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Pinball Expo 2019 Flip Out Tournament Playoffs - Featured Match #1

IE Pinball·video·59m 19s·analyzed·Aug 4, 2020
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.024

TL;DR

Chicago Pinball Expo 2019 finals commentary featuring Star Trek and Jurassic Park tournament play.

Summary

Jack Danger hosts commentary on the Chicago Pinball Expo 2019 Flip Out tournament finals, featuring competitive match play on Star Trek and Jurassic Park machines. The broadcast highlights A-level tournament strategy, machine setup discussion, and player interviews discussing mode selection, risk management, and competitive play tactics.

Key Claims

  • The tournament winner receives $5,000 plus a percentage of the buy-in (mystery amount) or a brand new Stern pinball machine

    high confidence · Jack Danger announcing tournament prize structure at event start

  • The women's tournament (Thunderbirds) had approximately 40 female qualifiers

    high confidence · Tournament participant discussing women's tournament qualifying numbers

  • The machines at the venue are 'set up so insanely tight and unforgiving' with extremely sensitive tilt

    high confidence · Jack Danger and players discussing machine tilt sensitivity during gameplay commentary

  • Star Trek Pinball has a floaty ball compared to its perceived speed

    medium confidence · Tournament player commentary on Star Trek machine characteristics

  • The Monsters machine at the tournament was 'too tilty' and a known issue

    high confidence · Player interview discussing tournament machine problems

  • The 2019 women's tournament was the first year Chicago/Fred Marco and Stern Pinball ran this event

    high confidence · Tournament participant crediting organizers for inaugural women's event

  • Battle of the Belts was a four-person tournament at a Squirbit booth where teams alternated balls

    medium confidence · Player describing secondary tournament event format

  • Star Wars tournament mode uses 10x playfield multiplier for competition (not 40x)

    high confidence · Player discussing Star Wars final match and competition settings

Notable Quotes

  • “We're not in the damn hallway anymore. Like Pinball Expo glare was insane. People were using cardboard to cover it up.”

    Jack Danger @ Opening remarks — Commentary on venue improvement at Chicago Pinball Expo compared to previous years

  • “It's never enough. At this point, DJ just wants to build and build and bury and bury and destroy your opponent and make them never play pinball again.”

    Jack Danger @ Mid-commentary on player strategy — Observation of aggressive A-level tournament mindset

  • “I think, like, for me, it's just repetition and experience. Like, once you get past a certain amount of hours on the machine, you're like, okay, I know it. Now I can work on, after the rules and all that, I'll work on just being calm and maximizing.”

    Tournament player (unnamed) @ Strategy discussion — Insight into professional player approach to mastering machines

  • “I don't have the confidence yet to do what I would do to put up a big score on my own. I tend to play a little bit more conservatively right now in competition.”

    Tournament player @ Strategy comparison segment — Honest assessment of competitive play vs. casual play differences

  • “I know that Jane can blow up that machine, and I know what she's capable of there, so I had to go for broke.”

    Tournament player @ Strategy discussion — Demonstration of opponent-aware tournament strategy

  • “It was like The Godfather is business only. It was kind of the opposite. It was like all friendship. It was just so much fun.”

    Tournament participant discussing women's finals @ Post-match interview — Commentary on competitive vs. personal dynamics in tournament play

Entities

Jack DangerpersonChicago Pinball Expo 2019eventFlip Out TournamenteventFred MarcopersonStern PinballcompanyStar Trek PinballgameJurassic Park PinballgameMetallica PinballgameBattle of the BeltseventThunderbirds Tournamentevent

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: First-year women's pinball tournament (Thunderbirds) organized by Chicago and Fred Marco with Stern Pinball support, approximately 40 female qualifiers

    high · Tournament participant crediting organizers and discussing female participation numbers

  • ?

    event_signal: Chicago Pinball Expo 2019 Flip Out tournament finals with significant prize pool ($5,000+ plus mystery buy-in percentage or new Stern machine)

    high · Jack Danger announcing tournament details and broadcast of finals matches

  • ?

    community_signal: Fred Marco and Stern Pinball actively supporting inaugural women's pinball tournament, demonstrating industry commitment to women's participation and tournament growth

    high · Player praise: 'Big props to Fred Marco and Stern Pinball for this, just this whole room and the setup'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Star Trek Pinball tournament play emphasizes patient mode selection (starting with 'Save the Enterprise' or 'Prime Directive'), lock sequencing, and risk-aware strategy against known opponent capabilities

    high · Extended gameplay and strategy discussion showing players planning mode sequences and adjusting for opponents

  • ?

    product_concern: Monsters pinball machine at tournament had excessive tilt sensitivity that was widely recognized as a problem

    high · Player stating 'Monsters, which was too tilty. We knew that.'

  • ?

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.178

0:00
What's going on internet? Jack Danger here coming to you live from the Chicago Pinball Expo 2019 where the finals for the flip out main division is about to go down. Now what's cool about this is, number one, we're not in the damn hallway anymore. Sorry for swearing. I guess that's not a swear. We're not in the hallway. Like Expo glare was insane. People were using cardboard to cover it up. It was nuts. um but the winner of this check this out gets five thousand dollars and a percentage of the pot which is the buy-in that's a mystery number guaranteed five thousand plus a mystery number or a brand new stern pinball machine so you know even when you're done winning you still got a little game to play there um yeah this is going to be intense how many people do we have in the finals a lot Holy moly. This is going to be nuts. Yes. Thank you for watching. This is going to be great. You're beautiful. I don't think I'm missing anything.
0:56
Yeah, and back to you guys. This was ball one? No, this is ball two. We came in mid-game here, so ball three. All right, so David is up, a.k.a. DJ. No audio. All right. Oh, interesting.
1:16
Well, we can't control that. Yay. Audio's back. So what do we have here? It was 82 to 18? Yes. All three.
1:29
You know, the thing that I respect the most, or that I'm impressed by these A players, is, like, it's never enough. At this point, DJ just wants to build and build and bury and bury and destroy your opponent and make them never play pinball again. Oh, man. And we have a quick trade. That was still a lot of work to be done, but definitely doable. Agony right there.
Squirbit
company
Steven Bowdenperson
Jacob Wolfperson
Bowen Kerinsperson

venue_signal: Chicago Pinball Expo improved venue by moving tournament finals out of hallway, reducing glare and environmental distractions compared to previous years

high · Jack Danger opening commentary about hallway glare and praise for improved venue setup

1:49
These machines are set up so insanely tight and unforgiving. Absolutely. Brian has a chance to come back now though. So it looks like this is going to be the first game in their best two of three game match. Does it say that somewhere? Oh yeah, zero wins. Got it.
2:09
So you're looking to get to the scoop to start a mode. And a quest. Quest. What would you guys go for? Quest or mode? At this point, I don't know how many... I don't know what he's been doing. Looks like he's had Juggernaut started or attempted.
2:24
Go for some Sharky. Go for some Shark. I would probably fix T-Rex, yeah. I think the point potential on T-Rex in Ball 3 to get to 85... He's just going to do a quick Sabertooth, though. Yeah, finish it quick, get a nice bonus.
2:43
Oh, this thing, I played this earlier, and the tilt, if you breathe, you're getting a warning. You know, it's just like. I didn't play either one of these in qualifying, but I heard good things. People seem to really enjoy the way these play. This is like that parent with, like, the kid who wants to sneak out at night, and as soon as the bed creaks, that parent's up. Okay. Giving you a warning. Yikes. All right. I like to, you know, use analogies. All right, come on. So I don't know if he's played his Little Dead Pool multiball yet or not. Yeah, I don't know either.
3:13
But he's almost he's already I mean Sabertooth is ready to cash in on that and we don't know about the locks because it's it's a
3:22
Virtual lock right it's not in terms of the ninja multi ball Extra balls worth some points So go for the multiplier snick shot
3:43
Strong move, tilt, tilt. Oh, survives. Don't hold your breath. Beautifully done. Ball three tournament. There's no, you have to make that move. Great. Now he can start this quest.
4:05
There he goes. I tried to come back on Anna this way last night. Tell us about this mode. How do we work it? How do we do it? So you want to hit a green shot and then hit what you just did, hit that little dead pool shot. I believe if the more green shots you hit before collecting on the little dead pool shot, the bigger the collect is, but the riskier it is. Of course. And then eventually enough of those and you'll have finished. He had no moves left. I don't know if this is going to be there in bonus. Probably not.
4:38
All right. Oh, close. So close. Oh! Oh my god. One more shot. That hurts. As the groan ripples through the whole room today. Everyone feels the pain.
4:55
So, why don't we talk about this tag team domination last night. You guys won. That's right. We're sitting here as friends now. No.
5:08
We battled yesterday for the women's tournament finals, and Anna played amazingly all night and perfectly in the finals and took it all down. Luckily, I mean, you taught me everything I know, so I used your knowledge against yourself. Execution, flawless, and flawless and flawless. That's right.
5:32
Yeah, it was super fun. I honestly don't think I've had as much fun in finals or any competition as playing against my teammate, my friend here. I mean, I couldn't have been happier with the outcome, honestly. It was a great tournament. I had a lot of fun the whole time, really. Yeah, absolutely. And the machines were great, except for monsters, which was too tilty. We knew that. Yeah. And the turnout was great, and the competition was fierce. Yeah, I think it was about 40 women who qualified. A lot of strong players.
6:00
Is this the first year that they were doing this? That's right. Yeah, I think it was a dozen times Chicago and Marco got together and put it on, and it ran wonderfully. Big props to Marco and Stern for this, just this whole room and the setup and the flow and being out of the hallway. It's awesome. I know, no more hallway. It's amazing. It feels so good in here. My machine here is Star Trek, baby. Ooh, there we go. Come on, Stan. All right, so this is game two. It is.
6:27
Ryan is down one. He chose Star Trek. Did either of you get to play this at all? I did not. I played it not in qualifying in Maine, but I played it against Stephen Bowden, and he beat me on it. Surprise, surprise.
6:45
So the tilt is pretty tight, but the ball is kind of floaty. It's not as fast as you think it would be. So you just played this in your B Finals competition. That's right. In your second-to-last match. Against Jacob Wolf. Yes. I kind of had been avoiding it since the qualifying because it treated me badly, even though out of all pinball machines ever, this is the one I played the most. And I couldn't break, like, 30 million. So he's got Prime Directive going. Is that a mode you would typically start with? Yeah, like, what I'd like to do is you see under the upper flipper, there's, like, a lit shot there. If you go under there, kind of like on Spider-Man, it's going to switch the shots and give them more value and light up a lot more shots, like the away mission. I mean, if you want to be greedy, I'd do that, and you'll get faster gold medals. it's really worth it. But in a competition setting maybe you're... He's going for it.
7:42
It's a very confident move. In ball one, maybe you want to give that a try. It's like he might be just trying to start his next mode. Oh, tip it off. So he can start his next mode on the left or the right. Ooh, shot. Got the locks lit.
7:59
Nice patience there. Let it bounce. Beautiful. Right under. Beautiful. There we go. Now, see, so you've got to hit one shot, and then that under the flipper scoop shot will be ready. I see. Okay. And on this mode, if you hit it in there, the middle shot will be lit for a finish the mode shot. The vengeance shot, huh? Yeah, the vengeance shot.
8:25
But you'll end the mode, and you won't get a lot of points. Is he trying to get to Kobayashi, or is he trying to maximize points out of this mode? What would you do? I honestly don't think this mode's worth a ton, so I'd probably just end it as quick as possible. Because then if you get three lined up there on the right, you're going to get a bonus mode.
8:46
The captain's chair or whatever. No, it's kind of like a super ramps or super spinner. It's not a mode, it's just kind of like a bonus little feature.
8:58
And a million points. Yes. Listen, we just saw 4 million be the winning point total there. That's right. Nice bouncing. Anything can happen.
9:10
I mean, I would almost even shoot the left loop and then try to get that top lock target. Right. Well, he got it. He got it a different way.
9:22
Any way you can do it there. Now he's trying to start his next mode. Yep. Oh, beautiful. He's really trying that on the floor. Nice moves.
9:37
Got to get two dangers before you drain. What's that, Anna? You got to get two dangers before you drain. Otherwise you're just not playing to your potential.
9:52
They're there for a reason. But now we have to wait because the bob is going. So, Stan, did you play better on this in your finals match than you did in qualifying, do you think? I did, yes. Good.
10:09
And what was your strategy there? What did you start with? What was your starting mode? It was pretty much to be calm. Your starting mode was calm. Yeah, like that's my starting mode. That's great. Which is why I'm impressed with these A players. They're always like, they seem unaffected by the pressure. And then it was like, I'll just go with the mode that offers the most shots. Which is? Probably the, I'm blanking on the top, the blue right there. Prime directive. Everything's lit. And if you do the under the scoop shot and under the flipper shot up there, you get some nice value. It's the upper lanes, I think, light for your away team shots. And I mean, you know, if you're playing a great game, you can do that with the vengeance multi-ball, and all the balls will be shooting up there, and you can just finish it really quick. Tell us straight. Up here. Oh, yeah, there we go. Those lanes. Oh, you're going to be our tell us straighter. We were just told to tell us straight.
11:02
I got excited. Yeah, that was cool. That was cool. We're new. Bear with us. This is our first time, everyone. See, I like how he held up the flipper and the ball just goes to the lock shots. That was nicely done. That was smart. Again, he's going to do that. See? Beautiful, beautiful. So this is Save the Enterprise, Hannah. This is what I always start on. This is Hannah's start. I don't know why, though.
11:22
Here's, I mean, if you want to get greedy, under the top flipper, if you light it, now the left orbit will be lit for big points, and then the warp ramp. And if you can get that warp ramp going, it's like five million a shot. It's just like super points. Let's see if he tries to do that. Looks like he's going for his vengeance right now. Yeah.
11:43
He's got that lock shot on the left. Yep. There we go. Tell us, trickle it. Oh, yeah. Tell us, lock shot here. Okay, nice patience.
11:56
Maybe going for the awaiting. I think the next mode might be ready. The reason why I like to start in this mode is because I want to play Nero second. Oh, okay. That's why I do it.
12:07
You could play Nero first. I know, but I feel like I'll waste it if I play it first. You want to get comfortable?
12:16
Start the mode, get your lock. Yeah, it's a nice two for one if you can start the mode and the lock at the same time.
12:25
Trying to post pass. Yeah. You know, I noticed it seems like the left to right post pass on almost all of the games here have been difficult. Just kind of a little tough on that? It's a little tough. Maybe it's just me. And then once you do it once or twice, it doesn't work. You just get spooked on it. You're like, I don't want to mess with it. I mean, if you're feeling good about things, you could always just shoot the ramp and pass it over that way. Yeah.
12:52
Ooh, good move, good move. Oh, got you. Take a breath, take a breath. I'm going to gasp a lot on this, I think. He's calming down.
13:00
There he goes, taking his breath. I think this is like the A-level player moment here where, like, they're really good at just, okay, let's just settle down. You know, like the Josh Sharp water break. I think you have to kind of try that, you know? Yep. Absolutely.
13:18
Like, when I played in the B Finals earlier, I basically almost made it to Kobayashi on ball one. So I was like, okay, ball two, all I have to do is just finish Klingon. It's just like I couldn't do it, and I drained. I think all I have to do is recipe for disaster. Once you think that.
13:38
It's nice when you can just do it with the flow. Okay, so he's going back to Vengeance. He's switching it up. I like that to kind of maybe make progress or something else. Okay, pass it over.
13:49
Yeah. Nice. Oh, beautiful move. Good. There he goes again. Got it trapped up. Probably going to go for that left shot again. He wants this shot right here. Did he get it? Nice, he did. So we have a multi-ball start. Prime directive, tons of shots. Go nuts. Just start flipping. There we go. And then if you hit your equivalent of the pick targets on Metallica, you'll light the extra ball at the right over here will be the add-a-ball if you do all the pick targets.
14:22
They're not picks, though. What are they really called? Stand-ups? The stab targets next to the ramp. Yeah, like the shots you never want to hit. These shots right here, these little guys, you want to hit those. But it's already got it lit, I think. Yeah, and then you'll – since this is eight finals, the ball save won't be very long. I love watching these A Division players They got such good control The L win pose Oh, going for that away team. Beautiful move right there. He's going for that away team. That value will be jacked up. Maybe like a little back flip right here. Get those upper lanes lit. Yeah, beautiful. Beautiful. Now these lanes are lit right now. Delvin finished his most super jackpot for over $6 million. So he's missing one right here. If he hits this, his add-a-ball will be ready. There's a shot right there that needs to be lit for that final add-a-ball. If he hits that.
15:25
Oh, trying to separate. If you can do that, then the ball's safe. You can drain the balls and just have them all go down the top lanes and the mow's over, and you'll get some big-time points. Gold medal. How are you guys with your breaking up a hold like that?
15:41
I've been practicing a lot. I think it's fun, but, yeah, you know, hit or miss. Actually, what I am a big fan of is the over-under. I'll, like, flip the one ball up to take the shot on the second ball. We'll see if he does it here.
15:56
I don't know what shot he's going for, but, yeah, basically that kind of a thing is my favorite way to manage. There's your ball save, so go nuts. Beautiful. Add a ball. Looks like he's still got the top lane. Oh, see, it's already gone. I mean, look how fast that was.
16:12
But now he's got three balls back in play. No going. I like the patience here, you know, just take your time. Again, it's only you and the machine together trying to get a high score. Six jackpots.
16:33
How do you stay patient, Stan? I think, like, for me, it's just repetition and experience. Like, once you get past a certain amount of hours on the machine, you're like, okay, I know it. Now I can work on, after the rules and all that, I'll work on just being calm and maximizing. Sure.
16:50
Okay. Broke his trap down to, oh, we still got three. Oops. Got that out lean save on the left side. I always forget about that on this game. I do, too, yeah. I feel like it's a nice bonus. It's hard to see.
17:07
It's still got three balls. You could backhand this into the right leg just like that. Beautiful. Well done. Nice. Look at that. Perfect. Nice. Boom. Let that separate. Go for there. Orbit. Oh, he's... And a warp ramp attack. Nice. Yeah. It's like that's set up perfectly. That's the... Look at that. That's one of my favorite moves in pinballs. A little tip over. To the tip pass. So I think three warp ramps lights the extra ball at the vengeance shot. Does anyone know what that's worth?
17:38
I don't. With extra balls out there? It's usually between five and ten. Has it gotten that inconsiderable? Not at all. Not for Star Trek, yeah. Another beautiful. Another jackpot. Okay, get it up there.
17:54
Opportunity for control right here. Knock it down those Klingons. On the fly, okay. Okay Chat says maybe it's only two and a half million Alright Okay Get some control here Okay, here we go So we're going to go left loop and then Maybe a warp ramp His black hole is lit again, what does that give you now? Some points Not another out of all Going for that warp ramp, beautiful And because Star Trek works on the Premise that you hit one shot The next shot is doubled if you combo So that was a nice... I think I heard somewhere this was one of the first games to do that combo. I think so, yeah. It's pretty common now.
18:35
2013-ish, this was one of the first. So now Super Jackpot should be lit over here as you're seeing the light up here. Oh, the warp ramp. The warp ramp. I've been looking all around for it. Now, if you want to be super skillful, hit another ramp and then combo it. Or I think if you do the loop and then you warp it, you're going to double it. That'll count as a combo, huh? I mean... Yeah. How much do you want to press your luck? No whammy, no whammy. See how he tries to separate this?
19:03
Oh, okay. Oh, I took his help. That was a great multi-ball. Good patience. Patience and just the precision. So well done. So how important is bonus on this game? How painful is that? The more modes you complete, that's what's going to jack up your bonus. And I think the medals also. So if you're getting a ton of medals, you're going to get some decent bonus. I mean, one strategy would be just play the modes, not down in the crawl like that. Just go up and down. So you can go mode one, two, three. Oh, three stacks. Just kind of get as many medals as possible. But each level of modes is harder than the previous one.
19:47
And those will give you, if you finish a whole stack of them, that will give you another benefit, right? Another kind of bonus feature. I'm only really familiar with the Klingon stack that lights the... Well, so if you stack it up... Lights this for 2X. Yeah, if you stack these up and down, you're going to get multipliers on each of the shots. Oh, multipliers, right, right. Okay, that's what it is. So each one of those modes counts as a multiplied shot if you finish all three modes. The 1, 2, 3 on the same. So if you do all the Klingons on the left ramp, you're going to get basically a 2X permanently. So every shot up there is like... I don't think we're going to see that strategy here. I think you're probably going to go straight for Kobayashi.
20:26
But good things to know. Okay, so, I mean, if you want to, again, get greedy, go under that top flipper, and you can have some pretty good points for the mode. For the spinner on this mode, yes? So the away team for... Yeah, spinner and then warp ramp. Spinner, warp ramp for this.
20:48
I was just trying to hit those red jackpots. Yeah. And those stab targets perhaps to light his black hole award for an add-a-ball. Nice super. Looks like it's lit now. It's lit now. He's got his add-a-ball shot lot. Yep, it's right up here. If he hits that, he's going to get the add-a-ball.
21:06
Looks like his mode is still going. It's flashing still, yeah. So if you're going to that left orbit into a warp ramp, you're getting some points from the mode. Oh, so he did get the awaited on that one. Yes. And so as you can see, the mode is still flashing, so we're still up. Here we go.
21:27
I would almost drain and let the balls go to the top flipper so you can hit that warp ramp. But now look, it's already over. The ball's saved. Oh, boom. Nice warp ramp.
21:41
Oh, nice. Is there a name for three balls on one flipper? I don't know. Maybe you can call that the college dorm room or a New York apartment or something. Crowded space. What about four then? Yeah. Been there. All right. Okay, so super ramps are lit, so all ramps will – this is the bonus of finishing the modes all in the right in a row. Okay, so these three will give you super ramps. So now we have super ramps. So all ramps will have an extra kind of millions to them, and if you combo them, it'll be worth more. Okay.
22:25
And he just hit that away team shot to start his next mode. Just cling on. Nice patience. I like the bounce over right there, but look at that. It's just so sensitive. So he's got his lock lit.
22:39
He's got this lock. He's hitting his punches. He's going for vengeance. Beautiful. He's got vengeance just super efficiently.
22:47
Now, so vengeance, what do you do here? How do you bring it home? So we're trying to beat the vengeance, right? You're pounding on the ship. Hit that center shot probably ten times. It looks like he has his add-a-ball lit also. It looks like he hit it, and now it's going to be gone. Yeah, so, I mean, if you want to rack up the points, you can backhand the left ramp and then hit it into the vengeance shot and you're doubling each shot. Here's a general. Okay. Okay, here we go. So you just want to get to that vengeance middle shot as much as possible. And then when you have it on the final shots, do a backhand to the left ramp, shoot up the middle, and you're doubling the final value from 5 to 10. Stan's super strategy for scoring. You know. Well, now. Oh, he did the combo. So he was going for it. Yeah, he backhanded, went for it, did not quite finish the... What's your experience been in altering, like, let's say you're playing for fun versus playing in a tournament strategy. Do you guys find yourself falling into old habits, or are you able to kind of just go to what I need right now? I don't have the confidence yet to do what I would do to put up a big score on my own. I tend to play a little bit more conservatively right now in competition, even if I know that perhaps I should be doing things like doing a combo before hitting him on an open shot.
24:22
So maybe one day. And then when you were playing Star Wars versus Jane, was it the same strategy that you usually do, or did you alter something? Oh, you were like, I'm going for broke? Well, I know that Jane can blow up that machine, and I know what she's capable of there, so I had to go for broke. So that's a factor, too. You're like, I know what this player can do. I'm not going to just go with the easy points. I try to maximize everything. I need to do as much as I can. And at these final levels, I mean, I kind of feel like you have to kind of play that way because everybody in one ball can do it. All right, so now we are in Destroy the Drill, I believe. So he's almost got his second set of three. The second time around, the Klingon multi-ball, you have to hit all three targets each time for a lot. The first time you hit them once and the two of them light up. Great ball. That was a great ball. That was patience and just surgical. These guys are just... He's set up well in ball two. He's only got two more modes to finish before Kobayashi. Yep. Does draining finish your mode? I think it's a timer dependent. So like in the B finals, I drained with a Klingon with like 20 seconds left and then in ball three it came back on. It started you back in time. But if it's like maybe a couple shots away, it'll just finish it for you. Oh, he's looking at all his stuff here. What's he going to do? Three shots for vengeance. The next vengeance mode is, yeah.
25:53
And now it looks like he's flipping through and that mode isn't moving around. It's like stuck in it. I don't think he can choose a space jump. He looks like he's stuck in it. Or let's see. Let's see. Maybe that was the left flipper and the right.
26:09
Okay, looks like he's going for it. So have they both played their Klingon and their Vengeance multi-balls at this point? Klingon, I think. I don't think he's got his Vengeance yet. Yeah, Dave has not played his Vengeance, but he did his Klingon multi-ball. So, yep, he's going straight for that.
26:31
Nice. He chooses to bounce over instead of drop catch. Alright Yeah I mean That's just that You make a move you're dead you know Got another ball Now this machine was Brian's choice Yes You have to go in second
26:57
Anna did you qualify on this during your No no I have not played this I played this in the Battle of the Belts Oh yeah, the one that was out of the Squirbit booth out there. Yes. So there were two tournaments going on. You played individually against each other, but then you teamed up later, right? Yes, yes. There was a whole teammate thing going on. We just played in the Battle of the Bells, which was a four-fun tournament put on at the Squirbit booth. It ended up being all teams of two, but you alternate balls between players. had to play, but we used the wheel as we did in our league matches to make decisions on who would play the third ball. Before this is over, we'll do a complete wheel breakdown.
27:44
So it can spread across the pinball territory. All hail the wheel. So now he has only one more mode, Nero.
27:54
What do you think right now when you're doing this? Oh, it's a control right now. Yeah. He needs to hit it either in here or here to start his mode. He's got the lock lift on the left. I love that lock, though, too. I know it. This is always the moment when it's like... Going for it. Oh, I'm flying, maybe. Nice patience. It's going.
28:23
Okay, so... Okay, he's playing Nero. When he finishes this, he will have... Oh, this is going to be beautiful. He's got the multi-ball, so just get this finished. So I believe if he hits the away team shot during this mode, it will light all of his hard, dangerous stab targets, which are probably less dangerous now that he's in this multi-ball. Yeah, when you're in regular play, you don't want that at all. He's kind of perfectly set up here for that away team shot. The problem is the ball stay being so quick. You might want to just take your chances. He's already down to two. Yeah, just kind of almost time it. Do a weird timeout, hit a shot for a little bit.
29:05
He's got his extra ball lit, but it's probably not worth enough points to go for. All right, so take a breath, calm down, see where you're at. Oh, he got that extra ball. Oh, super jackpot.
29:18
Nice. Got that in the race period. Now, Bowen usually says don't go for that last-minute jackpot, but in competition for six million, it's worth it. Is it a grace period situation here, or does it stay lit for a while after you drain? I think it's more of a grace period, yeah. For like an attack from Mars you get the roving This is more of like maybe a three grace period Three seconds okay if you just hit something you can time this out and you going to have ooh beautiful shot Going through the points. Okay, here we go. There it is. Ooh, that's it. Went for it on the fly. He's got, I think, a nice. He's got his out lean saved. Nice trap up here. Take a breath. No. Oh, under pressure. On the fly, back to the point. Nice. Oh, under pressure. Nicely done.
30:05
That's how you do it right there. Beautiful. Look at those medals. We're going to see our wizard board. Can you tell us what the Kobe Ashmore is? So basically all the shots that are lit right now, you have to hit them twice. The first time you hit them, you get a small value, maybe a few hundred thousand, and then you're going to get a much bigger value. I think it's based on how you did in the mode. So 500 base, if you hit it again, you'll probably see it for like maybe 6 million, 7.5. So just kind of knock them out. This is beautiful. This is Kobayashi in A-level play. This is very impressive. Ball saver's still running. Kobayashi, thankfully, does have a very long ball save. Can you get your add-a-ball during this as well? You can. Same way? Same method. Except the targets aren't lit, so you don't really know where you're at here. Yeah, this is... Oh, black hole. So here we go. It says it's lit. It doesn't show that it's lit. But if you do go for it, you're going to. Yeah, so if he hits this unlit area here, he will get an add-a-ball. Oh, yeah, 15 million. That would be beautiful. Yeah, because he's added a small ball. And Kobayashi's, after you drain the ball, it's such a small, like it's like one second.
31:10
Still, that was great. It's like Metallica, End of the Line, or whatever that is. All right. And now he's going for his second level of Klingon, which if he goes through all three levels of this, that will double his left ramp for the rest of the... Yeah, there's no real, like if you finish just two of them, you don't get anything. Yep, I see. But points, it's still worth, you know, pretty good points. I mean, if you can do it, if you just, on the left flipper, you can just backhand that shot. See, it's, just keep doing that, you're going to get the most. So there's the red flashing shot, and when there's a little bit of blue, that's the maximized value. That was a great, like, 200 million with the tilt setting and everything. That was an amazing ball. Yep. It was great to watch. Nice bonus. Yeah, 200 million. That's super impressive.
32:00
Under pressure. Yeah, so this, what would you guys, how would you feel? I think, you know, just one mode at a time. Yep. Yeah.
32:11
I think he's still going for that vengeance multi-ball, but... but take it one more at a time. Internet, how are you feeling about what you're seeing?
32:23
Doug Carson's nice. I like the positivity. Positivity. Pins Rule with a Z, how are you doing?
32:35
Cool. All right, so he's still in space jump. Are particular modes worth more than others, or is it pretty well balanced? I mean, I know you said that some have more shots than others to begin with, but... Yeah, I think in general... Oh, is that... So in general, any mode, I think maybe it's like 300,000... soft plunging to not qualify the playfield track. That's why he was able to let that ball drain. Which that was nice patience. I don't know if I trust that but
33:14
Okay, so one more shot and he might have the vengeance ready. Yeah, just get control All right, and you're in a mode so you definitely want to go for this.
33:29
Nice no shake. That's so good. That's so good. No panic. Okay. There we go. He's on his way. So what kind of, how many of those picks do we need? Oh, it's hard to see what's flashing. I think we're missing that one right by the, right over here. There we go. We get that, he's got his add a ball lit. All right. Is that going away or do we have to hit it again? Are you actively looking at that when you're playing these? Is that kind of the first thing you're looking for? Are you kind of just going for shots and hoping? I think, you know, with the ball save and the three balls, I think you're just trying to hit everything. And then as soon as one drains, you might want to get control and kind of see where you're at at that point. Because it's definitely valuable and worth it. He's got a super ramp slip because he finished space jump. Oh, and he's got four balls. So it looks like he already got his add-a-ball.
34:24
Is he looking for a ruling? So he's going for that center shot to beat the vengeance. Yeah, if we might see it, there might be like a power bar, like on an old school 90s video game. Yeah, see that power bar right there? It's like not, the more you hit it, the more solid it will become going towards the 42 million. Looks like we might have an issue. Someone's on his way.
34:57
Chad says the game spit out two more balls than he should have had. So, yeah, maybe he didn't get that ball, but it was two balls. There was no added ball yet. So good awareness right now to just, he really didn't score a ton of points with the added balls, so they're probably not going to call this. Well, we'll see. We'll see.
35:14
Let's not speculate on that. We really can't. I mean, there is a possibility he just got his addle balls immediately, and they just came out. Well, it looks like he's playing. All right. Play on. Playing on. So if you're feeling good, backhand the ramp, and then as the feed comes back, shoot it in the middle for double value. Oh, look at that. What is the value of that center shot?
35:49
Approximately, I guess. It's $500,000, something like that. So then if you're, let's see what it's giving him, $275,000. Okay.
35:56
But again, that strategy is kind of risky. So do you want to do that or just take, because the big points are going to be in completing this. He went to try to save that ball going down the middle by breaking his trap.
36:11
Are we going to see him try to separate or maybe? Oh, it's always the danger. Yep. Okay, so now he needs to start his next mode.
36:35
He's going for those Klingon locks, it looks like. Before starting the mode. Ooh. A little tip there, keeping it calm.
36:53
So at this point, the only thing that really can give him a shot is Kobayashi. Right, he's got to go for it. Unless you want to get him to another, well, clean on multi-ball. You're kind of in jail, the pinball jail.
37:07
Well played by Brian. Evens it up at 1-1. All right. coming down to it. Was it a two-strike format yesterday?
37:16
You mean it was best two of three? Two of three, okay. Same situation. So did it go the full three games? It did not. Our final match, it was actually the only, so it was top 16 out of the qualifying field of 40 made finals, and it was best two of three for everyone. And that was my only match, I think, that didn't go to three. She took me out once you banged me. Were you able to just close it like a vault, the emotions of friendship?
37:49
This is pinball? Absolutely. It's like the Godfather is business only. It was kind of the opposite. It was like all friendship. It was just so much fun. It was a lot of fun. It really was. I was so excited. It was exciting. Seeing her successes playing against me, rooting for her all the way. She did this perfect Star Wars video mode with the max play field multiplier. On the shot, it was Nailbit, which is only 10x because of the competition settings, but it was a thing of beauty.
38:19
So there's no 40x in competition. No. Oh, okay. That's great. Yeah. The good thing about pinball is that... Oh, it looks like we're going to Jurassic Park. Ooh, fun. One of Shane's favorites. I do love this thing right now. It's still one of the newish machines. I kind of love almost every machine, but I really have a lot of fun on this. All right. So how do you guys like to open up when you're playing Jurassic Park? What's your strategy? So going for that C shot, this C right here, you want to make progress through your chaos letters, which are here, here, here, here, and here, in order to light a multi-ball here. But you have to hit the C before you can move on to the next one. Yeah, so they're, boom, done. Yeah. Because you're going to be able to hit those other shots on accident, right? You're going to need to hit those other shots, and you kind of don't want to have to do double-study later. But it's a tricky shot, but he got it. And now we are also into our first paddock mode,
39:18
which means that we have a dinosaur to capture. Is there more rescues in the tournament mode, or do you just do one for the first? What do you mean by that? More rescues in the tournament? Before you set the trap. Oh, I see. Are the dinosaurs harder to capture? Yes. That's a good question. I don't know. I haven't played it. I mean, I played it here, but I'm not sure what that is. I did very poorly here. So now he's going to want to hit either of these two targets here. They're flashing yellow to collect the dinosaur.
39:50
It's going for his chaos. Not to light the collect. You're going to light a collect. So he's one shot away from lighting chaos. He needs his, what's it called, the helicopter ramp.
40:00
Oh, he's going for it. He's certainly going for it. And what is the hardest shot for the chaos, do you think? Oh, the O. Oh, the hammer. Cut, tell us straight. Oh, the tell us straight. This is the hardest shot for the chaos. Oh, Anna disagrees. What about this one? Oh, no, no. Oh, you mean the finishing shot. Oh, the life of the finishing shot. The finishing shot. The finishing shot is definitely. Okay, so he was going straight for the chaosities. He's very close.
40:28
Yeah. Yeah, the S shots, you know, all right, too. and there's varying theories about whether or not to lift up that flipper right here, whether you're going for it or not. I don't. I don't like to. I don't get up that high. Yeah.
40:42
Throws off my... I feel like it exposes this a little bit more if that's lit up. It's kind of just standing there like you want to hit it, you know? Yeah, like your brain... Here's a target for you. Because right now it's like part of the flipper, you know? So you're like, okay, I can deal with it. It's just psychological. We have a lot lotter breath. We got a little bit of lagging going on.
41:10
Okay. So now Brian, see if he's going to try the same strategy going for that C. So this is game three for all the, all the glory of moving on. He's got a C lit. Now he's going to go for that H and his paddock is lit. We can see that this paddock is lit because of that light. So the paddock is?
41:34
A dinosaur, I think. So that means you can collect the dinosaur? That means you can try to. It means you have to get some rescues, which are these orange diamonds.
41:47
Since this is an early one, he just needs to get one of those. Oh, Nedry. Yeah, that was a good move. The minute you hit any of these top of that, you're going to get that ball away from that.
42:04
I was talking to someone about changing the Nedry insert to say Newman instead. So just shake your hand.
42:11
Really? That'd be like a good Easter egg. Yeah. It'll have a sign called saying Newman. Maybe they'll make a mod for that. Yeah. And get an insert that says Newman. That might cost more than the license for the game. Absolutely. It'll be bootleg. Right.
42:33
I feel like Jay Brand with the Pinball Olympics will have that. Okay, so now DJ's back. They're not going for the super skill, I've noticed, or he wasn't. He's still got to hit his set trap targets. His dino is roving around trying to eat the park rangers he's got to rescue. Chaos is lit now? He's got a little bit of chaos, so that means he needs to hit this target. And you've got to go through that tight little space right here. You've got to go through that tight space. Can you get it through the pops? The pop bumpers can sometimes kick it up in there, yeah, if you hit that. I'm going to reveal a greedy strategy. Okay. So if you collect this first dinosaur, right, he's got to hit either of those yellow shots up there. Then you collect the dinosaur. Over here you're going to have that special white target. The control room. Yeah. Super valuable. So if you can get that lit going into chaos. Yep, that's true. And a doubler, you're going to be at like $200 to $300 million. But you're right about greedy. Would you do that? Would you go for that? I mean, yeah, we're in A division finals. You might have to, you know. Looks like we lost our feed to the game.
43:43
There we go. We're back. I don't think he's going for that control room. I think he's going for that chaos. Well, I guess, you know, rule number one is put pressure on your opponent. Right. So he wants to move the truck. Right now his shot is too narrow.
43:59
He's starting to help himself out. Oh, this is great too. Well, so this is actually just as good. He's got T-Rex Chase, a valuable mode. And if he can get Chaos going with this, this will be huge.
44:16
And so when you hit the captive balls there, the truck goes left to right. Oh, that's deadly. That okay his chaos is still there Yeah he got another chance at that chaos But he going to have to hit that truck four more times to get back to another mode Yeah.
44:36
But that chaos by itself, I feel like what's going to be a winning score, maybe 100 million? 150? I don't know. You don't know that. Against these players?
44:46
That's why I'm in B division. I would want to take a moment to that chaos for sure. So what's Brian going to do now?
45:02
Why choose Extra Ball, Smart Missile, and Competition? That's a good question. I'm not sure what it's worth. You know, that Smart Missile choice is a pretty new code option, so it might just be a situation where the players might not be familiar with the choices available. So what is this? I do not know about this. Yeah, so now, you know, the action button didn't really do anything before. Now, when you have Smart Missile lit on the DMD, you'll be able to see a number of choices if you use the action button to cycle through them. And if you actually hit that Smart Missile shot, it will award you a benefit. And those benefits can be really good. Anything from, like, start Raptor multi-ball to extra ball, point.
45:46
So you're still having to hit the shot. You still have to hit the shot, but it has now become more valuable because you are awarded an award for your choice. I mean, normally it's like a 15 million point shot, which could be the difference here. Yep. So that's the beautiful thing about it. But the new awards are frequently more valuable than those points. So it's a cool new feature. You only get three seconds to make your choice, though. You got to do it fast. So Brian drained out, and what are we at, 17? 17.
46:15
And that was ball. We're in ball three. Ball three. Player one is up with about a 10 million point lead right now.
46:26
Now, again, he does have the Chaos multiball lit. Is there a mode running still? Is there a green target roving around? No. It looks like he still has the set trap targets. Okay. That's his skill shot. It's the red shot. The one next to him. Yep, that's the dino. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So he still has his paddock running.
46:51
and he could easily finish that dinosaur during chaos. So I would not spend time trying to do that first. Again, I'm all about the greed. If you want to capture it and restart a new mode, you've got to go for that chaos shot. But the patience part is, are you going to move that truck first? Yeah. Or just hope that maybe it circles around. There it is. Okay, so now it's open.
47:19
Boom, boom, money. Nailed it. That would go crazy, get the doubler maybe. That was awesome. What's the doubler? What do you mean, 2X play field? 2X play field, yeah. So where are our 2X play field shots that he needs, the blue targets? Yeah, he needs to hit, actually he needs to get these targets that will light this supply drop.
47:41
And when that lights blue, if he hits that, that will qualify his 2X play field target here. So it's kind of a multi-step situation. Right. But, oh, it looks like we're already. We have two balls. Oh, no, we're still good. We still have two balls. So now if you hit it back into here and the ball pops around, you're going to get an add-a-ball. That's right. We've got seven more pop-emers. So it lets you know about that. And then every time you get an add-a-ball, it's more pops as it goes along. Oh, does he have a stuck ball? Like progressively more. What are we looking at here? Does he have a stuck ball somewhere? He might have a stuck ball.
48:19
Thank you. And then this is a little bit of an unfortunate situation. If that ball was stuck when it was just about to go into those pop bumpers, that ball is going to be put back on a flipper as opposed to, you know. This is almost like a mini, like a ball four. You're just like having to start over. I'm not sure what the actual issue is. Yeah, I'm not sure either. I can't see it up there. It's too dark.
49:19
So as David has the lead, he's just looking to pad and add and just... Oh, yeah, because, again, where the scores are at right now... As you hit this ball here, the captive ball, it changes the direction of the jackpots. Is that right? Like if the car is facing this way, the jackpots are on this side. And if the car faces the other way, the jackpots move over. Do you prefer like a side or not? or just whatever's there, just start shooting and start going for it? Yeah, I'm not paying attention to that. I am going for the add-a-balls and the pop-up first. Mostly. Another really valuable thing to do is get your Pteranodon attack running during your multi-ball, which is hitting this ramp right here. Oh, okay.
50:09
So it looks like we do have some sort of an issue. Sorry we can't give you more information about exactly what's going on. Yeah, we're too far away right now. For a new machine, this code is already pretty deep. A lot of variety going on and strategy. It's a wonderful thing how a little bit of an update can just transform a machine that you thought was like, okay, I know it already, and then it's like you bought a whole new machine. I think we're still waiting on a couple wizard modes, but it's certainly challenging enough as it is right now.
50:43
That's my favorite device, by the way. It's like a wizard's Harry Potter kind of wand. Gets the ball.
50:53
Yes. Hopefully he can resume where he left off. So it looks like because he was in a multiball, this might just give him all those balls back. Now, do we put those back on the flipper? No, I think when they start the game, it's going to plunge them all. Plunge them out. And this is pinball. You've got to play with moments like this, and it might not happen to your opponent, but just go for it. All right. Did you get a ball save?
51:20
Three balls. Okay, he picked up his dino. Okay. So now when he is out of this mode, he will have his control room lit. It won't be lit because he's already in multi-ball. Right. But the control room is so valuable if you can finish it. His add-a-ball is lit right here now, too. He's got that supply drop target.
51:46
And in any multi-ball, that first mystery will give you an add-a-ball. Now, yeah, when you hit that, it'll give you add-a-ball, and then it'll light that. Light the 2x playfield shot there, and that would be ideal.
52:00
You'd all give it to him. That was a great shot. All right. The pinball gods have no mercy. So he still needs seven more pops to add another ball. I think that's what I would be focusing on. That could be just one good shot up into those pop bumpers. Yeah. See what he's doing. I think his chaos jackpot's also lit up there. Right here at the target. Wow. Doesn't give a...
52:30
And this is just that A-level patience. Like, okay, let the balls come back down. Don't flip. Just spink it out. Everything's fine. Breathe in, breathe out.
52:42
Try it again. Yep, it is a tricky game to separate on, so he's going for that over-under, and now he's got a good cradle here. Perfect shot. Beautiful.
52:53
7.5 million. Collects a good jackpot, but not enough for the out-of-all. You didn't get any pop love there, unfortunately. Now is this the collect lit for the mode? No, I think that that is just showing him the way to get another supply drop. Okay.
53:16
Oh, that left lane is so fidgety and unforgiving. Oh, maybe a last minute. Oh, Paul made it last minute. Nicely done. Nice.
53:27
Love the grace periods. So now he has 23 more pops. Oh. And you've got to go for it. I love going, you know, last minute. You think you're dead. No, keep going for it. That 2x shot is still not hit yet. Yep, it's lit. You're hoping that it's kind of going to bounce into that.
53:53
I mean, those slings will usually just bounce it right in there. Oh, no. Oh, wonderful. Great dig. All right. Oh, dug it out of there. There we go. 2X is lit. He's got his 2X running. He just wants to keep this going as long as he can. Where's that running at? 20 more pop bumpers. Another ball.
54:14
Oh. Did he go for it? Oh, okay. Now, where's the 2X signaling at? Right here. Right over here. As long as that's flashing, his 2X will be running. And he can keep it going, I believe, by hitting the supply drop targets. There's a time extension option.
54:34
There's a Raptor multiball if you can get that cage a little bit more. Yeah, we haven't really talked about the Raptor at all because it kind of doesn't factor into strategy unless you're just going for it. But it can be worth a look. What's he going to pick first? I like the system boot. System boot. Yep, so now he's got some blue flashing shots.
54:56
He wants to hit those in combination. This can be a pretty lucrative move. These shots are like six million each, five million each. It's pretty good money. They can add up quick. Yep, that first one he's going for. Oh, he made a strong move. Safe. He gets away with it. Nice save, no danger on that. Oh, oh. Great ball. Good ball three. You can feel the tension even just watching it. I get so tense just watching. You want a little more out of that controller mode, but... Yeah, that's... Well, you know, no matter what level you're playing at, there's always the thought that I left something on the table. If I just had that shot, right, no matter how many points you have, if I would have hit that shot, it would have given me this or that. All right. Here comes Brian.
55:54
So Brian is one shot away from his chaos. With roughly a 70 million point deficit. And by one shot, I mean from qualifying it. He got the first part of the skill shot. He's going for the second one.
56:19
Nice. Great. Great little post. Post-trap there Now is he gonna go straight for his chaos, yeah
56:34
Shot through the truck, but it did not hit the target Nice. There we go. He started in the paddock. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I'm sorry. He started in the counter. That's great. He could get chaos running with this. Oh.
57:03
Oh. So much action in the box, but it did not. Hit the target. There we go. Third time's a charm. Holy cow. And an instant ball add because of all the action up there. So this with the T-Rex, you can see this. The points could really jack up your ass. Now he's got all of these orange shots in it as well because of his T-Rex encounter. So T-Rex encounter is going to be hit one of the shots, then hit one of the captive balls to collect. So it's like hit, shot, hit captive. Hit, shot, hit captive. And every time you hit that captive ball, it's going to be so many points.
57:44
I think that might be the T-Rex chase mode. Oh, the second? Yeah, encounter is the T-Rex ramp. Is encounter usually a multi-ball, or do they switch that for competition? No, that's T-Rex speed. And this is different in competition. In non-competition mode, T-Rex speed is the first T-Rex mode, but in competition it does not start that way. So how does encounter work? Now he does have his add-a-ball, and look at the point total. We're super close. You know, he has his 2X multiplier going. 2X running. He's out of encounter.
58:13
Oh, man. He's like 2 million. Wait, what? Is that 68 or 88? Good separation there. Oh, man. Point total for him. He shot on the super, but again, trouble. This is such great pinball right here.
58:28
You've got that 2X about to end. What are you going to do? Nice separation. Good patience. He's trying to get it back in the ball. 2X is done. 2X is gone.
58:42
Did he do it? Were we not looking? We were just too excited watching the ball. He did it all done. He did division, patience, determination.
58:53
Well done, Brian. All right, then, Rhett. All right. Looks like we're going to go to Moto. Thanks everyone. Thank you. We're going to switch out. Is that Iron Man? Well have a good night guys. Play pinball. We're going to get another crew in here. Another crew coming in. Some more great stuff.