Episode 380: Jared August

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·15m 18s·analyzed·Dec 1, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Jeff Teolis interviews rising pinball pro Jared August about tournament play, setup philosophy, and the competitive scene.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Jared August, a top-10 IFPA-ranked competitive pinball player who began his competitive career at Embrew in Michigan around age 13. The conversation covers Jared's tournament experiences, his preference for tight home machine setups to prepare for tournament conditions, his success in various formats (District 82, Pinball at the Zoo, the new Stern Pro Circuit), and his personal resilience following recent family losses. Jared emphasizes that competitive pinball requires understanding setup variations and shot positioning rather than relying on wizard modes.

Key Claims

Jared August has achieved a ranking as high as second in IFPA at one point, and is currently around seventh, likely to move higher with IFPA 6.0 due to efficiency rewards
high confidence · Jared directly states his ranking history and Jeff confirms consistency in top-10 placement; IFPA 6.0 weighting is discussed as favoring efficiency
Jared discovered a now-patched Mandalorian exploit involving an extended add-a-ball sequence from completing a mini playfield that could generate 20+ balls in a single multiball
high confidence · Jared describes the exploit in detail; confirms it has been fixed in the game
Jared intentionally maintains tight, tournament-standard machine setups at home (no ball saves, removed posts, no wizard modes) to prepare for competitive conditions
high confidence · Jared explains his methodology and reasoning; Jeff validates this is a known best practice among elite players
Andy Rosa won the Stern Pro Circuit in its second year (against Alex Harmon)
high confidence · Jeff recalls commentating the match alongside Ed Robertson and Todd McCulloch
Jared's first card-format tournament was at the Indus (California) event, where he performed well despite no prior card-format experience
high confidence · Jared confirms this was both his first card and first card-format experience; attributes partial success to beginner's luck

Notable Quotes

“I like the shots, like that center ramp feels nice... you can backhand... different ways to play the game”
Jared August @ mid-episode — Describes his preference for Venom's shot design and versatile playfield routing
“For most tournaments, you're not going to be seeing wizard modes or stuff like that. So I like to know in the tournament setting where to get the most points and the safest way possible.”
Jared August @ mid-episode — Articulates the philosophy behind his tight home machine setup strategy
“It's all about setup like if someone gets five billion on Zilla that's great how many extra balls did you play how are the outlane post positions what were the settings like”
Jared August (recalling Andy Rosa) @ mid-episode — Demonstrates the depth of analysis required in competitive pinball—raw scores are meaningless without context
“Give it a try. Don't be intimidated. Almost everyone in the community, top players, are all willing to give you a tip if you need anything.”
Jared August @ late-episode — Encourages aspiring tournament players; reflects on accessibility of the competitive community
“This is my first Stern Pro Circuit final so very nice”
Jared August @ mid-episode — Confirms Jared's first appearance in the Stern Pro Circuit finals, positioning him as an emerging top competitor

Entities

Jared AugustpersonJeff Teolisperson Andy RosapersonAlex HarmonpersonKaylee GeorgepersonScott AugustpersonEmbreweventMarvin's Mechanical Museumvenue

Signals

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community_signal: Top competitive players maintain private Discord/Slack coordination channels; elite player cohort includes Jared August, Escher, Zmac, Colin Urban, Alexander Kismar, Zach Parks, suggesting informal networking and knowledge-sharing among top talent
medium · Jared mentions 'whole Slack chat' with named top players; Jeff jokingly calls it 'the pinball Illuminati'; Jared declines to name the group officially
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competitive_signal: Card-format tournaments are gaining prevalence; IFPA 6.0 adoption expected in 2024 will reward consistency and efficiency, benefiting players like Jared August who excel in structured, high-pressure formats
medium · Jared notes card formats will probably be seen more in 2024 because that's how 'Whoppers' (likely term for large tournaments) will work; IFPA 6.0 expected to shift rankings by rewarding efficiency
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competitive_signal: Michigan pinball competitive scene is exceptionally strong, producing multiple top-tier players (Jared August, Andy Rosa, Alex Harmon, Harmon family); Pinball at the Zoo (Kalamazoo, MI) is considered near-championship difficulty despite being a state/regional event
high · Jeff remarks that Michigan produces many strong players; Jared confirms Pinball at the Zoo is 'tough' even for elite competitors; Andy Rosa's circuit victory noted; multiple Michigan players in top-10 rankings
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design_philosophy: Mandalorian contained a significant add-a-ball exploit that allowed extended multiball play (20+ balls) by exploiting miniplayfield completion logic; exploit has since been patched
high · Jared describes exploit in detail: completing mini playfield stood-ups granted add-a-balls that could be repeated indefinitely; now fixed in game

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.046

0:00

it's time now for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teolas you can find everything on pinballprofile.com we're on twitter we're on instagram at pinball profile you can email pinballprofile at gmail.com check out our great facebook group as well and if you'd like to show your support on patreon that would be wonderful it helps keep the show going don't worry the show we'll always be free but we do appreciate our patreon supporters like david m tony v stefan r william m and more go to patreon.com slash pinball profile so just before expo in october it was the finals of the stern pro circuit it was at the wonderful antarium the top 32 people in stern pro circuit events made it and depending on how well you did you might have got a buy well this next person did get a buy and in fact after i got knocked out in the first two games i had time to talk to him. I've actually had a lot of people ask me to interview this young man, someone I've known for a while, and it was good to finally get him on Pinball Profile. He is Jared August. Jared, how are you, buddy? Good, Jeff. How are you? It's nice to see you again. And really, we've seen each other for, I want to say, almost seven years because... Yeah, it was back to Embrew. You're now 20, and you talk about Embrew. That was in Ferndale, Michigan. Yes. I'm sad to see COVID didn't help that place survive, but you really got... I might be coming back. Seriously? Yeah, our local operative, Chris Pasqueretti, might be putting some machines back in there. It's not set in place yet, but... I remember seeing you and your dad, Scott, and playing, and I kind of was watching, who is this kid, because he's really got the chops and stuff, and I assume, is that where your love for pinball happened?

1:49

The tournament, the kind of tournament scene is kind of where it happened. And I was at Marvin's Mechanical Museum. That's where I kind of started. My dad got me there playing casually, you know, just chasing scores.

2:05

And what I remember from those Ferndale Embrew days was, you know, there were some great competitions too. Bill Mbisa, of course, Aaron Grabowski was there at the time and some other players. And I'd show up and just get my clock cleaned. and but i remember watching you and i'm like you know there were so many great young players i'm like i think we're gonna see this guy once he starts traveling we're gonna see his name and sure enough you've been as high as how much in the ifpa i was second at one time for i think a day or a week but you're consistently top 10 i think maybe right now seventh that could change after this weekend with the ifpa 6.0 which really awards efficiency that's where you'll excel you'll probably move up to maybe fourth or something i believe so it was right around there so what i know about you is i saw you play at ember it wasn't necessarily just modern machines you were very good at all the machines and i say that because i see so many young players really embrace the rules of the new games whereas it didn't matter for you and it probably still doesn't matter what you play i don't even know if you have a favorite i definitely prefer my moderns but these turn you gotta play them all no matter where you go district 82 you obviously have to play all eras in disc well that's something about playing the moderns because i remember expo last year exactly one year ago and i'm watching you play mandalorian and i don't know if it was on stream or not but if it was not sadly it was a clinic on how to play mandalorian and i don't know if it was an exploit or not but explain what happened when you were blowing up Mandalorian for over an hour. So unfortunately this is no longer in the game or it fixed So when you get through all the encounter modes uh i forgot what the modes actually call but you get into this mode where it starts as a single ball play but you get a long ball save and every time you would complete the mini play field up top all the stand-ups you would get an add a ball and i thought you could only do it like twice or three times maybe and then I kept shooting up there I kept completing him uh okay I'm getting add a ball and then complete him again another add a ball it went forever I wish it was streamed because I would guess 20 balls maybe uh yeah it was something and that's I think where the young players have the endurance they certainly have the rules knowledge but you know when you say you like moderns you certainly figure out the rules and maybe in this case a now defunct exploit But the modern games here are really the focus of the Stern Pro Circuit. So the game lineup right now, we've got Godzilla and Foo Fighters and Avengers and Elvira, Jurassic Park, Iron Maiden, Mandalorian. We've got the new Venom game and the Bond Premium. So let's talk about some of the newer games, Venom being the most new in this lineup. What is it about Venom you like? I like the shots, like that center ramp feels nice. and I like it's got when it comes from you can backhand I don't even know the shot it's kind of like the black knight lock shot you can backhand the fly I forgot what it's called but different ways to play the game especially the premium and the different setup too so I assume someone like you have tried all the different methods and combinations not as much as you'd think but just because I don't own it currently and haven't really had much time to... I know the basics, but... Okay, maybe someone's going to pick it against you now. Good thing this podcast doesn't come out until after. Who knows? But I still got my money on you, Jared. You talk about owning games. I haven't been to your place. I know you wanted to come to the Beast, but because your name is Jared August, you have the big August tournament. Yeah, next year. Hopefully you can come to the Beast because I know you'll love it. But I've heard about your setup and your games are extremely tight. And why people do that... I mean, it's nice to see wizard modes and everything else, but why great players like yourself do that is because when you come to a tournament, you're not in shock of, oh, that's a tight sling. Oh, the posts are removed. There's no ball save. That's why you do it, isn't it? Yeah, for most tournaments, you're not going to be seeing wizard modes or stuff like that. So I like to know in the tournament setting where to get the most points and the safest way possible. So what is it like when other people come to your place and they're like, hey, wait a second, where's the ball safe here? They're out there in 15 minutes or less. They're going to the local arcade. But again, that is a good technique. And I think the first time I ever heard somebody do it, maybe it was Kaylee George, maybe setting up two balls. For me, it was Andy Rosa who really... Well, Andy is such a great Michigan player, so is his son. And there are a lot, actually, in Michigan. I mean, I don't want to forget anybody, but the Harmons have always been good. yourself and and so many others what did Andy teach you about competitive pinball oh boy uh he taught me that uh it's all about setup like if someone gets five billion on Zilla that's great how many extra balls did you play how are the outlane post positions what were the settings like if you get a billion on godzilla with no posts and set probably like this is equivalent to probably like three four or five billion on arcade play well andy rosa once won the stern pro circuit in fact in the second year they ever did it too i remember i was commentating that along with Ed Robertson and Todd McCulloch We were messaging back and forth Oh were you Yeah You could even see on the stream him messaging me Wasn't it against Alex Harmon, too? So a couple of Michigan boys.

8:42

Yeah. It's exhausting. Exhausting even for you? Okay, thank you for saying that because I'm so tired after those events, but even for you, okay. It's exhausting going from all classics and then still all classics and then some modern, some classic. It's tough, but that's why we do it, right? One of my favorite things you ever did, and you traveled to California a few years ago to Indus. You showed up on the Friday. Everyone else is qualifying on Thursday, qualifying on Friday. You show up Friday night. Your first card, remember this is a card entry, so you've got to play five consistent games. You show up, blow it up, get a huge buy. Yeah, not only that, I would consider it exactly beginner's luck because not only was that my first card of the tournament, That was my first card ever in the whole card format experience. Do you believe in that beginner's luck? I think there's some skill there. The reason you say that is because the card format, which we're probably going to see a lot more in 2024 because that's how Whoppers are going to be effective. I was reading about that. Yeah, so we'll probably see a little bit more of that. And it really implores you to be consistent. So you going to InDisc, are you now playing these card formats? Not only that, you have to be smart. what game do you want to play, what game do you not want to play. Do you have a method? I personally saved my favorite game for the last game. I don't have a method. I've tried everything. So when you have a good card, do you have a method of, okay, let's play the other games to get practice in case of... Yeah, I definitely do that. And also maybe if you do well on another card... That bad card might turn into, as practice games, might turn into even a better card. You never know. It also maybe damages some of the people out here. yeah it's an interesting format do you void a lot of cards i do in a five game format when you have something as big as in disc in the ifp open you can get away with one stinker you don't want it to be your first game but two not a chance exactly so what else is new for you jared i know you're going to be here and hopefully you can stay for expo that's you know you're a young guy and young people are either in school or working and i know you're working right now does work understand how great of a pinball player you are and do they give you a little bit of slack like do you get some time off that you need uh yes and no you're the same as every other employee even though you're one of the world's best pretty much oh that's too bad who do we how do we write a note we get our two days off a week two days off a week okay that makes it tough for three-day tournaments doesn't yeah oh boy well i'm glad you're here at expo in fact i've had a lot of people ask me get jared on Pinball Profile. Jack Tabin has been bugging me. I'd really like to hear what Jared has to say because we see you play and a lot of people may not know you other than on a stream I know I was looking forward to seeing you a couple years ago at Pinball at the Zoo and that was a real tragic time for you and I still offer my condolences when you lost your brother That was tough for you. Yeah, thank you. How's the family doing? Yeah, it's been another tough year. Grandpa passed away a month ago. I know you missed that Pinball at the Zoo event, and rightfully so, and sometimes it just takes a while to clear your head, but I'm sure you think of your brother, I'm sure you think of your grandfather, and they are so proud of what you do and they want to see you succeed. So there's that always that keeps you going. Yeah, and it definitely helps being with all, I consider everyone in my family, all this pinball community, grown, known for people five plus years now. Well, that's good of you to share because there are people that are listening to this podcast that have never played in a tournament that are probably really, really good players. Maybe they just play locally. What would you say to those people when you see big events come to town or maybe even just a short drive or flight away? Give it a try. Don't be intimidated. Almost everyone in the community, top players, are all willing to give you a tip if you need anything. Do you remember the first big tournament you went to outside of something like Embrew? It was... I know Pinball at the Zoo probably was it, but the first travel one. probably uh cleapin cleveland pin my arcade show uh but that was drivable so if you want like actually it was probably in this was the first the one i was talking yeah get on a plane travel your travel partner ej was with you if i remember yeah good old ej ej is good he helps me out at the beast with tech stuff so i i do hope i see you at the beast in august i don't want to wreck your august tournament but yeah no i will try to be there attaboy that's good good payout good pants you like that didn't you 3 000 for main 2 000 for classics awesome so it's something like this the stern pro circuit is that something you're conscious of i want to get to the circuit because you did very well or is it just i'm not going to go out of my way if i can what is it this is my first uh circuit final so very nice yeah i think this is uh jason zollers this is gonna be his first also so the young guns i love it too who are some of your best friends in pinball Oh, yeah. We got a whole, on Discord, we got a whole Slack chat. It's me, Escher, Zmac, Colin Urban, Alexander, Kismar. So you know what I'm hearing when you say this? Zach Parks, Great Janity. This is the pinball Illuminati. Is that what the name of the Discord is called? Because you're just mentioning all the top players. I don't know. It's a secret.