Episode 216: Colin Urban, top 10 player and owner of Australia

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·13m 8s·analyzed·Aug 31, 2019

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

Top-10 player Colin Urban discusses his six-tournament Brisbane Masters sweep and future in pinball design.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Colin Urban, a top-10 IFPA-ranked pinball player, about his dominant performance at Brisbane Masters where he won six out of ten tournaments during a family trip to Australia. Colin discusses various tournament formats, his upset miss at Pinburgh, the growing Brisbane pinball community, and his future aspirations in design and marketing while balancing his final year of high school on the US West Coast.

Key Claims

Colin Urban won six out of ten tournaments at Brisbane Masters during a family trip to Australia, propelling him to number eight in IFPA rankings
high confidence · Colin directly states: 'I got six firsts' out of ten tournaments played, and Jeff confirms 'you've propelled yourself to number eight in the world.'
Brisbane Masters is changing to 21+ age requirement starting next year
high confidence · Jeff states: 'Next year, they're changing the Brisbane Masters to 21 or older.' Colin doesn't dispute this. Note: drinking age in Australia is 18, making this rule unusual.
The Brisbane pinball community has grown dramatically from very small two to three years ago to a large, well-developed scene
high confidence · Colin reports: 'even just two or three years ago, there was very little pinball and the community was super, super small. But just recently, it's gotten a lot bigger.'
Brisbane Masters featured 80-100 players, double its normal capacity of 40-50 players, due to visitors from across Australia and overseas
high confidence · Colin states: 'They had about 80 to 100 players for a normal tournament that should hold around 40 or 50 people.'
Colin did not get into Pinburgh (Pittsburgh), his first miss in approximately five years
high confidence · Colin confirms: 'it was the first year, I think in five years maybe, that we didn't get in' to Pinburgh.
Stern Pro Circuit is changing from 40 people to top 20 players in a strict ladder format
high confidence · Jeff explains the change: 'They're going back to what it originally was, the top 20, and a strict ladder format.' Colin acknowledges the change positively.
Colin won Indisc tournament in January and the first Stern Pro Circuit event this year
high confidence · Jeff states: 'You won the first Stern Pro Circuit event this year. You won Indisc earlier back in January' and Colin does not dispute this.
The Portland, Oregon pinball scene has grown dramatically in the past two years in terms of locations, players, and opportunities

Notable Quotes

“I got six firsts. Six out of what, 10? Yeah, I played in 10 tournaments.”
Colin Urban @ early in interview — Establishes Colin's dominant performance at Brisbane Masters
“So you can get into City Champ when they had 75 people, but they have 1,000 people in Pinnberg and you can't make that one? Apparently. F5, my friend, F5.”
Jeff Teolis / Colin Urban @ mid-interview — Humorous exchange about the lottery nature of Pinburgh registration; Colin references F5 (browser refresh) indicating the high competition for entry
“I do hope to see more events like this in the U.S... I could see it happening in Pittsburgh for sure, but I definitely can see it in the Northwest there.”
Colin Urban @ mid-interview — Colin expresses interest in multi-day festival tournament formats expanding to the US, particularly in Pittsburgh and Northwest
“Pinball is definitely something I've been thinking about and just something design in general... I'm actually pretty into marketing and business and stuff.”
Colin Urban @ near end of interview — Reveals Colin's career aspirations in pinball design and business/marketing field
“They're going back to what it originally was, the top 20, and a strict ladder format... someone like yourself who I played with you were 10th you were ahead of 30 people and you never got to pick a game”
Jeff Teolis @ mid-interview — Explains Stern Pro Circuit format change and the inequality that prompted it
“the pinball scene's great. But there's tons and tons of players and leagues and locations... Even Portland has grown dramatically, the whole pinball scene, in the past two years.”
Colin Urban @ mid-interview — Establishes Portland/Northwest as a major pinball growth region
“When you went back to school this week and you talked about having a good time in Australia, no one cared at all about your wins in pinball... Conversations in high school aren't as deep as some would think.”
Jeff Teolis / Colin Urban — Highlights the isolation of being a passionate pinball competitor in high school among peers

Entities

Colin Urbanperson Brisbane Mastersevent Pinburghevent Jeff Teolisperson Escher Lefkoffperson Stern Pro CircuiteventPortland, Oregon

Signals

?
business_signal: Stern Pro Circuit expanding from initial 40-player format back to top-20 ladder after mid-season change, addressing concerns about fairness and seeding advantages for high-ranked players
high · Jeff explains: 'They're going back to what it originally was, the top 20, and a strict ladder format' and notes the change addresses Colin's experience where 'you were 10th you were ahead of 30 people and you never got to pick a game'
~
sentiment_shift: Pinburgh lottery registration system causing frustration among top-tier players; Colin missed entry for first time in five years despite high IFPA ranking, indicating scarcity issue
medium · Jeff expresses surprise: 'You can get into City Champ when they had 75 people, but they have 1,000 people in Pinnberg and you can't make that one?' Colin responds 'Apparently. F5, my friend, F5' referencing browser refresh warfare for registration
?
competitive_signal: Brisbane Masters featured diverse tournament formats (pump-and-dump, match play, frenzy, fair strikes) demonstrating growing sophistication in Australian tournament organization and player preferences
high · Colin details competing in 'pump-and-dump tournament on Friday, and then Saturday was two classics tournaments. One was a match play, one was a frenzy' plus 'fair strikes tournament' on Sunday
$
market_signal: Multi-day festival tournament format (Brisbane Masters as 10-day event, pre-Olympics in Germany) emerging as model for international competitive pinball events, potentially spreading to US
medium · Jeff notes similarity between Brisbane Masters and German pre-Olympics event and speculates: 'I wonder if this is going to the future of pinball where they kind of put 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 crammed into, I don't know, seven days' and Colin expresses interest in seeing this happen in US, 'especially Pittsburgh'

Topics

Brisbane Masters and Australian pinball growthprimaryStern Pro Circuit format changes and tournament structureprimaryColin Urban's rise in competitive rankings and tournament winsprimaryTournament formats (match play, pump-and-dump, pop, frenzy, fair strikes)secondaryPortland/Northwest pinball scene growthsecondaryYoung competitive players in pinballsecondaryCareer paths in pinball (design, marketing, business)secondaryPinburgh registration and lottery systemmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Interview is overwhelmingly positive and celebratory of Colin's achievements. Jeff is enthusiastic about Colin's tournament success, the growth of Australian pinball, and the future of the sport. Colin is humble yet confident, expressing genuine enjoyment of competition and community. No negative sentiment detected regarding Colin, tournaments, or the pinball scene.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.039

it's time for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teoles you can find our group on facebook we're also on twitter at pinball profile email us pinball profile at gmail.com and please subscribe on your favorite podcatcher we go to portland oregon right now where the prime minister of australia lives yes colin urban has dominated this past summer at the brisbane masters and he joins us right now. Hey Colin, how are you? I'm doing well. What a summer you had. My goodness, you've propelled yourself to number eight in the world, thanks in part to a family trip to Australia. What happened on that trip? Well, besides lots of hiking and snorkeling, it was a pretty big tournament out in Brisbane and I did much better than I thought. How many first places did you have? I got six firsts. Six out of what, 10? Yeah, I played in 10 tournaments. And then Escher won a couple too, right? Yeah, I think he won three, I think, or four. Yeah, something crazy. If there's one thing I've learned, all across the world, everybody loves Americans. So I assume they love that you came there and took all their whoppers. Yeah, you know, I'm sure they expected to get a few more out of it. But yeah, it was a super friendly bunch. So it was all right. Oh, this just in. Next year, they're changing the Brisbane Masters to 21 or older. Oh, I wonder why. It's a little odd. But no, actually, I think the drinking age is 18 there, isn't it? It is 18, yeah. So I would be clear to go next year if I chose. Escher will have to wait, maybe get a fake mustache or something. Yeah. Yeah, they might be on to him. But let's talk about that. So 10 different tournaments and quite a variety too at Brisbane Masters, What did you play? Well, I started out with a pump-and-dump tournament on Friday, and then Saturday was two classics tournaments. One was a match play, one was a frenzy. I didn't play in the frenzy because it would have been ending about 1 in the morning. And Sunday was a fair strikes tournament. And then during that week was all the weeklies they normally have just for the locals, but since tons of people from the country flew out there and some people from overseas, They had about 80 to 100 players for a normal tournament that should hold around 40 or 50 people, which was crazy. And those formats were more match play and more pump and dump. And then the weekend was a big warm-up event. And then the Masters was on Saturday and Sunday, which was like a mini-Penberg. It was super fun. I guess with all that variety, you are now an expert. Is there one you prefer over another? I'm not sure. I like all different kinds of formats. I think in match play, it's fun to play with different people, but it's also nice to get a break and just do pump and dump and play your best. And then, of course, the finals is head-to-head or match play. So I'm a fan of all the formats. Well, match play, I think we first saw you, at least a lot of people outside of Portland, really wondered who this Colin is when you won City Champ back in December of 2017. So that was a big match play format Yeah yeah that was And then ever since I played in more So yeah I like the social aspect for sure And isn't part of this whole trip, the reason you and your family went to Australia was, well, you were going there anyway, but you actually didn't get into Pinburgh. Yeah, that's right. It was the first year, I think in five years maybe, that we didn't get in. And it was unfortunate, but luckily, Masters was just not only part of the circuit, but just the whole series of events beforehand was just awesome. So you can get into City Champ when they had 75 people, but they have 1,000 people in Pinburgh and you can't make that one? Apparently. F5, my friend, F5. Oh, yeah? Yeah, I'm not really sure what happened. Just didn't get in. Doesn't matter. It obviously worked out very well and a nice family trip, and your family even played some pinball too while they were there. Yeah, I think they enjoyed it too. They didn't just sit around and watch. So they took part and had fun too. So it's all good. Well, what is it like there in Brisbane? You talked about their regular leagues and obviously it stepped up for the Brisbane Masters, but you got a chance to play with a lot of these players. They're really avid and passionate about pinball. It's one of the biggest growing areas. Yeah, well, they were telling me that even just two or three years ago, there was very little pinball and the community was super, super small. But just recently, it's gotten a lot bigger and there's so many great locations to play at with tons of really quality games. And yeah, the community is super supportive. There's tons of people. There's some great players out there. And it was a really good time. You got to see Jimmy Nails, who helped put all this together. He's a great guy. Yeah, Jimmy's great. Super nice. And it's really crazy how him and Jason Lampert put the whole entire tournament together. Just the amount of work and planning that must have taken is just phenomenal. And so, yeah, it was really great to meet him and take part of the whole event. Well, I know when I was talking to Johannes Ostermeyer, another one of your fellow top 10 IFPA-ers, and another young guy like yourself too, and he was telling me about the pre-Olympics that they had in Germany and what a big event that was in June with several days as well, similar to Brisbane Masters. I wonder if this is going to be the future of pinball where they kind of put 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 crammed into, I don't know, seven days or so just to kind of see what kind of turnout they'll get. I imagine it's draining on you, but it's also pretty fun, too. Yeah, yeah, it is fun. But after the third or fourth day, it definitely took a toll. But yeah, I do hope to see more events like this in the U.S. You know, the U.S. has so many great players and so many great locations and opportunities. It could easily happen. I could see it happening in Pittsburgh for sure, but I definitely can see it in the Northwest there. Oregon, I've never been, but I hear it's just a huge hotbed. We know what Seattle's like. What's it like there in the Northwest? It's very rainy, but the pinball scene's great. But there's tons and tons of players and leagues and locations. Yeah, yeah. Even Portland has grown dramatically, the whole pinball scene, in the past two years. Just the amount of locations, the amount of players, the amount of everything, really. It's really, really awesome to see. I not surprised that you did very well because I played with you In fact we played at the Stern Pro Circuit You and I we got knocked out of the first round together didn we We did yep Same group We got stuck on I think we had to play Cheetah twice big game once and maybe we got a game on Stars or Ollie or something like that. But it wasn't exactly the games you wanted to play. But you also didn't have a choice, which was weird. Yeah, yeah. I was, what, 10th seed out of 40 people. And so really the people that were at the very bottom of the group should have been playing those games, or I should have been picking some of the more modern games, but that's just the way the format panned out, and luckily they're changing it for next year. Well, they are making a big change. They're going back to what it originally was, the top 20, and a strict ladder format. Now, I understand why they're doing this. It was unfortunate that they dropped kind of mid-season after a couple events to decide to go down to 20, but I also understand why they're doing it. And the one big reason I like the change was, I thought, someone like yourself who I played with you were 10th you were ahead of 30 people and you never got to pick a game there was no advantage for you and you're out in first round so I thought with 40 people probably the top 16 should get a buy maybe the top four getting two buys kind of like what they do in pinberg I guess it would just take too long but I thought you know you finishing 10th you probably deserved a little more you were at the same playing field as everyone else other than you got to pick games which you didn't even get to do yeah yeah it was definitely definitely a bummer. But I think with the new format, it definitely, it does value the people who have played in a ton of events and who have placed very high in lots of events. But you still have to perform. It doesn't matter if you're top seed, you still have to win or do well in three games. And coming in cold like that can be hard. So having an advantage of being a top seed isn't always the best. So somebody that's ranked 14th or 15th could easily win it if they play well and they're warm all throughout the event. So it's super interesting. Yeah, the higher up you are, the less opponents you have to beat to win the grand championship prize, which is a great stern pinball machine. But as you said, we think of Daniele, who was 20th a few years ago, ran the gauntlet and won it all. So he was kind of hot. He was warmed up, whereas other people kind of came in cold. So yeah, it's going to be an interesting dynamic to see what happens, but I know you're a big fan and you talked about players that do well. You've already done well. In fact, you won the first Stern Pro Circuit event this year. You won Indisc earlier back in January and now Brisbane Masters. So you're going to be looking pretty good for the Stern Pro Circuit. Yeah, we'll see what happens after the Pinberg results all get posted, but I'll see how I do after Northwest and maybe another event, maybe Expo. But if I'm high enough in the ladder, I'd definitely like to go. You mentioned Northwest Pinball Championships. That's happening the first weekend in September. You're going to be at that and maybe make it three Stern Pro Circuit event wins. That'd be pretty impressive. Have you been to that tournament before? Yeah, I was there last year and got third. I think I was there one previous year. And yeah, it's definitely a super solid tournament. It's a pump and dump, or old pop, a pump and dump, I guess. And a couple of classics tournaments and a high stakes. So it's a small amount of time, only two days, compared to the 10 days that was the whole Brisbane Masters. But yeah I looking forward to it And a pretty tough competition too Oh yeah Lots of great competition out there too You mentioned the old pop format I always say the best players shine when it comes to the pop format because you really have to perform on a consistent basis. Is that a format you like? Well, it worked for me last year at the event and I'm hoping this year it'll be the same. But yeah, I do like that. As long as there's four or five games that are playing fair and that I feel comfortable on, I should be okay. I always wonder when I talk to someone like yourself, I think of great players like Escher Lefkoff, Danielle Peck in New Zealand, Alexander Kazmarchuk, all these great young players. And I always wonder, in this case with you, what was it that drew you to pinball when video games are certainly more prominent for people of your age? Well, my dad took me to First Arcade when I was like three or four. And then he started getting into it and got a couple games, and I started getting more into it. And then my first tournament was in 2013, and that's when I really, really dug into it and the whole competitive scene. And here I am now. You're now a senior in high school. Do some of your other friends enjoy pinball like you do? They don't, even though Portland is the biggest city for pinball. I think I'm the only one. So, yeah, it's fine, though. I enjoy the other players around Portland, So it's always a fun time. So when you went back to school this week and you talked about having a good time in Australia, no one cared at all about your wins in pinball, right? It was just, oh, yeah, tell us about the hiking and everything else. Yeah, it was basically just, you know, where'd you go? Australia. And then that was pretty much it. You know, it's not... Conversations in high school aren't as deep as some would think. Well, you've only got one more year in high school. Then what's it going to be for you? College? University? Yeah, yeah, university somewhere on the west coast. Still not exactly sure, but I'm working on it. What do you want to do when you go into university? What's your career path? What would you like to get into? Would it be pinball maybe? Pinball is definitely something I've been thinking about and just something design in general, or I'm actually pretty into marketing and business and stuff. But yeah, something that I can get my hands on and just kind of design and stuff. Have you done any designs before? Have you gone on your computer and maybe created anything or no? Not too much. I've had ideas, but it really doesn't matter too much until it's actually been done and created. Well, you know I wish you the best of luck. You're a great young man. You're an amazing player. And I hope you do well in school and get into the pinball field if that's where you want to go. And maybe just take it easy on some of those Australians, all right? They're going to be looking out for you. Yeah, I will. Thanks. Colin, a pleasure to talk to you, buddy. All the best. Thanks. You too. This has been your pinball profile. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at pinballprofile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. And please subscribe on your favorite podcatcher. Here talking to the young kids, I'm old man Jeff Teels.