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#28 You’re Out! - The Classic Pinball Podcast

The Classic Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·38m 10s·analyzed·Mar 10, 2020
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

Classic Pinball Podcast documents a home tournament and send-off party for superfan Bruce with live commentary and guest call-in from competitive circuit.

Summary

The Classic Pinball Podcast hosts George and Dave organize a three-strike tournament at Dave's game room featuring six players competing on classic machines including Twilight Zone, Flight 2000, Stargazer, Kingpin, Paragon, and others. The episode captures live tournament play, introduces new guest Mike (a super collector), features a phone call from competitive player Eric Stone at the Pin Masters tournament in Denver, and documents Bruce's send-off party as he relocates to Arizona. The show emphasizes community, gameplay mechanics, and the social nature of classic pinball.

Key Claims

  • Dave has been working on Twilight Zone restoration for an extended period and recently fixed the clock mechanism

    high confidence · George and others reference it as 'the infamous game Dave has been working on forever' and Dave mentions rebuilding it and the clock now working

  • Flight 2000 has been modified with three Powerballs instead of standard balls to increase game speed

    high confidence · Dave explicitly states: 'I put three Powerballs in Flight 2000. It's a three-ball game' and explains they are 'lighter' than standard balls

  • Bruce is relocating to Arizona and this tournament is a send-off party for him

    high confidence · George states: 'he's moving to Arizona yes he's Arizona like R-E-Z-O-N-E' and references it as 'Bruce's send-off party'

  • Eric Stone finished third at the 2024 IFPA National Championship in California and qualified for Pin Masters Denver finals, making top 24 out of 138 players

    high confidence · Eric's phone call discusses qualifying for Pin Masters, earning $1,100 in tournament money, and George saw him on Twitch broadcast; results mention Eric made semifinals/final eight

  • Escher Lefkoff won Pin Masters Denver 2024, followed by Bowen Currens in second place

    high confidence · Explicit statement in results summary: 'The winner of Pinmasters Denver was Escher Lefkoff, followed by Bowen Currens'

  • The podcast uses Anchor software which lacks individual microphone gain controls, causing audio quality issues when remote guests participate

    high confidence · George explains: 'The Anchor podcasting software we use does not have any way that I can separate microphones and or gain those microphones'

  • Mike owns 13.5 pinball games all purchased for less than the cost of a topper ($750)

    high confidence · Direct quote: 'I would say 13 and a half' games purchased under topper cost

  • John (Johnny Pinball) won the three-strike tournament, followed by Bruce in second place

Notable Quotes

  • “It's kind of like Jean-Luc Picard, you know, suggestions... but you're still king, so you make the decision.”

    Dave @ ~early in episode — Describes Dave's tournament format decision-making approach, establishing his role as organizer while seeking input

  • “You son of a bitch... (about Twilight Zone) That's the most mild insult I've ever heard you say.”

    Bruce (cursing at game); George (responding) @ ~gameplay section — Captures Bruce's frustration during gameplay and establishes the light-hearted, community tone of the tournament

  • “It's missing the precursor... It should go boom.”

    Dave @ ~Twilight Zone gameplay — Technical observation about game audio issue requiring maintenance attention

  • “This is like coming to the best arcade you could ever come to. Because his games are always playing right. They're beautiful.”

    George (about Chris's game maintenance) @ ~mid-tournament — Illustrates the competitive environment and community standards for machine maintenance

  • “On Paragon, it's all about when not to flip. You're not flipping when you're flipping on Paragon... As Yoda says, you must unlearn what you have learned.”

    Chris/John @ ~Paragon final round — Key gameplay philosophy about advanced pinball mechanics and mental approach

  • “I pray for this anxiety, man... It's all skill, my friend. And skill, in Jesus' name, your skill should do it.”

    Eric Stone; Dave @ ~phone call segment — Reveals Eric's mental state during tournament play and Dave's supportive, faith-based coaching approach

  • “PinballDoctor.com. You can say it three more times. PinballDoctor.com. All spelled out.”

    Dave @ ~late episode — Dave's business promotion and self-deprecating humor about repetition

  • “Don't be last. Don't get eaten by the bear. It sucks if you get trapped in the cliff.”

    Bruce (about Paragon rules) — Colorful description of Paragon elimination mechanics

Entities

GeorgepersonDavepersonBrucepersonMikepersonJohnpersonChrispersonEric Stone

Signals

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Pin Masters Denver 2024 results: Escher Lefkoff won, Bowen Currens 2nd, Keith Ellman 3rd, Ray Davidson 4th. Eric Stone made top 24 but only reached semifinals/final 8. Indicates competitive meta leadership by Lefkoff/Currens.

    high · Tournament results explicitly stated in episode; Bowen and Escher confirmed as top players still in 'heap' by Eric Stone

  • ?

    design_innovation: Flight 2000 modified with three Powerballs to increase game speed and playability. Represents aftermarket modification trend in collector community.

    high · Dave: 'I put three Powerballs in Flight 2000... They're lighter... The reason is they play faster' and 'Twilight Zone [originally used this]'

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Dave successfully restored Twilight Zone's clock mechanism after extended troubleshooting. Game also has ongoing sound design issues requiring ribbon cable investigation.

    high · Multiple references to clock repair completion; ongoing sound issue where 'it's missing the precursor... it should go boom'

  • ?

    community_signal: Dave's game room maintains high standards with well-maintained machines. Community values proper game maintenance and playability as tournament prerequisite.

    high · George: 'This is like coming to the best arcade you could ever come to... his games are always playing right. They're beautiful'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Bruce (Number One Fan/Cave Crusader) is relocating from current location to Arizona. Indicates community member transition and potential impact on local tournament participation.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.115

0:30
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Classic Pinball Podcast. My name is George and I'm joined by my co-host Dave. Hello Dave.
0:52
Hello George. In this episode, Dave invites a small group to his house to participate in a tournament and a send-off party for superfan Bruce. The games we'll be playing today are the following. 8-Ball Deluxe, Dathom, Flash Gordon, Xenon, Paragon, that's in the upstairs Bolly room, and then downstairs in the basement warehouse we have Flight 2000, Stargazer, Kingpin, which we spoke about in our last episode, and the infamous game Dave has been working on forever, Twilight Zone. Okay, we're standing in Dave's game room on a Saturday afternoon, tournament among friends. What kind of tournament are we going to do today, Dave? It's a good question. It's kind of up for grabs. I was thinking a three-strikes tournament or a three-strikes group tournament or a match play tournament. I'm undecided right now. I'm trying to go through all the things in my head to figure out which one I can get in time before 430 rolls around and John has to go. So I'm trying to time it out. How many people do we have? We have six players. And are you using software for this? I have software ready to go. I could use that, or I might do pull out of the hat routine and do that like old school. Okay. There's plenty of options to go. I'm going to round table with people here and see if the best consensus is where to go. Make the decision. I don't mind having to. Hurting cats. Well, I don't mind having input. I don't care. You know that. I'm kind of like Jean-Luc Picard, you know, suggestions. You know, when he says that and they kind of... Right, but you're still king, so you make the decision. Exactly right. There you go.
2:37
In this segment, Bruce uses some colorful language as he participates in his first game of the three-strike tournament on the infamous Twilight Zone. You son of a bitch. Hey, hey, hey. I can't use that. Excuse me. Are we recording for the podcast? Well, I figured after talking about this game that didn't work for like ever. That's the most mild insult I've ever heard you say. Mirror blaze, George. Look at the mirror. See that? Oh, look at you, Mr. Fancy. Fancy, fancy. Mr. Fancy.

high confidence · Tournament results: 'Pinball Johnny came in first, followed by number one fan Bruce'

  • Paragon requires mastery of tap-pass techniques and timing when NOT to flip rather than when to flip

    medium confidence · Discussion of Paragon strategy: 'On Paragon, it's all about when not to flip. You're not flipping when you're flipping on Paragon'

  • The podcast has audience reach across approximately 20 countries including non-English speaking nations

    medium confidence · George states: 'we're like in 20 different countries' and 'even countries where they don't speak English as the first language'

    • @ ~Paragon final
    person
    Escher Lefkoffperson
    Bowen Currensperson
    Keith Ellmanperson
    Ray Davidsonperson
    PJperson
    Sue Handyperson
    Joelperson
    Robert Gagnoperson
    The Classic Pinball Podcastorganization
    Pin Masters Denver 2024event
    IFPA National Championshipevent
    Twilight Zonegame
    Flight 2000game
    Paragongame
    8-Ball Deluxegame
    Xenongame
    Kingpingame

    high · George: 'he's moving to Arizona' and episode framed as 'send-off party for superfan Bruce'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Paragon requires advanced flipper control, particularly tap-pass timing and knowing when NOT to flip. Game represents skill-gating mechanic in classic era.

    high · Extensive discussion of Paragon strategy; Chris plays it as specialty; Bruce notes learning curve through Joel's influence

  • $

    market_signal: Mike (super collector) emphasizes acquiring games at below-topper cost ($750 threshold). Suggests collector market strategy focused on value acquisition and game volume.

    medium · Mike: 'Games that I find on the cheap... 13 and a half' games below topper cost; George notes owning ~10 with similar strategy

  • ?

    content_signal: The Classic Pinball Podcast now reaches ~20 countries including non-English speaking nations and Antarctica. Indicates growing international audience beyond core English-speaking markets.

    medium · George: 'we're like in 20 different countries' and 'even countries where they don't speak English as the first language'; Sue Handy from Spain visited Antarctica and listened

  • ?

    product_concern: Digi-Key shipped 4-foot heat shrink in 3-foot box with excessive packing; could have been coiled/folded at $12 instead of charged $80 shipping. Dave switched to Mouser for better service.

    medium · Dave details frustration with Digi-Key box size and wasteful packing; states he now tells customers to use Mouser instead

  • ?

    industry_signal: Eric Stone experiencing significant tournament anxiety despite 3rd place finish at Nationals and qualification for top 24. Suggests mental health pressure in competitive circuit.

    medium · Eric's phone call: 'pray for this anxiety, man... I don't know what's come on lately with this nervous anxiety when it comes to pinball'

    • 3:16
    So, Dave, the reason it's silent, it's missing a sound. like it should be going when you land in the rocket it should go see now that's more like it oh sorry it's missing the precursor I won't be using that I don't know why it would do that it should go boom I'll be on my best behavior so you said it to the game that was the perfect insult no I'm just going to re-see the ribbon cable maybe or something Yeah.
    3:49
    Okay, makes sense. It was doing that before. That's why it's going silent there. Okay. So I have no idea what Dave's trying to do. Oh, you're right. That was missing. Yeah. Well, okay, well, this game's not going back yet.
    4:02
    Oh, no. Oh, come on. I doubt too many people would know that. It's so close. Yes, I can't. Well, I just recorded it, so. Yeah.
    4:15
    Get in there. Bang. Bang! Well, I can tell that you've been playing it at least. Oh, yeah, I got to play test the crap out of it.
    4:29
    Come on. Okay. Hit a ram. Oh, don't go down there. Well, that sucked. That's a big strike right there, I think.
    4:39
    Powerfield, maybe. No! So close. Oh, two matches. Which means nothing. So we're on round two right now. I actually bombed out on Twilight Zone. I was the low man not standing. And I got a strike on that one, unfortunately. Right next to Bruce. About, what, 2,000 points away? Something like that?
    5:05
    Yeah, 64 million. To 66 million, or 2 million points away. But on a ramp game, that means like two cents. So now we're on second draw. So Georgia's group's got Stargazer, a three-player game. and my group has Flight 2000, and they're both sitting side by side. Two wonderful sterns, very pretty, sitting side by side. We're going to war on these. And the Flight 2000 did something extra special in this game. You know, if you have Powerball, we'll travel. So I put three Powerballs in Flight 2000. It's a three-ball game. Oh, that's right. I forgot you did that. Three Powerballs, so there's going to be lightning fast. So the reason that you do that is they can't become magnetized? No, that's not the reason. They're also lighter? They're lighter. They have the same mass, but lighter weight. Something like that. What was the original game that used that? Twilight Zone. Oh, the game you just lost on. Yep, exactly. That one. You did a really nice job on that game, by the way. Oh, thank you. And the clock works. The clock works great now. Just because you rebuild a game doesn't mean it's nice to you when you play it. Yeah, I see that. Just in case you didn't already know that. And, John, this game here has three Power Balls in it. Oh, I noticed that. Yeah, George, someone pointed that out. Maybe George did. No, not me. I saw that when Mike was playing it. Someone pointed it out. Yeah, maybe Mike did. Yeah, that's pretty cool. So it plays even faster. I won the last time, so I'm not being the guinea pig. Who's going first? I won the last one, too. Okay, I'm shutting down, and we'll come back to this. John, I'm going to get upstairs. I want to talk to you.
    6:31
    Oh, I got to take that down. I got to beat that. That's a really good score. So Dave has a low bar here.
    6:42
    149. Dave, it's you. You have a very low bar. 149. If you don't, you're out. All right, well, no pressure. Do or die for Dave. Let me move over a little so he can get out of his way.
    6:57
    So where is he going to score all the points? In this game? Yeah. The spinner is big, and then you get the multi-ball.
    7:08
    Oh, good. Good things. Yeah, those balls are crazy. Oh, Lazarus. Did you see that? I did.
    7:25
    I did. Obviously, this has the post. See if you can get the 945. So Dave beating me. He stays in with two strikes. I get my first one. No, second one. Yeah, you guys have two now. I have two now. I'm almost out. I have one. Next game.
    7:50
    Honestly, I'd love to see that. Oh, Dave, look at Dave. Oh. You beat me. Game. Next. All right. Time for a beer. Ace again. I always hit Ace. Yeah, I have his. You know I have his. Yeah, I do. I played your Xenon and I played this one. I was just saying, I played terribly at your Xenon because I played yours. Well, I fixed my Xenon since I think. Nothing wrong with your game. Yeah, there was actually. What does John have? I have a six. I redid the whole ramp on it because I played Dave's game here. Yeah. And I'm like, that's nice and smooth. And when I took mine apart, I used these gigantic two-and-a-half-inch, I don't know if they have an Allen head or a Torx screw head on them, to secure that ramp so it doesn't move around. I mean, I took liberties. But taking it apart is a lot harder than putting it together. But I did it, and I changed it all, and I spent a lot of time, and it makes a gigantic difference. So you've got to play that side of the game, but you also have to play the other side of the game because you want to accumulate bonus, even though that's not worth a lot. The bonus in the game isn't worth it.
    9:20
    But unless you're going to tap pass back and forth, which I'm mediocre at best at. Go ahead. Oh so I picking the game for the Picking the game for your group For my group okay I think I going to go for not that one this one Seven Seven all right You downstairs Oh you on Kingpin Kingpin Yes Nice Another good game for you. I love that game. But why wouldn't you? You own it. I do. I love that game. And I have no strikes. No strikes. I got two. You did a really... I just did three million on... What number did you get? Nice.
    9:53
    You did a really nice job describing Kingpin to people. Oh, did I? Well, you've just added the fold into the fold.
    10:03
    We need characters for our show. You're one of our characters. We have another person into the fold. Mike's a great character, actually. Mike's the super collector. Oh, I just met Mike. So, Mike, what games do you own? I don't know if you can afford my character. He's the collector. He's the base of the emitter. Engineering thing going on. So what games do you own? That's right. You can be the emitter. I have a working game I own on a very short list. Okay. What do you collect? One more time. What do you collect? Games that I find on the cheap. I'm all over that. So do I, but go ahead. So what is, did you, you listen to our show, Games Collected for Less Than a Topper. So how many games do you own that cost less than a topper? And then gate. Gate. Gate, pinball gate. I would say 13 and a half. Wow.
    11:00
    I thought I did pretty good at around 10. I only have a couple that I didn't, but only a little bit more. How much is the topper?
    11:10
    $750 for a Star Wars topper. That's a hunk of crap. The best topper out there is Black Knight. Agreed. Yeah, that's a great topper. And that's $450. I'm surprised there aren't more but the plexiglass ones if they're not interactive I kept thinking after listening to our show and then other people talk about toppers I thought about centaurs and I thought about the two characters in centaur and I said either one of those characters as a topper would be unbelievable next the final four players compete on paragon the action is interrupted by an unexpected phone call from eric stone at the pin masters tournament in denver colorado right now we're in the third ball and uh lowest man on the totem pole gets a strike so right now dr dave is looking good chris is looking good it's between bruce and John. Low Man. Yeah. Low Man gets a strike. So Low Man right now is... Right now is John, but... Really? He's got no strikes. That's right. So we're introducing another voice to the podcast. Hello. Mike. That's right. Nice to meet everybody out there in Internet land.
    12:40
    Yeah, Mike, you and I have known each other... I don't know. Probably six, seven years. More. More? Oh, my goodness. More.
    12:50
    I'm going to guess more. I don't know. Oh, no. All right. Bruce just dropped his ball. So the target scored a beat for John is 440, 4860 on an all-in ball. And John's on what? His last ball. He's got about. John is zero. No, no, I know. But John's on what number right now? 140. Oh, and he's done. Oh, Johnny getting a strike. A no flipper. Johnny pinball. That's one thing that people can't stand about some of these classic games is that the amount of no flips Goes up dramatically Thank you for being polite we're
    13:27
    That was that was another voice he'll come back One of the reasons why we're here So Bruce you only have one so you're in contention here so yeah every Dave is the one who's on the cusp well you know Bruce is called number one fan right? no I didn't know that we just call him the cave crusader no he's number one fan and he's moving to Arizona yes he's Arizona like R-E-Z-O-N-E but I have you live which sounds a hell of a lot better because I've been called out on Pinside for having poor audio. Look, he's backing up. He doesn't even want to be recorded. You've got to say something. You've worked your levels. But is it the recording quality or is it your actual voice?
    14:23
    Dave has got the... I mean, your voice could just be grating on people's nerves. I have a unique voice. Dave has a radio voice. We both have faces for radio.
    14:38
    I don't know. I try real hard, but our total investment is a microphone. Faces for radio, what does that mean? Better heard than seen? Correct. I disagree with that. You guys are attractive individuals. I would not tell yourself short. So here, I'm going to do justice to our podcast. The Anchor podcasting software we use does not have any way that I can separate microphones and or gain those microphones. So when I do a show, if you're not standing in the room with me, it can sometimes sound like I'm muffled.
    15:22
    Plain and simple. You've done something, right? Or somebody's holding your mouth and you're not telling your fans that. When you first started, I have to jack the volume to hear you and then turn it down not to get blasted by Dave. He's done a great job now. I mean, it's improved over the, I don't know, 10 podcasts? Well, considering the total investment is $60, we've done pretty well. That's pretty good. Money well spent. So we're getting down to the end here. You're still in it, Bruce, with one strike going up against Johnny Pinball,
    15:52
    our new recurring guest. Yeah, he's had the best play so far tonight. He's real good. You know it. He's real good. What's the game now? The game now is Paragon. Oh, Paragon. That's Chris's forte. I've got two strikes. I've been holding on for the last two or three games with two strikes. Yeah, but you're up against Mr. Tap Pass over here. I am. Ooh, who's that? That's Chris. Is he tap passing by in this game? Yeah, I'm going to start paying attention to him because he's pulled rabbits out of his hat today. He's been playing. He plays football, too. Oh, yeah. He's like the silent Avenger out there. Oh, he's been working his game for the past 10 years. Here, 24, 34, 118, and three grand.
    16:37
    He just started, though. No, I know. We just started. Excuses abound. We just started. Hey, all it takes is one ball.
    16:47
    Not on that game, yes. Yeah, with extra balls, all it takes is one. You're going to get that power gun. You just get that super bonus. You lock in with that tap pass, and you're good to go. You know, I try to put across to people, and they think I'm fibbing or fooling. But this is like coming to the best arcade you could ever come to.
    17:11
    Because his games are always playing right. They're beautiful. And the competition is, well, it's always good. I like that little subdued compliment about the attendance.
    17:31
    When you go to the major tournaments, you find out real fast how good people are. It's another world.
    17:48
    So are you still hanging on? I'm hanging on, but this game... This game only takes one ball. I did take one ball. I need my one ball next, ball three. Yeah, but that might take five games. Well, I don't know. We'll see what happens. I just need to get my... I don't have my tap pass mojo down in this game yet. I kind of lost it. I know I've said on other podcasts that I practice on this game. As much as I practice, it doesn't really matter. Well, you're just going to practice your flipper toolbox. Well, I'm not a tap passer, so I've got to start... Your dead bounces, your tap passes... I got that down. Okay. It's the tap pass thing I don't have. On Paragon, it's all about when not to flip. You're not flipping when you're flipping on Paragon. I agree. And that's a hard... That is a really hard thing to learn. But it's appropriate. As Yoda says, you must unlearn what you have learned. That's how that goes.
    18:47
    And since when are you listening to little green people? I don't know. After Saar, Zeebo, and Zekum. And now with this new stupid thing, it's up.
    18:59
    Oh Johnny Pinball All right Johnny Pinball Look at him go Yeah finally Very nice You need a a paragon you line up John all you have to do is not finish last That true That a good point Yeah
    19:14
    That's what makes this format great. Don't be last. Don't be last. Don't get eaten by the bear. It sucks if you get trapped in the cliff. My wife said no paragons in the house, so Lisa... Why? Did she try to yet? I think she tried to hear once. Okay. And then, you know, and she also knew that that was like my nemesis. Right. By the way, I'm over that now. Now I really like Paragon. Yes. You know, but I have to thank Joel for that. Okay. Because remember Joel was over here and Joel was like, I don't know, I'm not afraid of this game anymore. Remember when he said that? Yeah, yeah. And then he was playing it like nonstop. Yes. And ever since then, I'm like, that's the right attitude. That's the right attitude. Here you go. I'm getting pretty good at it guys that's right we do have to keep the no I do you want to listen to people's podcasts where they swear up a storm how about it I have hopefully better adjectives than using the same four-letter ones all the time.
    20:26
    There are plenty of good swears with five and six letters, you know. I'm sure you could teach us a couple in Portuguese. I actually can swear in many languages.
    20:37
    Okay, give us your best one. Oh, I don't want to. I don't want to offend anybody out there. Let's just say the people who scam me about Social Security numbers. So tell me what language you would use, and I'll tell you if we have an audience there. I can swear in Japanese, Italian, Hindi.
    20:56
    No, no Indians and no Japanese. You don't know that. No, I do. The software tells me. That's not Big Brother. No, it's actually pretty cool.
    21:08
    No, we're like in 20 different countries. Oh, wow. Yeah, it is pretty weird. And even countries where they don't speak English as the first language. That's even wilder. In Spanish, I probably swear in Italian the most. They might like a little levity given what's going on in the world. They need a little help right now. This lady's doing well too.
    21:38
    So where are we? I just bombed out. I choked on Paragon. I got 70 stupid thousand because I can't tap pass for my whatever. my oatmeal that's going on my list I was doing well I've been too much when I head down working on games not playing that's my problem repairing that clock repairing that twilight zone clock yeah that thing and everything else in the world how sick is everybody never mind about twilight zone clocks every week we come back well it's something else the poor god see i'm being an advocate for the guy who owns the twilight zone i don't even know who the hell it was messed up forever he had a bunch of different people trying to work on it i looked at his overseas over the years no thank god no but he knows they brought it to me he's like i want the guy that can fix it for you so there you go no it's all the access if you don't listen i'm gonna tell you it's a beautiful game and for all those people who would really like a Twilight Zone, you wish you had this game.
    22:47
    How's that? Dr. Dave... What is it? DrDave.com? Actually, it's PinballDoctor.com. You miss, you die. All spelled out. PinballDoctor.com. You can say it three more times.
    23:02
    PinballDoctor.com. All spelled out. Or you can type in Dr. Dave's Pinball. That comes up, too. You can even type in Dr. Pinball. That comes up, too. You'll come up. You know what we never talked about? What's that? We never talked about Boston. Channel 10. Oh, Channel 10. Yeah, Channel 10. That was great. I got a whole tour of their studio. State-of-the-art studio. People saw the pictures and stuff. You put those out online. But I'm saying, we never, you and I are never in the same room. In the same room twice. And I got called out for it. So hopefully this time. I know we've got the speaker blasting behind us, but I don't give a crap. I can turn it down a bit. No, what are you going to turn down? Four pinball machines too? That's true. Well, they get the whole action environment here. It's pinball. It's tournament. It's 80s music going on. So new guy Mike is here today, who I first met. Yes. Okay. I said, so we're a little unique. Eric Stone's calling. Hold on. Oh, no way. Eric Stone's calling in. Shut the music off. All right. I think it's off. All right. We've got to go inside. All right. Come on. Eric, talk to me.
    24:15
    We're having a tournament over here. Actually, we're live on a podcast, too, at the same time, so you get to be on a podcast and in a tournament. How's your tournament going?
    24:23
    Man, I had some bad luck. I went to play surfer, and I hit the start button, and I played two ball, and the target score is 50,000. I had 44,000. I look up at the score, and it put a two-player game on there. And I had to point it out because that's the rules. Even though I hit the button one time, they said, well, the button sticks. So instead of getting a three on the game, I got a five.
    24:49
    And on Andromeda, I go to lock the ball on the first ball, and the post never comes up. So it shoots through the lock into the lanes, and it goes straight down the side. And then I have three house balls after that. So I get a eight on that game. Oh.
    25:24
    How are you doing in comparison to everybody else that's there? How are you doing with your people around you?
    25:33
    Okay. What's the cut? Hey, Eric, it's George. How are you? I saw you on TV on Thursday night. I just happened to be surfing on Twitch, and I see the pinball asylum shirt, and I'm like, what the hell is Eric doing out in Denver?
    25:52
    National Championship. That was the only game they put me on the street, and it was the last game that I got eliminated. And, again, I got screwed with house balls. Oh, no, I was watching, and I was like, oh, man, this is not going to end good. And I shut it off. I went to bed. And I guess that tournament went long, right? Went into the late hours?
    26:19
    Yeah, the QVC won the whole thing. Oh, Urban, right? Yeah. Yeah, the guy, he was hot. Eric, he was really hot, man. I watched that one between you and him. he just had a hot hand yeah I mean I got 900 million on Star Wars and 61 million on 24 which are amazing scores the way they play and he beat me on both of them so hey kid's good give him props he's good they're like young Eric Stones aren't they remember he's the one I had to come back to meet for the world championship in California Yep, talented people.
    27:05
    Yeah, so I just want to make the cut at the top. Out of 138 people, they're only taking 24 for the pin master. So is Bowen and Escher still at the top of the heap, or did somebody supplant them?
    27:19
    Oh, yeah, they are. I'll give you both a second. I'm just going to check these guys out. So what's next? Where are you in the queue? Well, I play at 3 o'clock, so I play like 45 minutes.
    27:36
    And of course, you know, my best game so far was Muhammad Ali, because I got the 300,000 the first ball.
    27:44
    Gotcha. No, there was a pretty good array of games that were for all the different holes. It's weird, though.
    27:53
    It's weird being every hole being 5, and then, you know, obviously he can score up to a negative 10, but it's kind of not used to seeing five ball in a lot of games. Oh, yeah. Yeah, they do that pick-off all the time. Yeah, I didn't think you were playing in it. When I watched yesterday, I did not see you, so I don't know if I missed you or if you were doing something else. Like I said, nobody wants to watch me play. I was psyched when you were on. I'm like, wow, I can't. First of all, I love Denver. Denver is a fun town. But seeing you there I was like man you know he just shows up in the wildest places I wasn expecting it because I really thought you were going to cocoon for a while until the Worlds Well no I mean I won the state of Florida so I go to the national championship, and you're guaranteed $325.
    28:53
    I won a couple rounds, so I got $1,100. Love that tournament money. Love that tournament money. well and don't forget I'm going to Chicago in two weeks for the circuit final too so you'll see me on Twitch there oh I didn't know that either so give me the update between now and I just got an email from David down at the asylum they're looking to do a documentary which I thought was pretty cool did you get that email?
    29:25
    oh I've already talked to them I knew about this one News to me, they were looking for money to raise, you know, to raise the money with chances to win a Jurassic Park, which I thought was pretty cool. But I still want to go. I'm dropping your name to David. I really want to go.
    29:48
    Well, they keep saying limited, but I'm going to, I'll contact him. I think, you know, I would love to do a podcast with him. I'll give him some props.
    30:06
    I'll let him talk about whatever he wants. I mean, you know, I want to give him as much exposure as he possibly can get. Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, I got to... Anyway, today, you might be able to see me on the stream somewhere in the next between an hour and six hours.
    30:28
    Well, we're still at Dave's. We're at the end of his tournament. And then we're going to have something to eat, and then I'll be home. So tonight, you're two hours behind, so I'll definitely see you tonight when I'm sitting at home. But it's a, he's a, let me see if I can grab him and we'll finish this off so you can get back to whatever, whatever you're doing. But it's, it's fun watching the broadcast on Twitch and seeing all the people that were out in California for InDesk. And there's a, I mean, you've got a lot, all the big players are there from what I can see. I know. I saw your buddy Robert Gagno last night pacing back and forth.
    31:12
    He did great. He played really well. Did he end up being best from Canada? Did I hear that correctly? Yeah.
    31:23
    He's a good player. Hey, Dave. Dave, come back and say goodbye to Eric. Hello, Eric. Are you back? I'm back. Godspeed. Godspeed, man. Do me a favor. Yeah, do me a favor. Just, you know, pray for this anxiety, man. Like, I don't know what's come on, you know, lately with this nervous anxiety when it comes to pinball, you know. Will do. I will pray. I'll be trying to stay in the way and pray all the bad luck and negativity and, you know, pray for God's blessing. No such thing as luck. It's all blessings and, you know. It's all skill, my friend. And skill, in Jesus' name, your skill should do it. Just, you know, get rid of those demons of, I don't know, of woe and anxiety. Kick him out the door and just have your Holy Spirit-inspired talent and go for it, man. And beat the lemur.
    32:12
    Yes. Exactly. I got more important people to beat than him. Remember what I said to you in California. As long as you beat the lemur, everything's going to be okay. And you ended up winning.
    32:31
    Well, at least second. At least second. I need to do a little better. Yeah, he's fine. Just take a deep breath. Take a deep breath. Chill and just recalibrate. You know, that's all you got to do. Just chill, you know.
    32:46
    You're good. God bless you. I'll talk to you later. God bless, man. All right. Talk soon. Bye-bye. Eric Stone. The recurring Eric Stone. Yes, recurring Eric Stone. What a great champion. and he's going through a little anxiety thing right now. Number three. Hopefully get number one. And what did Bruce say today? What did he say? Number one fan. He said, I think I know Eric Stone after all the podcasts I've listened to. All right.
    33:19
    He's played against him here, I think, a while ago. I think maybe five or ten years ago, Eric Stone's played here with Bruce. I'm guessing he's coming to Pentastic. Oh, yeah. He'll be there.
    33:29
    PJ's going to play, too. PJ's going to go up against Eric Stone. Yeah, we're missing you, PJ. We wish you were here. Later.
    34:00
    While we were on the phone with Eric, the final results are in, and Pinball Johnny came in first, followed by number one fan Bruce to conclude the three-strike tournament at Dave's house.
    34:30
    Eric Stone did manage to qualify for the finals on Sunday and made the cut in the final 24, but unfortunately only made it to the semifinals or final eight. The winner of Pinmasters Denver was Escher Lefkoff, followed by Bowen Currens.
    34:52
    Keith Ellman was third and Ray Davidson came in fourth. In this episode and previous episodes, you've heard me talk about our worldwide audience. Specifically, in the Boston Chronicle episode, we talked about not having any listeners in Antarctica. Well, that changed in the last couple of weeks. I'd like to acknowledge my friend Sue Handy from Spain, having visited Antarctica and listened to our podcast while she was there. Thank you, Sue.
    35:31
    And one piece of heat shrink. And do you know what Digi-Key did? What? They shipped a four-foot-long box because the heat shrink was four feet long. Now, you could have wrapped it, coiled it, and charged me $80 shipping. Oh, you can fold it. For $12 worth of coiling. You can fold it in half or in quarters. I was so mad. And I went and wrote to him. I said, look, by the way, I work for Microchip, who's like one of your major seminars. Yeah. Who was that? Digi-Key. And, you know, they didn't fix it. What's that? And after that, I go to Mouser instead of Digi-Key all the time. I tell every customer to go to Mouser. I would go to Mouser, but they didn't have it. How about Circuit Specialist? You ever use that? Yeah, I agree. I'm not sure. Let's see. Circuit Specialist. I'm not sure I have it. I hate shrink and that kind of stuff. Okay. On our show, we can live check out what Digi-Key sent me. And let's see if they messed it up. Let's see. Yeah. So did you get my story on a four foot long box? No, I did because I bought heat shrink and they fold it up into one foot pieces. And put it in a tube or into a... So this box is approximately what, three feet? Something like that? Yeah, three feet. Three feet long. Okay. So we've got to get some packing in here.
    36:47
    We've got a lot of packing. Too bad you can't see it. We've got a lot of packing. I think what you see is... It's in there. I think it's in there. It's in here. Okay.
    36:55
    Let's see. This is getting exciting. Let's see what's in here. What is it? I don't know. Let's see. Okay. Holy crow, that's a lot of heat shrink. And we got... No, no, don't heat shrink. Hold on. How many chips did you order, Dave? I think two. Hold on. You ordered two chips? No, I don't know. Come on. I'm waiting for chips. No way. He's like shaking. I'm taking a picture of this. If that's two chips, I'm taking a picture of it. What did they give me? All that packing material. Oh. Oh, you got an entire tube. I got an entire tube. I got $20. Oh, okay. Oh, those are LN3. Okay, we'll stop there. Yeah, 339s. Yes, they're 339s. What do they charge you for shipping? What's a 339? It's a quad comparator for Optos.
    37:56
    Outro Music