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Episode 215: August Whirlwind!

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·52m 57s·analyzed·Aug 28, 2019
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.037

TL;DR

Pinball Profile Episode 215: Pinburgh 2024 tournament coverage with community interviews and industry insights.

Summary

Jeff Teolis hosts Pinball Profile from Pinburgh 2024 in Pittsburgh, conducting interviews with major community figures including Martin Robbins (Head to Head Pinball), Kate Martin (Women's International Pinball Tournament organizer), Jack Danger (Dead Flip studio), Jessica DiNardo (Soft Plunge Pinball apparel), Roger Sharp (Stern), and Raymond Davidson (top-ranked player). Discussion covers tournament excitement, the women's pinball growth, Jurassic Park reveal reception, and various player perspectives on competitive play and community.

Key Claims

  • Women's International Pinball Tournament (WIPT/Whipped) has 128 players competing and a $5,000 prize pool, described as the largest payout for a women's tournament in the world

    high confidence · Kate Martin states directly: 'we have a capped wait list that's full' and '$5,000. I'm pretty sure it's the largest payout for a women's tournament in the world right now.'

  • Jack Danger transitioned to full-time content creation approximately 3 years ago, leaving a well-paying animator position

    high confidence · Jack Danger: 'Three years ago... I was making a lot of money as an animator with a studio and employees and all that stuff. And yeah, I wasn't making a lot of money up front, but we're making money now, so we're good to go.'

  • Jurassic Park reveal stream achieved approximately 200,000 total views with peak concurrent viewership around 6,000

    high confidence · Jack Danger: 'I think we hit about 6,000 concurrent at one time, but the total views was about 200,000 total pairs of eyeballs on it for that two-hour stream.'

  • Dead Flip studio has 30 pinball machines and is already at capacity for space

    high confidence · Jack Danger: '30 pinball machines in there. We're already out of room. Stern's been kind enough to drop off new games as they're making them for me to blow them up.'

  • Pinburgh 2024 attracted approximately 1,000 players to Pittsburgh

    high confidence · Jeff Teolis: '1,000 players playing at Pinburgh' and later multiple references to tournament scale

  • Keith Owen (designer on Jurassic Park) is described as an 'up-and-comer' by Roger Sharp who had not heard of him before

    high confidence · Roger Sharp: 'That Keith Owen is an up-and-comer. I don't know where he came from. Never heard of him before, but my goodness.'

  • Southern Fried pinball tournament and Pinburgh have scheduling conflict; Southern Fried was in June previously but finished 'two weeks ago' while this recording is during Pinburgh

    medium confidence · Naomi Shedd indicates Southern Fried moved dates to avoid conflict with Pinburgh; date conflict referenced as ongoing issue

Notable Quotes

  • “It's like a reunion that happens every year. You just walk in and you just meet all these people and you catch up on the last year.”

    Martin Robbins @ early in episode — Captures the cultural significance of Pinburgh as an annual gathering for the community

  • “Pinball people are the best. They're fun-loving, easygoing, help each other out. And it really is. Pinball for me is always about the people and camaraderie and just community.”

    Naomi Shedd @ mid-episode — Expresses core community values and ethos of the pinball community

  • “The minute that you're not focused on anything, the ball will decide for you, and that's never a good thing.”

    Raymond Davidson @ mid-episode — Articulates competitive mindset philosophy applicable to match play strategy

  • “Do or Die Pinball Podcast is great because of your perspective. You are the number one player in the world, and to hear what you're thinking and that you actually share that with us.”

    Jeff Teolis @ Raymond Davidson interview — Highlights value of elite player sharing tournament strategy insights with community

  • “It's been a lot of fun. There's been a while where after tournaments I'd be thinking to myself, like, should I have done this, should I have done that? And it's nice to sort of air those grievances to the wild and talk about what I did right, too, to help people out.”

    Raymond Davidson @ mid-episode — Explains motivation for competitive player podcast content creation

  • “We have a capped wait list that's full. Yeah, so next year, only bigger and better.”

    Kate Martin @ early-mid episode — Indicates strong demand for Women's International Pinball Tournament; waitlist indicates growth trajectory

  • “You know what? I love when people come up to me. Like, man, you got me and my dad back into pinball. We hadn't played since we were like 12. I love hearing those stories.”

    Jack Danger @ early episode — Demonstrates impact of streaming content on broadening pinball accessibility and re-engaging lapsed players

Entities

PinburgheventJeff TeolispersonMartin RobbinspersonKate MartinpersonWomen's International Pinball TournamenteventJack DangerpersonDead FliporganizationJessica DiNardoperson

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Jessica DiNardo launched Soft Plunge Pinball apparel company recently; product gaining traction at pinball events with multiple attendees wearing merchandise within short timeframe

    high · Jessica: 'started my own pinball apparel company, Soft Plunge Pinball... only been doing this a short period of time'; Jeff observes 'first person I saw walking up to Pinburg was wearing a pinball summer shirt'

  • ?

    business_signal: Jack Danger's Dead Flip studio transitioning to sustainable revenue model; full-time content creation generating sufficient income after 3-year investment; Stern providing machines for streaming content

    high · Jack Danger: 'I wasn't making a lot of money up front, but we're making money now, so we're good to go'; notes Stern drops off new machines for streaming

  • ?

    community_signal: Mark Hauser's pinballmix.com custom audio service generating community interest; Iron Maiden disco remix example demonstrates niche personalization demand for pinball machines

    medium · Mark describes starting service for own machines, expanded to 'few friends started to ask for it, did a few favors... 500, 600 plus hours' invested; demonstrated at Replay FX event

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Strong positive sentiment about Pinburgh as annual reunion and community gathering; emphasis on 'fun-loving, easygoing' nature of pinball community and camaraderie

    high · Martin Robbins: 'It's like a reunion that happens every year'; Naomi Shedd: 'Pinball people are the best... fun-loving, easygoing'; multiple speakers reinforce community values

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Raymond Davidson emphasizes focus and task-oriented mindset in match play as critical competitive strategy; low-hanging fruit prioritization and avoiding zeros identified as key tactical approach

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.153

0:00
Well, hello. It's been a while. It's time for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host, Jeff Teelis. 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 your favorite podcatcher. It has been a busy August. Probably for you as well. I know it has been for me. It all began with the greatest tournament on earth. 1,000 players playing at Pinbird. Oh, I've got to go to Pittsburgh. I've got to go for work. Please send me. I know I live in Australia, but it's really important. You don't even work in Pittsburgh, but somehow you weaseled away. We're talking about Martin Robbins from Head to Head. How the hell did you get here?
0:46
Well, yeah, thank you. It's good to be here. Thanks. I appreciate that. No, look, where are we now? Thursday? a week ago today was when i knew that i was coming here um and that's true i did have a work you signed up early oh yeah i got my ticket so i have my ticket but i'd sort of said i'd cancel my holidays i was like you know i'm not gonna go a lot of money well it was just timing a lot of things happening but i had to come over here for work just happened to be the same week as finberg so i'm here that's amazing but work isn't in pittsburgh you gotta fly to utah i've got to go to Utah Monday morning. It's so worth it. And I love being here. Someone else was saying it before. It's like a reunion that happens every year. You just walk in and you just meet all these people and you catch up on the last year. And they pretend they like it. Yes. They pretend they know me. I get it too. Now, last year, you were in A. You kicked what? I did qualify A division. I was very, very surprised. The standard is set. Yeah. Obviously, there's pressure now to do equal, equal if not better i'm i'm happy with what i get you're not i know you i know how competitive you are you're a lying dog and and not only that your new partner in crime joe lemaire is such a great player that he probably just will fall out of bed and do better than possibly you'll never hear the end of it no i know so there and there obviously is this huge rivalry because last year we ended up in exactly the same position okay so this is the rubber match so this is it right so this is the grudge match so it doesn't really matter where i end up as long as it's higher than joe and let's not forget who edits the show so if joe sounds crappy because he did better over the next few weeks yep you know if why is his voice so high well that's martin revenge pitching his voice it's all in the edit absolutely all right best to you and best to head to head thank you well done day one of pinberg everyone's excited a thousand players and i'm here looking at the stage looking at the banners, and there's a new addition to the banner, the Women's International Pinball Tournament. Thanks in part to this woman right here, Kate Martin, who put together Whip with a bunch of great people. Kate, congratulations. Thank you very much. And it's going to be bigger this year, 128 players and a huge prize pool. Yes, $5,000. I'm pretty sure it's the largest payout for a women's tournament in the world right now. Do you remember a year ago when we were talking about this, you were like, I hope it sells out. I know. I always think the worst. You said your exact words to me were, well, self-doubt's a thing. Is it gone now, the self-doubt? Well, I mean, we have a capped wait list that's full. Wow. Yeah, so next year, only bigger and better. I'm really proud of you for doing this, you, Elizabeth, and who are some of the other people behind this? Jessica DiNardo, Bowen was a huge, huge help. Brian Dye this year is going to be an assistant TV for us. Elizabeth Dugg, Mark Steinman, I mean, Kevin Martin, is writing software specifically for our tournament. Or wrote, it's day one, but yeah. Yeah, you know what? And by the time this airs, people will have known who the winner is and been able to watch it on Papa Pinball. So I'm very, very excited for you. And you know what? I'm so underdressed. Everyone's coming here with all these cool shirts and stuff. Forget the shirts. I thought I had that down. It's about the fingernails. Pop bumpers and flippers, Kate? Well, I saw someone post on Instagram that they had gotten pinball nails done and then someone else did it and then someone else did it and I was like, oh, is this the trend this year? Fantastic. We got little pop bumpers, which turned out pretty good, and the flippers, which turned out pretty, they're misaligned. I knew they were flippers. Yeah, well, the point got across, but I don't think I want to play a game with flippers lined up like this. Well, I'm so underdressed, I'm embarrassed. I'm going to buy a pair of gloves. I've got some extra T-shirts in my bag if you need them. Kate, all the best with Whipped and good luck at Pimberg. Thank you, good luck to you.

  • Raymond Davidson is currently ranked as the number one player in the world

    high confidence · Jeff Teolis: 'You are the number one player in the world' and Raymond acknowledges 'continuing to be number one'

  • “Keith's saying flip that flipper. I put it there? Flip that flipper. Flip that flipper. Good for him.”

    Roger Sharp @ mid-episode discussion of Jurassic Park — References specific playfield design decision on Jurassic Park that punishes non-flipper use

    • Soft Plunge Pinball
    organization
    Roger Sharpperson
    Keith Owenperson
    Jurassic Parkgame
    Raymond Davidsonperson
    Do or Die Pinball Podcastmedia
    Naomi Sheddperson
    Mark Hauserperson
    pinballmix.comorganization
    Southern Friedevent
    Carl D'Angeloperson
    Jim Belsitoperson
    Bruce Nightingaleperson
    Mark Tremontiperson
    Fred Cochranperson

    high · Raymond: 'you always want to get that low-hanging fruit and just always be focused on your next task'; identifies mindset as differentiator in competitive play

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Keith Owen's Jurassic Park design emphasizes playfield geometry and shot flow consequences; upper right flipper post placement specifically designed to punish non-flipper shots

    high · Roger Sharp: 'Because of the post in front of the upper right flipper If you don't flip, you get punished because it will hit the post'; describes as deliberate design choice demonstrating game design thinking

  • ?

    event_signal: Women's International Pinball Tournament (WIPT/Whipped) expanded to 128 players with $5,000 prize pool; capped waitlist indicates strong demand and continued growth expected

    high · Kate Martin: 'we have a capped wait list that's full... next year, only bigger and better' and '$5,000... largest payout for a women's tournament in the world'

  • ?

    event_signal: Pinburgh 2024 successfully hosted approximately 1,000 players, positioning as largest annual pinball tournament; venue at 140,000 square feet with comprehensive infrastructure including streaming equipment

    high · Jeff Teolis references '1,000 players' and '140,000 square feet' venue; multiple speakers confirm scale and success

  • $

    market_signal: Tournament scheduling conflict emerging between Southern Fried and Pinburgh; potential negative impact on Southern Fried attendance if date collision continues; California Extreme experienced similar conflict previous year

    medium · Naomi Shedd discusses date conflict; mentions 'California Extreme had that problem last year... on the same date as Pinnberg... It suffered'; suggests either tournament needs to change dates to avoid competition

  • ?

    community_signal: Raymond Davidson established Do or Die Pinball Podcast as platform for top-ranked player to share competitive strategy; content generating audience interest and perceived value to competitive and casual communities

    high · Jeff: 'Do or Die Pinball Podcast, which I absolutely love because of your perspective'; Raymond explains motivation for sharing strategy to help other players

  • ?

    announcement: Jurassic Park pinball machine officially revealed at Pinburgh 2024 with positive reception; designed by Keith Owen; described as 'spectacular' by multiple observers

    high · Jack Danger discusses reveal stream with 200,000 total views; Roger Sharp provides detailed design commentary on Keith Owen's work including upper right flipper post mechanic

  • ?

    technology_signal: Pinburgh 2024 demonstrates advanced streaming infrastructure with professional camera rigs; mentioned as 'revolution in streaming' with unified portable equipment approach adopted across community

    medium · Phil Grimaldi comments on streaming rig technology: 'Remember when they used to have all the different streaming systems, different cameras?' suggesting shift to standardized equipment

    • 4:30
    Here he is, new dad, Jack Danger. Jack, how have you been, bud? Wonderful, wonderful. I'm excited to be here. It's like a big fun family reunion every year.
    4:38
    Crushed a few too many white claws last night. Are you familiar? Yes. But I'm doing okay. So if you folks are betting on me, I'm doing my best to throw you for a loop. You don't know what's going to happen. Bet on Jack Danger. I notice you're in a category with yours truly. And you think you're going to knock me down, aren't you? I don't think I am. Oh. This is going to air after the fact. I'm not even going to finish it. I am going to highlight this when I have to scroll down, scroll down, scroll down, scroll down. There's Jack. I hope we end up in a group together. Oh, it'll be a bloodbath. Yeah. It will be like a trash talk. I'm excited. Yeah. Well, how are things at Dead Flip? The new studio is great. Thank you. I appreciate it. 30 pinball machines in there. We're already out of room. Stern's been kind enough to drop off new games as they're making them for me to blow them up.
    5:23
    Renovation on it went great, and I'm ready to move again. When I watched on Monday and I watched the Jurassic Park reveal, first of all, that game was spectacular. Oh my god, it's beautiful. How many views did you have? It was 3,000 when I was there, but I think it went over. So I think we hit about 6,000 concurrent at one time, but the total views was about 200,000 total pairs of eyeballs on it for that two-hour stream. Jack, I remember when you made the move, but tell people when you decided, you know, I'm going to do this full-time. Oh gosh. Three? Three years ago? and my wife thought I was insane because I was making a lot of money as an animator with a studio and employees and all that stuff.
    6:02
    And yeah, I wasn't making a lot of money up front, but we're making money now, so we're good to go. Support, subscribe, follow, deadlift. Yes, let's go. Jack does a great thing for the pinball community. You know what I love about what you do is that I talk to so many different people, as you know, that say they don't get to go to pinball events, they don't have leagues, but they get to see all the new machines and they watched it. Oh, dude. And that's all they do. That's awesome. Yeah. That's all I can ask for. I love when people come up to me. They're like, man, you got me and my dad back into pinball. We hadn't played since we were like 12. I love hearing those stories. And I just love generating this content. Well, that's the last compliment you'll get because you're going to be behind me in this. You're going down. See you, buddy. All right, brother. Be good. You know this woman for sure. She is part of the pinball podcast along with Jeff. Jessica DiNardo is here. How are you? I'm doing quite well. How are you? Good. You've got a busy August, don't you? I'm a super busy August. Tell people what you're doing. So I started my own pinball apparel company, Soft Plunge Pinball. Thank you for the sticker. You're very welcome. So doing all unisex and women's styles in all of the different shirts I'm doing. Doing 70s style, like, booty shorts. Doing dresses, pinball summer apparel. So trying to bring the 70s back single-handedly into the pinball community. I was at Pintastic just, what, last month? and so you've only been doing this a short period of time and I was doing a flyby on video on my Facebook page and I saw a bunch of soft plunge and I think you were on. I'm like, Jess, I'm looking at it right now. Makes me super happy. It's catching on. I love it. The first person I saw walking up to Pinburg was wearing a pinball summer shirt and I'm also wearing my pinball summer shirt so there's three of us in a row. I was like, this is a good day. I like this. That's a big undertaking and you're doing very well in such a short period of time and you already talked to Kate Martin. You've got to be excited for Whipped. Super excited for Whipped. Kate and I went and got whipped tattoos this weekend. I saw hers. Mine is on the leg. Hers is on her arm. So we went and did that. It was really fun, and I'm happy to be back doing that again. I mean, it's only growing. It's the world's largest women's tournament, and it will get bigger and bigger next year and better, and I'm happy to be doing it with Kate. Well, I'm really proud of you for doing that. It's a big undertaking, and you're making a lot of women and people happy. Very well. Awesome. Thank you. Happy Pinberg. Thanks. You never know who's going to be here at Pinberg and ReplayFX. Fred Cochran, who was just on Pinball Profile, and so is Mark Tremonti. He's here. What the hell are you doing here? This is your first Pinberg. Happy to be here. Wouldn't miss it. It's pretty amazing. 140,000 square feet. Does it put your 15 machines at home? Yeah, this is a great place to find out what my next 15 machines are going to be, in fact. That's great that you made it. And as you're watching people play, you just said before you turned on the mic, I wish I was playing. I was a little intimidated because I think everybody here is a world-class player, but I don't care if I lose. I just want to participate. Are you giving him any tips, Fred? I mean, I'm sure he's a great player. Just, well, don't aim like me. Practice your dead bounces and just have fun. That's my tips, man. It's hard not to have fun, too. And when I get a kick out of it, Mark was just saying he's trying to get his buddy into pinball. I lent my buddy, when my Congo came in, I sent it to his house and said, Hold on to it. I don't have room for it right now. So he fell in love with it and then bought an Iron Maiden probably a month later. Yeah, yeah. What a great trick. That's such a cool move. Here, practice this. Get your buddies in. Take some crack. This pinball machine. Now, I asked you before when you were on Pinball Profile, does the family like the pinball machines? Are they into it? My youngest son really loves it. You know, every time I do a mod to the pinball machine, he'll come in and can't wait to see it.
    9:39
    He's getting good. My other son's kind of up and down with it. If I can take him off the soccer field, I can get him playing pinball. And what's next for you? A lot of touring, I assume? I go back on tour in September. I'm heading on a press trip over in Europe next month. But other than that, buying pinball machines. All right. Yeah. Awesome. Great. Mark Tremonti, Fred Cochran, how are things going so far? Everything is great. It's exceeding expectations, and everybody's having a great time. So I'm super happy. All of our hard work is paying off. I can just sit back and watch everybody enjoy it. All right. If you can help me out on my next game, that'd be great. I've got to go. What are you playing? I see no fear. I'm good on that. Oh, I got Raven. What do I do in Raven? If you can just defer and not play it, that'd be a bonus. See, that's the thing here, Mark. When you come to here, you play games you've never seen before. That's the problem. I got a boogie. Talk to you guys. Have fun. Yeah. Look who it is. My favorite Sharp. Roger Sharp on his birthday here at Pinberg. How are you, Roger? Happy birthday. I am good. Thank you. It's always interesting waking up in the morning and being a year older. I don't know how that happens. You look fantastic. All right. I hope when I'm 50 I look like you. Ooh, I love you. Wait, wait, kisses.
    10:46
    Damn, why don't I do video? This audio bullshit. Anyway. 50? Oh, wait. Oh, it's younger than springtime. So I asked you, how are you doing? How are you playing? What did you say? I said I was doing okay other than the last round. Last round kind of beat me up. So I had, what, eight and a four, seven and a five, and a four and a nine. So I'm two over. Okay. Roger, do you look at the players in your bank and say, one, it's my birthday? Did you bring that up? No, some of them actually already know, and then I basically just say, so you guys are just going to roll over and let me win? That's right. Come on. And then secondly, do you say, none of you would be here now. One of you, 1,000 people, if it wasn't for me, like, have a little respect. No, I haven't gone that far, but maybe later I will throw that in. Your son does it. Do you know who my dad is? That's what he does. Does he really? That's what Josh does. I would imagine. It's pathetic. Terrible son. Oh, my God. God, I don't know where he gets that from. Maybe from Ellen. It's not from me. No, I saw Cyclops. I feel like I see your wife whenever I walk by Cyclops. Yeah, only her butt is a little bit too big. Seamus did not do a nice job on that. Wow, all right. I'm just saying. Just saying, because if you look at Sharpshooter, she is much more formed. No, what you're implying is I have to look at your wife's butt, which I'm not going to do. Okay, fine. All right, unless Josh is around, then I'll... There you go. Just look at the little guy on the horse on the right side with the little horned head and glasses and a mustache. My Z-Leg impression. Is there enough artwork that could be questionable that maybe we should just lay low? You know, in all honesty, when Seamus first showed me, and I knew what I wanted. Cyclops actually does exist mythologically and whatever else, and there are two brothers and so on. I wanted to know that. Yeah, and then I started seeing... At least you've got a pair of eyes that way. Right, but I started seeing the chains. I started seeing some positions. And it's just, it's me, Seamus. He said, no, no, no, no, no. See, I thought you put that in. I thought it was me. No no no not me Can we sex this up a little bit Yeah right So it was sexed up Yep Oh did your wife pose like for the photos Like okay do you mind throwing this loincloth on No no no right I just gave it to her I did, like, a little layout, and the big thing was putting in a tinted bulb for the heartbeat. Okay, nice. Because we didn't get a red bulb, and it was like, can we do something and dip it in nail polish or whatever else? Because that's what I want. I think I last saw you in Vegas at the Stern booth. There's quite a nice stern booth here with Jurassic Park. I've noticed some stuff. No, I've not gone over. How is it? Spectacular. That Keith Owen is an up-and-comer. I don't know where he came from. Never heard of him before, but my goodness. He seems to know a little bit about pinball. I guess, yeah. Game rules, layout, geometry, all the rest of it. Yeah, the choreography. Yeah, you know, and that's the thing. Because I've seen the video, so I've watched people playing and everything else, but it is. I mean, it is extraordinary. It's neat because things like the post in front of the upper right flipper If you don't flip, you get punished because it will hit the post And then maybe drain to the left out lane So Keith's saying flip that flipper I put it there? Flip that flipper Good for him Yeah I like it Alright, happy birthday Thank you, thank you Alright, are you going to your secret lunch place? Do you guys always go to Gaucho's? Yeah, I don't know what they're doing I think they're bringing in somewhere or something Let's go find them Alright, Roger, thanks very much The Naomi Shed is here. Naomi, how are you? It's great to see you. I am fantastic, Jeff. How are you? Always smiling. Are you going to do some videos while you're here? I have. I have done a couple videos. Who have I talked to? Just random people here and there, meeting, greeting. It's like a reunion, you know? It is. It's like summer camp, you know? Oh, my God, everyone's there, and it's you, and it's you, and it's the best. I've never graduated from summer camp. I'm ever young. And everyone cries on Sunday. We've got to go home to our real life. Anyway, okay, you had to decide whether you were going to come here or maybe Southern Fried. Is that true? That is for next year. For next year. Yes. Can I give you the answer?
    14:44
    Well, I'll tell you what. If I do get into Pembroke next year, there's no decision. I will be here, and Southern Fried will have to. Somebody needs to change their dates. Well, it's weird because Pembroke's the one that changed the dates. They're the ones that normally are later in July or, in this case, August, but they're earlier next year. So, yeah. Well, and in fact, that means Southern Fried moved, too, because they were in June, weren't they? Yes, we just finished Southern Fried two weeks ago, two weekends ago. My gut feeling is exactly what you just said. And I don't know this to be true. I could see Southern Fried changing the date. What are you thinking unless there's something, you know, already cooking for them? But, yeah, they're the ones that have to move. Well, if they don't, it is going to suffer. and I think that they will need to make a compromise. There are 1,000 players here, and then there are people like yourself that are enjoying it, and I don't know how many thousands are here in that category. Are you going to play in Intergalactic? I am. Good. And? I'm going to win it. No, I'm not going to win it. I'm just kidding. I talk trash. The 2019 winner of the Intergalactic. All right, if anybody can talk trash, it's me. No, no, no, no. No, I am looking forward to playing in that. Now, I don't want to poo-poo my Southern Fried backyard because here's the thing. Oh, it's great. It's just a bad date. That's all. That is the only thing bad about it because I really enjoyed the tournament. It was a seven-strike tournament. I liked that tournament over the herb style because the herb style is too complicated. Look, I'm a simple person. I can keep track of strikes. The card and the herb style just confuses the heck out of me. I just can't keep up. I'm just that. I'm a simple person. I'm right there with you. Dumb it down for me, will you? Thank you. Thank you. And then it's only $20 to play in that tournament at Southern Pride. So that was fun. Hey, look, if they don't move the date, I wish them all the best success. I'll be glad to promote the show. But if there's an opportunity to change it, going up against Pinnberg, and you know what, think about this. California Extreme had that problem last year. They were on the same date as Pinnberg. And how did that work out for them? It suffered. How does it not? Yeah, exactly. And people will go to both. You just have to separate. But it is what it is. We'll see what happens. But anyway, great to see you here. Thank you, sir. Good to see you, too. Like I said, my pin family. Pinball people are the best. They're fun-loving, easygoing, help each other out. And it really is. Pinball for me is always about the people and camaraderie and just community. And I'm telling you, they're just, I don't know if it's just the gaming community, but pinball people especially just seem to be some of the most genuine, warm-hearted, kind folks that I've ever met. Keep spreading the love, keep doing the videos, and follow Naomi Shedd on Facebook. Thanks, Naomi. Thank you, Jeff. The last time I saw this guy, he had a different name. He went by David Ramanson, and you've changed it back to Raymond Davidson. How are you, sir? Hey, Jeff. Yeah, I shaved off the mustache. That was a good one. Yeah, and I went back to Raymond. And continuing to be number one. I mean, it's been just a hell of a, not year, a couple years for you. You can ask Greg Pavarelli. Who do you think is going to make the Final Four? We're recording this on Thursday. I've got yourself, I've got Daniele, Keith, and maybe either Josh or Chris Stevens. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the Final Four. You're playing well after three rounds. Continue. I want to talk to you about Do or Die Pinball Podcast, which I absolutely love because of your perspective. You are the number one player in the world, and to hear what you're thinking and that you actually share that with us. Thank you very much. Yeah, no problem. It's been a lot of fun.
    18:26
    There's been a while where after tournaments I'd be thinking to myself, like, should I have done this, should I have done that? And it's nice to sort of air those grievances to the wild and talk about what I did right, too, to help people out who maybe don't know the best strategies or don't know the right mindset when you're going into a game. It's the mindset. I'm glad you brought that up. the mindset of what you're thinking in a match play format of, okay, don't get a zero or whatever the case may be. I like hearing that aspect, and it's probably helped a lot of players, myself included. Oh, yeah, yeah. You always want to get that low-hanging fruit and just always be focused on your next task. The minute that you're not focused on anything, the ball will decide for you, and that's never a good thing. Welcome to the podcast world. It's so nice to have you because there are a lot of duds out there. I think of Slam Tilt Podcast. One of the, you know, all they just do is swear and oh my. Oh my. Uh-oh, Bruce Nightingale. Hey, how you doing, Jeff? How you doing? Another slam tilt. A totally different. Oh, wow. So how are you doing so far? Not bad. Oh, yeah, because you were in. Oh, Raymond, get over here. We have this MyBookie. People have bet on either myself, Jack Danger, Ron Hallett, which is just throwing money away, or Bruce Nightingale. I am at 16 after two rounds, and I'm on a six right now. going for an 8. Wow, so 24. That's awesome. That's really good. That's good. How you doing, sir? That's an average of 8. That is an amazing score. 24. I hope you get it. I guess he got more because he's a little Canadian here. We're going to watch out. That's 8 division time. I guess 26. Okay, that's not bad. It's all downhill from here. You know what? And here's the thing. You, me, we're popping off right now. There's seven more rounds of us getting punished, right? But I'm going to go listen to Do or Die. I don't blame you. I would too. Bye, guys. All right, thanks, Bruce. Thanks, Raymond. Thank you. You would have heard this guy recently on head-to-head pinball, Mark Hauser from pinballmix.com. Neil McRae had this idea. I'd like to make my Iron Maiden all discoed up. Mark from Montreal did it. A fellow Canuck saving the day to finally make Iron Maiden a great game. Thanks a lot. I mean, Neil was great. He was fun to work with. Well, Maiden's already a great game, but what if you're not a Maiden fan? Well, that's where this comes in in pinball mix, and you did that here. Come on over here. We'll listen to some of the sounds. And so right now, you know all the different songs you can select, and it just kind of gives you a different something to listen to. Well, listen to this.
    20:51
    That's Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. No, it's not. That's Boney M, all right? What if you want to run to the hills?
    20:59
    Donna Summer, I Need Love? Are you kidding me? Power Slave, a little ABBA? What about Fear of the Dark?
    21:10
    Which one's this? This is Billy Osh. Billy Ocean. Skip Fear of the Dark. I don't know what Neil is thinking.
    21:17
    Wasted Years. Sylvester! Are you kidding me? And what about The Trooper? Back to ABBA. Okay, Neil's got an ABBA thing. And two minutes to midnight.
    21:30
    You cannot go wrong with The Brothers Gibb, the Bee Gees. All right, let's go talk, Mark. We'll get away from the game, let people play your disco maiden here. Amazing. My goodness, is that a lot of fun. Did Replay bring it or what? This lounge is awesome. So tell me, the idea to do this, obviously you're a big music buff. I'm a big music buff. Yeah. How did it all start for those who didn't hear Head to Head Pinball? It's a great podcast. Five, six years ago, I started doing this for my own machines. I just kept doing them, multiple mixes for the few machines that I have. And then a few friends started to ask for it, did a few favors. And then a few friends started to suggest that maybe other people would like this. and some people have the time to do it, some people don't, or don't know how, or maybe want to take advantage of the 500, 600 plus hours that I've put into working on making these. Well, you go to pinballmix.com if you want Mark to do some work for you, but it is really something, because I think of Iron Maiden, which is obviously an amazing game, but a lot of people who played it were like, I don't like Iron Maiden music, it's not my thing. Yeah, it works for a pinball machine, but not my thing. Swap it out. That's where you come in. And I think of all the bands. I see you've got a sign here. You've got a queen, Freddie Mercury. Who wouldn't love a queen game? You've got Dio for crying out loud. I'm a huge Zep fan. You could all do that with Mark, couldn't you? Yes, anything's possible. It's just a lot of labor, and you're the guy to do it. Because look at these hands. They're soft. They've never lifted a finger, ever. All right. They slap pinball machines, don't they? Well, that's the one thing. I was playing Iron Maiden, and I was like, I don't want to shoot. I just want to trap up and listen to the songs. I'm going to kill coils with that, but it's so much fun. And again, pinballmix.com will take you to the Facebook page. And anything else you want to plug? I know you're taking orders. Yes, I am. And, I mean, I'm just actually kind of thrilled that you came over here and got a chance to hear it. Help a fellow Canadian out, all right? It's cold in the winter, all right? We have to pay for heating. Help Mark out, pinballmix.com. Can I hug you right now? This is like the second hug. It doesn't work on audio, but somebody will take a picture. We'll get it. All the best, buddy. Thank you, Jeff. Okay, thanks. Thanks. Here at Pittsburgh, so many great players, and none of them here right now, actually. I'm with a bunch of Texans right now from Houston and Austin, Texas. Actually, I just say that jokingly. Wink, wink, wink. All right, we've got Mark. We've got Fred. We've got Bryce. The Grim Reaper, Phil Grimaldi. And also the worst karaoke singer in the history of pinball. Mr. Robert Byers. Alright, Texas, what's going on? Mark, I see some dollar games. I quickly had to get rid of these American dollars. My money has to be colorful, but the problem is I keep winning. You haven't won yet. Look at my score on Flight 2000. Fred is in front of you. Alright, Fred.
    24:21
    Will you take me down? Well, we like to take 75 cents on your dollars. I'm planning on coming to your neck of the woods in Houston in November, all right? So just keep chirping, all right? We'll welcome you, though. All right. Hey, Bryce. Like always, NASA is doing nothing. I am doing bad, and SpaceX wants to do something. They've been hopping around in the South. I don't know what they're doing. That was Texas Ruer. What the hell was that?
    24:48
    Phil Grimaldi is here, a voice we all love. Look at Pinberg did. Look at the system. Remember when they used to have all the different streaming systems, different cameras? What did they do? You see that rig? to Phil Grimaldi, Carl D'Angelo, or we don't want to break our back, let's lug this around instead. Everybody's doing it. It's a revolution in streaming. Did you patent it? I did not. Missed opportunity for Phil Grimaldi. Robert Byers, you must have done well because you're a classics king. So how'd you do on the EMs today? Oh, I tore them up. You know, I mean, you average like 1, 1.2 on 10 EMs. That's a good job. If it was only scoring like golf you would be a wizard the Houston crew in the house about to get their butts kicked on Flight 2000 I love that I playing Phil in Flight 2000 and he goes How do you play this game One, he's from Houston, alright? They should know everything that has to do with flights. And secondly, he used to own the game. Grimaldi, you're losing it, buddy. Well, you know, none of our shit actually works in Houston, so that's my excuse. Don't get me started on orbital mechanics. I could go all day. and oh I ran out of tape it's digital but I ran out of tape go with it Fred, Mark, Bryce, Phil the singer no I'm not going to do it no not going to do it Gangnam Style do it Gangnam Style you're so lucky you're only hearing this and not seeing it alright boys thanks two of the semi-finalists here right now from California a long way home they'd like to be on the stage right now but really threw no fault to their own It was an incredible play for both Carl D'Angelo and Jim Belsito. Carl, it came down to Meteor. You had to win, and either Chris Stevens or Andy Rosa had to lose. And when you left, that's kind of what happened. Yeah, it was. I was up there, and things were looking good. Jim and I had a pact. We had to work together. Otherwise, neither of us were going to get through. So that happened. And then Jim came up. And you had, I don't know, 200,000, let's say. Okay. Around there? Yeah, it was lower. You were ahead. I was in the lead. 160 maybe. And Jim was at the bottom. And Jim only had 29 on meteor. And before ball three, you were saying this is maybe one of the toughest meteors you've ever played? It was really nasty. Hold on a second. This is only for semifinalists, people of playoffs. Somebody's trying to cut in right now. You got anything to say? The best advice ever from Josh Sharp, who's just sitting here listening. He's got nothing to say. Dude, I got so much on you. You're not going to say anything. All right, I'll cut it all out. Anyway, you got to say anything?
    27:18
    He's got nothing. just like the game he had this week. Now you've got to leave it in. Oh, I got it, I got it, I got it.
    27:27
    You're doing well. Hold on a second. Josh Sharp, I made a mistake when I said, sorry, Jim, we'll get back to you in a second. I made a mistake when I said Pinberg winner. I meant intergalactic winner is what I meant to say. You're sitting on second? Well, I fly out tonight, so I'm probably not going to win. Are you dead serious? No. Are you kidding? You need the whopper points so badly. I do. It would be fun going to Florida, running the tournament. All right, Josh, get out of here. I'm talking to champs here. And Jim Belcedo is a champ. Dude, that Meteor game was nuts, all right? So here's Carl, your friend, player three, did what he had to do. You had to come back just to help him and then help yourself. So what was your mindset? What does Jim Belcedo do? How does he do it? Well, my first goal was to help Carl. I wanted to get past that score. Then one of us has got a chance. And then do you think it's all done? And I had this good feeling. It probably helped me because I had this good feeling, oh, Carl's got a chance now. I'll just keep playing and hope we'll see what happens. And it all just turned out to be a great ball. It's funny because before you caught Andy, there were some pretty good shakes. And Carl was like, please don't tilt, please don't tilt, please don't tilt. And then all of a sudden, he took out the word don't. I want you to pass it to me. But, hey, you know what? A fifth place finish last year in the Final Four. I mean, my God. I've been fifth three times now. Really? Yeah. Yeah, fifth, fifth, fifth, third, first. That bozo we just talked to is the king of seconds. Is he the king of fifths? King of fifths. But you have championships. And usually through a tiebreaker. Oh, really? Like two out of the three times with a tiebreaker. Well, congratulations, Jim. I'm so looking forward to Indisc. I know I'll see you before then, but have fun. You and Carl will be talking about that one for a while. Thank you, Jeff. You're awesome. I could tell you a million reasons why I love Pinberg. One is you get to see people you don't normally see, and I think I see you every year at Pinberg. Eric Kripke, who's now with Spooky Pinball. Yes, that's right. Congratulations. All that great work on Cactus Canyon. But obviously, you know, they got some good hands there. And you're already in Wisconsin, so good for you and Spooky. Yeah, it's about an hour and a half away, so I'm not, like, working directly at the facility. But I can go over there a couple times, you know, every other month or so and check in with them. And, like, I picked up the whitewood in person and that kind of thing. That's pretty amazing. Oh, whitewood. Here we go. Scott Deasy's next game. Haunted House Party Yay That's awesome No hey Denise and we love TNA I'm really enjoying Alan's group We're all lucky We have one in our league too So I've been picking Bowen's brain Yeah That's a fun game Yeah that turned out great Especially once the rules Started to really come together At the end there yeah Very very impressive And obviously There are a lot of people That you've given So much pleasure to By picking up their machines With Color DMV Yep Although I'm on hiatus Now with those Because of the Spooky project But, yeah, I got 21 of them done before I stopped. So we're at, I think, 92 or 3, something like that. Eric Freaky from Wisconsin saving hit low one game at a time and now with the next Spooky title. Congratulations, bud. Thanks. Good to see you. Good to see you, too. I'm here with the Alabama State champ. No, it is not Chris Warren. No, not even Timothy Street. Braden Gentry won this year. Hey, how you doing? I'm doing good. How about yourself? I'm all right. I see that you have got a medal around, so that means you did pretty good here at Pinberg. Yeah, I had a decent game on Harlem, but other than that, I got a few breaks, which, I mean, that's what you really need in Pinberg, for real. So what was that bank? Do you remember? Because it was Harlem. What else? Yeah, the first game was Metallica, then Fast Draw, and then Grand Lizard, which we happen to own, which kind of helped. Yeah, stay up, Tom. And then Harlem. That's a pretty good bank. Oh, yeah, I love that bank. Astro is the one that probably was like, okay, we'll see where, don't get a zero. Yeah, for real. I mean, I had three good balls. I ended up rolling it. Very nice. Wow, that's awesome. So what do you think of Jurassic Park? I see you're playing it right now. Pretty impressive. Oh, it's way better, but, like, I don't think the premium is worth it. But that's just a personal opinion. I like seeing the head move. I think it's pretty cool. I mean, it's got a neat toy, the raptor there. But, I mean, I guess the way to look at it is the pro is really stacked. There's a lot in the pro. For sure, for sure. What do you think of the game plan? It's really, really smooth. The shots are really, really flowy. It's easy to, I guess, get control of, unlike some like Iron Man, stuff like that. Very good point. Well, all the best and good luck in Alabama. Thank you. All right, let's talk to the final four. We'll start off with Chris Stevens. Chris, congratulations. Back-to-back final four appearances for this Pittsburgh native. Congratulations. Thanks a lot, Jeff. It wasn't an easy road. It never is, but you seem to make it look so easy. Tell us about your path to get here. Count the wins and then don't stress the losses in all honesty. I prefer not to know how many wins I have and just play my best pinball that I can. That flight 14, Tomcat, you made it very, very interesting too. It was quite a run. That's a good game for you. Yeah, I'm a big fan of that game. I played a lot. That one was playing a little brutal for me, but I found the shots, felt comfortable, but the tilt threw me off and I couldn't recover. There's nothing wrong with a fourth-place finish, $2,500. Chris Stevens, everybody, congratulations. Thanks, everyone. In third place, Andy Rosa from Michigan. Let's hear it for Andrew. Yep, hi.
    32:42
    Andrew, what's impressive is how you got to this tiebreaker by beating the greatest of all time on flash, Gordon. That was an amazing game. Yeah, it's really tight, and just on the last ball, I knew I had to make it happen. and Daniele played really well on Waka and that was that. You are very, very impressive. I know your father's here. He's just as impressed and you've made a lot of people in Michigan and a lot of young players like yourself say, hey, maybe I can do it like Andrew Rosa. Congratulations on third place and $4,000. Thank you. All right, thanks, buddy.
    33:17
    Daniele Achari from Italy. He does not get to come to this event, but when he does, as I said before, he makes it happen. Congratulations. Thank you at all. I would like to thank you, my boss Matteo Di Caprio and my colleague, that today I'm here because I had to work and they gave me the pleasure to give me a day off. Somebody's got to write this guy a note so we can see more of him Second place at IFPA 16 in Italy this year and here at Pinberg It's been a pleasure to watch You've got some people back home watching Say something in Italian to your friends in Rome Ah, grazie ragazzi A tutti voi che mi avete seguito fino adesso Siete pochi, pochi ma buoni Ben fatto amico mio Grazie Daniel Achari Hey, how's your week been?
    34:17
    Usual. Only released a game that everyone's been playing over there in Jurassic Park for Stern Pinball and back-to-back champs for Keith Elwin, the greatest of all time. Congratulations. Thank you. And what I'm most impressed, I'm already used to how great a player you are, but the fact that you did it wearing a San Diego Padres hat, the Padres are now champs. I'm really impressed that you did that. Hey, next year's our year. Next year. All right. Well, that was great. That pro football game, I thought, wow, I saw you walk off. You had to go first at 94,000. You walked off, and then you came back and heard that Daniele topped it. That game's tough. Yeah, that game is actually a lot of fun. Not much to do, but it's like, hey, do the thing. If you can do the thing, you can blow it up. And, yeah, I thought no way he was coming back. And then the typical Daniele, keep doing it, doing it. Whatever it is he needs to do, he'll do it. He'll amaze you by his perseverance and concentration. It's amazing. Total respect from the greatest here. And how about those scoop catches on Metallica?
    35:22
    Yeah, without practice, I wasn't even going to try. This is impressive. You know, four just isn't enough. Five is a set, really. I mean, it really completes the whole look, doesn't it? Well, now people will stop bothering me having one back-to-back. Back-to-back champs. Keith Elwin, everybody. Go check out Jurassic Park. The greatest of all time, Keith Elwin. New Year 2019. Pinberg, presented by eBay Champion. Congratulations. Thank you, sir. I don't know if it's humanly possible to have a better week than this man just did. Keith Elwin, back-to-back champs at Pinberg. Congratulations on that. Well, thank you, Mr. Tealess. Well, I say that because the Monday was a good week. Whatever happened there, Pinberg was just the bonus. You released Jurassic Park, and my God, that place was packed. There were seven games. You've got another winner there. I'm so impressed. Well, thank you. Thank you. It's been a fun year. I like showing what I can do when I didn't have six years to work on it or what everyone's saying. Is that the joke because the old Archer was Iron Maiden and stuff? I'm just quickly amazed. Yeah, it literally was a joke because it was like a weekend project. So it's not like I worked on it 24-7. But I can't believe the turnaround. Like, I remember when I found out that you were coming up with a game this year, I'm like, you just had one last year. Yep. You've set a crazy pace now. Yeah, I'm on the John Borg pace. Oh, God. No kidding. So for those who get to play it, and there'll be a lot because as Stern does, I mean, they're going to be out in locations very, very soon. For me, first time playing it, I'm just shooting the shots. And I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just trying to find all the shots and loving that side shot. Is that your favorite too? I think the smart missile shot's my favorite, but I do like the side shot. Is the smart missile the one in the pops? Yes. Yeah, that is pretty cool too. So, I mean, I know nothing about the game, about code. but I saw a bit of the stream with Jack Danger. But it's pretty easy, and the display is fantastic. I think that's really, really cool, what you've done there. Yeah, our team really knocked it out of the park on this one. That's like three in a row, well, even more so than that. But that has just really brought the games to a whole new level. Yeah, when I made the choice to use these animations rather than generic footage, they showed me, hey, we can use this, and they gave me a sample. I was like, yeah, that's great. Let's move forward with this. And like I said, they did a great job. I can't believe how much is on the Pro. I mean, I love the premium that you've got there, but the Pro is pretty stacked. Pro has a lot of shots. Yeah, really. Are you a fan of Cactus Canyon? Because I think of the kind of the quick draw shots. Yeah, yeah. Actually, I do like that aspect of the game. So it's nice to see that come back. I mean, you have so much history with pinball knowledge. I mean, you've got probably other favorite shots too. The Vuck there. I mean, I don't even know what you call that on the right. The S shot. What do you call the S shot? What's the proper term? The half pipe. A half pipe. So I think of, what was the game I was playing? Atlantis, Valley Atlantis on the left side, right? Kind of a similar shot Would that be a comparison Yeah yeah I always been a big fan of the half pipe and so I wanted to have that And then when I was thinking of something for the side flipper to shoot at I think it would be cool to have one on the side too because I don think that ever been done So I was trying something, and we prototyped it. Everyone liked it, so we kept it. And great flow, too. I love that right ramp where that sends it off, too. Okay, so that's Monday. That's Monday. And then you get to the weekend, and oh, ho-hum, you kick butt. I know you were like 23-1 starting, and I'm like, okay, getting the playoffs, that's a piece of cake for you. You just eat through that. But the reason I say it's not exactly easy as you make it look, that first round you played came down to the last game, Solar Ride. Solar Ride, yes, and it's all about the plunge. Actually, I missed my initial plunge, but I managed to nudge it in where it needed to go, so I got lucky there.
    39:03
    Are you being serious when you say you got lucky? Yeah, no, I missed the initial plunge. and I skillfully nudged it to where it needed to go rather than plunged it where it needed to go. The two, pop, up to the three, then the four, and on to the rest. And I had two 12-0 sessions, which of all the previous Pimbers combined, I think I had one total. That is crazy. As I look at all these banners, I believe in every one of these, you've been in the final four except for two, correct? One or two, correct, yeah. And probably semis at that, too. I think Belsito was the one. Yeah, I think I got knocked out on Robocop on your first round. But, yeah, I think every other time. I don't know how you do it. I mean, I don't even know if you're human, to be quite honest, Keith. It's just crazy to watch you play. And I was watching because I was on the stage, and I was watching your hand on, I think it was Solar Ride. And, you know, normally you've got the legs kind of crossed when you're casual and stuff, and you're just hitting your shots. I saw you a little more, I don't know if it was focused, but were you nervous because your hand was kind of shaking a little bit when it came down that first round, when really the last game mattered? I don't think I was nervous, but I don't know. Well, I'm just saying you brought it up to another level. I just saw this intensity. There were no missed shots. I mean, that's such a fast, wide-open game that you have to be on your toes. So, yeah, maybe I was a little more on edge than I usually am, but I don't think I was nervous. Are you going to be okay this week? Because it's going to be a massive letdown. I mean, a game, a championship. Are you going to be okay? Yeah, got to go back to the pinball minds and hammer away. Keith, congrats, man. It was always fun. Thank you. I just watched an epic finals in the Whipped. 128 women came down to 16, then four, which is tough to do because in that 16 to four, that means the winner of that group had to go on. But when it was all said and done, it was Holly Koskinen from Columbus, Ohio, who joins me right now. Congratulations. Thank you, sir, very much. That is an unreal win. Let's go through those games. Spanish Eyes, you did really well. And then all of a sudden, Rachel came out of nowhere with one of the greatest saves ever. Yeah, that save was pretty intense. I was like, I don't know how I would have gotten out of that situation, but she did a fantastic job at getting that ball unstuck and getting it to the bumper and getting it back up into the playing field. So, yeah, that was very impressive. So that just goes to show the high-quality caliber of people you're competing against. You know, the great thing about this being on Papa Pinball is if anybody wants to see how to play Spanish Eyes, watch Holly, the winner, and watch Rachel because that was a clinic. I had that in one of my leagues, and I saw some of the things you women were doing, and I was like, that's what I need to do because that's how you play the game. Yeah, I mean, I'd never played that game before, so it was more or less just try to take the first ball or two just to understand the game, try to get a feel for it, and then just try to see how well I could keep the ball up. That was my only strategy, honestly. And then it came to Solar Ride where you did very, very well. I mean, that's really important to plunge well in that game, isn't it? Seems to be, yeah. It was the first time I played that, too. Wow! Yeah, it was very nerve-wracking just because I'm looking up pin tips as I'm up there just to try to make sure that I have a halfway decent idea as to what I should be doing. Holly, my eyes are wide open right now because you're saying it was nerve-wracking. You look like you were so calm and cool and collected up there. Sometimes you see people shake and the breath or the pulse starts going. You look like, oh, I've been here before. I was an athlete for 20 years, so I was a competitive artistic roller skater, so kind of like what they do on ice skates, but with the lifts and all that stuff, I did the same thing on roller skates for 20 years. So did you go in that mindset? Yes. oh yeah that's why i say stay focused don't assume that you've got anything in the bag because these women are very talented so it's like you just can't assume and you just have to stay focused holly if you i didn't see a bad ball but if you have a bad ball you probably put it out even if you have maybe a great ball you're like okay now on to the next ball is that the focus pretty much i mean you know it was like i already knew then i'd made top four i already knew i was going to get some kind of cash so that was cool right so it's like just try to do what you can do don't put too much pressure on yourself and just see what you can come up with and then it It came down to F14 Tomcat, a fast game as well. But you got to plunge off, which is the greatest feeling ever, isn't it? Yeah, that game I've actually played only probably once or twice before. Oh, my goodness. This is nuts. Yeah. So I at least knew the play field and kind of had an idea as far as what I was supposed to do. But when on the last ball or second to last ball, I thought I had locked two balls for a multi-ball, and I guess I didn't. So I was expecting other balls to come out, and they did not. But, you know, that's okay. I don't even know what kind of strategy you would take if you're ever playing Holly in Columbus, Ohio, how to play Holly, because if it's a game she's never played before, she's going to dominate and win like she just did at Whip. So congratulations. Thank you so much. I'm really proud of you. $2,000, that's all right. Yeah, I'll take that. My bank account can take that for sure. Well earned, and I'm sure you'll be back here again next year. That is definitely the plan. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Congratulations also to Ryan Wanger of Comet Pinball, who won the Intergalactic Championship. I might have been at the Pirates game when he won it, so I didn't get a chance to talk to Ryan, but I will in the future. Ryan was victorious over Phil Grimaldi. You'll hear more on Ryan and Comet Pinball at the end of this podcast as I have some big news and part of the reason why August has been so busy. Another big tournament, massive event, was the Brisbane Masters that happened just after Pinberg. In fact, part of it, I guess, would have been during Pinberg. So many different events. I think there were 10 in all. When it was all said and done, Colin Urban was victorious in several of the events and propelled his IFPA ranking to number eight. I know he and Escher Lefkoff had a great time there in Australia. Who wouldn't? And it makes you wonder when you see something like the pre-Olympics in Germany, the Brisbane Masters. Is this the new way of pinball tournaments? Several days, lots of opportunities. Will we see more of this pinball go, go, go, go in 2020? I'm all for it. just might need to win the lottery and maybe get a few notes from being away from work so much. So after Brisbane Masters, there was a tournament I didn't have to travel too far to go to. It was in Toronto for the CNEPC. Here are some highlights from that. You know, the CNEPC is not possible in year three without Michael Strathmore, who joins us right now. I'm on the back of a golf cart right now. This is fun. And just to prove it, we're going to honk our little fun golf cart horn right here for you.
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    Either I'm Bozo the Clown or I'm actually in a golf cart. Okay, we're getting ready to walk into the incredible CNEPC. You've seen a lot of it on Pinball Profile. You've seen the video. And are there more games this year? It looks like it. Yeah, I think we're up to about 75. One or two are giving us a bit of a hassle, but yeah, about 75 games. And it's been great. You know, the turnout's been fantastic. The trajectory's been really, really rewarding for me since we started this. Of course, as you know, this is our third year doing it. and it bodes well for the future as more and more people learn about this tournament. Well, we're seeing a lot of people that are playing pinball for the first time. I'm seeing a lot of kids, especially in the free play area, not even knowing where the flippers are, and I walk out there to show them and just the excitement of seeing these games, these titles that they like. And you talked about some of the games not working. We've got great techs on hand with Kim and Adam. I've seen very, very little downtime, so it's very impressive. I agree. Absolutely, I agree. And $10,000 prize pool that you basically went to the C&E board and said, hey, this is a big event, and you're seeing the people turn out, and thank you for doing that. Was it a tough fight? What can we do to make this happen again? No, it wasn't a tough fight at all. Everybody at the C&E is on board with growing this program, and that's something that I think is important for everybody to remember. And so what I would say is just help us get the word out to all the players out there. The CNEPC, it is Canada's largest tournament. We have the main, we have the women's, we have three different classics, and a ton of free play thanks to Press Start Arcade with Adam Becker, thanks definitely to Player One Amusement Group, the Durham Pinball League, and Eddie D'Orazio, so we're getting a lot of help. And Michael, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. We're here at the CNEPC right now, and we're talking to a couple of players from not only Bluffs Pinball, but Blufferellas as well, too. Laura Edward and Jill King. Laura, how are you doing? Doing well, Jeff. It's a good time here at the C&E. It's fun. It's kind of crunch time, too, because you're playing in the women's, you're playing in the main, and then there are three different classics tournaments. It's stressful, isn't it? A little bit stressful. You have to balance your entries across the different tournaments. There's definitely a strategic element into trying to play. Do you try to better your scores on the machines that you know and the machines that you think you can do better at, or do you play on something that's a little less common and hope that you can knock your socks off there and be your opponent. So there's a lot of thinking into what you do and how you play. I was told there'd be no thinking. Oh, there's always thinking, Jeff. There's always thinking. Laura, you're a great player, and we enjoy seeing you at Bluffs and also Blufferellas. Jill, you're here, and you're also selling some great products, too, that I'm going to be purchasing. Why don't you talk about those? Glitchartwork.com, 3D shadow boxes and retro video games. It's very, very cool. You've got Galaga, you've got Mispacker, and you've got all kinds of great games as well, too. and I'll take some pictures because I'm really quite impressed. Cool, thank you. How are you playing? Horribly. But you're smiling and that's the main thing. You're having fun. I always have fun. It's a great venue. People should really check out the CNEPC, don't you think? Absolutely they should, absolutely. Why are you not here right now? Jill, Laura, thanks very much. Thanks, Jeff. I'm so glad to see you two actually playing because you volunteer so much but you're getting to enjoy the CNEPC. I'm talking to Virginia and Petey Hendricks from Pittsburgh. How are you, Virginia? Doing good, Jeff. Pinberged out, I bet. I mean, that's got to take a lot out of you, probably even the week after, just to relax. My feet still hurt. Walking around the CNE is difficult, we should say. Well, you do a lot of walking just inside the David L. Lawrence Center, too. Exactly. But you're having a good time here in Toronto? Oh, yeah, it's a fantastic time. And the tournament's great, too. Yeah, you get to play in all kinds of different... How are you doing? Right now I'm sitting in eighth on the line for the women's division, so we'll see. Go get them, Virginia. Thanks very much. And Petey Hendricks, look at you. Not only are you a great volunteer, but you're a huge winner today, and you didn't even have to flip anything. Yeah, they had a nice giveaway here for a Guardians of the Galaxy play field, and my ticket got drawn, and that's really cool. I can't wait to hang this on my wall. It is gorgeous. Yeah, very, very nice play field art, and congratulations on that. But you're doing okay. I've seen you. You just, I think, missed just by one yesterday. Is that what it was? Yeah, I ended up a little bit lower in Classics, but I'm doing all right in Maine. But when you see all the great Canadian names like Tadman and Becker and Birnbaum up around you, you know you're going to have some stiff competition.
    49:41
    Oh, wait, and that guy who's in first place right now? Yeah, I didn't hear you say Teolis for somehow. You must have slipped your tongue, I guess.
    49:48
    Hopefully tomorrow we'll get to meet up in the finals. Now, I heard some good news about the Pittsburgh Pinball Open, which is part of the Stern Pro Circuit. Do you want to tell us about that? Yeah, the Pittsburgh Pinball Open is going to be held the first weekend of October, and it's going to be held at the Pittsburgh Pinball Dojo. The details will be out soon, I'm sure, if they're not already. I just found out about it myself up here.
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    Well, I'm excited for that. That's one of the last remaining ones of the Stern Pro Circuit for people trying to get into. and the Pinball Dojo, a cool place. I know you're familiar with it, Petey. Yeah, a lot of great games up there. John and Jake and everyone in charge is on a great job of spreading out the games and making a nice roomy place to play pinball. And I'm going to get yelled at if I say, and Virginia. Hey, thanks very much for coming. I hope you have a good time here in Toronto. Thanks, Jeff. Thank you, Jeff. Well, as Virginia said, she wound up being eighth qualifying for the women's tournament and then won it all. So congratulations to Virginia Hendricks for the women's championship. Derek Thompson of Edmonton, who runs Yagpin, he won the overall championship. He, myself, Adam Becker, and Barry Bedard were in the final four. And the funny thing about Derek and myself, we had to run back and forth in between.