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Episode 392: Dalton Ely

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·22m 55s·analyzed·Feb 23, 2024
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Interview with rising pro player Dalton Ely on competitive pinball, mentorship, and Rush strategy.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Dalton Ely, a four-time Georgia state pinball champion preparing for the North American Championship Series and his first IFPA World Championship. The discussion covers Ely's rapid rise from casual player to professional tournament competitor, his mentorship from late player Scott Kuthais, his streaming presence on Twitch, and his artistic talents in creating pinball-themed cartoons and on-stream telestrator art. Ely shares strategy insights on Rush pinball and discusses the financial and logistical realities of competitive pinball.

Key Claims

  • Dalton Ely has won two tournament-prize pinball machines: Rush (at InDis high-stakes event) and Iron Maiden (at Pin Masters)

    high confidence · Direct statement by Ely and Teolis confirmation of machines won at named tournaments

  • Dalton reports his pinball tournament winnings on his taxes as income and deducts tournament entry fees, travel, and equipment expenses

    high confidence · Direct statement by Ely: 'I do well enough winning pinball tournaments that I've actually put it on my taxes'

  • Scott Kuthais, a top Georgia player, mentored Dalton and was instrumental in his competitive development before recently passing away

    high confidence · Ely's tribute discussion; specific championship matchup scores cited (2019 Medieval Madness 68-56M, 2024 Ghostbusters 1.593B vs 1.583B)

  • Dalton Ely is ranked near the top in both IFPA overall and pro rankings; last year he was in single-digit rankings

    high confidence · Direct statement by Ely about past single-digit ranking; Teolis references his current high ranking

  • Dalton began competitive pinball in February 2018 at Portal Arcade after hearing about it in late 2017; this marked his first IFPA-sanctioned tournament

    high confidence · Ely states: 'I heard about the place... And I played in my very first IFPA-sanctioned tournament In February of 2018'

  • The Pinball Profile Played in America tour sold out immediately (within one day) and exceeded capacity

    high confidence · Teolis states: 'sold out immediately, like probably in one day. We were packed even over capacity'

  • On Rush pinball, hitting all six colored records creates a 3X shot multiplier for all mode shots in that mode; stacking with Time Machine multiball provides rapid point accumulation

    high confidence · Detailed rules explanation provided by Ely as strategy advice

  • Dalton has experimented with 4,000% mode boost on La Via Strangiato with glass off, resulting in approximately 15 billion points

Notable Quotes

  • “Put faith into your skill. You know what to do. Just do it.”

    Stephen Ely (Dalton's father, as quoted by Dalton) @ ~27:00 — Core philosophical motto that guides Dalton's competitive approach and mental game

  • “If it weren't for him [Scott Kuthais], you probably would never have heard of me. You probably wouldn't know who Dalton Ealy is.”

    Dalton Ely @ ~14:30 — Tribute to deceased mentor; acknowledges Scott's critical role in Dalton's development

  • “I always enjoy watching tournament pinball whenever it's streamed. I love connecting with the Twitch chat members and I love answering questions that people always ask me in chat about what to do.”

    Dalton Ely @ ~19:30 — Explains motivation for streaming and community engagement; educational focus

  • “You're the Bob Ross of pinball.”

    Jeff Teolis @ ~51:15 — Compliment on Dalton's telestrator art and creative contributions to stream culture

  • “I'm one of them guys that just learns by doing. I love just playing the games and figuring stuff out. I hardly ever do glass-off testing unless if I'm just goofing around.”

    Dalton Ely @ ~58:00 — Reveals learning philosophy: experiential over methodical approach to game mastery

  • “Once you get them all locked in, they become pulsing records. If they're pulsing, that's what current mode is lit at the time machine. but if you keep hitting the records, you will increase your mode boost percent.”

    Dalton Ely @ ~59:30 — Technical Rush strategy explanation for listeners seeking to improve gameplay

Entities

Dalton ElypersonJeff TeolispersonScott KuthaispersonStephen ElypersonBrian BroylespersonPin MonkpersonPortal ArcadeorganizationIndiscevent

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Competitive pinball is increasingly expensive (travel, entry fees, equipment); not all players can absorb costs; creates financial barrier to tournament participation despite prize opportunities

    medium · Teolis: 'it's kind of an expensive hobby. It's expensive to buy new machines. It's expensive to travel and to go to these events... there's not much return other than the fun, the experience.'

  • ?

    community_signal: Dalton actively contributes to Twitch streaming culture through polls, telestrator art, on-stream commentary, and chat interaction; recognized as a status indicator for streamer credibility ('if Dalton is watching in your chat, you've made it')

    high · Teolis: 'someone said, if Dalton is watching in your chat, you've made it as a pinball streamer.' Dalton: 'I always enjoy watching tournament pinball whenever it's streamed. I love connecting with the Twitch chat members.'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Rush pinball meta involves color-matching all six records for 3X multiplier, stacking with Time Machine multiball, and building mode boost percentage to 200-400%+ for massive point generation

    high · Dalton's detailed strategy breakdown: 'try to make all of your records, try to make them all the same color' for '3X shot multiplier.' Records can reach 4,000% boost with perfect combos yielding 15 billion+ points.

  • ?

    event_signal: Pinball Profile Played in America tour was a major sold-out event that exceeded capacity; Scott Kuthais participated in opening round with Dalton before his death

    high · Teolis: 'that thing sold out immediately, like probably in one day. We were packed even over capacity.' Participated in Taxi game opening round.

  • $

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.069

0:00
it's time for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teels you can find everything on pinballprofile.com we're on twitter x instagram at pinball profile great facebook group as well you can email pinball profile at gmail.com and if you'd like to show your support on patreon that would be wonderful not necessary the show will always be free but it certainly helps keep the show going, so thank you to great Patreon supporters like Rodney C, GME Law, Jerry S, Fox Cities Pinball, and more. Going to Georgia right now, where pretty much the state is run by this man when it comes to pinball because he is the four-time state champ getting ready for the North American Championship Series. Great chance of winning it, too, at District 82. You know him, Dalton Ely. How you doing, Dalton? Hey, Jeff. How's it going? Hello everybody out there. Good to talk to you. Last saw you at Indisc, your first every time at InDesk, I'd say pretty successful. You ended the tournament by winning the high-stakes event, $15,000. Yes. That felt good, didn't it? It really did. I was proud enough to just finish in quarterfinals of the Open World Championship, much less win the high stakes. It was nice to see you and how emotional you and your dad, Stephen, were winning that big event. A nice thank you to Pin Monk who helped you get there. Yes, absolutely. I'll tell you, Dalton, I've seen you play a lot over the last few years. And you can watch Dalton, by the way, pretty much every Thursday live at Portal. We'll get onto that with his great Twitch stream. But I think of where you've been for the first time. And that was your first time at InDisc. You win high stakes. You went to Wizards World in Indiana in 2022. Did pretty good there. Won a Rush pinball machine. First time you ever went to District 82 was Pin Masters. You win that. You win another machine in Iron Maiden. What I'm hearing here is, one, you're a great player, Dalton, but you should really try to find places you've never been before.
2:04
Yes, absolutely. I just owe it a lot to my skill, and I'm always wanting to go to new places. I love going, you know, different places to play, and I just love playing in tournaments, what can I say? You do love it, and again, winning a couple of machines, not too many people can say they've ever won one machine, But to win two machines, pretty exciting. And I know, I remember when you got the Iron Maiden one after Pin Masters, and you had some choices, but Iron Maiden, a classic. I know you're a big Keith Elwin fan. Oh, of course. Iron Maiden was actually the newest pinball machine released when I first started playing competitively, and me and Dad were the biggest Iron Maiden fans around. And if you told me five years ago that I'd win my own Iron Maiden machine, I would not have believed you. Well, what was the turning point for you? because you're one of the best in the world right now. And for me to hear you say that maybe lack of self-confidence, I'm shocked because every time I look at you, you're always in the top of the leaderboard. Well, I would like to just keep my head right and stay in humble whenever I can, you know, let the skills speak for themselves, you know. I know there was somebody near and dear to you and many people in Georgia, and I saw your lovely post in tribute to the late Scott Kuthais. What did Scott mean to you? Scott was definitely one of my favorite guys to play against in the state of Georgia. He was one of the guys, when I started playing competitively, he took me under his wing and showed me what to do on different games, learn some skills, learn about out-of-state tournaments around the country and Papa. And I really was fortunate enough to learn stuff from him. And people around Georgia still talk about some of our legendary matchups. First state championship in 2019, me and him played seven games, best of seven. We played Medieval Madness. It was a score of 68 to 56 million, I want to say. And just this state championship this year, our finals, we played Ghostbusters. The winning score was 1.593 billion. and the loser score was 1.583 billion. Wow. And you can tell that he really is a strong competitor, definitely one of George's best, and he is dearly missed. I really do miss him, and he really helped. If it weren't for him, you probably would never have heard of me. You probably wouldn't know who Dalton Ealy is, you know. But that's all I can say because he really was a mentor, I would say, Well, definitely nice words for Scott indeed, and obviously meant so much to you. I was lucky enough to see him at Portal Arcade. He came to the very last ever Pinball Profile Played in America tour. You couldn't even get in that thing. That thing sold out immediately, like probably in one day. We were packed even over capacity. And my very first round, I got to play Scott, and Emoto was in that round too. And I remember it was a game of taxi, and maybe as close as the two of you just described there. but great player indeed. Yeah, he really was. So we see you at Portal quite a bit on Thursdays. You're on Twitch, Dalton Pinball, and a nice variety of games. You get to learn a little bit. You're very big onto the chat, whether it's your own streams or other streams too. Twitch means a lot to you. Oh, yeah. I always enjoy watching tournament pinball whenever it's streamed. I love connecting with the Twitch chat members and I love answering questions that people always ask me in chat about what to do One of my main focuses when I playing on stream I want people to know what exactly I doing so they have a nice understanding of the game. It's good, too, and even when you're not playing on stream, I noticed this past weekend I was watching the big event at District 82, and there you are posting polls and things, so you've kind of got the almost endorsement of a lot of other Twitch streamers, like, okay, we've got Dalton as maybe a moderator to put those polls up. You certainly have fun. Oh, yeah, I always enjoy it, and the chat loves it, too. I remember watching one stream. Someone said, if Dalton is watching in your chat, you've made it as a pinball streamer.

high confidence · Ely's personal experience: 'I got a 4,000% La Via Strangiato with a 12-way perfect combo, and I scored like 15 billion'

District 82
organization
Pin Mastersevent
IFPA World Championshipevent
Wizards Worldevent
Yegpinevent
Chicago Expoevent
Emotoperson
Escherperson
Jason Zollerperson
Kaylee Georgeperson
Colin McAlpineperson
Jim Belsitoperson
Pinball Profile Played in America tourevent
Rush pinball machineproduct
Iron Maiden pinball machineproduct

market_signal: Prize pool distribution at major tournaments: Indisc high-stakes event paid $15,000 to Dalton; machines (Rush, Iron Maiden) awarded at other tournaments; suggests significant investment in competitive pinball infrastructure

high · Dalton won $15,000 at Indisc high-stakes, Rush machine at Wizards World 2022, Iron Maiden at Pin Masters; Teolis notes 'winning a couple of machines, not too many people can say they've ever won one machine'

  • ?

    community_signal: Dalton Ely uses experiential learning (playing by doing) rather than glass-off testing to master pinball games; relies on watching tournament streams to understand playfield behavior before competing

    high · Direct statement: 'I'm one of them guys that just learns by doing. I love just playing the games and figuring stuff out. I hardly ever do glass-off testing.' Also watches streams to 'get a feel' of games before competing.

    • 6:24
    That's nice. So let's talk about Portal, where you spend a lot of your Thursdays. Brian Broyles has that wonderful arcade, and I know he's meant a lot to you as well. Oh, of course. Like I said, mentioned Scott before Brian was one of the guys that helped me get into You know, getting my feet wet in the tournament pinball scene About late 2017, I heard about the place And I played in my very first IFPA-sanctioned tournament In February of 2018 Matter of fact, it'd be about six years to the day That I've played my first tournament And, you know, flash forward to 2024 And look at me now I mean, what could you say? That is quite the rise. And we said later this summer in June, you're going to be at Jim Belsito's place in Southern California for IFP19. That is the world championship. Only the top 80 players in the world get to go to that. And they take the top two from every country. And there's quite a few countries that show up for that. And then kind of the rest of the top seed. So that's got to be something that's exciting for you to finally crack your first world championship. Seems like you should have been there for a while. Absolutely. This is my very first time going to IFPA 19, or IFPA World Championship, and I'm very excited. I wish that I was able to go to these out-of-country tournaments more often, but I'm just excited. And the Open this past year was my very first World Championship setting, and hopefully this is a stepping stone to hopefully winning one. Well, what you mentioned is something that a lot of us realize is it's kind of an expensive hobby. It's expensive to buy new machines. It's expensive to travel and to go to these events. And a lot of times, you know, you go and there's not much return other than the fun, the experience, the high level of play. But as far as a monetary thing, I mean, not everyone can go to Indisc like yourself and win $15,000. So there's that risk-reward and kind of, okay, you really got to get your finances in order. It's not easy. Well, you know, I mean, I haven't quit my day job, but I will say that I do well enough winning pinball tournaments that I've actually put it on my taxes. Oh, wow. I'll just say that.
    8:49
    Now, when you do that, IRS is not listening. Don't worry. I'm out of Canada here. Do you put losses, too, or in expenses? You must have to do all that. Oh, yeah. Just list what your prize was. List your entry fee. Sometimes you got to list how much you paid in coin drop if you want to get down that precise. Yeah. List your trips, expenses, you know, like hotel, flight, rental car, you know, et cetera. And I've been fortunate enough with my skills. I've been paying taxes by winning pinball tournaments. Yep, that makes sense. I mean, I think poker players do that too. Oh, of course. So it's funny that this year the IFPA switched some of their rankings. They have the overall rankings, which you're right near the top, and they have pro rankings. Again, you're also right near the top there. But, I mean, when you're doing stuff like you, and there are probably others as well. I can imagine, I don't know, but I would assume somebody like Escher would probably do something like that with all his winnings. you really are a pro. Yes. I remember last year I was in the single digits as one of the top rated players. And around here in Georgia, there's really, we don't have a District 82. We don't have any big whopper weekends around in the southeast area. And people around here have been saying for the longest time, you need to travel to some of these big tournaments around the country. Who knows what will happen? and I've just been traveling lately and look at me now. And I got to say something. I see a lot of times with your dad, Stephen. Stephen's a great player too. Like I can imagine, you know, you talked about learning from Scott and some of the people at Portal, but is your dad learning from you or are you learning from him or maybe it's changed now? Well, dad, you know, I always talk about Scott and Brian, them guys helping me in the pinball world, but really that guy right there, My dad, I owe a lot to because he's like my corner man. I always like to call him a corner man. He's there for me. He's usually there at every tournament that I'm playing in. He helped me. He played with me a lot when I started out. I always beat him whenever we faced each other.
    11:01
    But he will tell you that, you know, he's nowhere near as good as me. but I could thank him for being there because he really does help me out you know like I said he's a corner man so to speak like boxing like he'll tell me okay so you got this to do now just do this you got this go get them put faith into your skill is one of the things dad always says and it a great little motto if you will Put faith into your skill You know what to do Just do it And I really do appreciate him I can see that, and so can the other players. I remember one time at Expo. It wasn't the last year. It was the year before. I think you guys were doing a demo wrestling match. It was the funniest thing I ever saw. I just thought, this is great. And I even went to your dad. I said, you know, as a father, I really love seeing the bond between the two of you, and I know you've got that with your mom too, and good family values. And when you talk about your dad being there at pinball events, that's great to have that support system too. I'm sure Escher would say the same thing about his father, Adam Lefkoff. Of course. You see it with Jason Zoller and his dad Steve there to be there for him. So good on both of you for that, helping each other and getting this great enjoyment too. So I want to talk to you about, I think, one of your best skills, and it is somewhat pinball related. Holy cow, Dalton, I love your cartoons. They're really, really good. Well, thank you. I really appreciate it. I just, whenever I feel like it, I just have these ideas, you know, strikes of creative genius. I always like to doodle. They're usually based on true stories. There's one where it's making fun of that one game that everybody picks in a tournament. Godzilla. Yes. and I always draw cameo appearances of other players. Like that one comic I drew Jason Zahler, one comic I drew Kaylee George, one comic I drew Colin McAlpine about short plunging on Jackbot in a nutshell.
    13:06
    And I just draw these little comics whenever I feel like it, and it really makes my heart happy to know that a lot of people enjoy seeing these things. Well, what's good about it? But, I mean, if you look at the face, it's okay. It's pretty basic and stuff. It's the detail around everything else that is really good. The pinball machine, I've seen you at tournaments do a version of, I don't even know what you want to call it, like pinball Pictionary, where you would draw a play field, and then you maybe add a ramp, or you add a scoop, or you add a bank of drops. And I thought, this guy knows his stuff, and he's really good at the art. Like, he can figure it out. That's a fun skill. I love that game you play. Oh, yes. I've been guilty on Fox City's pinballs. I've been getting Telestrator happy, and I do this, you know, if there's downtime, if there's an intermission time, breaking the action. I just want to keep chat involved, you know. If there's nothing interesting going on, at least make something interesting going on, you know. And just it's a lot of fun. I enjoy doing it, and, of course, the chat loves it too. It fills the gaps, and it's something different. It's unique. I thoroughly enjoy it. I had my one Dalton experience. It was last year, and it was at Yegpin in Edmonton, which is coming up this June. And it's a wonderful Stern Pro Circuit event, sold out, big match play event. But I was doing the stream, and the player cam died. So I thought, well, I've got a telestrator. I'll draw pictures of the faces of the players.
    14:39
    And they weren't as good as yours, but I had fun doing it, and the chat seemed to like it too. So I kind of get where you're coming from with that. Yeah, I did that exact same thing. I believe it was 2021 Chicago Expo. It was like right after IFPA got reinstated after COVID. I believe the rig died on Jurassic Park. I drew the playfield layout of Jurassic Park. I tried to draw Neil Graff on the player cam. I tried to draw the score cam, and everything was blacked out, but people loved it. And there's actually multiple instances during that stream. I draw Stranger Things' play field. I draw Godzilla's play field. It's just the people loved it, and it really made me feel good that they loved it. You're the Bob Ross of pinball.
    15:27
    I've never heard that one before. Well, it's fun for sure. You've got a big event coming up, the North American Championship Series. You're going back to District 82. You've been there once. You've been there twice, actually. You won pinmasters the first time, and then you went back for the Super Series, He's won a few events there. I think came third overall. So when you go to District 82, I know you like watching streams and you're there in the polls, but are you also kind of getting some information? Okay, let's see where the plunge is on strikes and spares, or let's find out how to maybe plunge properly on volley, or what's the scoop like on Godzilla, or whatever the case may be. Are you getting some of that information as well? Oh, of course. You know, watching how things roll, watching how the ball rolls, watching how certain shots are made, it's all relaying information. I mean, obviously it could be different when you're there physically, but it helps to get an idea when you're watching someone else do it. It's weird when you go into an arcade you've never been before or a tournament and it's the first time you're playing a game and there's no warm-ups, you're right into it, whether it's match play, whatever the case may be. But when you watch these streams, and there are many thanks to Fox City's Pinball, you really get a feel of, okay, even though I haven't physically played this game, I kind of have a feeling of how it's going to go and where the shots are seeing so many others do it. So it kind of helps, doesn't it? Yes, of course. You know, especially on games you've never had a chance to play before, like new releases. If there's gameplay of new releases in tournaments, it helps to get an understanding. I mean, you can transpose your pinball skills across any machine you play, regardless if you've ever played it or not. and you can utilize like recovery getting the ball under control on a game you never played before but you just learning the rules knowledge as you go Well you used to stream this a lot more and I sure you do it once again but can I just tell you, I look forward to when you stream your Rush Pinball Machine. And the reason I love watching it is because I've had my Rush since it came out. I think I got it on my birthday, whatever year that was. Love the game. It's not moving. I don't know if I have it set up tough. I know extra balls are off, tilts are tight, all that kind of good stuff. I can't even come close to some of the scores you and others put on that. And I'm basically doing this whole podcast. Yeah, it's all nice. It's a Dalton, a rah-rah show. I want to know how to play Rush. Dalton, help me. Rush has become, it has grown on me very much. I enjoy the game. I love the flow of the game. I wasn't the biggest Rush fan. I'll just tell you this. I wasn't the biggest Rush fan when I got the machine. I mean, I know some songs by them. But once I got the machine and just, you know, jamming out to Limelight or La Vida Strangiato and Cygnus X1, it made me want to listen to them some more. Atta boy. But it's just, I just love the shots and, you know, the code is a stellar job. It's just, I really enjoy playing that. So help us out. We're listening right now. I mean, we can watch Dalton Pinball. We can watch your streams on Thursdays. We can hopefully see you play Rush once in a while. But for those listening right now to Pinball Profile, give us three steps. Okay, you want to have a successful game? Do this. Okay, so right off the bat, try to make all of your records, try to make them all the same color. Don't matter what mode it is. Just try to make them all the same color because if you make all the records the same color, those shots will be triple mode value. It's basically a 3X shot multiplier for all mode shots in that mode if you make them all the same color. And if you stack a Time Machine multiball with an all the same color record mode, you're going to get some points quick and big. That's it. Okay. Now, changing the colors, there's six different record shots. If the record isn't the color you want, I think you have to hit the Bastille Day stand-ups on the right. Yes, correct. If it's flashing, you haven't collected it yet. If it's not a color you want, just shoot the rush targets, and it will change the next color over. It goes in a clockwise direction on the playfield lights. The mode colors of the records, they switch from clockwise. Can you get all six locked in, or do they flash again for something else? Once you get them all locked in, they become pulsing records. If they're pulsing, that's what current mode is lit at the time machine. but if you keep hitting the records, you will increase your mode boost percent, and you can just shoot as many records as you want as long as you don't drain and just skyrocket your mode. Like you could have a 200% mode, 300% mode. Each record you hit before you start the mode, it will increase the mode value by 10%, and it can result in some huge modes. Just don't drain the ball. Of course, unless you have the, I believe one ramp award is hold records, and it will hold the mode boost percent. So you can get it up there. I remember previous code updates. I fooled around. I got a 4,000% La Via Strangiato with a 12-way perfect combo, and I scored like 15 billion. That was glass off, though, so it wasn't impressive.
    20:47
    But it was just insane, and it was very fun. That's funny you say about the glass off. Now, when you get a new machine or you have a chance to maybe take the glass off and learn a new machine, because that is important to learn a new machine. It's fun to flip and find things out. I get that. But because of the competition level, and we mentioned you're a pinball pro, you kind of want to learn where the points are. So is that glass off a good strategy when you get a new machine, especially when you know, okay, this machine is probably going to be in the tournament I'm in? Me, I'm one of them guys that just learns by doing. I love just playing the games and figuring stuff out. I hardly ever do glass-off testing unless if I'm just goofing around in funny what-if situations like the 4,000% Lavia. But, you know, it's all up to you. If you want to do some glass-off testing, go ahead. It will help. Virtual pinball is also a good rules knowledge database and learn some stuff if you don't have access to the physical machine. but I'm a learn by doing guy. Well, I've learned a little bit from you here and I am probably going to fire up Rush as soon as this podcast is done but I know I'm going to be looking forward to seeing you at District 82 in a few weeks. I know I'll be seeing you at the World Championships in June and we will be watching you every Thursday on Twitch whether it's from home or whether it's from Portal. So Dalton, thank you very much and all the best to you and safe travels. Thank you so much, Jeff. You have a good one. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com. We're on Twitter, X, Instagram at pinballprofile. Great Facebook group as well that you can join. You can email pinballprofile at gmail.com. And if you'd like to show your support on Patreon, that would be wonderful, patreon.com slash pinballprofile. Thank you to wonderful people like William M., Lua W., Tony V., Stefan R., and others. With Dalton Ely, I'm Jeff Teolis.
    22:44
    Thank you.