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Episode 146: Pinburgh 2018 recap

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·23m 33s·held·Aug 4, 2018
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

Pinball Profile recaps Pinburgh 2018: 843 players, Keith Elwin wins, WHIPPED debuts.

Summary

Jeff Teoles hosts a Pinball Profile podcast episode recapping Pinburgh 2018, the world's largest pinball tournament held in Pittsburgh with 843 players. The episode features interviews with tournament participants, highlights from the main finals where Keith Elwin won the championship, coverage of the inaugural Women's International Pinball Tournament (WHIPPED) won by Nicole Bernier, and the Trash Talker Invitational podcast competition won by Martin Robbins' Head to Head2Head Pinball team.

Key Claims

  • 843 players competed at Pinburgh 2018

    high confidence · Jeff Teoles opening remarks: 'The biggest tournament of the world right here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 843 players.'

  • WHIPPED (Women's International Pinball Tournament) had 64 women competing in its inaugural year at Pinburgh 2018

    high confidence · Jeff Teoles: 'Whipped has come to a close. The Women's International Pinball Tournament here at Pinberg. What a great event. 64 women playing for the title.'

  • Keith Elwin won the Pinburgh 2018 championship, with Andre Massinkoff in second place and Jim Belsito in third

    high confidence · Conversation with finalists Chris Stevens, Andre Massinkoff, Jim Belsito, and Keith Elwin discussing the finals results

  • Nicole Bernier from near Portland, Maine won the inaugural WHIPPED tournament

    high confidence · Jeff Teoles: 'It's Nicole Bernier from near Portland, but not quite in Portland, Maine.'

  • Martin Robbins' Head to Head2Head Pinball team won the Trash Talker Invitational podcast competition

    high confidence · Jeff Teoles: 'With much chagrin, I'm here to announce the winner of the Trash Talker Invitational Podcast Bloodbath... Martin Robbins, single-handedly, likes to believe he won it.'

  • The Reno Pinball League grew from 16 regular members to 37 members on opening day

    high confidence · Mark Scoff discussing Reno Pinball League growth: 'We first started out a couple months ago, and we had like 16 regular members, and now people who walk through the door on the first day, we had 37.'

  • Iron Maiden by Keith Elwin is selling well on location

    high confidence · Jeff Teoles to Keith Elwin: 'And also congratulations, as I said, on the stream. Iron Maiden, we love it. And it's selling like wildfire. So it's doing great on location.'

  • Wisconsin has approximately 20-25 players from three main leagues (Madison, Appleton, Milwaukee areas) at Pinburgh

    high confidence · Mark Seidler: 'Probably about 20, 25 of us... We've got three main leagues right now. We've got one in the Madison area, one in the Appleton area, and then one in the Milwaukee area.'

Notable Quotes

  • “It's the most wonderful time of the year. It's time for the Pinberg edition of Pinball Profile.”

    Jeff Teoles @ opening — Sets the tone for Pinburgh as a major annual event in the pinball community calendar

  • “Don't drain. Mental note. Don't drain.”

    Rose Weingartner @ early interview — Humorous moment illustrating casual player strategy and couple dynamics at Pinburgh

  • “I think just getting to play a bunch of games that I would otherwise never see, particularly being in Ontario. That's a big treat.”

    Heather Dodge @ mid-episode — Captures the appeal of Pinburgh for newer and geographically isolated players; highlights accessibility and inclusivity

  • “Pinball is actually really, really good for me. It's becoming a mindfulness activity.”

    Heather Dodge @ mid-episode — Reflects therapeutic/wellness appeal of pinball beyond competition

  • “This is the one we wait for all year. Hang out with people like you, everyone else you meet. It's great.”

    Jerry Bernard @ mid-episode — Emphasizes Pinburgh's role as social/community hub rather than just competitive event

  • “You know, when you see some of those big scores that we saw today, you kind of just tip your cap and go, you know what, it's not so much that I lost. Some guy just was really, really good and put up a great score.”

    Andre Massinkoff @ finals discussion — Shows graciousness of top competitor; reflects competitive culture and respect for exceptional play

  • “It's always great. It's always great. It never goes away.”

    Keith Elwin @ post-finals — Championship veteran reflects on the enduring appeal of winning Pinburgh despite previous victories

  • “The people have really made this phenomenal just so many good people all coming together to play pinball to do the best that they can to help each other out.”

    Martin Robbins — International visitor reflects on community culture as event's defining feature

Entities

PinburgheventJeff TeolespersonKeith ElwinpersonAndre MassinkoffpersonJim BelsitopersonMark SeidlerpersonRose WeingartnerpersonBrian WeingartnerpersonNicole Bernierperson

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: Pinburgh 2018 achieved 843 players, confirming its status as world's largest competitive pinball tournament

    high · Jeff Teoles opening: '843 players. We're going to talk about that.'

  • ?

    community_signal: Inaugural WHIPPED tournament achieved 64 women competitors with huge waiting list, indicating strong demand for women-focused pinball competition and community building

    high · Kate Martin: 'There were weeks that I was messaging Bowen and Elizabeth just being like, what if we don't sell out? What if we don't sell enough tickets?' indicating unexpected demand; Crystal Gemnick confirmed as co-organizer

  • ?

    venue_signal: Reno Pinball League experienced rapid growth (16 to 37 members in opening period) coinciding with opening of public venues like Press Start arcade in Midtown

    high · Mark Scoff: 'We first started out a couple months ago, and we had like 16 regular members, and now people who walk through the door on the first day, we had 37.'

  • ?

    product_launch: Iron Maiden pinball machine (Keith Elwin design/credit) is selling well on location operators

    high · Jeff Teoles to Keith Elwin: 'And also congratulations, as I said, on the stream. Iron Maiden, we love it. And it's selling like wildfire. So it's doing great on location.'

  • ?

    community_signal: Pinburgh attendance represents nationwide participation: Wisconsin (~20-25 players), DC area, Maine, Nevada, Ontario Canada, and Australian international competitor (Martin Robbins)

    high · Multiple interviews with attendees from different regions; Martin Robbins traveled from Australia

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.071

0:00
It's the most wonderful time of the year. It's time for the Pinberg edition of 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, pinballprofile at gmail.com. Please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. and check out our under construction website, pinballprofile.com. The biggest tournament of the world right here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 843 players. We're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about the Trash Talker Invitational and also WHIPPED, the first ever women's international pinball tournament. Let's get to some of the players.
0:46
Mark Seidler is here from Wisconsin. He's here at his third pinball. Mark, how are you doing so far? I'm doing well, thank you. A lot of people from Wisconsin here? Probably about 20, 25 of us. Some of the leagues there? Well, we've got three main leagues right now. We've got one in the Madison area, one in the Appleton area, and then one in the Milwaukee area. Okay, now one of the deals about being on this podcast, you have to go easy. You kick butt on Rolling Stones, so we've got two more games. Lay low, or I'll edit this and make you sound like a monster. You got it. I came in third place on Space Race. All right, well, have a lot of fun, Mark. Good talking to you. Nice talking to you as well. They talk about power couples. I'm here with one right now, Rose and Brian Weingartner from D.C. Hi, Rose. How are you? Good, how are you doing? And how about you, Brian? Doing great. Having a great time. Now, I just watched Rose put up a nine, crushing it on games like Fishtails and Wizard and Starship Troopers. Do you like those games? I do. They're new for me, but I really liked Fathom, which I just played just now for the first time. What was your strategy? Don't drain. Mental note. Don't drain. What about you, Brian? Doing all right, and my strategy is also don't drain. We share a lot in our strategies. You know, we talk about it. We plan ahead. Like, neither of us want to drain. What do you want to do? Not drained? Me too, also, yeah. It's a good idea. Rose, you were saying there's a lot of women's league action in the D.C. area? Yeah, we're going to have a women's competition in Baltimore coming up, and a lot of the same players who play in D.C. and in Maryland, Virginia, will be there. So we've had one event in Maryland so far, another one in D.C., and our third will be in Baltimore, so we're looking forward to that. I played a woman earlier from Baltimore, Juana. She was a really good player. Juana is fantastic, and she's actually working to organize the Baltimore event. We're looking forward to that, yeah. Good. And Rose told me that you have Star Wars at home, the Stern game. Yes, yes. How do you like it? I find it very enjoyable. I know some people don't like it so much, but I think there's a lot to the game as far as the strategy of the game and also a lot of the shots in the game I think transfer to other machines. So if you get good at that, it works well for others. Brian, good point. If you have that as your only game, you're playing that over and over again, because it is such a difficult game, it probably does make you a better player. Would you agree? I'm at least learning flipper skills. Yeah, for sure. And quick reactions, right? Yes, absolutely. Now, how are you two on the action button? You're talking to one of the all-time greatest action button players ever in the history. I've heard about that. Self-blast.
@ late episode

  • “It was a great tournament. Now, let's talk a little bit about that. You were one of the TDs, Crystal.”

    Jeff Teoles @ WHIPPED discussion — Marks transition to coverage of inaugural women's tournament

  • “My favorite thing about Pinball, other than the volunteers and everyone that puts it on together, is really that summer camp feel of getting to see old and new friends.”

    Jeff Teoles @ closing — Summarizes the cultural essence of Pinburgh as community gathering

    • Priyanka Koshar
    person
    Kate Martinperson
    Crystal Gemnickperson
    Martin Robbinsperson
    [name withheld pending review]person
    Heather Dodgeperson
    Bowen Kerinsperson
    Jerry Bernardperson
    Chris Stevensperson
    Iron Maidengame
    WHIPPEDevent
    Trash Talker Invitationalevent
    Reno Pinball Leagueorganization
    Pinball Profileorganization
    PAPAorganization
  • ?

    competitive_signal: Pinburgh finals featured dramatic gameplay with memorable moments (Keith Elwin rolling Harlem Globetrotters, multiple tiebreakers in WHIPPED)

    high · Discussion of Keith Elwin's final game: 'Keith's final game. I mean, rolling a Harlem, but rolling one like this is not something you expect'; WHIPPED had three-way tie requiring tiebreaker on Frontier

  • ?

    community_signal: Pinburgh serves as important accessibility point for geographically isolated players (Ontario, Maine, Nevada) providing exposure to diverse machine lineup and competitive community

    high · Heather Dodge: 'I think just getting to play a bunch of games that I would otherwise never see, particularly being in Ontario'; Mark Scoff's Reno growth story shows isolation-breaking effect

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Kate Martin and Crystal Gemnick successfully launched inaugural WHIPPED tournament, with Crystal expressing interest in continuing as TD; represents emerging generation of tournament organizers

    high · Jeff Teoles: 'I would love to do it from here on out. If you'll have me, Kate.' Kate: 'I will have you. I will have you.'

  • ?

    community_signal: Community emphasizes Pinburgh's 'summer camp feel' and social/friendship-building aspects as much or more than competitive standings

    high · Jeff Teoles closing: 'My favorite thing about Pinball, other than the volunteers and everyone that puts it on together, is really that summer camp feel of getting to see old and new friends'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Pinburgh 2018 featured mix of classic electromechanical games and modern titles; some players struggled with EMs (Lyman Sheets with 2/12 points on EMs), while others excelled; indicates diverse skillsets required

    medium · Lyman Sheets discussing poor EM performance; Jerry Bernard also noted 'My EMs just did not treat me the way I usually get treated'

    • 3:04
    Anyway, Rose, Brian, best of luck at Pinberg. Thank you so much. Good talking to you. There's always new people here at Pinberg and ReplayFX, and here's one right now. Oh, I brought him. My son, Carson Teolas. Carson, how are you doing, buddy? Very good. Having fun? Yeah. We don't care about how we score, right? It's all about having fun. Well, for the most part. I mean, I kind of wanted to win, but... After two rounds, you have a couple of wins in games. I have zero, so you're beating the old man. I got lucky, I guess. There's a lot of great players here, but... Yeah. Remember when I told you, I said, you're going to see games you've never seen before, and every bank, you see probably three of them. Yeah, I've only played, like, one that I know, so... But it's a lot of fun, and then we're going to go do the video games and all that other... It's heaven here, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely. All right, Carson. Good luck, and maybe I'll talk to you later. Maybe never. I mean, hopefully you'll talk to me. I mean, I'm in your room. If you beat me, you're finding your own way home. See ya. So many people at Pinnberg. In fact, here are three that you probably know. Lyman Sheets. Hello, Lyman. Hi, how's it going? Good. Greg Pavarelli. By the way, you look like somebody I know named Greg Pavarelli. Totally different guy. How's it going, Jeff? Never heard of that guy. And Mike Primo, who's behind the scenes here for Pinnberg. The stream you're going to be seeing on Papa Television, on Papa Pinball on YouTube. Mike, how are you? I'm great. Having as much fun as anybody else. Pretty good setup this year, don't you think? Very exciting. The team is working so hard, and we're making progress, so we're excited. Greg, how have you been playing so far? I was playing pretty good to start the day, but I have the round four curse after dinner, so I need to bounce back, but I think an eight or a nine will be enough. Okay. I'm sorry I couldn't get you in. There were just so many people there on the trash talker. Yeah, you know, I'm going to focus on Intergalactic. It's all right, Jeff. Okay, Lyman, how have you been playing? All right, except for the EMs. Yeah, you told me you had one point on the first three games. What about the fourth one? Fourth one, I got one point. So I have two points out of a possible 12 on EMs. Mental note, play Lyman dollar games on EMs. That's right. What your total score is?
    5:06
    28, I think, 28. What's the matter, Lyman? You don't like the rules on the EMs? Is that the problem? No, I actually like EMs a lot, but, you know. So I didn't grow up playing EMs. I grew up playing, you know, like high speed and fun house and stuff like that. We're about the same age. EMs are around there. I wasn't playing those back then. Oh, okay. All right. How are you doing? I'm doing podcasts. I told you. No, no, no. How are you doing in the tournament? I know you're playing. It doesn't matter. It's all about the EMs. How are you doing on the solid stakes? I'm sucking on the ball. All right. Come on, Lyman. It's not about me. I can turn that around on you. Mike, you know I'm dedicated for the Pinberg finals for the stage. That's why, right? It's all about the show. Exactly. It's programming. And the TTI. Sorry again, Greg. Yeah you know I feel like next year I jump on earlier because you and I would be a good team together But Jeff I feel like you going to bounce back and play good tomorrow You not just an entertainer and a podcaster You're a great pinball player. Well, thanks. Lyman thinks differently. Thanks, Lyman. Hey, you know what? Hang in there.
    6:05
    Is there a participation bag somewhere? I've got to go find it. Mike, Greg, Lyman, thank you very much. Peace. Thanks, man. A little pre-trash talking here with three other podcasters. You've probably never heard of any of them. Slam Tilt Podcast, Head to Head Podcast, and Pinball Players Podcast. Bruce Nightingale, Martin Robbins, and Jeff Parsons. Hello, Bruce. Are you all ready for the Trash Talker? Oh, I'm so ready to kick your butt. Kick or kiss? I'm sorry, that didn't come through. Lick, actually. Oh, God. Martin, all the way here from Melbourne, Australia. Oh, and Mr. Big. He's in the A Division. Yeah, what division are you in? I'm in B for better. I think that's what it means. Is it? There's another A word I can think of. Oh, by the way, how'd you do in your first round, eh?
    6:50
    Mr. Big Mouth, how'd you do? Yeah, really well. I had good fun. What'd you get? Do you want me to swear?
    6:56
    It says two, and I just want to point out, you're allowed to play with two. No, it says 20. No, no, two. You're allowed to play with two hands, Mark.
    7:02
    Jeff Parsons, you know what? I want to make fun of him, but I also saw one of his rounds. This guy went 12-0 on the round. That's right. How many of you guys got 12-0? Oh, no hands? No hands? Oh, I'm sorry. That was for pity. Oh, was it now? Oh, pity. Yeah, okay. I got a 12-0 two years ago to start off, as you can imagine, all downhill from there. Well, that's good. That's what I'm doing, too. You get a medal. I get a medal, and that's about all I'm going to have to show for this. Unless I kick you all in the TTI. Listen to this. All right. Hopefully this is the last time you hear any of these three people. Don't ever listen to Slam Tilt. Don't listen to Head to Head. Don't listen to Pinball Players Podcast. Pinball Profile is where it's all at. Verified by all of them. Yes, yes, yes. See, there you go. There you go. It all counts. Have fun, boys. She was here last year. She just played in the free play area this year. She was on the wait list, got in the week before, and now she's playing in her first ever Pinberg. Heather Dodge from Cambridge, Ontario. How are you doing, Heather? I'm doing great, Jeff. Thanks for asking. Great big smile on your face. Looks like you're having some fun. It's been a great time here at Pinberg 2018, absolutely. And what's your favorite thing about it? I think just getting to play a bunch of games that I would otherwise never see, particularly being in Ontario. That's a big treat. And probably almost two, maybe three per bank. Absolutely. Most of them, if anything. There's been some I'm familiar with and then a lot that are new. I saw you and so many other women on stage for the big photo shoot that was done with so many different women players here, and they've got the big WIPS tournament on Sunday. What do you think when you play in your leagues? I think given that I'm still new at this, people are very understanding and pretty supportive. So that felt really nice. So the stress level was low. Towards the end of the day, when people are working a little harder to kind of get going and really trying to work on their points, you feel that stress go up. I think it's all in your head, just kind of keeping that cool, right? I think I remember when you first started playing pinball, and I want to say less than two years ago? Yeah, about a year and a half, maybe just a little bit more. And now you're playing in Pinbird. What do you think? Are you going to do more tournaments? Are you going to try to play more shows? Yes. I've noticed that pinball is actually really, really good for me. It's becoming a mindfulness activity. Oh, okay. And it actually helps to calm me down and gives me something to focus on other than my ordinary passions and work. Well, that's great, Heather. Congratulations. I'm glad you made it in, and I'm sure we'll see you at Pinberg for years to come. Thank you, Jeff, and good luck yourself. One thing you find out about Pinberg is that there's pinball everywhere. Even in Reno, Nevada, Mark Scoff joins me right now, and you've got the Reno Pinball League that started this year, and it's really grown. Yeah, it's grown a lot. We first started out a couple months ago, and we had like 16 regular members, and now people who walk through the door on the first day, we had 37. That's a huge growth. It's a huge growth. And pinball is really growing popularity thanks to Michael Huntsman, who he kind of started at getting it set up where he had his own private location. And then as the word got around, we finally had some public places to play. And it's been huge. And we were all talking about it. We had tournaments and everything, but we just couldn't get people coming. And then I was like, well, I'm going to go. I'm going to try this. I'm going to definitely go and start a league. I know I can do it, and it really turned out to be really successful. So where were you getting your pinball action before the Reno Pinball League started? At people's houses we first started doing that. There were a couple places like Peppermill. There's a place called Jub Jub's where my friend Michael Huntsman had machines over there. And then as Press Start opened up, that kind of opened up the area in Midtown,
    10:31
    which got the general population interested in pinball because it was a happening spot. Okay, what are the comps like compared to Vegas? Oh, I don't know about the comps because I don't really live in the casinos. I'm not talking about competitions. I'm talking about free drinks and those kind of things, hotels. Comps are great if you keep gambling. That's what I hear. Hey, Mark, good luck with the Reno Pinball League and good luck here at Pinburg. All right, thank you very much. I appreciate it. This is a guy in three consecutive years that made the A playoffs. So when there was this little underground pool to pick who you want to make the playoffs, I picked Jerry Bernard. Jerry, I'm not going to say you let me down because you still made A and you still played well. What happened in Pimberg? I let a lot of people down. I don't know. My EMs just did not treat me the way I usually get treated. And that's usually your forte, isn't it? I love the EMs, but they let me down. Oh, well, Pimberg's always a lot of fun. Oh, absolutely. What do you think about it so far? Oh, God, it can't get any better than this. This is great. It's the one we wait for all year. Hang out with people like you, everyone else you meet. It's great. Jerry Bernard, best of luck, I'll still vote for you next year Oh great, thank you It has been an incredible Pinberg Finals With Chris Stevens Andre Massinkoff Jim Belsito and Keith Elwin Chris you were going up against three California boys representing the hometown and you put up some great scores but these were some epic games Yeah, definitely. I thought I was playing well going into the final round, and I had a couple bad breaks, bad bounces. Should have played it better, should have plunged it better. That's the way I'm feeling about it, always next year, but very proud to be a part of this group. And the great thing about this is even if you're down maybe a game, maybe two games, you're never out of it in Pinburg, correct? Very true. I always felt like I had a shot even going into the final game, just trying to get anything at that point. Congratulations. Another top four finish. That's number three now for you. Number three, correct. All right. Soon we'll see your name up there. Congrats. I hope so. Some world champions here. Jim Belcido came in third. Harlem Globetrotters was a great game for you earlier in the tournament. You had 570,000 on the first ball going in. It was a nice ball. And there's a perfect example of what I was just saying to Chris. I think you had one after game one, and you were looking like you were going to get killed on a pool game and then just came back belsitoing everyone. I was digging my way out of a big hole for two rounds and came back and had some magic games on the old ones, which I love, but crazy. But you were feeling good. I mean, look at the score you put up on Pinbot. I mean, you were finding that, and that was playing some havoc on a lot of people. The saucer, the ramp, certainly the skill shot was difficult, but how did you find on that game? Well, we played that in qualifying, and I got a handle on it there. You were cheap? Well, no, we didn't, but I did. Well, our group did. Yeah, yeah. And we got up here, and it was the same one, and I felt comfortable with it. You know, close to where the skill shots were, which were big. No shame in third. Congratulations, Jim. Well, thank you. Okay. Andre Massinkoff, you almost did it, buddy. You came in second. I know you've been on the big stage before, Papa 14. You were the champ, and so close this time. How do you feel? We'd all love to be in your shoes. I know you want to. It was in grass, but how do you feel? I still feel great. I mean, I was in the game the whole time. It was tough. Like, there are a couple little subtle things, like almost hitting the hole on pin bot, that would have made a huge difference for me, as well as that tilt, and then also, you know, a couple tough balls over on star pool. And so feeling that close can be frustrating, but being second, it's the second best result I'd want. So I'm very pleased with that. You know, when you see some of those big scores that we saw today, you kind of just tip your cap and go, you know what, it's not so much that I lost. Some guy just was really, really good and put up a great score. I mean, it's not by bad performance. You'd probably beat yourself up a little bit if it was something you did, but that's not the case. Yeah, like Keith's final game. I mean, rolling a Harlem, but rolling one like this is not something you expect, and it's not something you expect yourself to do. I was hoping to do it, but it was something of a long shot for sure. So, in a way, you've got to just tip your hat to them and, you know, just the beautiful play that was here. All the games I lost, I was outplayed. No one outlucked me, that's for sure. Andre, let's not forget, two tiebreakers to get you here. So well done. Thank you very much. Okay. I know they want to talk to Keith on the stream very soon, but let's get to the greatest of all time. All right. Keith Elwin again. This is a video he's looking around like, who are you talking about? You, Keith. My God. That was a beast mode on Harlem. Good thing some of us saw that you rolled it over because there were concerns that, you know, oh, he only had 103. No, 1.1. That makes for some bad Papa TV, but hopefully the commentators filled them in. But, yeah, that was fun. Would it be so hard to put up seven digits? I mean, my God. They were hoping you'd stop at 9-9-9.
    15:10
    That would have been awesome. You can't with Andre behind you, right? If you can do it, he can do it. I had to put the pedal to the metal. On this game, it's not like Starpool where you can't catch someone. You can totally catch someone in any score in this game. I recommend people watch Papa Pinball on YouTube and watch the round before when Belsito just had a crazy game. You saw that too on Starpool. He needed to have basically double bonus, max out on two last balls to get even here. But you're right, that's a tough one, too. Pinball robbed you. I mean, that was not good. Not on your part. That was way better than the last round where I took a zero, so no complaints. Yeah. If I salvage a second out of that garbage game, then I'll take it. I've got to ask, because every time that you got to pick, you deferred and you let people pick the banks. So you were comfortable with all three of these banks? I picked the first round. Oh, did you? Okay. Yeah. But you were fine with these banks? Yeah. I didn't have any favorite bank. You've won it before. I don't know what it feels like now. I know it's been a few years, actually, since you've been here. So maybe this is some great euphoria for a guy who's semi-retired. It's always great. It never goes away. Well, congratulations, man. And also congratulations, as I said, on the stream. Iron Maiden, we love it. And it's selling like wildfire. So it's doing great on location. You've got a winner there. And you are a winner. Thank you. Thanks, Keith. All right. Bye. With much chagrin, I'm here to announce the winner of the Trash Talker Invitational Podcast Bloodbath. You probably haven't heard his podcast. It's called Head-to-Head Pinball. It's out of Australia, a small little criminal country.
    16:39
    Martin Robbins, single-handedly, likes to believe he won it. Well, I wouldn't say single-handedly. I did have some fantastic ringers as part of the team. Big shout-out to David Peck and Carl D'Angelo, who was part of my cunning plan to wipe you all. Let's just call things how they really were. Carl was a last minute replacement. You had an Australian. Admit it. Sure, okay. That might be true. And then you went running around this place looking for Carl because he was on the show and he's a great player, no question about it. By the way, he played four games. He won them all. Which put you into the finals. It's criminal. It put me into the finals, yeah. But, you know, I still had to get into the finals and do my own thing. And, yeah, that's what happened. Listen, I played firsthand with you. It was myself, Nick Lane from Buffalo, Bruce Nightingale from Slam Tilt, you and I, and the first game was dialed in. You put up 2 million and I think even plunged off too That how good you were You were going to win that thing anyway Martin Congratulations Well the funny thing about that game was that you know the whole thing is about trash So as you playing people are trash Because that game went for so long, you guys just walked away.
    17:51
    I wore you down. I ran out of words. Anyway, that was pretty exciting, too. I want to give a shout-out to a special lady. And her name is Mrs. Pin. So Chuck Webster put her in a group with three no-names. Here they are. Oh, by the way, all in the top 25 of IFBA. Adam Becker, Steve Bowden, and a guy who looked like Raymond Davidson. He wasn't. It was David Raymond Davidson. And she played Algar and beat them all. Yeah, I mean, that could also say something about Algar. No, no, give this spin the credit. And she was freaking over the moon. Steve Bowden told me that she shot that loop four times in a row, which is a hard shot to do once. Yes, for sure. Four times in a row, and they were all in awe. I mean, watching Adam and David Ravenson and Steve just laughing, and she was thrilled. That was her highlight of Pinberg, for sure. But your highlight had to be Keith Elwin winning the championship wearing a head-to-head T-shirt. Calling us out twice. so apparently we gave him bad luck and then we gave him good luck so anyway it was a lot of fun so your pinball experience now you've got to come back I know it's not easy from Australia this has actually been phenomenal and yes the tournament's amazing but I don't know this is probably a bit cheesy to say but the people have really made this phenomenal just so many good people all coming together to play pinball to do the best that they can to help each other out which is really great Right? Yeah, it's been an amazing show. I couldn't agree more. Present company not included. But, no, it's been a lot of fun. Say hello to Ryan. I will. And we look forward to Head to Head Pinball. Thanks very much, buddy. Thanks, man. Whipped has come to a close. The Women's International Pinball Tournament here at Pinberg. What a great event. 64 women playing for the title. Now going to have their name on the banner. And thanks to people like Kate Martin and Crystal Gemnick. Congratulations, Kate, on putting this together. Huge waiting list to get into it, first of all. Yeah, I was actually shocked. There were weeks that I was messaging Bowen and Elizabeth just being like, what if we don't sell out? What if we don't sell enough tickets? Like, oh my God. I remember you saying that. I'm like, are you serious? This is going to be great. I don't know. Self-doubt is a thing, I guess. Not anymore, though. It was a great tournament. Now, let's talk a little bit about that. You were one of the TDs, Crystal. Came down to 64 women, and then the top four, There was a tie for three people to get into the top four. So you had the tiebreaker, and it was really quite exciting. It was a really great game on Frontier, and Priyanka came back from it. It was a great game. I mean, Frontier is a fantastic game to play on anyways. Yeah, against Robin and Debra Tallman.
    20:40
    It was great. She came through, and she ended up finishing. She did really, really well on stage. It was great to see this event, and you can see it also on Papa Pinball on YouTube too. captured for all time. There's a big banner here that's now going to have a new name on it. Who's that? It's Nicole Bernier from near Portland, but not quite in Portland, Maine. Portland, Maine getting some cred, too. I guess they are the original Portland from what I hear from Jeff Parsons. Don't ask me about geography on a pinball podcast. Well, tell us about the finals. They actually didn't even come down to the third game as far as who won. Nicole just had two great first games. She won both of them, and everyone else tied for two points. couldn't beat her no matter what they did. And then they duked it out on taxi for that second place, $2,500, that Priyanka Koshar took home. So congratulations to everybody. I mean, the worst prize was $500 and a medal. Ain't too shabby. Not shabby at all. Because of volunteers here at Pinnberg for every tournament we saw, whether it's Intergalactic to Pinnberg itself, the Women's International Pinball Tournament whipped, it's not possible without people like you, Kate, without people like you, Crystal. So it was fun being on probably that side of it, too. I know you would have liked to play in it, but it had to be fun to see this come together here in Pittsburgh. Oh, it was fantastic, and it was a really terrific learning experience. I've never directed any kind of a tournament of this caliber before, so I definitely learned a lot. Bowen gave us a lot of tips and a little bit of help on the side there for anything we were having trouble with. Honestly, I would love to compete again. I would love to compete in the first place, but this was just such a satisfying experience that I think I would love to do it from here on out. If you'll have me, Kate. I will have you. Well, I'm sure we're going to see bigger and better things for whipped here in 2019 when it comes back to Pinnberg. A great first inaugural tournament, too. Crystal, thank you. Thank you, Kate, and to Elizabeth Cromwell for putting this together. Well done. Thank you very much. Another year come and gone, Pinnberg. A great time had by all. And as always, my favorite thing about Pinball, other than the volunteers and everyone that puts it on together, is really that summer camp feel of getting to see old and new friends. And thank you very much for those coming up to me saying you enjoyed Pinball Profile. It was very, very nice to meet each and every one of you. 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. and check out our under construction website, pinballprofile.com. I'm Jeff Teolas.