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Episode 242: Ryan Cee… Happy Australia Day!

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·35m 8s·held·Jan 26, 2020
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Ryan C. on competitive pinball growth in Australia and tournament innovation.

Summary

Ryan C., co-host of the original Head to Head A A Pinball Podcast, discusses his journey from casual collector to competitive pinball organizer in Victoria, Australia. The conversation covers the explosive growth of pinball tournaments in Australia, innovative tournament formats like Flip Frenzy and Fair Strikes, the role of venues like Moondog in Melbourne, and the upcoming Pinball Profile World Tour event in Melbourne. Ryan reflects on the challenges of balancing tournament organization with community growth and his decision to step back from weekly podcasting.

Key Claims

  • Australia has experienced the biggest growth in competitive pinball of any region in the world.

    high confidence · Jeff Teels states this directly to Ryan C., who acknowledges the growth and credits Marty Rosenthal and community introductions as drivers.

  • Ryan C. ran approximately 30 tournaments in a single year as Victorian state rep.

    medium confidence · Ryan C. states: 'I've run, I don't know, I can't remember how many times I've run this year, probably 30 or so.'

  • Fair Strikes tournament format originated from Keith P. Johnson on Tilt Forums and was formalized with Andreas' support on the IFPA website.

    high confidence · Ryan C. credits Keith P. Johnson for the original idea and describes how Andreas implemented it in the official system.

  • Flip Frenzy originated in Japan (called 'Pimble' three times) and was adopted and renamed in Australia by Luke Marburg.

    medium confidence · Ryan C. states: 'I believe it was from Japan, believe it or not... Luke Marburg decided to kind of like adopt it here in Australia and call it Flip Frenzy.'

  • Marty's October tournament in Victoria awarded approximately $2,000 to the winner, possibly the largest payout in Victorian pinball history.

    medium confidence · Ryan C. states: 'the winner won, I think, $2,000 this year. and I think that was possibly the biggest payout there's ever been in Victoria.'

  • The Pinball Profile World Tour Melbourne event sold out within 24 hours of announcing the $1,000 prize package.

    high confidence · Jeff Teols states: 'And I said, check it out, like $1,000 worth of prizes. And bam, within 24 hours, it was sold out pretty much a month in advance.'

  • Moondog venue in Melbourne has 72 beer taps and is approximately the size of an American football field.

    high confidence · Ryan C. describes the venue: 'it's the size of an American football field they have 72 taps to space their beer.'

  • The Stern Pro Circuit championship belt costs approximately $1,000 AUD.

Notable Quotes

  • “That's a big thing when someone, not accidentally, but they stumble into finals for the first time and they freak out because, like, oh, my gosh, it's a final. Things are more serious now and I'm playing against the good players. Whereas if they're always playing finals, you know, regardless if it was A, B, C, or D, at least then they're kind of getting that finals-like experience.”

    Ryan C. @ ~16:00 — Explains Ryan's innovative divisional tournament structure designed to make tournament participation less intimidating for new players.

  • “You really need kind of like friends and family or whoever it is to hold your hand through the process and introduce you to the wonderful world of competitive pinball.”

    Ryan C. @ ~5:30 — Core insight about how competitive communities grow — through personal introductions rather than media exposure.

  • “I don't really want it to be part of my weekly routine. It's a lot of pressure... there's a lot of – it can be kind of stressful... Keeping yourself to a weekly podcast is – It's insanity.”

    Ryan C. @ ~71:00 — Explains why Ryan stepped back from Head to Head Pinball Podcast and reflects on podcast burnout.

  • “Don't you underestimate how lazy people are and how making something slightly easier than it was before can make something grow.”

    [name withheld pending review] @ ~50:30 — Commentary on why Andreas' IFPA website support of Flip Frenzy was critical to its adoption.

  • “the way that Australians survive I guess is through the commonality of our um our humor and being able to just say you know she'll be right and uh and moving on”

    Ryan C. @ ~77:00 — Cultural reflection on Australian resilience and humor during difficult times (context: wildfires).

  • “I decided last year to try just for fun because Queensland was doing it And I guess the easiest way for me to try and grow pinball in Victoria my state is to try and parrot or mimic what is happening in Queensland because guys like Jimmy Nails and Jason Lambert and everyone there are growing it”

    Ryan C. @ ~21:00 — Ryan's pragmatic approach to tournament innovation: replicate successful models from other regions rather than reinvent.

Entities

Ryan C.person[name withheld pending review]personMarty RosenthalpersonJimmy NailspersonJason LambertpersonLuke MarburgpersonAndreasperson

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Flip Frenzy tournament format adoption has accelerated across Australian venues and globally. Ryan C. and others drove standardization and IFPA website support, removing barriers to TD implementation.

    high · Ryan C.: 'Most strike tournaments now are fair strikes... when it's kind of like officially supported or there's an easy way to do it, it's just a barrier for TDs.' Discussion of spreadsheet-to-automated transition improving format adoption.

  • ?

    venue_signal: High-volume casual venues like Moondog exposing non-pinball audience to the hobby. Operators noting that basic game mechanics (coin insertion, start button) are not intuitive to casual/drinking players.

    high · Ryan C.: '50% of people put their money in, and they just look at it... how come the game isn't starting?' Discussion of Stern's action button as solution to start-game clarity.

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Shift toward divisional tournament structures (A/B/C/D brackets) designed to provide finals experience to all skill levels. Innovation reducing new-player intimidation and improving retention.

    high · Ryan C. describes his 5-round match play with divisional splits ensuring all players reach 'finals' stage. Model praised by Jeff, compared to Pinberg's approach at scale.

  • ?

    operational_signal: TDs managing multiple responsibilities simultaneously (organizing, adjudicating, playing, venue maintenance). Operational complexity increasing with tournament frequency and format sophistication.

    high · Ryan C.: 'extremely hard to run that format, especially, you know, TDing and playing and, you know, at a bar fixing issues.' Ran ~30 tournaments in one year.

  • $

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.106

0:00
it's time now for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teels you can find our group on facebook we're also on twitter at pinball profile emails pinball profile at gmail.com please subscribe on your favorite podcatcher and check us out on instagram at pinball profile we're going to go to australia right now because many of us here on this side of the world are certainly thinking about what's going on there. I'm going to be going there very, very soon. So our good friend Ryan C., who you remember from the beginnings of the Head to Head Pinball podcast, joins us right now. Hello, Ryan. How are you? G'day, Jeff. I'm going pretty well. Yourself? Now, is g'day something you actually say all the time? Because I don't say a all the time. I guess I do a little bit. I don't say sorry or boot. Do you actually say g'day? You do say a boot a lot. I do not. I say g'day every once in a while. It's a very friendly term. But when you talk to foreigners or when I was traveling through the U.S., you've got to put it on a bit, right? You've got to let people know that you're from Australia. I don't really go out of my way to look and sound Canadian. It's not like I smell of bacon or maple syrup. I guess I do, actually, now that I think about it. Your entire house smells like maple syrup, Jeff. when I took a massive dump in your house and I got the little spray out it was maple syrup spray I'll tell you a little secret, that's funny I can't even remember the last time I had maple syrup you can't even remember the last time you said sorry Jeff I can't remember the last time I went skating in fact, when I was in Europe in Denmark in October, I was on Team USA so I'm Mr. Global All right. I know, sorry, Pitbull's Mr. Worldwide, but I'm Mr. Pinball Worldwide, I think.
1:53
Listen, we're definitely going to talk about the seriousness of the fires that are going on there. And we're certainly thinking of what's going on in New South Wales. We will definitely 100% get to that and talk about how you can help too. So we'll save that for the end of the program. So I definitely want to get into that because, you know, we're coming there. Everyone's saying, hey, is everything okay? So I thought I'd reach out to Ryan. Is everything okay? But I do want to talk about the massive growth of pinball in Australia. I would say maybe the biggest growth in any area in the world. And I know there's a lot more tournaments happening all over, but just the explosion of players and tournaments in Australia, you're kind of to blame. I don't think I'm to blame. I was ushered in through someone, you know, my podcasting buddy, Marty Robbins. and from that, I guess, I got the bug and then I try and help grow that in any way that I can and that's how pinball grows, right? No one's going to open up a newspaper or see something and say, oh, I'm going to rock up to this random tournament. You really need kind of like friends and family or whoever it is to hold your hand through the process and introduce you to the wonderful world of competitive pinball. Well, let's think about that because I remember in the early days of Head to Head, You were always the guy talking about collecting and how the machines were and the sounds and all these kind of things that collectors think about. And playing in competitions was the furthest thing from your mind. What was the switch? What gave you that competitive bug? I talked about it a lot on the podcast, and it was, I guess, the first. I didn't listen.

high confidence · Ryan C. states: 'the Stern Pro Circuit belt just looks amazing. and I inquired about how much that costs roughly and yeah, it's close to a thousand Australian dollars.'

  • “The entry fee basically covers like a custom made WWE style like a wrestling belt that says you know Victorian State Pinball Champion”

    Ryan C. @ ~24:00 — Innovative prize structure using championship belts rather than cash or trophies.

    • Keith P. Johnson
    person
    Damienperson
    Gregperson
    Ryan Wangerperson
    Pinball Profileorganization
    Head to Head Pinball Podcastorganization
    Moondogvenue
    Haggis Pinballcompany
    Comet Pinballcompany
    Deep Root Pinballcompany
    AMDcompany
    Zaxcompany
    Melbourne Silver Ballorganization
    Pinball Profile World Tourevent
    Brisbane Mastersevent
    Victorian State Pinball Championshipevent
    IFPAorganization

    market_signal: Australian tournaments experimenting with non-cash prizes (championship belts, trophies) and hybrid models. Shift from traditional cash payouts to collectible/status-based rewards.

    high · Ryan C. creating custom WWE-style belt for Victorian State Champs. Marty's October event still offering ~$2K payout (largest in Victoria). Both models coexisting.

  • ?

    industry_signal: Australian organizers explicitly modeling tournament structures on successful formats from other regions (Queensland's approach, Indiana's belt model, German European Pinball Olympics concept). Pragmatic replication rather than innovation.

    high · Ryan C.: 'I guess the easiest way for me to try and grow pinball in Victoria... is to try and parrot or mimic what is happening in Queensland.' Also mentions Tommy Skinner's Indiana belt model as inspiration.

  • ?

    content_signal: Established podcasters (Ryan C., Dennis Grizzle mentioned) stepping back from weekly commitments due to sustainability issues. Shift toward casual podcast appearances rather than regular co-hosting.

    high · Ryan C.: 'I don't really want it to be part of my weekly routine. It's a lot of pressure... Keeping yourself to a weekly podcast is – It's insanity.' Mentions Head to Head was 'every Monday night for the rest of my life.'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Tournament designers prioritizing emotional experience and confidence-building for newcomers over mechanical difficulty or time efficiency. Focus on repeat attendance and community integration.

    high · Ryan C.'s divisional bracket ensures all players reach finals. Jeff contrasts with Pinberg's model showing scalability. Discussion of first-tournament negative experience and long-term impact on retention.

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Two primary distributors (AMD and Zax) handling new machine imports into Australia. Secondary market (Mr. Pinball) used for hard-to-find/collectible machines.

    high · Ryan C.: 'if you're buying a certain Pinball machine, you just buy it off your distributor. There's AMD and Zax who do a great job here... if you want to buy any other machine, it's usually it's Mr. Pinball.'

  • ?

    venue_signal: Moondog represents emerging trend of large, well-funded venues building dedicated pinball sections as secondary attraction in multi-game venues. Ryan C.'s negotiation from 1 to multiple machines shows operator interest.

    high · Ryan C.: 'It's an insane venue... they were going to give me space for one machine but I convinced them to have a whole little arcade there... it's such a popular place and it's exposing more people to pinball.'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Event ticket sales data: event sold out within 24 hours when $1,000 prize package was announced, despite weeks of slow sales on just 'Jeff Teols is coming' messaging. Price/value perception drives FOMO.

    high · Jeff: 'I said, check it out, like $1,000 worth of prizes. And bam, within 24 hours, it was sold out pretty much a month in advance.' Contrast with zero ticket sales when only event host announced.

    • 3:28
    They were three hours long. The first time I went, I kind of had a slightly negative experience. And looking back on it now, it wasn't even that horrible. I guess maybe it was a bit of an ego shock and the fact I didn't really know many people there. It's daunting. You run tournaments now, Jeff, and you probably say, you know, why can't I get more people in? Why can't I get the people that come for the first time to come again? And it's because it's new. And so people have egos. People set their tilts super loose at home on their machines. They think they're heroes. And then they come and they play in a tournament and they expect the machines to play exactly how they play at home. And sometimes it's not the case. What was the experience that jaded you and thought, oh, I'm not going to do any more of this? There was a couple of people at this particular tournament that were a little bit rough and rough around the edges. It turns out they were literally just random people that rocked up to this one tournament. So it was just like they weren't part of the regular community. Well, let's call them out by name. Let's get these. I can't remember.
    4:28
    Let's put them on pinball's most wanted list. Let's do it. But the biggest shock to me was. Richard Rhodes. I'm just joking. The biggest shock to me was, like, I think I had, like, a Kiss pinball machine at home. And, you know, the way I had it set up and the way you learn the fees off your machine, I couldn't score, like, less than, say, like, 50 or 60 million on this machine. And then you set up to this machine in a competition setting, and I guess your nerves or the way the machine is set up gets the better of you. And I think I remember I scored, like, 8 million or so, and I couldn't figure out. I'm like, well, that's kind of, like, not fun. Like, I have more fun at home blowing up my machines. But then, as I said, I got reintroduced by Marty, I guess, a year and a half later. And fast forward another year and a half, and I'm now the official state rep.
    5:16
    I've run, I don't know, I can't remember how many times I've run this year, probably 30 or so. And I'm running the state champs. I don't know. I'm pretty into competitive pinball, Jeff. For sure. Now, if you think of your first experience, I know and you know, as running tournaments, You don't want the games to be playing forever and forever, especially in flip frenzy. So you do have to maybe tighten the tilts, maybe knock off some rubbers, depending on the type of tournament, that kind of thing. You still want it to be enjoyable. You still want people to be able to play. But now you're in that TD role. How do you find the balance between the great players? And there are many, Jason Lambert, Richard Rhodes, so many in Marty, for example, in Australia that are wonderful players. but how do you make it enjoyable for the new players too so that they don't have the experience that you once had? Yeah, that's a very difficult one, especially with what kind of format you run. Because you can say, hey, let's run a flip frenzy because then eventually everybody's going to get a win. But the person who comes last might play 25 games and lose 24 of them. So just because they got one win doesn't necessarily mean they're going to come back. Stacey Borg. What I did this year with the monthly tournament that I ran was I did five rounds of match play, and then I split everyone up into groups. So A division, B division, C and D, and however many divisions it took to filter down everyone who came. So everyone was kind of in their bracket of how good they are, and everyone played finals. because I think it's a big thing when someone, not accidentally, but they stumble into finals for the first time and they freak out because, like, oh, my gosh, it's a final. Things are more serious now and I'm playing against the good players. Whereas if they're always playing finals, you know, regardless if it was A, B, C, or D, at least then they're kind of getting that finals-like experience. So it was extremely hard to run that format, especially, you know, TDing and playing and, you know, at a bar fixing issues. But I got a lot of good feedback about that format. I'll tell you what, that is a great idea. And obviously we see Pinberg do that because they have 1,000 players and they take 40 for A, B, C, D, and E. So 200 people get to play playoff experience. And some of those people in maybe the lower C, D, and E divisions are getting playoff experience for the first time. And that's only going to make them more excited, like you say, and maybe less nervous the next time they get in playoffs and maybe catch that bug. so yeah just like um dr pin again a christian line um you can listen to to mrs pin pinball podcast and it's i'd love that podcast i still listen to it every single time they have an episode and you can hear the excitement in their voice and even um in sarah's voice when she's talking about like um you know cheering on her husband like he was in the the finals for i can't remember if it was d or e it doesn't matter whatever it was it's exciting so um little wins for everybody you can't set up machines to be and sometimes i'm accused of this like i'm setting up the machine for the best player in the tournament because certain structures, if you have one or two good players, can delay the entire tournament by hours. So the tournament structure and the tournament format is pretty important to make sure everyone can go home on time, right? There's a big event in Australia, and again, at your place, 32 of the best players. Is it a state finals? Is that what it is? Yeah I decided last year to try just for fun because Queensland was doing it And I guess the easiest way for me to try and grow pinball in Victoria my state is to try and parrot or mimic what is happening in Queensland because guys like Jimmy Nails and Jason Lambert and everyone there are growing it and doing such a good job at ushering in pinball that there's no need to reinvent the wheel. Just kind of try and do what they're doing on a smaller scale. I set up my rules for a state final. we're doing a double elimination bracket top 16 seeds get double chance four player groups possible nine rounds I'm not sure how long it's going to go for instead of doing like prize like charging people to go and doing like prize money the entry fee basically covers like a custom made WWE style like a wrestling belt that says you know Victorian State Pinball Champion I got the idea from Tommy Skinner from this flipping podcast he does a similar thing in Indiana but his is a kind of like a reoccurring belt that you can challenge and win off a player. But I thought it'd be cool to just have a belt just the entire year that you can enjoy yourself. I like that idea too. And I know the Papa Circuit had the belt originally, now part of the Stern Pro Circuit. The belts are neat. I mean, the trophies are great too. They're expensive.
    10:02
    I asked around and the Stern Pro Circuit belt just looks amazing. and I inquired about how much that costs roughly and yeah, it's close to a thousand Australian dollars. So I had to go for the slightly cheaper option, but it still looks amazing. Did you just go to Costco and get like the biggest belt you could do and just kind of bedazzle it? Go Mrs. Pin kind of topper style? Unfortunately, there's no Mrs. Pin version in Australia. So I did buy it from the US. I'm doing my best to support the US economy. You were talking about Jimmy Nails and what they do in Queensland. Well, Brisbane Masters was something that I'd mentioned, Jimmy, in the top 10 most intriguing people for 2019 because that big event, so many different things. I mean, you had Colin Urban and you had Escher show up there from America. And I think they've actually made a statue of Colin Urban. But Jimmy, really, as you were saying, Queensland's already kind of had that culture. But to do something like that, 10 different events, is that your next project? It's going to be. I know you. Yes, I did. attend a couple of days of the Brisbane Masters and I did get some ideas from it, but I'm really impatient. So I don't like multi-day tournaments. I don't like, I can't hold my concentration for longer than say five, six hours at a time. I don't like the sinking feeling of crashing and burning that I always do after like a two or three day tournament. So my idea is similar to what they're doing in Germany in terms of like the, I think the European pinball Olympics. But it's hard because you do need a lot of machines. You don't want to run 10 tournaments playing the same machines over and over again. You do need a lot of space. You need the right venue. It's being worked on, but I'm not sure if we can get it together this year. Well, that's one thing I've noticed too about Australia. And I know you're also not only a collector, but you're an operator too. And that new Moondog is really the big thing there in Melbourne, isn't it? Yeah, it's an insane venue. it's the size of an American football field they have 72 taps to space their beer and I was lucky enough that I went to school with a couple of the guys who ran it so I got in early they were going to give me space for one machine but I convinced them to have a whole little arcade there so it's great because it's such a popular place and it's exposing more people to pinball and I love sitting there watching people put their dollar in and you know it's kind of when you realise is you hang around pinball people too much, Jeff, and you're like, well, of course, you know, when you put money in, you press the start button, and then you realize, yeah, and then people see, like, I don't know, 50% of people put their money in, and they just look at it, look, and they're like, well, how come the game isn't starting? And I'm not sure if it's because they've had a couple to drink or if it's just not as obvious as all of our, you know, us pinheads think it is. Well, you know, I think that's a big reason why Stern introduced the action button. Now, I know I've said this before on this podcast, Do I like the action button? I think it's fine. I think Jurassic Park, the smart missiles, piece of cake. Deadpool, boom, no problem. It's the multiple times you're bashing it. That's when I have a little bit of a problem. Even Star Trek 2, you've got the vengeance, but that's only a few hits. I'm talking like TIE Fighter, go crazy and hit it 20, 30 times. That's not pinball. But why they put it on there is to do exactly what you were talking about in the sense that you press it and it starts a game. Kids now know how to do it. not only does it start a game, it can launch a ball. So I get it for that reason. Yeah. I mean, some people don't even, I mean, I'm talking about a very small percentage here, but some people don't even know where to put money in. I guess if the coin slot was on the lockdown bar, I mean, I don't think they would ever do it because it ruins that kind of like that nice lockdown bar area, but they're definitely not as intuitive as pinheads think they are. You know what you need? You know, when you scan your credit card, you just tap. They need those on the coin boxes. So whether you play or not, it's just taking money out of your credit card. There you go. That's what's going to save operators. They've done that, Jeff. No, but you walk by and you're like, well, there's 20 credits on this. Hey, Ryan, walk by this again.
    14:14
    So there's Moondog. You've got the state championship. And Marty is really big. I know he's got the – first of all, he does a great stream on Melbourne Silver Ball, but he has that big event he does every October. So there is a big Victoria presence of pinball, and it seems to be growing, as we talked about earlier. Yeah, Marty loves to do things a little bit different. He also didn't want to replicate what was happening in Brisbane and other states. So he tried to model his tournament off what's happening in Indies, where you've got an unlimited qualifier and a buy-in. And it worked well because I think it was the winner won, I think, $2,000 this year. and I think that was possibly the biggest payout there's ever been in Victoria. So, yeah, Pinball's growing and everyone's doing their part. How hard is it to get the machines to Australia? I know they have to be shipped.
    15:03
    Well, I mean, if you're buying a certain Pinball machine, you just buy it off your distributor. There's AMD and Zax who do a great job here for that. And then if you want to buy any other machine, it's usually it's Mr. Pinball. If you're talking about buying, you know, hard-to-find machines, Like I saw an alien star come up on some Facebook page today in the U.S. Get it. No, it's within a couple of hours it already sold. You know, I was thinking, ah, should I try and find it, you know? I'm still waiting for the other Ryan. You know, Ryan, you're mates. I think you've interviewed Ryan from CometLED more than you've interviewed me, Jeff. I want to be number one Ryan. He has a nice alien star, and he has promised me, and I'll repeat it on your podcast, that that machine is mine when it's ready to sell. Ryan Wanger does a great job. And you mentioned he's been on the show. Well, he's with Comet Pinball, and Comet Pinball is one of the great sponsors of the Pinball Profile World Tour, which is coming not only to Melbourne but to your place. I've got all my shots. I took the Duke roll, HEP A, HEP B, tetanus shot. That's just for going to your house. I don't know if I need it anywhere else in Australia, but I just want to make sure. Ryan has donated some wonderful prizes for the tour along with Deep Root Pinball. We've got some cash to give away. We've got Measel Mods, a playfield protector. We've got a beautiful trophy from Ulick Store, Jersey Jack pinball swag, Stern pinball. I know I'm bringing a signed George Gomez Deadpool Translite to the Pinball Profile World Tour, and a set of pin stadium lights, too, that I know are very, very popular there. So that thing's worth like $280 US. So that's going to be coming to the Pinball Profile World Tour, which is already sold out, which is pretty cool. Yeah, Jeff, we tried to get it to sell out earlier. But we just said, hey, Jeff Teolis is coming, and no one bought tickets. I'm like, hey, guys, Jeff Teolis is coming. Don't you know who he is? He's from Canada. No one bought tickets. And I'm like, all right, Jeff, let me try this. And I said, check it out, like $1,000 worth of prizes. And bam, within 24 hours, it was sold out pretty much a month in advance. Who's bringing those, I wonder? Oh, yeah, that same Teolis guy. You lying dog. But I'll let you get away with it. That's fine. It's sold out. Everyone's going to get the lovely T-shirt. and we've only got two more of these left. We've got another one coming up in Monroe, Michigan, also sold out. It's been a lot of fun, but going to now my fourth country with this world tour. And you've got a lot of games. So I know you've got about 18 working and we're going to do a flip frenzy but there a waiting list So you might have to get a few more games Yeah Well I mean I got some games there that kind of aren working So you going to put me to hard work Jeff I not sure what my payment is for this thing Maybe one of the prizes can be accidentally kind of oh the Deadpool Translight goes to Ryan Well, congratulations. Don't you worry. I've got a special T-shirt made just for you. And we cannot say what that is on this podcast. If you want to find out what it is, maybe check Ryan's social media or Marty's a little bit later. But I never did it. I have no idea what you're talking about. Yeah, okay.
    18:03
    And Flip Frenzy is just great. I mean, me and Marty banged on about it for so long, running it on spreadsheets and this, this and that. It really, the growth of Flip Frenzy's being used as weekly and monthly tournaments really kind of puts a spotlight on the importance of Andreas. And you've had Andreas on the show, I think, maybe a couple of times. Great Dean. Yeah. His position in the pinball community, I think, is heavily underestimated because when he supports something on his website, it just becomes easy. For example, Foot Frenzy is one of them we just talked about. Fair Strikes. Fair Strikes was this idea that I think Keith Johnson had on Tilt Forums, and I was starting up a new monthly, and I said, Fair Strikes sounds really cool because it's a bit of a twist on the normal strikes rules. I think it's more fair. I don't like regular three-strikes tournaments at all. I only like the Fair Strikes tournament. Yeah. Well, I mean, that was, I think I've told the story on the podcast before, and it probably would have been supported eventually anyway. But I asked Andreas if he can add support for that. And he was like, ah, you can run it by manually adjusting strikes every round. And then you called him out on head-to-head and said, Andreas is doing nothing. What is my money going towards? And he said, fine. I heard that soapbox chant. I heard it. No, it wasn't that. I ran a test dummy tournament, and I accidentally broke the logic of the website. And I think he just did an all-nighter, and I woke up, and he was like, here it is, Ryan, stuff annoying now. And I'm not sure what the stats are, but most strike tournaments now are fair strikes because I think people kind of like them a bit more than normal three strikes. It makes more sense. When you're groups of three and groups of four, it needs to be an even playing field, and that's what fair strikes does. So thank you, Andreas. You talked about the flip frenzy formats as well, too. I think when I look at all the tournaments and the growth of flip frenzies, is it safe to say that Australia was the place that first embraced them? I believe it was from Japan, believe it or not. And they called it Pimble, Pimble, Pimble, which just, I don't know, Pimble times three. And I think it was Luke Marburg decided to kind of like adopt it here in Australia and call it Flip Frenzy. And everyone started running it on spreadsheets. So I'm not sure how it came about in Japan, but apparently that's where it came from. All the spreadsheets would suck about it. I mean, it was accurate, but you really, it was difficult. It was very, very time consuming. The queues would be a little longer because you had to get in there, figure out where you were going to go. And really, the TD could not play. And not that they could or should play in it now, but if everyone's played a Flip Frenzy, it's pretty easy to do it and everyone can enjoy their time. Yeah, don't underestimate how lazy people are and how making something slightly easier than it was before can make something grow. I'm sure there's some other formats out there that only certain people run and there's some ideas, but until it's kind of like officially supported or there's an easy way to do it, it's just a barrier for TDs who, let's face it, they do all this stuff out of the kindness of their own heart, I guess, or for the community. They're not making money off it. I know another thing I'm looking forward to, along with seeing you and Marty in Melbourne, is I'm going to check out Haggis Pinball. And I know you've seen Damien's Kelts machine, and it's beautiful. I saw it in Chicago, and actually Damien and George are going to be coming to the Pinball Profile World Tour event, but I've got to check out the facility. Yeah, Damien is an absolute great guy, and so is Greg, the software guy. And kind of through Haggis Pinball and the podcast and me running tournaments, he has rocked up to pretty much every, not every, but a lot of tournaments this year, and he actually got the last seed at the Victorian State Champs, so he's becoming a good player as well. unfortunately he can't make it because he's quite busy building machines but yeah I've been to the facility it's very impressive I met the artist you know I helped out doing some odd jobs around the place you know when you walk in there were you the model for the ogre it looked like you know what I thought that unibrow was yeah okay go on I'm the girl I'm the girl with the take it easy wrong show kid at least there's no monkey there right all right fair enough no anyway yes haggis pinball amazing order your uh pinball from haggispinball.com yeah it's a it's a great machine i've played it the software is is pretty advanced for you know you can say single level playfields um machines uh you know people say oh tna was quite simple yeah this this probably has more rules than a lot of the uh pinball machines with ramps so if you want to order it haggispinball.com damien will help you out. Mention the code RyanPimbleProfile for at least 2% off. We're going to have Damien on very soon because I'm going to be going there, as I mentioned, and he's also coming. So we'll hear kind of a recap of what happens there in Melbourne. So you've kind of dusted off the mic a little bit and come on this podcast. I've heard you on Twip as well, and of course, many times on Head to Head. Are you going to get back into podcasting, Ryan? I know that's the question on everyone's mind. No.
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    I'll jump on a podcast every once in a while, but I don't really want it to be part of my weekly routine. It's a lot of pressure, and there's a lot of – it can be kind of stressful, and it's been talked about before by you and Dennis Grizzle from the Eclectic Gamers podcast. Keeping yourself to a weekly podcast is – It's insanity. It's not insanity, but – No, can't do it. Yeah. I think there are enough podcasts that do it quite seriously. Respect to all those that do it weekly, but I'm not going to be tied down to this, as this is not a full-time job. It is a great hobby, and you have to enjoy doing it. You might get eight episodes a month. You might get four, but it's kind of at my leisure, and that's what will keep me going strong and doing it. The others, you just said it yourself. You just said it. Kind of the burnout factor, the The difficulty, the grind, it wears on people. It wears on you. And I guess, as I said, it was for us every Monday night. So I knew that for now until whenever I quit the podcast, which I never wanted to do, it was every single Monday night for the rest of my life I was going to be doing this. And it was fun. Then you have a little bit of a break and you're like, well, now I can do this. And life, as you know, Jeff, is all about balance. and I struggle with balance sometimes, I guess. When I do something, I don't do it half-heartedly. So I guess I got a little bit too much into podcasting. I had to take a step back. Well, we enjoyed when you were on it. It was a lot of fun. Here's an example. I'm doing this today. Do I really want to be doing this? I'm like, no, not really. I'll pretend like I like Ryan, but I'll fake it. But I don't want to fake it all the time. You know what I mean? What time is it there, Jeff? It's 1.40 a.m. Exactly. It's so crazy. Can you imagine telling your work colleagues or just some random person, oh, what are you doing in your spare time? I do a pinball podcast. By the way, I was recording one at 2 a.m. with some guy in Australia. It's kind of weird, right?
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    That's a good point. Yeah. I guess the best part is that me and Marty are now lifelong friends because of it, and we had so much fun regardless of people poking fun of us laughing too much and not taking things seriously. once you come to Australia Jeff that's you'll learn that that's what Australians are like regardless of how dire a situation is um the way that Australians survive I guess is through the commonality of our um our humor and being able to just say you know she'll be right and uh and moving on our countries are very similar that way when it comes to laughter being the best medicine so and I think that's why you and I kind of talk for those who may not know almost every single day. Yes, Jeff, you've helped me out with a lot of things over the last year or so, including fixing my pool. Guys and girls, if you're listening and need some advice on how to clear algae from your pool just call Jeff Diolos Well first of all you call it algae not algae I don know what algae is Is that like the sequel to Algar It algae Say it with me Algae Algae That what it called By the way, say the word popsicle for me. It doesn't exist, Jeff. That's not a word in Australia. Everybody listening to this podcast, and I'd say 80% are North Americans, know what a popsicle is. But when I was, I don't know, FaceTiming you or something like that, and I'm seeing you eat something, what's that in your mouth? and you said it's an ice pop? Ice pop. Icy pole. What's the deal with pop and cola and soda pop? It's not soda pop. It's, oh, gosh. You call it an icy pop? An icy pole. We don't use the word pop in anything unless you're popping a balloon. An icy pole. What do you call a Coke? A soda? You call Coke Coke because that's what it is, Jeff. What if I say what kind of soda do you have or what kind of pop do you have? Pop's very Canadian. Maybe that's what it is. Soda. They call them soft drinks. Soft drinks. I'm not sure where the soft comes from. Nobody says soft drinks. That's two words. In Australia, they do. On the menu, you'll see soft drinks. You won't see soda or pop. Pop doesn't exist at all. Listen, I know it's going to be hotter than you-know-what there because it's your summertime right there. I'm not asking, as much as I love eating popsicles here and ice cream, I'm not going to ask for an icy pole. Do you have, well, you can ask for the brand. There's a brand here that kind of like almost has a monopoly on the market called AzubaDuba. You can ask for AzubaDuba if you want. That's not even a real word. Well, of course it's not a real word. It's a brand. You can't even say McDonald's in Australia. Well, we call it Macca's. You actually have ads that run that say, come to Macca's for a Big Mac. You can't say McDonald's? We can say McDonald's. It's just, it's a lot of syllables. Macca's just sounds better. What people in the U.S. call it, what, Mickey D's? Mickey D's, that's fine. Again, it's a short form of McDonald's. Yeah, Macca's. You've taken the Donald out of it when you say Macca's. Australians are very lazy, and what they... I'm gathering. What they do is they get the first letter of your last name, right? Like if it's a guy called Mr. McDonald's or something, like, hey, Macca, how are you going? I've got a mate called Dave McKinnon. He's Macca. Everyone just calls him Macca. So I guess you'll be... Tacker? No. we'll find we'll find another name for you jeff maybe olive king so you're going to introduce me inside story ask me in person so if you're introducing me somebody named mr williams i'm gonna go hey whacker what's up he's gonna punch me in the mouth what hey what's well okay there's simple things like um jumper you know about that right you call your your sweater a jumper which You probably won't need when you come because you're coming in the middle of summer. I was going to bring thongs, but you told me those are sandals or flip-flops. Yeah, flip-flops. I'm not bringing either. Don't worry. Bathers? Do you call them bathers there or do you call them like swimmers or something or trunks? Trunks, swimsuits. How about budgie smugglers? I know what that is, yes. Well, I will learn the language, whatever it is. But what I really want to know about is that the safety of everyone is on the forefront of everybody on this side of the planet, wondering what it's like there. You know, New South Wales certainly has seen the most. Victoria, and that's where you are, the second most. There's even a lot, even in Western Australia, as of right now, over 2,000 homes have been lost. I mean, in Canada, there's a lot of forest fires in BC, but not in highly populated areas. California, the last two falls have just been devastating. And here we're seeing it. I think your transport minister said it's like an atomic bomb has gone off. Nearly 500 million birds, reptiles, mammals have sadly been killed in New South Wales. It's pretty bad. I mean, I know you're in a safe spot there in Melbourne, but you even told me like the skies are pretty hazy. Yeah, looking out the window today, the visibility is pretty poor and the air quality is pretty Paul, because, you know, the wind, I guess the wind is the biggest one here. It is extremely dry. 2019 was the hottest ever recorded temperatures in New South Wales where, you know, it's most affected. And the combination of it being extremely dry and the wind, they pretty much can't stop the fires, Jeff. And to grasp how big the area is that has been devastated by fires, It's kind of about the size of Ireland for those people in Europe. And I was trying to find a state that had a similar size because it's – but I couldn't find a list of state sizes by hectares. But basically it's Connecticut, which is a smallish kind of state in the U.S. It's six times the size of that. So six Connecticut's have burnt down to the ground. And I know there's been a lot of support. Celeste Barber has, through her social media, raised these millions and millions of dollars, and the money goes to the New South Wales Fire Service. But a lot of people are stepping up now. But, I mean, money's great. It's certainly going to help people rebuild. But putting up these fires, that's the key right now. Yeah, there's a lot of help coming from other countries. I think you mentioned before we started recording that even the Canadian firefighters are heading down to help out. California, big time? Yep. So everyone's, you know, all Australians appreciate any help, any monetary aid that you guys can supply to help those devastated by the fires. But at the same time, you know, you've just got to kind of like cross your fingers and hope that the weather changes so that, you know, some rain can come in. And I mean, this is a they call it the fire season and other countries have it as well. And sometimes it doesn't reach, you know, the global new scale because, you know, it happens every year and it stops. but I'm pretty sure this is the worst one in over 10 years. It's certainly probably longer than that. There's debates about climate change and what we can do to stop it, but I guess that kind of at the moment detracts from stuff on the fires at the moment and financial aid. Yeah. I certainly hope the weather changes and assists all the firefighters. We're going to put on our Facebook page and Twitter and our Instagram page some of the places if you'd like to donate to, and there certainly are quite a few, but we've got a few of them listed that we'll put on there. And, yeah, let's hope things get settled. It's expected to be hot there right now. You're not surprised that, you know, in your summer season that it's like this, but the fires, I mean, that's a whole other story, and hopefully this will get contained at the very least. Yeah, if you're thinking of traveling to Australia and traveling to a major city, you know, the major cities are safe. You know, the fires can't burn through, you know, the suburban kind of city CBD areas. But Australia, everyone thinks that Australia is small because our population is, you know, maybe 25 million or so. Australia is almost as big as the U.S. It is the mainland, yeah. Yeah, except, you know, the population is less than one-tenth. So we are all kind of around the, you know, the borders and the coast. But this is the area and there's still dozens of people that have lost their lives and the wildlife effect is pretty damn big. So, yeah, if you can link some places to donate, Jeff, that'd be great, including maybe the RSPCA, which will help with all of the displaced animals as well. I saw that Steve Irwin's family, Bindi, and the rest of them were rescuing. I think they've rescued almost 100,000 animals too. So they're doing their part. But still, I mean, it's just such a huge, huge area. So we'll put those links on there. Ryan, I will see you. I'll see you soon, Jeffy boy. It's going to be a lot of fun. And by the way, thank you for not participating in the Pinball Profile World Tour and actually TDing it and doing the software so that everyone else can enjoy it. So I appreciate you giving us your home and not playing in the tournament. I think that was really kind of you. Did I say something? Keep it cool, Jeff Tacker. That is not happening.
    34:27
    All right, Cacker? Thanks, Ryan. All the best, buddy. See you soon. See you. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at pinball profile, emails, pinball profile at gmail.com. Please subscribe on your favorite podcatcher and check us out on Instagram at pinball profile. And please check our links too, to see how you can help with the new South Wales fires that are happening right now in Australia. I'm Jeff Teoles.
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    you