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Episode 137: IFPA 15 players and recap

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·28m 58s·held·Jun 21, 2018
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

IFPA 15 recap: Raymond Davidson wins 2nd straight world title; rising star Johannes Ostermeyer impresses at age 16.

Summary

Pinball Profile 137 covers IFPA 15 (World Championship) held at Press Start Arcade in Keswick, Ontario. The host interviews top international competitors including rising star Johannes Ostermeyer (16-year-old German prodigy), Australian Grant Stevens, Spanish player Julio Vicario Soriano, and other elite players. Raymond Davidson won back-to-back IFPA championships, defeating Daniele Achari (4-time world champ) in the finals. The tournament featured 64 top players competing in an 8-round format with new, solid-state, and older games.

Key Claims

  • Johannes Ostermeyer is 16 years old and currently top 10 in world rankings

    high confidence · Johannes Ostermeyer in direct interview with host; stated he is 16 and has been playing for 12 years

  • Raymond Davidson won IFPA 15, his second consecutive world championship

    high confidence · Host congratulates Raymond on 'back-to-back IFPA championships'; Raymond confirms in interview

  • Daniele Achari is a four-time IFPA world champion

    high confidence · Host introduction: 'four-time world champ at IFBA'; Daniele does not dispute this in interview

  • Australia has seen explosive growth in pinball over the last 5-10 years, driven by container imports from Europe and private collectors

    high confidence · Grant Stevens (Australian competitor): 'over the last 10 years, a lot of container pins have come in from Europe, and it's just exploded, especially the last five years'

  • Spain has very limited distribution of new pinball machines; one distributor controls the market with only 1-5 units of major releases

    high confidence · Julio Vicario Soriano: 'New games is very difficult...In Spain, no export. The new machines are very low...Only one distributor'

  • Zach Sharpe (Stern Pinball Director of Marketing) competed at IFPA 15 and nearly advanced but lost on Dragonfist

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe in interview: 'I had a chance to advance, but it came down to Dragonfist. Needed the win on Dragonfist, and no, I was fisted.'

  • The host got into IFPA 15 as first alternate after Herbert from Austria did not show up

    high confidence · Host opening: 'I'm very thankful for that person not showing up to let me squeak in to IFPA 15. I was the number one alternate.'

  • Zach Wollens was second alternate who paid for travel before knowing he'd be accepted, then experienced a travel nightmare including a flight turnaround mid-air and airport shutdown

    high confidence · Zach Wollens detailed account: 6am flight, crew passport issue mid-flight to Toronto, return to Charlotte, 8-hour airport shutdown, eventual 4am arrival

Notable Quotes

  • “If you play competitive pinball, he is the talk of the world, not just the IFPA 15. Johannes Ostermeyer from Germany...”

    [name withheld pending review] @ ~4:30 — Sets up introduction of rising star Johannes Ostermeyer and establishes his prominence in competitive scene

  • “I don't really know, I just play.”

    Johannes Ostermeyer @ ~6:30 — Reflects Ostermeyer's calm demeanor and mental approach despite high expectations; contrasts with typical young competitor excitability

  • “Had I won Dragonfist, I would have advanced.”

    Greg Pavarelli @ ~28:30 — Illustrates the high-stakes, single-game-dependent format of the tournament and how close alternates came to advancing

  • “You like to get on the fly. Yes. The dry catch and light catch is very good.”

    Julio Vicario Soriano @ ~32:45 — Demonstrates advanced technical pinball skills; dry/light catches are high-difficulty trap saves

  • “In Spain, no export. The new machines are very low. Only one distributor.”

    Julio Vicario Soriano @ ~37:00 — Key market_signal about European distribution constraints and how licensing/export restrictions affect regional pinball availability

  • “I was fisted. Dragon fisted you?”

    Zach Sharpe / Host @ ~47:00 — Humorous exchange but illustrates competitive drama; Stern's own director lost on the penultimate game

  • “When the skill is the same, I think the luck is the terminator.”

    Daniele Achari @ ~58:15 — Philosophical observation from 4-time world champ about role of variance in elite-level competitive pinball

  • “There's no room for error. You have to beat your opponent every single round by a large margin.”

    Raymond Davidson @ ~1:05:30 — Describes the brutal competition format and why being #1 seed carries immense pressure despite having byes

Entities

Johannes OstermeyerpersonRaymond DavidsonpersonAdam BeckerpersonDaniele AcharipersonGrant StevenspersonJulio Vicario SorianopersonZach SharpepersonColin MacAlpineperson

Signals

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Johannes Ostermeyer, age 16 from Germany, is rapidly ascending competitive rankings (now top 10 globally) and impressing elite players with composure and skill despite being one of the youngest at IFPA 15

    high · Host calls him 'the talk of the world'; multiple references to his age (16) and trajectory; he advanced through Cabin Fever pin golf finals decisively

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Raymond Davidson successfully defended IFPA world championship title, indicating sustained excellence and confirming his #1 global ranking

    high · Back-to-back IFPA 15 win; described dominance through bracket (number 1 seed, swept Daniele Achari in finals)

  • $

    market_signal: Spain has severely limited distribution of new pinball machines due to export restrictions and single-distributor control; drives Spanish players to travel internationally (Germany, Italy, Sweden) to compete

    high · Julio Vicario Soriano: 'In Spain, no export. The new machines are very low...Only one distributor' with 1-5 units per major release

  • ?

    venue_signal: Press Start Arcade (Adam Becker's venue) successfully hosted IFPA 15 with 64 elite international players; tournament well-organized with maintained machine quality and collegial atmosphere

    high · Multiple players praised Adam's execution; Colin MacAlpine: 'Adam really worked his butt off getting all the games up and running in great shape. Every single one just about lasted through the tournament'

  • ?

    community_signal: Elite competitive pinball players (top 64 globally) self-regulate practice norms without formal enforcement; no disputes or rule violations reported across 8 rounds

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.087

0:00
It's time for a special pinball profile. My name is Herbert from Austria, or at least I'm very thankful for that person not showing up to let me squeak in to IFPA 15. I was the number one alternate. Herbert didn't show up. I got in, just like I kind of squeaked into the circuit finals. Mr. Alternate, you can call me. Anyway, it's great to be here at Adam Becker's Press Start Arcade. We're going to be talking to some of the people from all over the world. The top 63 players and myself are here for this incredible world championship last year won by Raymond Davidson. So many greats from all over the world. Eight rounds, almost like a Pinberg format, too. You've got a new game, you've got a solid state, and an older game in each bank. You play three rounds with a group of four people. If you can get the 96 points after eight rounds in the 7-5-3-1 scoring, you're probably going to advance. We'll see how it goes. Germany scores a goal! If you play competitive pinball, he is the talk of the world, not just the IFBA 15. Johannes Ostermeyer from Germany, how are you? I'm fine. Guten Tag, I should say. Guten Tag. You know what? Everyone is excited to see you here because you've just shot up the charts. You've been winning everywhere. You're now top 10 in the world. And you're only 16. Yes. How did you get into pinball? And I know it's a very generic question, but not a lot of 16-year-olds, you know. That's because of my father, because he bought all the machines when I was four years old. So I started playing 12 years ago, and I've practiced and practiced, and so I became that good, I think. I don't know much about pinball in Germany or even Europe, for that matter. Is it a lot of newer games, older games? What's the mix? It's a lot of newer games. It's not that much old games, but it's maybe a mixture of more new games. I watched you, and I hope other people got a chance to see it or at least saw the scores at Cabin Fever for the pin golf tournament that happened before. I have PA 15. Your first hole in the semis, you took a 9, and then I think the others had a 2, a 3, and a 5, the top two advanced. You finished your last two holes with holes in one to go on to the finals and then destroy it at the finals. That was pretty exciting. Yeah, I got two ones at Attack from Mars and Fishtails, and I went good, yeah. Josh Sharp and I were just talking on Pinball Profile, and he was all excited to see, as he called, I'm just saying, this is what he said, the new hotness, Johannes. I'm glad to hear that, yeah. So how do you stay calm and cool? A lot of young guys are pretty excitable. I don't really know, I just play. There's big things expected for you, and in fact, I named you as one of the five players to watch here at IFPA 15. And Johannes, great to meet you, and we're looking forward to watching you climb the charts and maybe someday be the number one player in the world. Maybe. We'll see. Thank you. Auf Wiedersehen. Auf Wiedersehen, yeah. Enjoy your stay in San Francisco. It's not easy to get to IFPA 15. You have to be a really, really good player, or in the case of yours truly, somebody from Austria doesn't have to show up, and then you get in. But these three guys, great players from Northern California, coming to the Great White North here in Canada, Andre Massenkoff, Zach Wollens, and Brian O'Neill representing California. You had an interesting way of getting here. Do you know the road you took was a huge toll fare? In fact, probably one of the most expensive toll roads ever. I was told that after I took it, sadly. So you've got to win now just to pay your car bill. Yeah, absolutely. A little more motivation doesn't hurt. How's it been so far for you, Andre, in Canada? Off to a good start, and I'm enjoying Canada quite a bit. It's nice people and a nice place. It's a little warm. Did you think it was going to be cold up here? Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. I've got many layers I brought with me that I have not had any need to use yet. We forgot about spring. Thanks. Good luck to you, Andre. Hey, thanks. Now, Brian O'Neill earned it, and you were smart. You came, what, a day in advance? You had an easy path to get here, direct flight? Yeah, I took a direct flight, which was probably the smart thing to do. I got in here yesterday, but I got caught in this crazy thunderstorm, so I couldn't make it up for practice. What's up with this weather? It is crazy weather, no question about it, but you made it here. And you had such a great year. I remember watching you first get into the top 100 and then top 50. Yeah, top 50. It's been good for you. So good luck here at IFPA 15. Thanks. The greatest trek to get here. Now, Zach Wollens, like myself, were alternates. Zach, before he knew he got in, decided, you know what? I'm going to roll the dice. I'm going to pay the airfare. I'm going to risk buying Airbnb or whatever you had to do. But you got in. That's the great part, right? I did, yeah. A little nerve-wracking. No insurance on that. No insurance.

  • Zach Sharpe wife is pregnant with due date in August (approximately 3 months from tournament date)

    high confidence · Host to Zach Sharpe: 'with the pregnancy coming in August, right? Three months. Yeah, that's good.'

  • No formal practice time rules were enforced at IFPA 15; players self-regulated and used gentleman's agreement

    high confidence · Colin MacAlpine and Python Anghelo both confirmed in overtime segment: 'There was not one question from anybody here about any concerns'

  • “Everyone was really friendly...No one cared to because there were times, you know, it's such a grind.”

    Python Anghelo @ ~1:19:00 — Emphasizes collegial atmosphere at IFPA 15 and self-regulating behavior of elite competitive players

  • “I'm glad I missed it.”

    Raymond Davidson @ ~1:11:30 — Shows Davidson's mental adjustment during final game; missing a dangerous shot that Daniele drained on proved strategically positive

    • Python Anghelo
    person
    Zach Wollensperson
    Andre Massenkoffperson
    Brian O'Neillperson
    Greg Pavarelliperson
    Damian Charlettiperson
    Herbertperson
    Press Start Arcadevenue
    IFPAevent
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Spooky Pinballcompany
    TNAgame
    Dragonfistgame
    Cabin Feverevent

    high · Carl D'Python Anghelo and Colin MacAlpine both confirmed: 'Not one person out of the 64 players had any problem with any practice'; used 'gentleman's friendly agreement' with no timers or formal rules

  • $

    market_signal: Australian pinball market experiencing explosive growth (last 5-10 years) driven by container imports of European machines and private collector enthusiasm; growing 'man cave' culture

    high · Grant Stevens: 'over the last 10 years, a lot of container pins have come in from Europe, and it's just exploded, especially the last five years'

  • ?

    event_signal: IFPA 15 drew elite competitors from at least 6 continents (Germany, Australia, Spain, Italy, France, USA, Canada); demonstrates global reach of championship

    high · Interview segments with players from: Germany (Johannes), Australia (Grant), Spain (Julio), Italy (Daniele), France (Damian), USA (multiple), Canada (host, venue)

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Zach Sharpe (Stern Pinball Director of Marketing) competed at IFPA 15 as active player, not just observer/executive; demonstrates direct industry involvement in competitive scene

    high · Zach Sharpe introduced as 'employee of Stern Pinball' and 'director of marketing' but competed in tournament; nearly advanced before losing on Dragon Fist

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Elite competitive players exhibit significant technical variance even in top 64; dry-catches and light-catches are differentiation factor between top-tier players (e.g., Julio Vicario) and others

    high · Host observed Julio executing dry/light catches repeatedly; host/others attempted same saves and all tilted; host: 'That's the difference between guys like Julio and us'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: IFPA 15's 8-round bracket format with byes based on seeds creates uneven pacing (some players wait hours between rounds) that can affect competitive performance; #1 seed Raymond Davidson noted cold starts after byes

    medium · Raymond: 'you're coming in a little cold...you don't know what games you're picking yet'; noted Colin had to play at 10pm due to bracket position while Raymond's side was faster

  • ?

    design_innovation: IFPA 15 employed 8-round format with one new game, one solid-state, and one older game per round—forces players to compete across eras and play styles; described as 'almost like a Pinberg format'

    high · Host: 'Eight rounds, almost like a Pinberg format. You've got a new game, a solid state, and an older game in each bank. You play three rounds with a group of four people'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Despite some alternates missing out (Greg Pavarelli), overall sentiment about IFPA 15 is highly positive; no complaints about rules, format, or execution; players praised Adam Becker and support staff extensively

    high · Colin: 'fantastic event'; Carl: 'Just a fantastic tournament'; multiple references to 'well run' tournament and no rule disputes in 64-player field

    • 4:46
    And then my journey here was just epic. It was an epic journey. Let's go through that. So you actually left more than 24 hours in advance. Yes. What happened on that flight? It's a great story. Well, I had a great flight from San Francisco to Charlotte, North Carolina at 6 a.m.
    5:05
    Plenty of time, 6 a.m.? Plenty of time, 6 a.m., yeah. I got in about 2 o'clock to Charlotte and had about an hour for my flight, my connecting flight. got on the flight, everything was great, weather was great we take off, we're halfway to Toronto and the pilot comes on and says I have some bad news we have to go back to Charlotte because one of our crew members doesn't have a valid passport. They announce that on the plane? Yes, yes. Why would they say that? Why wouldn't they just say, you know, we've got to do a little pit stop here, why? Because then you're booing the person who... It's better than having people think that something's wrong with the plane because I've been in that situation too but this one, anyway We went back, and we land in Charlotte, and as soon as we land, a thunderstorm starts, and they shut the airport down. For how long? Off and on, probably, I was at the airport for about eight hours. They ended up canceling the flight. Luckily, I squeezed on to another flight that was going to Toronto that was supposed to leave hours earlier. You actually boarded the plane and then made you cut off again. Oh, yes. We boarded the plane three times in that eight-hour span. They tried to get us off the ground, and it was a nightmare. But you made it. That's all that matters. Those are usually the stories that happen before somebody wins it all. So anyway, I rolled into town about 4 a.m., and yeah, I'm here. Four hours of sleep or so, and I'm playing pinball. Do you want to hear about the four hours of sleep, Andre, or is it a sob story or what? I'm curious. What about you, Brian? You know Zach from the Bay Area. He can definitely win it on four hours of sleep. All right, so no sleep. I saw Levy Neyman here. He's got a bunch of extra G-Fuel, so maybe you should cash in on some of that. Yeah, get in on some of that sponsorship deal. Zach, Andre, Brian, great to talk to you. Representing Northern California. Thanks. Thank you. Next match, Australia. He came from down under, but he's here at IFPA 15 here in Keswick, Ontario, just north of Toronto. Grant Stevens from Australia. How are you, mate? Good. I was pretty tired the last couple of days. It was a big, long flight. Yesterday, definitely 15 hours of play. Took it out of me. last two nights four hours sleep so you feeling great I feeling good today sounds like a midweek Australian kind of thing there with the little sleep there and a little bit of partying That's it. Now, I have found out through Martin and Ryan C of Head to Head Pinball Podcast that pinball is so massive in Australia. How did this all come about? Has it been like that for a while? It's been pretty big for a while, but for some reason, And I guess over the last 10 years, a lot of container pins have come in from Europe, and it's just exploded, especially the last five years. It's hard because we don't have them in bars and fish and chip shops, but we've got a lot of private collectors in Australia with a lot of big collections, and that's where a lot of people play their pinball. And I guess it's just growing through everyone wanting one in their man cave. You see a lot of newer games in Australia from what I've heard from Martin and Ryan. And so when you see an older collection like you're seeing at IFPA 15, is it a little intimidating or is it, wow, what are these? No, Ryan and that are from Melbourne. Melbourne and Brisbane are generally... You're Adelaide, right? Adelaide, yes, correct. So Melbourne and Brisbane are more newer stern stuff, where Adelaide's a lot of Bally Williams 90. And like, for instance, my solid state collection, I've got a good 25 solid states. Chump change to the pecs, but I'm pretty impressed. That's amazing. Yeah, and the solid states are what I like. I guess I'm getting older now, and they're a bit easier to play. Don't need a university degree to understand the rule sets. Well, are there many of those in Australia? Let's be honest. I'm just kidding, buddy. So what I'm gathering is that Adelaide is a little more cultured than the Melbourne people. Yeah, we're a bit more of a closed shop there. We've got a group of, you know, there's several different groups, and for some reason they don't seem to intermingle. Probably the best pinball scene, I would say, would be Queensland, Brisbane. So if anyone gets a chance to get out to Australia, I would definitely head to Brisbane and Queensland because their scene is absolutely awesome. I've heard a little bit about it. Okay, this is a free chance for you to win one Canadian loonie. It's a dollar. If you can guess what's in my pocket. Your hand. Okay, I'm about to pull it out. Come on. Keep it clean. What do you think I have in my pocket? You get it? One Canadian dollar. Well, that's where I would put it. What is that? Looks like a kangaroo pet. It's a kangaroo nutsack. You got it. Thanks very much, Grant. Thank you very much. Your opponent, USA! Here at FF15 with a couple of incredible champions in their own right in different ways. Colin McAlpine, last year's Pinnberg winner. And he's half the man he once was, but double the amazing player, Carl D'Angelo. Hi, Colin. How are you? Hey, Jeff. Fine. You? You've got a nice Italian jacket. That's a really good-looking jacket. Where'd you get that? I bought it in Italy about 12 years ago. Okay, and showing some support? Trying to get Daniele to go easy on you? Well, just, you know, a preview to IFA for next year. Good point. A lot of people trying to make that. Carl, how are you doing, buddy? I'm doing all right. How are you? Everything going well? Yesterday, yeah. Today, so-so. It's only early. It's only been one round. It's only one round, but there's only two today. Well, I'm sure you're going to probably make the next one. How are you guys sitting so far? I believe I'm at 97. 97, okay. So you're now trying to get that buy. Did the top eight get a double buy? Correct. That would be a big stretch to probably get that at this point. Okay, well, good luck, Colin. Thanks, Jeff. You too. And how about you, Carl? Where are you sitting? Sitting 103 right now, so I'll be in for sure. It's just a matter of if I get a buy or a double buy. I hate you both. Carl and Colin, thank you very much. Thanks, Jeff. Next stop, New York. Greg Pavarelli is here at IFPA 15, and he's played in a few of these before. In fact, he was the next alternate, hoping for somebody else from Austria not to show up. God bless Herbert. Hey, what's up, Jeff? Yeah, I was super stoked for you, man. You absolutely deserve it. You had a great season, and this is your hometown. And you had a great run. This is definitely my favorite tournament. Adam's place is really amazing. Super awesome that he opened it up to all of us. And as soon as I saw that I wasn't in, I knew I was coming anyways. Yeah, you were coming because you're going to be helping out on the stream. Yeah, the stream's going to be a lot of fun. Buffalo guys are almost here. Last year, I fell just short in the last round. Jumped in the booth with Colin, ended up doing it for like two days straight. It was like the best experience. Got some good feedback, but like on a personal level, it was so exciting just to watch some of the best games. And you know what? That's the way I feel too, just being here with some of the best. And that came down for me for the final game. The final game had I won Dragon Fist. Thanks, Bruce and Ron. Yeah, Bruce and Ron. Thanks, Slam Tilt. Had I won Dragon Fist, I would have advanced. But anyway, it's nice to play in this competition, to see everybody from across the world. and you never know when you're going to get the chance like this. Absolutely. I mean, never take it for granted. After having an amazing round in this tournament, it's always possible to have a bad round afterwards. Oh, you mean like my 19 and then a 3? Yeah, and you know what? You played awesome all day, and it's one of these tournaments where it's such a battle of attrition. You're just always trying to balance everything out and stay afloat, and there's games you haven't played, and there's games that you've never even seen before every once in a while, and people are stepping up and blowing stuff up. You've just got to play your best, and there's absolutely no shame in how well you did, Jeff. I was feeling pretty good. Then I had this round with Eric Stone, Robert Gagneau, and Raymond Davidson. I was like, oh. I was watching. But they blew it up, so I don't really feel terrible because they killed it. I mean, Robert put like, what, 38 mil on ball one on whirlwind? Yeah. Put on a clinic. Anyway, it's a lot of fun, and I'm glad you're here, and people can catch Greg and Nick and Kevin on the stream for F15. Next year, baby, you and I in Italy. Absolutely. We're both making it. Okay, thanks, Greg. Thanks. Your opponent, Spain! One of the great things about being here at IFPA 15 is you get to see people you never normally see and some of the world's greatest players from all over and from Spain. Julio Vicario Soriano. How are you doing, Julio? Very good. It's good to see you. I played with you in a round, and my favorite thing I've seen so far, we were practicing on an older game. I don't know if it was an EM or not, but you were shatting on the fly. You were going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. I was amazed. I'm like, I am not in these guys' league at all. That was incredible. You like to get on the fly. Yes. The dry catch and light catch is very good. Very good. What are your favorite types of games? Do you like the older? Do you like the newer? No favorite games. Old games is preferred. No favorite games. So in Spain, are there more new games or are there more older games or a good mix? New games is very difficult. Really? Yes. In Spain, no export. The new machines are very low. So are there games like Iron Maiden and Dialed In that you've never seen before? Low units. One, two, three, four, five. Only one distributor. So where do you travel to play most of your pinball? In Spain or do you go elsewhere?
    14:10
    Germany, Italy, Sweden. Yeah, lots of good pinball in Europe, and you're representing very well. Best of luck to you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Welcome to Chicago. Ooh I got permission to talk to him an employee of Stern Pinball and he coming on Pinball Profile Hello Zach I give myself permission to talk to you We do have to ask you now don we Because some people have been you know certainly not nice to any pinball company and you have to protect that as a director of marketing, don't you? You said it. Hey, this is my first time here at IFPA 15. Could be my last, but what a great event. I like this kind of almost mini-Pinberg. The only problem is you've got too many damn good players. Including yourself. No, no, no, no, no. And Herbert from Austria. Herbert is my hero. How did you do this last round? Well, I had a chance to advance, but it came down to dragon fist. Needed the win on dragon fist, and no, I was fisted. Dragon fisted you? I was. Great lineup here. You had a lot of fun. A lot less stress, too, that Adam looked after everything here at Press Start Arcade. Oh, yeah. I mean, our anxiety level was extremely low going here, and it exceeded our expectations. So Adam did an awesome job, and plus everyone else. I mean, Denise with the food and everything else. Yeah, the number of people, Brian Woodard right here, Shepard, you just keep going down the list of people who helped out. So as we get ready for the next round, it sounds like you're saying there's no excuses for you or Josh to win it. Well, Josh has one game right now on Sea Witch to potentially advance into the head-to-head or be eliminated. Seriously? Yeah. Well, you know I'm rooting for him. Yeah. I am. I think it would be great. I'm joking. Of course. I made a song for the guy. You did? Every time someone announces flash forward, everyone sings Joshua.
    15:57
    Anyway, Zach, it's been a lot of fun, and we'll see you soon. It's nice to see your wife, too. Doing well with the pregnancy coming in August, right? Three months. Yeah, that's good. And then for you, is that it for pinball? Yeah, maybe. We'll see. Thanks, Zach. All right, thank you. This message has been approved by Stern Pinball. Next match, France. I'm here with Damian Charletti. He and I played in the last round, and we're looking up at all those 32 players that made it, and we are just kind of fans on the sidelines now. But it was a lot of fun, and you were here for the whole week, weren't you? Yeah, I got to play all the pre-events. Very good host overall. Different formats to prepare for this. And we played whatever kids' dream is, played Dragon Fist for a chance to break it in. And it was interesting. We beat the plunge, which is always goal number one on Dragon Fist. Beat the plunge. Yeah, you know, sensitive tilt, too. I was watching Escher. He would get the ball trapped on the left, and he would let it drain and bounce off that big rubber and give it just enough shove to bounce over to the right flipper. You, me, everybody in our group, we all tried it. Tilt, tilt, tilt. That's the difference between guys like Kasher and us, I guess. Yeah, that's why he's the world champion. We're on the bubble. We made it, though. We were here. That's true. At the last minute. Thank you to Hungary, right? Herbert from Austria. Austria, my favorite player ever. Anyway, so what's next for you?
    17:11
    I'm number 300 on the wait list for Pinberg, so probably Cal Pinberg. You're going to go to California Extreme. What happened there? Were you busy that day? Yeah. It's a tight registration window. He's crying right now, as we say. But anyway, well, California Extreme, you know, that's the one good thing about being the same weekend. And, you know, a guy with your caliber, you could win it all. Yeah, Tim Hansen won last year. So it depends how far on the wait list he is. Anyway, all the best, Damien. Thank you. Same to you. Next match, Italy. He's a four-time world champ at IFBA. Almost made it five times, too. Daniele Acari, how are you doing? I know it was a tough one, but you went against the number one player in the world. It was the perfect dream match to play Raymond, but you were walking through everybody on the way there. But just tough, tough competition there. And some bad luck for you, too. You had some post balls, too, that you really couldn't defend. Yes, to play a tournament when you are in the final, I think you have two players that are equal.
    18:11
    And who permits to you to win is also a little lucky and skilled. But when the skill is the same, I think the luck is the terminator. Sometimes it is a factor for sure, Daniele. Yeah. I was watching you earlier in the week when you first came over to Canada and you were at Cabin Fever. And I've always heard about your incredible accuracy. I saw it firsthand. And I think you were playing a game I had never seen you play. Had you ever played TNA before? Never, never. So you'd never played that before. And I saw you pick it in the finals when you were playing Johannes and some of the other people. You must really love that game.
    18:52
    Yes, yes, I love that game because it's cool, the whole machine, but it's new. It's a good play with light, and it's very amazing. It's a whole machine with multiple. It's amazing. Well, it's funny that you should pick that game to determine your fate in the pin golf championship, but obviously good kudos to Scott, Denise, and the people who made that game at Spooky because you were an instant fan of that game. Now, next year, it comes to your home. We're going to be in Italy for IFPA 16. You have to be the player to watch out when it goes back to Italy. So I look forward to seeing you there. And what's next for you as far as big tournaments? I don't know because I'm busy with the work now and I play less. My last tournament was eight months ago. Yes, I can play very few times, very few tournaments. Well, as soon as you turn on that machine and press start, great things happen, and we almost saw it again here today. I hope in my town I don't have a fever because every time in the USA I play bad in the final, but in all tournaments because I don't know why. Daniele, you're one of the best for a reason. Four-time world champ, congratulations, second place. No shame there, that's amazing. No, no, second place is a good position, I think. Enjoy your flight back, and we'll see you soon. Thank you very much, Daniele. Thank you, guys. Thank you.
    20:21
    Raymond Davidson, I don't know if you're the greatest player in the world or you just love WWE LEs and it brings your game up to a new level. What is it? Yeah, you know, you've got to catch them all, all the WWEs, apparently. You have a few now in your collection. Congratulations on this massive win. Back-to-back IFBA championships, and you did make it look easy, buddy. I mean, you were the number one seed after the round of eight, and then in the finals to sweep one of the greatest players of all time in Danielle Lee. Yeah, I mean, the hardest part was that first round Saturday night, just trying to get my groove on. I was shaking. I was nervous. I was bricking shots left and right. And, you know, finally I did just enough to survive that round. And then after that, it was like, all right, I'm in Sunday. I'm ready to play. Got my head in the game. Almost choked against Trent where I was up on him like 3-0 or 3-1. and then he started winning and I started losing. I had a crazy save on Funhaus to take that one.
    21:20
    And then Harlem was neck and neck when he got housed on ball three, and that was it for that. But, yeah, it was a lot harder than maybe it looked. It was tough. Well, that's interesting you talk about playing on Saturday night because with the number one seed, you've got two buys. That's a long wait. Is the wait sometimes, I mean, you want the buys. You want to advance farther along but does that sometimes kind of wreck your mojo a little bit Well luckily I didn have to wait as long as like Colin who didn play until like 10 at night or something My side of the bracket was ready for me within like a couple hours Like, it was pretty fast.
    21:56
    But, yeah, it definitely, you're coming in a little cold. You know, you don't know what games you're picking yet, that sort of thing. After that first round, you get in a rhythm, and you're like, oh, I'm picking this game, this game. I'm going to do this, this, and this. That first round is the toughest. How does this compare to last year's win?
    22:12
    I don't know. I mean, it was just as tough a competition. I guess it's a little different because it's the second time. But other than that, it's the same. You have to do it. There's no room for error. There's no puppet-style groups where you can pick up a third or fourth here and there, slide your way up to the final four. You've got to beat your opponent every single round by a large margin, too. You know, there's a sudden death two out of three if you tie it up three to three, that sort of thing. Yeah, it's really tough. Again, when I say you make it look easy, what we're forgetting is when you're the number one player in the world, you're expected to be the favorite and maybe expected to win. That's a pressure nobody else has. And it is not easy. You make it look easy, but when you have the 64 best players in the world here or you do your national championship, which you've also won, competitions like Circuit, you see some of the best. It's not easy. It's not like you're playing in Washington against all of those longer players there, too. I was going to say, it's not easy playing in Washington. Anyone in Seattle can tell you that.
    23:12
    Yeah, it's just incredible how many people you have to play against and just tons of pinball. No margin, I mean, little margin for error, but not much. When you watch the final on Twitch from the great job that Buffalo Pinball did here at Press Start Arcade, you'll see the last game was Surf and Safari. Now, that's a game you kind of don't really know what to do. And Daniele put up 20 million on his first ball, which is a great score. You knew how to start the multi-ball, but after that, what do you do? I know there's a million whirlpool thing you take advantage of, and then after that, I did not know what to do. I was just kind of shooting shots. I saw an extra ball around. I thought maybe that would give me something. Turns out it didn't. It didn't give me anything. But it kept me flipping, you know, kept bouncing into things. And eventually, Locke lit itself, and I was like, okay, I know what to do now. Once I know what to do, that's what to do. During ball one, you lit the three million stand-up to the right of the left ramp and missed it. And you're like, oh, you know, I hit the ramp and I hit the very target, but I didn't get that shot. Daniele goes up next. He hits it and immediately drains. Straight out. Yeah, straight out. And what did you say? I'm glad I missed it. I was like, oh, maybe it's a good thing I didn't hit that.
    24:26
    Raymond, I'll let you go. A lot of people want to talk to you. Congratulations. Another of probably many world championships this time at IFBA 15 here at Press Start Arcade. Congratulations, Raymond. Thank you, Jeff. We're in overtime! I've got to tell you, it's been a pretty exciting IFPA 15 here at Adam Becker's Press Start Arcade. His wife, Denise, did a fantastic job. So many years in planning, too. And with two guys that I was talking to earlier, I might have said I hate you guys. I'm just jealous. It was really bleeding through. Colin McAlpine and Carl D'Angelo. What did you think of the tournament, Colin? It's a fantastic event. The IFPA World Championships is a great player field from all over the world, top competition. You feel like you're playing in an A Division finals the entire time you're qualifying, and it's just a lot of fun. You didn't have a softie like me, did you? We never met, did we? We never crossed paths. I was way down. You had a 19 in one round. And then a 3. Carl, what did you think of it? You've been to one of these before? Oh, everything's content. I said, yeah, I've been to one before. Just a fantastic tournament. Adam really worked his butt off getting all the games up and running in great shape. Every single one just about lasted through the tournament.
    25:37
    Just a fantastic time. Such great variety, too, of games, too. And there was some that got Leib Arena. Have you guys played that before? No, first time. Oh, yeah. I own one. Of course, Carl does. I'm sure we'll see it at Indus next year. But anyway, for those that weren't there and you're watching the stream or maybe you've seen some things on social media, I've got these two guys here. And I want to just – I'll say this myself. there were some comments about practicing and things like that. And not one person out of the 64 players here had any problem with any practice. Is that safe to say, Carl? That is perfectly safe to say. And we were here. We were the whole time. No one, you know, everyone was really friendly. They would, you know, sometimes they would just go up and practice if they, you know, at the beginning of the game, despite the order, despite the play order. It didn't matter what order they practiced in. It wasn't, there was never an official rule, or at least it was never relayed to us. and so anyone could play in any order if they walked up and so forth. No one cared to because there were times, you know, it's such a grind. You're like, you know, I've got to run to the washroom. Okay, I will get it in because you don't want to delay things. And so people would practice. That would be an example. And again, you said there was no rule about that. I never once in eight rounds saw anybody with a timer to time 30 seconds or anything like that. If someone went long, someone might say something like, hey, that might be 30. It was a real gentleman-friendly agreement between everyone. Don't you think, Colin? Yeah, correct. Yeah, I mean, everybody that's made it this far is obviously very seasoned in playing competitive pinball, and we all know what we're doing. There was not one question from anybody here about any concerns about somebody doing something wrong. In fact, it was well handled by the Sharps. They did a great job. The two Bryans were fantastic, and Adam, too. So if you were here, and we were, everything was very well run, so there were no concerns from the 64 players here. So, guys, what's next for you? I know you, Colin, you've got Bat City Open coming up pretty soon. Yeah, Bat City Open is coming up the last weekend in June in Austin, Texas. So looking forward to that. And then the month after that will be Pinberg. Can you defend that title or what? That's the plan. I'll do my best. Well, best of luck the way you were playing today. But did you finish sixth? Yeah, I finished sixth. You ran into that Adam Becker while he played great today. I did, yeah. Adam played fantastic this morning and took me out and played awesome. and I played well on the tiebreaker to finish sixth. Carl, you got the double bye. How did that do for you? Poorly. Very poorly. You went up against Daniele, who was in second, and he played fantastic. He did. I played horribly that round. I don't know if the double bye, you know, being away for so long made a difference or not. Maybe it did. Maybe it didn't. I played horribly.
    28:09
    You're being modest. It was just a rough, unfortunate few games there, but Daniele really played fantastic. Guys, thanks for coming to Canada, and I know I'll see you at Pinberg, and I'll see you soon, probably at an amusement park on the roller coaster. You went to Canada's Wonderland, didn't you? I did. Fantastic time. Yeah, great time, great park. Carl D'Angelo, Carl McAlpine here at IFPA 15. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Jeff.
    28:32
    Well, there you have it, almost a World Cup-like feel at IFPA 15 in Keswick, Ontario. The challenge is now to make it to IFPA 16 in Italy in 2019. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at Pinball Profile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. And please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. I'm Jeff Teolas.