Episode 419: Lukas Ott

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·13m 40s·analyzed·May 29, 2025

Analysis

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TL;DR

Jeff Teolis interviews rising 15-year-old German player Lukas Ott on tournament preparation and pinball growth in Europe.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews 15-year-old Lukas Ott from Germany at InDisc tournament, where Ott made the top-40 playoffs despite limited pinball exposure in his home country. The conversation covers Ott's preparation methods, tournament format preferences, multilingual abilities, and aspirations to promote pinball through social media in Europe.

Key Claims

Lukas Ott made the playoffs (top 40) at InDisc with over 300 players competing, finishing around 24th place
high confidence · Ott confirmed he qualified for playoffs and Jeff stated 'you still made it' with over 300 players competing
Lukas Ott is from Germany where the nearest pinball machine to his location is 35 minutes away and is the only one within a 2-hour radius
high confidence · Ott stated: 'the closest pinball machine to where it's like 35 minutes away. And it's the only pinball machine in the radius of like two hours.'
European Pinball Championships (EPC) will be held May 28th to June 1st in Austria at an ice skating arena with multiple tournament formats
high confidence · Jeff confirmed EPC dates and Ott described venue as 'ice skating arena, which is really big' with main tournament, classics, women's comp, and Jersey Jack tournament
The first-place prize for EPC is a new in-box Jersey Jack pinball machine
high confidence · Ott stated: 'the prize for first is going to be a new in-box Jersey Jack pinball machine'
Lukas Ott spent half a year in New Zealand playing in pinball tournaments with fellow young player Tyler Dipper
high confidence · Ott confirmed: 'I was there for half a year, got the opportunity to play in pinball tournaments there'
Lukas Ott has been studying English since grade 5 and practices by listening to English podcasts and watching English videos
high confidence · Ott stated: 'since grade five. We have to take it in school' and 'I listen to a lot of English podcasts like yours and watch a lot of English videos'
InDisc uses a card format requiring five consecutive games where players' combined scores are compared against others
high confidence · Jeff explained: 'you have to put five consecutive games on, and hopefully they stand up, and you're comparing those games to other people's games'
Lukas Ott's preferred tournament format is Swiss pairing/head-to-head match play

Notable Quotes

“I would love to push pinball on social media. So when I'm back in Germany, I'm going to try to do some YouTube shorts, TikToks and everything to get more people into pinball because I feel like it's most important to get the youth into pinball.”
Lukas Ott @ mid-interview — Demonstrates young player's awareness of marketing challenges and commitment to growing pinball community through modern channels
“There aren't really a lot of pinball machines. So basically the only way to play is if you have some at home. For example, like the closest pinball machine to where it's like 35 minutes away.”
Lukas Ott @ early-mid interview — Illustrates accessibility challenge for pinball growth in Germany and context for Ott's travel to tournaments
“I've had somebody once ask me, who's the best player in the world? And I said, we don't know who it is yet. And the reason I said that is... the best player hasn't been exposed to a pinball machine.”
Jeff Teolis @ mid-interview — Reflects on talent pool limitations due to pinball accessibility barriers globally
“I think it's just really important, because in the future, everybody's going to have to be able to talk to everybody, because the world has to stay connected.”
Lukas Ott @ late interview — Shows maturity and global perspective of 15-year-old player regarding language and international connectivity
“If you want to play in a big pinball tournament, there's homework to be done. And if you don't do it, maybe that costs you a game.”
Jeff Teolis @ mid-interview — Emphasizes preparation requirements in competitive pinball, echoing Ott's study regimen

Entities

Lukas OttpersonJeff TeolispersonStefan RiedlerpersonTyler DipperpersonPaul EnglertpersonNicopersonJohannespersonEscherpersonJason ZollerpersonArvidperson

Signals

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business_signal: Accessibility barrier for pinball growth in Germany: severe shortage of location machines (35-minute nearest) limits player development pipeline despite quality player base
high · Ott: 'the only way to play is if you have some at home... the closest pinball machine... 35 minutes away... the only pinball machine in the radius of like two hours'
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community_signal: European competitive pinball scene is growing with established tournament infrastructure (EPC, German Championships, Swiss pairing formats) attracting young talent
high · EPC described with multiple tournament formats, ice arena venue, Jersey Jack partnership; Stefan Riedler/RS Pinball organizing; multiple German players mentioned as high-quality
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market_signal: Young international players emerging as competitive force; Paul Englert precedent being repeated with Lukas Ott traveling internationally at young age despite accessibility challenges
medium · Jeff compares Ott to Paul Englert as 'young superstar' and notes Ott traveled from Germany to compete at InDisc despite limited home exposure
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event_signal: European Pinball Championships positioning as major European competitive event with significant prize (new Jersey Jack machine) attracting international competitors
high · Ott expressed excitement about EPC; described multiple tournament formats and venue; first-place prize is new in-box Jersey Jack
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community_signal: Young player leveraging international mobility for skill development; Lukas Ott's six-month stay in New Zealand represents deliberate talent-building strategy through geographic relocation

Transcript

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0:00

it's time for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teals you can find everything on pinballprofile.com we're on twitter x and instagram at pinball profile you can email pinballprofile at gmail.com if you'd like to show your support on patreon that'd be wonderful The show is free. Don't worry. It'll always be that way thanks to great people like Rodney C., Gambling Entertainment Media Law, Derek K., Sean I., Nick N., Erica's Pinball Journey, and more. This is a treat to meet this young man here. I'm here at InDisc right now, and he's traveled a long way to get here. In fact, from Germany. It reminds me a few years ago, the first time I got to see Paul Englert, a young superstar who we all know about. That was a couple years ago. This is a name you'll want to remember. Lucas Ott, 15-year-old Lucas from Germany. How are you, my friend? Hey, I'm good. Thanks for having me. I have to tell you, Stefan Riedler from RS Pinball kind of gave me a heads up. He goes, hey, check out this Lukas Otkid. He's a really good player in Germany. So you know Stefan very well. Yeah, yeah, of course. He's always traveling to pinball tournaments and trying to sell pinball machines. It's great. And we were at one of his tournaments, too. It's just such a good location and such good organizing gear. I love it. Yeah, he does a great job. And, of course, he's a big part of the European Pinball Championships. I'm looking forward to going to that myself, in fact. So it'll be good in Austria coming up May 28th to June 1st. But I did want to reach out to you. And here you are in your first ever pinball major. And you made the playoffs in it. The top 40. There were over 300 amazing players here. You did it. Yeah, luckily. I had like a really good card as my second card. And that gave me a buy in the end. And then in the playoffs, I didn't play too well. But that's right. Because I'm still like 24th or something. You still made it. Do you know how many people didn't make it? Have you looked on the list to see who did not make the playoffs? like some legends. Yeah, it's just crazy, yeah. But you did it, and congratulations to you. It is a card format in disc, so what that means is you have to put five consecutive games on, and hopefully they stand up, and you're comparing those games to other people's games. Not easy to do. You can't afford a bad game. Yeah, no, you really can't. Luckily on my card, I had three really good games, one decent game, and I had one bad game on Jaws, but luckily it wasn't too bad, so it was still good enough for me to qualify, yeah. Pretty exciting, And you know, when you have a taste of success like that here at a pinball major, I can only imagine you're going to be like, okay, when's the next one? Yeah, the next one I'm going to go to is the EPC. I'm really looking forward to that. It's going to be so cool. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that as well. But you've got some great players in Germany. Oh, yeah, of course. And there's a lot of international players there too.

2:44

So it's going to be really difficult. And Johannes is even there and everything. So I'm really excited for that too. And I mean, if I'm really lucky, I might get a spot for the IFPA 21 in Austria, which would be great because it's directly near Germany, so it's not that expensive to go there. That's going to be a tough one to get in for sure, but I have a feeling if you don't make this world championships, the way you're playing, you'll make many world championships, and it's not easy to do now with the pro-ranking system and, again, some of the great countrymen that you have in Germany to get that exemption. I can't remember Nico's last name, but there's a great player. He does do a lot of traveling but he used to play at Bulls and Balls a lot and I never met him before and I guess he didn travel but my goodness could he play Oh yeah he really really good I think he got third or something at IFPA once So he's such a good player, but he doesn't travel. Yeah. So that's the great thing is even though the number of players certainly pales in comparison to the number in the United States or even other countries, too. It's the quality of players. And so for me, you know, I'm exposed to a lot of pinball arcades and machines and whatnot. Certainly not as much as my American counterparts, especially in the Chicago area. What is it like for you in Germany? Do you get access to a lot of pinball machines? There aren't really a lot of pinball machines. So basically the only way to play is if you have some at home. For example, like the closest pinball machine to where it's like 35 minutes away. And it's the only pinball machine in the radius of like two hours. So it's really difficult to get into it. You have to be in a big city and know a club or a league or something to play there. If you really want to get good, yeah, it's difficult. I've had somebody once ask me, who's the best player in the world? And I said, we don't know who it is yet. And the reason I said that is, what do you mean? It could be Escher, it could be Jason Zoller, it could be Arvid, it could be all these great players. Jared August is ZMAC. And I said, yeah, they're the best now, but I'm guessing the best player hasn't been exposed to a pinball machine. because of exactly what you said. It's not always easy for someone to get into pinball. Somebody probably has the skills or the ability to become fascinated in pinball. It's just they have to get the exposure, and it's not easy to own a machine or have one in a location. Yeah, I think so too. That's why I would love to push pinball on social media. So when I'm back in Germany, I'm going to try to do some YouTube shorts, TikToks and everything to get more people into pinball because I feel like it's most important to get the youth into pinball. And the best way to reach them is just like social media and social networks. Lucas, you're a very smart and intelligent young man because you're right. I've been around pinball a long time in my lifetime, but it was there when I was younger. It was pinball before video games. For you, you've got access to video games. You've got access to e-sports and home entertainment systems and all these kind of things where pinball, not that it's a dinosaur because great games are still being made, but it's not as readily available as other things. And here you are talking about trying to expand that exposure and you're a young person who's obviously got a lot of young friends and stuff. And I bet you some of your friends are going to be pretty fascinated by pinball and want to get into it too. Yeah, I already had my friends over and play some pins and everybody really loved it. It's just difficult to get into it. So maybe some more pinball machines on location and everything could do it too. Yeah, it's not easy for sure. So you're a young guy, grade 11 right now, and heading back to Germany after this trip. But you were spending some time in New Zealand with another great young pinball player who I saw at the World Championships, in fact, in Germany, Tyler Dipper from New Zealand. Yeah, it was really great. I was there for half a year, got the opportunity to play in pinball tournaments there, and everything was lovely, yeah. Tyler's a really nice guy. And New Zealand looks like a wonderful place. Haven't been yet, want to go? It is a wonderful place. Like the nature is just so stunning and everything. We went to the Grand Canyon here and I was like, okay, this is good. But New Zealand is even better Yeah The landscape is so good Yeah it looks pretty awesome I have to get there for sure The PECs have a wonderful place and there are System 11s and all that kind of stuff But again, New Zealand. Okay, I'm putting it on the list. But you've been, I got to say, for a guy who's obviously born and raised in Germany, your English is incredible. And you've been taking English for a long time. Yeah, since grade five. We have to take it in school, and I think it's a really good thing. because else I probably wouldn't be here if I couldn't speak English. Well, your English is fantastic. And, you know, in Canada, we take French for years and years. And so I think it was 12 years, in fact, of school of French. Can I speak French? No. That's French for now. Not really. My wife is fluent in it, but she lived near Quebec, so it's easier. You really have to stay on top of it. Do you get to practice English much? In Germany, not really, but I listen to a lot of English podcasts like yours and watch a lot of English videos and movies and everything. So I get to practice hearing it, but not really speaking. So that's kind of the reason why I went to New Zealand, just to practice it and to get better at it, yeah. You wanted to get better at English. You're doing a great job. Why do you want to get better at English? Do you have some job aspirations when you're a little older, or is there something you want to do? I think it's just really important, because in the future, everybody's going to have to be able to talk to everybody, because the world has to stay connected. So I think it's just going to be really helpful in the future. I don't know if it's going to be good for a job or, you know, to play more pinball tournaments, but I think it's just really helpful. You're sure you're 15 years old. You're pretty sharp.

8:20

Great foresight in that sense. So, yeah, you talked about the EPC coming up in Austria, and it's not at the Flipper Arena, though. It's near there, isn't it? Yeah, it's near there. It's going to be in an ice skating arena, which is really big, and it's going to be really cool because there are going to be a lot of pins there, so many different tournaments. There's a main tournament. There's a classics tournament. There's a women's comp. There's everything. Jersey Jack tournament? Yeah, a big Jersey Jack tournament. And, I mean, the prize for first is going to be a new in-box Jersey Jack pinball machine. I'm so excited for that, yeah. I do look forward to that. Now, that venue will be a different venue for you. It's the same for when you go to the German Championship Series. It's the same for when you came to Indisc here. So, you're used to, obviously, your own machines and maybe clubs that you're familiar with. when you come to a new place like this and maybe especially if it's match play where you only get one crack at it, at least with Indisc, okay, I didn't do so well, but now I get to go back and try again. What's it like for you when you go to a new place? What's the first thing you look for in a pinball machine? Is it the tilt? Is it where the shots are? What is it? Yeah, I think mainly where the shots are because I'll see where the tilt is during the game because if I just hit my shots, I don't really need to nudge anyway. So normally on my first game on a machine, I'm just looking for the shots. That's why I'm not that good on my first game, just like the first card here at Indisk. And then on the second game or second card, I usually know where the shots are, so I can hit them, get into the flow, do some more nudging, and then, yeah, that's how I do it. You'll have the game list, and you'll see games on there like we all do. We're like, I don't know that game. How much studying do you do beforehand? A lot of studying. For example, for Indisk, I always followed the trivia, and whenever there was a new game that was announced, I instantly looked up the rule set, and watched gameplay videos and everything just to know exactly what I need to do for the machines that you can find out online I think it just super important for me because I need to know what shots I need to hit what flip I need it on and then I can decide what moves I want to make For example, drop catch or dead bounce, depending on what shot I need to hit. So it's super important for me. That's right. You heard it. It's not just the kids that have to do homework. If you want to play in a big pinball tournament, there's homework to be done. And if you don't do it, maybe that costs you a game. And that one game could be the difference between getting in and being eliminated. It's so true. Yeah, I think so too. And it's difficult to always ask other people for the rule sets. So it's better to be the one who's being asked for the rule sets, yeah.

10:48

Mental note. When somebody asks you how to play a game like, oh, I don't know, Space Shuttle. Oh, avoid the spinner at all costs. It's terrible. It's a terrible choice. You know, if there were videos of me playing, and I'm not trying to be funny, especially this weekend. They'd be like, oh, I guess you're aiming for the posts. I thought you'd want to hit the ramp, but that guy is all over the posts. That's how it goes for some of us. But anyway, I think that's good that you do homework. It's really important to do. Now, you can't really do homework for something like a card-based format. And there are different formats. There are flip frenzies. There's the max match play, match play itself. There's strikes tournaments. There's all kinds of different formats that we see. But for you, do you get intimidated at all when you see a different format you're maybe not used to? Or is there one you prefer? I don't really get intimidated by new formats. I love trying new formats. but I think my favorite one is still Swiss pairing so head-to-head match play That's what they call it in Germany, right? They call it Swiss Yeah, it's Swiss pairing so you're always playing against people with the same number of points as you and I think it's just really balanced because if you're a good player, you'll play against more good players and if you're a bad player you'll play against more bad players so in the end it's going to be a really balanced field if you play like 20 rounds or something I know it's not easy because you're young, you're in school and it's a very big expense but you know when this comes around next year are you going to be like i gotta go i gotta go i'd love to go but it's tough yeah it's just tough i'll have to see because like it does cost a lot of money to fly over here i guess why it's going to be tough you know it's different when you're probably young 20s and maybe done school it's just a matter of getting the time off of work when you're in school you can only miss so much time and there's exams and everything else you're trying to get ready to go on to maybe university or college. So, yeah, you're in that kind of sweet spot where I might have to miss a few years of pinball, but I got a lot left of me, right? Oh, yeah, hopefully. Yeah. I hope to see you at the EPC. Thank you for spending the time today. I hope you have a safe travel back, and good luck with your schooling and with your tournaments. Thank you. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com. We're on Twitter and X and Instagram at pinballprofile. You can email pinballprofile at gmail.com. Join our great Facebook group as well, too. A lot of good people in that community. And if you'd like to show your support on Patreon, don't worry, the show will always be free, but we do appreciate it. Patreon.com slash pinball profile. We want to thank Lua W., Fox Cities Pinball, Jerry S., Colin A., Stefan R., and others. Thank you so much. With Lucas Ott, the next young superstar in pinball. I think so. I'm Jeff Teels.