daily high scores and some practice machines. So make sure everything runs well for the whole weekend. I think that's the puzzle. I mean, you know, I know it's the other coast and there is many great events that happen, you know, soon, right? On different sides of the country. So, you know, people have to choose what works the best for them. You know, we're trying to make sure we have the best PAPA slash best game format event in the Seattle or the West Coast area. So that way our local players, people that can travel, but also maybe people from, you know, Vancouver or maybe Portland or California comes up and play with us as well. Speaking of Vancouver, the Vancouver Flipout, which you co-TD with Dave Stewart, September 7th through the 9th, the weekend of your birthday. And you did very, very well last year. You're the defending champ. Yes, that was a very good weekend. Somehow, I guess, co-teaming brings some perks. You know, sometimes it takes your mind off the tournaments, and you can play the game more relaxed. And last year, everything worked out, and somehow from being nearly eliminated in the first round to winning the whole thing, some kind of magic happened. It's actually your biggest win on IFPA as you sit 14th in the world currently, and you know what that means. when you play this event, it's going to bleed in a year. That's always kind of the scary thing if you're a top-ranked player like yourself. I mean, it's not going to bleed a lot in the sense that you've got a lot of great scores, but when it's your biggest, yeah, that's a bit of a hit. So you've got to defend. It does. I mean, you know, I'm amazed every time I see my name on the first page. I don't believe I'm a true top 25 player. You know, like every sport, the amount of events you do help your ranking. I am very lucky to be able to travel and have the time and the family situation that let me do that. I'm very happy where I am. And, you know, if I drop back and there are a couple of spaces, you know, out of the first page, I just know where I am as a player. And, you know, someday I win big events and that bubble up my ranking. But I'm just happy to play the game and have fun and, you know, sometime win. Hold on a second there Mr Humble You play in Washington and you the top player right now in the north american championship series against people like we said dave stewart chris chen mackahonic and so many other amazing players in the washington area and you're sitting on top right now and you say you doubt that you're on you should be on the first page let alone the top 20 players in the world yeah that's that's that's so very interesting i like the way that this year they are capping it to 20 events so really the quality average of your events makes a lot is much more important than it was the previous years because i um i i i don't have the availability to play a whole lot of events i mean i play i run the the seattle pinball super league as well and i run a monthly match play at one of four local locations so that's pretty much the only two events that i play a month on top of maybe special events like the mall city cup or other larger events so I had a couple of good results in Seattle and the Washington State that helped get that ranking up there but it doesn't really matter I was one of the top ranked last year but then I got to the final of the state championship and I ran into Raymond and he knocked me out with 4-0 so if you don't win it all it doesn't really matter if you go there top ranked or last ranked right? Like it's about really taking that championship, winning the States and going to the National. I think that's the key at the end of the state run. I'm curious, because they did cap it at your top 20 finishes in the calendar year, has that made people play more or play less? I think of, you know, Chris Chen, I think last year probably played more tournaments in the calendar year than maybe anyone else. There may be a few guys in Ohio that have played as many, but But he's capped now at 20 for this. He's still a top 10 player and a great player worldwide. But has he stopped playing or have others stopped playing because, okay, it's capped at 20? I mean, I guess it can improve on the worst ones, but sometimes there's only so many points out there. Yeah, and there's a couple of things there. There's these and there's the IFPFE, one of your favorite subjects.
    16:21
    I'm fine with it. It's just, I mean, as far as joking with Josh. we're not talking about him are we some of the tournamenting has changed in Seattle which had the most IFPA tournaments for many states last year I believe a lot of tournaments a lot of the weekly tournaments have either consolidated as far as going as a monthly IFPA tournaments or are only running non-IFPA tournaments now so there is less IFPA tournaments than there was previously so even if Chris was able to play as many tournaments, which for some personal and professional reason, I believe he isn't. There's just less that would count, right? So I think it's just a different scene from last year than this year. At the time of this recording, there are 182 tournaments that have been done in the state of Washington. Almost $3,000 in the state pool. The next closest would be, I said Ohio at 146, and they're almost at 3,000. Michigan has done a lot too. Embrew is doing weekly tournaments there, 152 tournaments there over $2,000. So Washington still has the most activity. And as many people say, you can play every single night in either a league, a tournament. We're very jealous of that kind of opportunity. Yeah, it is a great environment. And, you know, when I talk about Seattle to other people, it's one of the most active cities for pinball. It's truly the case. I mean, there is a lot of location. There is a lot of league. There is the Seattle Pinball Museum. There is a lot of opportunity to play. There is also great collectors, people that maybe don't play in IFPA tournaments. There is a lot of people that like pinball in general. It's a great place to be. I'm very happy that somehow my job got me transferred there and revived a hobby that I hadn't touched in over 15 years and brought that back into my life. Well, I know you're going to be busy, Jermaine. Yes, I'll be definitely busy a couple of weeks. hope to see you there at some point Jeff I will be hobbling around somewhere it's a busy time of year for me but always got to find room for pinball sounds good we'll talk to you soon okay bud alright thank you Jeff this has been your pinball profile you can find our group on Facebook we're also on Twitter at pinball profile email us pinballprofile at gmail.com and please subscribe on either iTunes Stitcher or Google Play I'm Jeff Teolas
    18:50
    Boy