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Rachel Ristow of the Ray Rae Show - Episode 15

JBS Show·podcast_episode·46m 25s·analyzed·Feb 1, 2024
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.035

TL;DR

Rachel Ristow shares her competitive pinball journey, streaming role, and community involvement since 2019.

Summary

Rachel Ristow, a Wisconsin-based competitive pinball player and commentator, discusses her journey into competitive pinball since 2019, her current world ranking of 505th overall and 116th among women, and her role as a streamer/commentator for Fox City Pinball Stream. She shares her travel experiences to pinball events, her love of the community and people within the hobby, and how she transitioned into podcasting with the Ray Rae Show on Poor Man's Pinball Network.

Key Claims

  • Rachel achieved a ranking of 505th in the world and 116th among women as of the date of recording

    high confidence · Rachel states she looked up her rankings today; mentioned new WPPR format with top 15 tournaments counting as of January 2024

  • Rachel ended 2023 as the 12th woman overall in open division, securing her ticket to Women's World Championship in March

    high confidence · Rachel explicitly states this achievement and notes it as her proudest pinball accomplishment

  • Rachel has been playing competitive pinball since September 2019 when she visited District 82 (formerly Titletown Pinball)

    high confidence · Rachel clearly states she first visited District 82 in September 2019 and 'have not left'

  • Fox City Pinball Stream commentary has been Rachel's primary driver for improving her competitive play over the last two years

    high confidence · Rachel directly attributes her skill improvement to time spent in the commentary booth, learning rule sets and watching how other players nudge and control games

  • Rachel started commentating for tournaments in late summer 2020 at a four-player pin skins event at District 82

    high confidence · Rachel recalls Tom asking her to commentate and meeting Ian and Drew from Poor Man's Pinball Podcast for the first time at this event

  • Rachel commentated for three consecutive Super Series tournaments

    high confidence · Rachel states she decided to commentate for the first Super Series as a learning opportunity and continued for three years

  • Houston Arcade Expo operates under a 'no jerk policy' and hosts 'Week of Whoppers,' a week-long series of tournaments with Burger King and McDonald's themed decorations

    high confidence · Jamie describes the week of whoppers with helium tube decorations (repurposed McDonald's/Burger King balloons) and notes it's a 4X multiplier event that runs throughout the city for seven days

  • Rachel attended UK Open previously and had a positive experience despite not enjoying the card format

Notable Quotes

  • “I have not left. I mean I have left, but it just was unbelievable just to that place is incredible.”

    Rachel Ristow @ early in conversation — Describes her transformative first experience at District 82 in 2019, establishing it as her home pinball community

  • “Pinball Rachel, talk about myself in third person... I didn't realize that there was this finesse of that... now my nudging has gotten better... I tilt less.”

    Rachel Ristow @ mid-conversation — Reflects on her game evolution and explains her screen name 'Rach Tilt,' demonstrating self-awareness about her learning progression

  • “The number one thing that I think has made me a better player because I've learned more about games, about the rule set of games... is the time that I've spent in the booth at District 82.”

    Rachel Ristow @ mid-conversation — Explicitly identifies commentating as her primary skill development tool, distinguishing it from personal practice

  • “I'm much more proud of one other fact about my pinball stuff... I ended 2023 as 12th woman overall in open division.”

    Rachel Ristow @ mid-conversation — Demonstrates that community/ranking achievement matters more to Rachel than raw world ranking, showing different values in competitive play

  • “It's not just the place, it's the people. Pinball is all inclusive. It's not just the place, it's the people.”

    Rachel Ristow @ discussing travel experiences — Core philosophy statement about what makes pinball special to her; repeated emphasis shows centrality to her experience

  • “I really don't know you know if i could really say anything about the impact of pinball content, I mean besides like pinball being on the front page of Twitch that was pretty cool, 10,000 views but like I don't know if any of the pinball content really makes a dynamic impact to the rest of the world.”

    Rachel Ristow @ discussing growth of pinball — Expresses skepticism about pinball streaming's mainstream impact, suggesting growth comes from other factors (location play, discovery)

Entities

Rachel RistowpersonJamie VirchelpersonDistrict 82organizationFox City Pinball StreamorganizationPoor Man's Pinball PodcastorganizationRay Rae ShowproductHouston Arcade Expo

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Houston Arcade Expo operates explicitly under a 'no jerk policy' with dedicated event infrastructure (Week of Whoppers) and intentional community culture building

    high · Jamie states: 'we just have this no jerk policy here and we really implement it especially at the wormhole... we have such a really good vibe here in houston'

  • ?

    community_signal: Youth participation (ages 10-15) in competitive pinball is notable and viewed positively by community members

    medium · Rachel: 'I really, really like that there's so many quote-unquote youth, young adults that are playing... there are some really great young players between the ages of like 10 and 15 that can just blow things up'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Dead bounce control and trust are emerging as critical competitive skill pillars alongside nudging finesse

    medium · Rachel extensively discusses dead bounce learning, specific examples (Creature of the Black Lagoon), and how understanding when NOT to flip is game-changing

  • ?

    content_signal: Commentary and streaming roles are primary drivers of competitive skill development, more so than personal practice

    high · Rachel: 'the number one thing that I think has made me a better player... is the time that I've spent in the booth at District 82... I absorb information more when I'm sitting there in the hot seat'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Entry barrier to streaming/commentary is low due to mentorship approach ('you just come on in, we learn together'), facilitating new talent development

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.139

0:00
Hello and welcome to our podcast called Wormhole Pinball Presents. My name is Jamie Virchel and today I am joined by Wisconsin's one and only Rachel Ristow. How are you, Rachel? I am great. How are you, Jamie? I'm really good. Welcome to the Wormhole Virtually. You were here in Houston in 2022. It's the first time I met you. Yes. We were in the tournament room at Space City, and you were handing out cheese curds. Do you remember that? I doubt you do.
0:32
It was no problem for me to fly with five pounds of cheese curds, so that was good. They were pretty darn good. I'm not going to lie to you. They were really good. Yeah. Well, I'm planning on coming down there again this year in 2024. So I did my room, so now I'm just waiting for the tournaments to open so I can get registered and come down again. And that was the best. Still to date, I think, and I've done a lot of traveling pinball stuff, but I still think to date that was the best expo they've been to. Oh, wow. Thank you so much. Are you going to TBF this year too? No, I am not.
1:10
You know, part of that is the style of tournament and the amount of people that are there. I'd like to experience it at some point, but it's not this year. No problem. No, no, no. I'm so glad you're coming to Houston again. It is a blast, right? I mean, the Expo itself is a blast. And then the tournament's really great. We had a really phenomenal Wesley Johnson one in 2023, and that turned out really great, and we were all yelling. And then they partied all night and stayed for the women's finals the next morning. So it's fun. It's a nonstop party. And when I talk about it, I tell people, I'm like, this is a show where you can get a tattoo at. it's a show that has live music that has a band or djs it's they have their yacht rock midnight toast i don't know if they still do that but oh yeah it's like a traditional thing they bring in um is it denny's or ihop is it ihop yeah last year was denny's so they brought in i think 25 or 30 grand slams or something even more than that at like three in the morning or something i don't But it's really such, it's like a festival more than an expo is a great way to describe it. And the reason, not only just that, outside the pinball and all that, the people in Texas when I was down there were like the nicest folks ever. Just so warm and inviting. And you invited me to come onto the stream. That was so cool. yeah i i think we have a really good vibe here in houston i think the pinball community has a pretty good vibe um but in houston our uh patriarchs and matriarchs that run the the houston arcade expo and that run space city pinball we just have this no jerk policy here and we really implement it especially at the wormhole because last time you were here we couldn't get you in we did so people that don't know when you come this to houston you don't want to just come for the friday saturday sunday space you really want to try to get there for half the week at least because it's called the week of whoppers and we have this burger king head that's at the wormhole and if you come to the wormhole you'll see the bird king head we have a mcdonald's and a bird king and something else on the way uh and these were um helium tubes when you would fill the McDonald's. You fill a balloon at McDonald's at the plate room in the back, right? Yeah, right. We have these things at the wormhole. Why not, right? For the week of Whoppers, which starts here, it's usually a 4X here, and then it goes all the way throughout the city. You didn't have a chance to come to the wormhole that time. Try. This time, I'll even open it up for you. You just come. oh i'm so excited because i've seen a photos you i think the wormhole did it recently hosted women's state correct that's right you did okay it's so awesome and i saw a couple other photos finally really of the inside of it and it really looks like an amazing place so i would be so honored to be able to to make it there i did play a warm-up tournament last year or whatever we wanted to call it i guess during the week of whoppers but that was so exciting and so I have been looking at that again for this week and looking at the different things and I'm really trying to carefully calculate my vacation time so I can go down there and play I like to play that Wednesday or Thursday night too if I can because it's a great opportunity especially for the competitive player it's almost like this undisclosed little secret right?

high confidence · Rachel states she would go back to UK Open 'in a heartbeat' and emphasizes that pinball travel is about both the games and the people

“He goes, yeah, you're Rachel Try Multiball... my jaw like, ah, Jamie, you know. I'm still a fan girl.”

Rachel Ristow @ discussing Ray Rae Show origins — Shows Rachel's continuing admiration for established figures in the community despite her own elevated status

  • “I'm like, well, okay. But I feel like I'm such an idiot because of Rookie Rachel... he's like, you just come on in. We learn together. And he is so right.”

    Rachel Ristow @ discussing entry into commentating — Demonstrates Tom Graff's mentorship approach and Rachel's self-doubt overcome through community encouragement

  • “There's a hidden community of nice people here that I can hang out with and play these awesome games and no game is really the same.”

    Jamie Virchel @ discussing what hooked him to pinball — Captures the essence of what attracts people to competitive pinball beyond the machines themselves

  • “I think pinball is also something where it's either you love it or you're just kind of about it... either you're crazy about it or you're just... you could take it or leave it.”

    Rachel Ristow @ discussing growth and passion — Philosophical observation about the binary nature of pinball enthusiasm and community self-selection

    • event
    Wormholeorganization
    Tom Graffperson
    Tim Hoodperson
    UK Openevent
    Women's World Championshipevent
    Ian and Drewperson
    Tim Leeperson
    Raymondperson
    Amy Cushingperson
    John Spatesperson
    IE Pinballorganization
    JDLorganization
    Super Seriesevent
    Poor Man's Pinball Tribeorganization

    high · Tom Graff's approach: 'he's like, you just come on in. You know, we learn together. And he is so right because chat is also... always there for me'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Some skepticism about mainstream impact of pinball streaming and content, despite growth in pinball participation

    medium · Rachel: 'I don't think that the pinball content really makes a dynamic impact to the rest of the world... I think pinball is also something where it's either you love it or you're just kind of about it'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Multi-day/week-long tournament series (Week of Whoppers format) preferred over traditional single-weekend tournaments by certain player segments

    medium · Rachel specifically mentions calculating vacation time to play multiple days/nights of Week of Whoppers; describes it as 'seven days worth of tournaments' which creates scheduling appeal

  • ?

    venue_signal: District 82 (formerly Titletown Pinball) has maintained stable, loyal player base (approximately 40-45 core players) over multi-year period

    high · Rachel: 'it has been the same core of like 40 to 45 people that have been playing forever together and i think that's such a special thing too'

    • 5:00
    The week of Whoppers is really cool. Yeah. Who else? I mean, I know, like, because people know me. I play at a lot of District 82. And so there are big tournament events, a lot of tournaments in a short amount of time sometimes, or four days or maybe five. But it's never anything more than that. So to have, like, basically everybody come together and create, I don't know, seven days worth of, it's got to be, right? Seven days worth of tournaments. That's amazing. so I think it's just such a cool opportunity and I can't wait to come play I wish I could come spend the whole week there but I also have oh too you know work I mean we gotta work we got things we gotta do right uh so you do travel a lot for competitive pinball I mean let's let's start with the origin story right like I like to start how did you get into this crazy world that's competitive pinball and you could sprinkle in one you started playing regularly sure um well the first time well like the pinball origin story is that my first pinball machine that I ever played I was 12 or 13 I was on roller skates at my local skating rink called big wheel and it was the Adams family so that is a grail game and that is a game that anytime I see it I want to play it but as far as the competitive side of it I kind of forgot about pinball uh until we had a doctor who at the local arcade, there was a fishtails where I played at the campground, things like that. Kind of forgot about it, and then I went to Columbus, Ohio to visit my cousin Amy Custing that lives out there who's a competitive player, and she had a couple of games in her record shop and at home, and we talked about it and we played a little bit. And I really had such a fun time that when I came back here, she's like, well, if you're really interested, there's this place called Tidal Town Pinball that opened in the Green Bay area, and you should go check it out. and so I did and that was in September of 2019 and I walked in there and I have not left I mean I have left but it just was unbelievable just to that place is incredible if you've not made the if people have not made the check there it's really worth it and I'm always happy to help people like to plan their trip for xyz because it's in a weird location in the state in order to get to and all of that. Unless I digress. So District 82 is just such a beautiful place to play. The games play unbelievable. But it's not just that, right? It's not just the never-ending puzzle that pinball is. It's also about the people. And we've talked about community before. And the community at District 82 is fantastic. And I find that there's, I'm like, so if we've got this going on here, at District 82 and this is great, we're friends we're like a pin family it's amazing like you know i've hung out with some of the ladies and and fellas too outside of pinball we didn't play pinball you know we go and do other things too you know you can as a as i'm gonna make like a little sidetrack here that as an adult fantastic way to meet new people is to pick up a hobby and i always suggest pinball when i have friends and they're like you know i haven't met anybody new in a while and i'm like well you should come on to a pinball tournament with me you'll meet crazy misfits and weirdos and lovely people just you wait you know um and in and most if not all of them are so welcoming to all of our differences that i love it uh i really do very rarely do we get that person that's uh well we just don't have the jerk policy you know it's just there's no need for it not in pinball We're having fun, right? And I think that there's also sometimes a trend of people that they get on the negative bandwagon about X, Y, and Z in pinball. And that's not good either because why? I mean, I don't have that kind of energy.
    8:57
    No, I don't either as you are also a content creator. We'll get into that. But I don't like to spew anything negative, really, because I'm not really a negative person, one. And two, there's just so many great things about what we're doing and what's going on in the community that I'd rather not spend any time on anything really negative. I agree. so anyways that's really excuse me to answer that question that really is the way that I got into the hobby is via my cousin and with her encouragement but it was really just again the people were so kind Eric Thorne and Tom Graff and Eric Strangeway the very first day I was there I met them and they were so nice and also Beth Chafka and Tara Hengem and the women that I've been playing you know District 82 is special just like I think so many pinball communities are but it has been the same core of like 40 to 45 people that have been playing forever together and i think that's such a special thing too i don't know i think it makes me a better player as well yeah well i mean we'll talk about that hold on a second here you are you've only been playing since 2019 since 2019 that's right have it in my notes here you are 505th in the world As of today. As of today, because I looked today. I looked today, and then 116th in the ladies and the women's. Yeah, and that's great. I wish my women's rank was higher, but as I run women's pinball stuff, I often don't play it, or I'm just not so focused. It's very hard to focus. I think it's tough to TD and play. I don't TD, so I have no idea, but commentating play is also very, very difficult. Yeah. That's my excuse. That's my excuse, Rachel, of why I'm 2,400 or 2,500.
    10:53
    No, I'm really happy, though, even though that's my women's rank. And I know if I wanted to improve it, I could. But my overall rank at 505 today, that feels really good, especially with the new Whopper version that came out in January of 2024, that it's only your top 15 tournaments and your Whopper efficiency and everything that ties into that, I'm really happy that I'm still right there around the 500 mark. But I will say I am much more proud of one other fact about my pinball stuff. It's hard for me to say stuff like that, but here I go. I really excited because I ended 2023 as 12th woman overall in open division so that helped me punch my ticket ticket to go play women world championship in march and that to me being able to i played it the year before and this year i feel like i'm a much more experienced player i have better skills i've developed better skills i have better knowledge again like you know it's like an upgrade sometimes and playing pinball. Yeah, so I'm more excited about being 12th woman overall in the world and working towards being a single digit.
    12:05
    I think that would be a cool goal, too. It's tough. The women that play, they are a bunch of badasses. Holy moly. At a level, you know. They're not just great women players. They're great players. You guys are great players. Absolutely. Well, I'm talking about the other women that are in the open division with me. Like, it's hard for me to improve my rank because the other players that I'm playing against are so freaking good, you know. So that's why I meant that. No, no, no. What do you attribute your steady, you know, from going from starting to 505 in the world? Like, what was the aha moment in your pinball competitive world that kind of went, okay, if I dead bounce more, if I really concentrated on looking at these shots? Or what was the skill set that kind of helped you? Nudging, what was it? Or all the other things? I think it's twofold. We'll talk about the nudging and skills, yes. But I think the first thing is all the commentary I do for Fox City's pinball stream. That is the number one thing that I think has made me be a better player because I've learned more about games, about the rule set of games. Not only, but figuring out how people, watching other people nudge a game, watching other people choose to let the ball come all the way around the orbit, come hit the bottom of the flipper and just pops over to the other, and they're so trustworthy, you know, learning things like that. So I think that's the number one thing that really has helped my play, especially in the last two years, is the time that I've spent in the booth at District 82. And I think that when I'm in the booth, it's a much more, and maybe this is the same for you, Jamie, where I feel like I absorb information more when I'm sitting there in the hot seat versus me sitting at home watching the stream.
    14:05
    Absolutely. 100%. I just have not been able to twofold. Here's my problem. I haven't been able to take that knowledge and really put up better scores on the tournaments. And also, I like doing this much more, so I don't practice. Okay, so like I'll fool around and I'm, do I ever want to get in the top 1,000? I just don't see me putting in the time to be able to do that truthfully. I just really love this. And in between rounds, I'm messing with these things and these axons and all this. I understand. It's also a huge distraction while they're trying to play. So when Tom wins things or he comes in, like, fourth at big events or something, I'm so stoked for him because I know how difficult it is. I'm so glad that I can be there. It's like the Super Series. I'm so glad that I can be in the booth so he can, even if he's moving the rig, that's all he's doing is moving the rig or telling me the game, and then I'm doing the rest of the stuff so that he can go play. And I like doing that because he deserves to play as a player, as well.
    15:15
    So anyway, so Fox City's Pinball Stream. If you don't know it, go find it. Oh my gosh, you guys are the goats. You and IE. I mean, it's you, IE and JDL. That's what I... And now I've done it. I've gotten the three of you on and I can rest now. I don't have to do any more anymore. I finally got Fox City's, IE, Pinball and JDL, who I adore, JDL. Man, they are the nicest people over in Germany. I met them at the UK Open, and then I ran into them somewhere else, too, before that. But, yeah, wonderful people. So nice and funny. They're both very witty and funny. Oh, yeah, very witty. Go ahead. I was going to say I was going to answer because it's a two-fold question. So the other thing, the skills, yes, the nudging definitely has gotten better in terms of I figure based on a modern or classic, I nudge games differently, I've noticed. and then the other thing like you said is the dead bones I have tried so hard that was my number one goal in 2023 is to just put that trust into it and I can't tell you how many times I got screwed by the knuckle do you know what I mean yeah and it slides down and it's like ah but that's always something I learn for the next game so the dead bones control and controlling chaos that way, that's been a huge game changer for me as well. It's the trust that you said. Yeah. And then, you know, it's not only learning when the dead bounce is, it's learning when not to and learning which being says to you, nope. You know, Creature of the Black Lagoon, that dead bounce coming from Move Your Car was one of my first aha moments that the one we had here would bounce off the right flipper. I could trap it on the left and I could move cars all day.
    17:12
    But it was that trust. It was not to flip the right flipper. Let it do its bounce. Yeah, it's incredible. And how much that opened my game up. And then I was having longer ball times and really being able to, you know, take the breath and take the shot because now I've got the ball trapped. Things like that. So, yeah, it's great to think back. about, if people, people that have known me since the beginning of Pinball Rachel, talk about myself in third person, they would say, and there's a reason why my name is Rach Tilt, that's my screen name and yada yada, is because when I first started playing, I didn't realize that there was this finesse of that, and so I felt like the nudging and everything had to be much harder in order to grab things under control, and now my nudging has, I don't, I did tilt last night, district at tilt and tuesday but that was on me because demolition man whatever wasn't much bonus it's not a big deal but uh but i tilt less and so i think that it's finding the finesse of that that nudge um has been a really big part of it as well that's awesome advice for people uh and every time i have a great player like yourself i just especially someone that has really they get the aha moments if you will i always want to pick your brain and say hey how did what was the aha for it was it nudging was it bouncing was it a combination so yeah your vault yeah so you travel a lot for pinball like we were talking about earlier let's talk some spots that you've been to and that you really loved and want to get back to have have you been to the vfw i have not in michigan yeah i have not um i was actually just there this past weekend and i played is it Ulex pinball store an arcade that's in Monroe, Michigan and it's in a mall and they streamed it, I think it's Yipsy Pinball they streamed it, it was crazy craziest thing, that was a neat place to go but when I was there people asked me if I'd been to the VFW I said no I've not and I don't think I'll have time for that this year or pinball at the zoo I'd like to go to those things though I've got a whole bunch yeah let's talk about it What are your favorite, like, if you could only go to five or six events, I mean, where are you going? Well, if money was no issue. Sure, let's just have fun with it. I would go back to the U.K. Open in a heartbeat because that was, it was a very brutal format that I don't like the card format, but I would go back because I had such a fun time and it was a great trip all in all.
    19:52
    So I guess that's less about pinball. That's okay. Pinball is all about, it's all inclusive. It's not just the place, it's the people. I would like to do either like I think ZapCon in Arizona or I'd like to go to I would like to go play a tournament at the Mono Harney's new Pinball Palace that she opened you know there's like so many cool locations I'd like to go replay Florida get out to Colorado and check out there's a huge scene there oh my gosh we have to talk about seattle uh and washington and the scene that's out there there's so many great places to go play uh my problem is i keep having people on the podcast and then they say hey when you coming over here so now i've already committed myself somehow to germany i'm going to memphis and check out lipstream i'm going to this this this and my wife's looking at me like what are you talking about you're not going to these places well last year I did do a little bit of traveling. I was able to go to Sweden and the UK.
    21:02
    I had a fun time. I also went to North Carolina, South Carolina at the beginning of the year and played a couple tournaments. What I found is I like to travel as Rachel as a person, and pinball I found last year in 2023 that it was really fun to travel to different places I've never been in the world.
    21:21
    Then I kind of played pinball by proxy. That was the secondary to the point of the trip. So the point was like, I went to North Carolina and spent two nights in the middle on the side of the mountain, literally one river coming off the mountain. You know, it was beautiful. It's tiny, tiny little cabin was amazing. With no reception, nothing away from everybody. It was great. But then I also traveled down the mountain and played a bunch of tournaments because they're in the area. So it's like it's the for me, it's getting the balance of the pinball, stress and fun.
    21:56
    Yeah. A pinball can be stressful, right? But also getting the fun of a new adventure, a new ground under my feet, that kind of thing. Me and Tim and John Spates, we kind of make up the guise of the Wormhole, if you will. And we went on a river trip to Idaho. Nice. Our five days, no cell, no nothing. What did we do when we got out? Well, we went to the Idaho Pinball Museum. and we went that night. Rachel, we were so darn tired. I felt so bad. They opened it up and they were doing tech night. We came in on their tech night and we could only last 45 minutes. We were so darn tired. That's a neat place. There's just so many, right? There's so many neat places.
    22:44
    I went to the Appalachian Pinball Museum, the Asheville Pinball Museum. You know, even the one that's in Las Vegas, that's a good pinball museum, too, if you look at it as a museum versus an arcade. There are some just really, really neat places to play. So it's kind of like Pokemon, like collect them all. I want to play them all.
    23:07
    Are you going anywhere in 2024 Any other place Where are you planning to go this year Yeah I hoping to get to Arizona April or May and I'm going to go play Hangar Pinball in Tulsa. I'm pretty sure it's Tulsa, Oklahoma. They are having an event in early July, and I put that on my calendar. There's some guys that came up to District 82, and they're like, we're doing this thing, and it's going to be our first or maybe it's an annual big tournament that's coming up and we'll invite you. And sure enough, the organizer sent me a real nice invitation to go play it, so I'm going to get that set on the calendar.
    23:50
    I'm going to try to – I'll probably travel a little bit to Iowa or Michigan or Minnesota. This year I have to laugh a little bit because after playing Women's State this year, I've decided maybe I should go try to punch my ticket in another state so that I can go play the Nationals tournament. So, I mean, that's revealing my hand a little bit, but if you pay attention to anybody's IP page, you'll know that they're, you know, obviously playing in other places. So I think that that's going to be, like, some of the short-term goals.
    24:24
    But I'm very excited. And most of all is that I'm going to come down to Houston. So that's in November. That's awesome. Yeah. What do you attribute to Pinball's growth over the last five, since you've seen it in 2019? What do you attribute, especially on the streaming end, on all of it?
    24:46
    To the growth? What do I attribute to the growth of Pinball? Yeah. What's going on? We've gotten a lot more popular, don't you think? Yeah, I think that it's definitely gotten popular. I think that it is people, maybe people are looking for something to do that's social, or people are, or maybe pinball machines, because there's been a resurgence in terms of them being routed and on location, then maybe more people are running into a pinball machine at their local bar, pizzeria, laundromat, mall. they're like what's this pinball thing you know so i think that could be part of it i really don't know you know i don't know if i could really say anything about the impact of i mean besides like i pinball being on the front page of twitch uh that was pretty cool really cool 10 000 views but like i don't know if any of the as much as we all love the pinball content i don't think that the pinball content really makes a dynamic impact to the rest of the world so i don't know what it is you know like maybe it's maybe it's like somebody has had an estate sale and they see this old i don't know like an old em they're like what is this thing they take it home and they get bit i think pinball is also something where it's either you love it or you're just kind of about it i think either you're crazy about it or you're just you know you could take it or leave it it's one way or the other what about you i i think well i got hooked by tim hood i mean he would be i jokingly call him he would be a great cult leader if there was all the pinball because he got me in he got john spates he got so many involved into this uh you know this sport this hobby especially the competitive side because i have no interest in playing competitive pinball zero i just liked hanging out at league nights watching everyone play and on their phones with this app i was it was like 2019 the beginning of 2019 i'm like what are these guys doing man and everyone and then just i got hooked and then they paid my way to a tournament like i just came to watch and they paid my way and said no no you're already in and this guy over here already created this ifpa number you have to remember this number and I was like what is happening what are you people doing to me Rachel I was like what and that was it that was early 2019 and then during COVID we got really hooked right I mean that's how the wormhole came about but uh I don't know that's what I attribute it to it's just great people I was like there's a hidden community of nice people here that I can hang out with and play this these awesome games and no game is really the same what right and every game it's like a puzzle to me that's, you know, it's the people, yes, but each game is so unique, and trying to figure out the ball's going to drop this way, nope, it's going to hit the swing first this time, or like, you know, just it's the setup, and the control, and the controlling of chaos, I'm like, I don't know, I just, I like doing puzzles anyway, so for me, it just feels like it's a natural progression. I also, like, really, really like that there's so many quote-unquote youth, young adults that are playing, which I think that speaks volumes for our hobby, and that there are some really great young players between the ages of, like, 10 and 15 that can just blow things up. That's so exciting to see there. But, you know, I think about that, too, but the parents are probably usually involved anyways in pinball, right? And generally, it's not, like, usually kids, like, see us on Xbox, there's, like, some kind of pinball thing. They're like, I want to go play a real one. I don't think that works like that. But, yeah, it's just such a fun hobby, all in all. How did you get into commentating? Let's shift to your commentating and your commentating. And how did you get into this podcast? Because you're featured on Poor Man's Podcast, right? Yeah, the Ray Ray Show. And the Ray Ray Show. Okay, so, yeah, talk to me. How did this all come about? Okay, so, and I think it was, like, it was late summer of 2020. people were kind of itching for content pinball stuff and staying at home and we all messed up and they played it was a very small tournament that they ran at district 82 it was a pin skins it was four players and it was streamed and uh tom asked if i wanted to come do commentary in the booth and it was three three and it was actually that's the first day that i met the poor men of Four Mates, We Have a Podcast, were there, Ian and Drew. And it was funny because the three of us actually had a really good rapport about commentary, and then I didn't really know who these guys were. And I just had so much fun doing that. And the encouragement from Tom was, you know, like if you wanted to come into the booth to come do it. And I'm like, well, okay. But I feel like I'm such an idiot because of Rookie Rachel, really. Not an idiot, Rookie Rachel. Because I had no idea really how most of these games, there's 115 games there. I don't know how they all play. I don't know all the rules. I still don't know how the super mega fancy bonus works on Harlem Globetrotters. I don't know. You know, and so to me, it seems so scary and overwhelming. But he's like, you just come on in. You know, we learn. We learn together. And he is so right because chat is also, I've got to thank all my people in chat if you're listening to this. I love you and I appreciate you so much because you're always there for me. And I also really love the people that say, Rachel, you sound tired. And I'm like, yep, I sure am. That means I need to get out of the booth and take a walk. You know, it's like that's part of it. So I just caught the bug. And when the first Super Series came around, I just thought this would be such a great learning opportunity. So it's such a selfish thing. So I said to Tom, I'm like, I'll come commentate for the whole thing. And so I did. And I did that for three years. And it was, again, so much fun. And I learned so much. Tom just trusted me. That boils down to. And then in turn, because I met Ian and Drew, I became part and I started listening to their podcast. And I became part of the Poor Man's Pinball Tribe. And because of that, the tribe members, there's 40-ish of us. And I thought it was interesting to get to know these other people that are in the tribe that are just, some people are just generic everyday people in the best of ways. And we also have people that play cool instruments. there's people that are designers pinball designers just a wide variety of different people so Tim Lee my co-host of Tribe Multiball we got together and we did a whole bunch of podcasts interviewing the different tribe members just to get to know the other friends that also enjoy the same silly commentary of the Porn Man's Pinball Podcast so what a cool ass opportunity that was after the first super series second super series I think first or second, doesn't matter. I was talking to Raymond and that was right after I think Try Multiball came out. And Raymond came into the booth the very first, I think it was the first Super Series. He came into the booth, sat down and I knew who he was. I'm still a new player and it freaked me out. And he's like,
    32:17
    I'm like, I introduced myself. He goes, yeah. He goes, yeah, you're Rachel Try Multiball. I'm like, my jaw like, ah, Jamie, you know. I'm still a fan girl but anyways I eventually worked up my nerve to ask him if he would like to do a podcast specifically about competitive pinball he had his do or die podcast that he had done for a long time but I thought it would be interesting to have the commentary from you know a champion of a player versus me at the time really rookie Rachel and so we created a podcast called The Ray Ray Show and that's on the Poor Man's Pinball Network as well. You can just Google that if you so desire. I'm really proud of that because we give, I think, rules about different games. We talk about the pinball travels and shows and tournaments and things that we go to. It's really fun. I really enjoy doing that. I hope people give a listen to that too. Hopefully it helps you with your game. Also, the biggest thing about that is I think that it helps us with our mental game. Like, I like to ask Raymond or he'll or I will talk about this happened, but my head is saying this. And like, how do I do it? How do I do this? You know, because pinball is more than just rules and skills. It's also about the brain and about keeping your brain at Zen, right?
    33:43
    So hard, at least for me. That's the way that I look at it. So that's how I got into the podcasting. And just it's kind of bonkers because I never thought in a million years that I'd have not one but two podcasts about pinball.
    33:59
    It's so cool. And then to be here on another podcast talking about pinball is just the neatest thing. I think you do a phenomenal job on that podcast, especially in the beginning and even going forward of how you pick his brain. I love when you pick his brain because here we have a top ten player in the world. and you're asking him questions that we all want to know, especially if we're trying to get better. And the rapport you two have is outstanding. So congratulations on that and finding a good partner on the mic. It's really awesome. Yeah, he's great. And we've really finally figured out how to narrow it down to right around an hour. It's hard because there's sometimes so much stuff you really want to talk about, the ups and the downs of it and the bad digs that you have the comebacks so sometimes it hard um to to whittle it down but i have to also thank tim lee because he edits that and he has edited 12 episodes for the ray ray show and i just really appreciate that i couldn't i couldn't do anything without the help of other people right no you got to have a team i i have my boy donovan and uh all these guys that really, really helped me and get the wormhole where we're trying to get it. So it's awesome.
    35:19
    What else you have coming up? Any more podcasts you want to do? You started a TV show. Are you doing anything else there?
    35:25
    Oh, no. TV show. I mean, if someone's willing to pitch the right thing. You'd be good for a documentary, a pinball documentary about 82, because I've never been to 82. Oh. and so with all the grief that i'm giving you about not being the wormhole i have got to get a couple of wormholers up to 82 we've got to do it absolutely and i'll roll off the red carpet it is it really is such a phenomenal place to play what i should plug is i do run uh ladies club wisconsin which is a traveling pinball tournament series when i first started playing there really there wasn't any bells and chimes or women's pinball or anything near me and i'm like And I also realized that out of like, you know, 50 players, only five of us were women. So I thought, well, we really need to grow the hobby and get more women into it because I'm having a heck of a lot of fun. A barrel of fun, would you say? I was such a great time that I just decided I jumped up this thing and I asked a couple of different people, will you host something if I put it together? Like, sure. So here we are a couple of years later and I really enjoy it. been able to grow the hobby a little bit that way.
    36:36
    Friends, you know, women that are into the hobby invite their friends, and I do try to post about it. But I'm still trying to find a way to crack into, like, the more generic public in order to get more women into the hobby. But, unless I digress, there is, I mean, running. It's common. Our Belton Times chapter here and the other women chapters throughout Texas are growing exponentially. So that's good. Definitely growing. It's a slow. I feel sometimes at a snail's pace, but then sometimes I think maybe I can do better too. But I'm just so happy to even provide the opportunity for women's pinball. That makes me feel good.
    37:12
    That helps. There wouldn't be a lot of women at Women's State. They'd only have eight players, or it wouldn't be what it is without being able to provide access to those type of tournaments. No question. We're an ally of women's pinball here at the Wormhole, and especially on this podcast. Like one in five, I really want to be women players, and important women in pinball is who I am. Absolutely. I think that those are all great goals. But I am running my largest tournament of the year. It will be May 18th. It's Ladies Flip District 82.
    37:48
    I'm building a women's weekend, slowly but surely. But on Saturday, May 18th, I'm going to do a double header. It will be a 13-round match play followed by a, I think that I did a five-strike classic knockout last year. So it will be the same thing following it because there's so many beautiful classic games there. And those are my two favorite style tournaments to play. And then Friday night, Erica's open. District A2 is open for Flippin' Friday. And I also have now secured a second location on Sunday at the Pinball Barn on the Farm. some friends of mine that have a nice collection that they open up. They're going to open up on that Sunday, so February 18th and 19th. I'll hopefully have three women's tournaments. So I'm very excited to add that one more tournament in. I have no idea of the style of play, maybe max match play. I'm still kind of in the dreaming stage of that portion, but getting rolling on that, getting rolling. So anyway, so if there's any women that are out there looking to come to District 82 to play for the first time, and you want to play an open tournament on Friday and play a bunch of Fimbaldi on Saturday there, please holler at me, message Ladyslip or message me or email me, ladyslipwi at gmail.com. I would love to have you. So I think it's good. That's awesome. I'm so excited that you're coming back to Houston. In fact, in the Space City Open, there's a spot next to me to commentate. I obviously want you to try to win the darn thing. Yeah. if you don't win the thing uh i've already promised the finals away but uh semi-finals or come sit next to me because i think we would be great on the mic together oh i i think so too i would love to do that i think it's such a again such a fun opportunity anytime that folks ask me to come do commentary with them i'm like this is great that's great because they get to learn something new and usually it's often a game that's new to me i'm like okay so now you tell me um i'm also the my third year in the row in a row i'm running the i'm organizing the midwest pinball championship at the midwest gaming classic so it's really the midwest gaming classic pinball championship at mgc that's in milwaukee the first the first weekend in april i do plug that because if you are somebody that's traveling to the show in the Midwest region. If you bring a game, it helps you so much in order for access to that show. It's not at Pinball Expo, but all the pinball manufacturers are generally there. And I run an open tournament that's only 80 players, and I think that opens March 2nd. The pre-registration opens for that. So it's kind of cutthroat, but it's a fun tournament, and it's just like we do five rounds of match play and then we do like a three strike finals afterwards, two sessions of people it's just because it's just a different setting or whatever, but I wanted to plug that because Midwest Gaming Classic is just really it's more than pinball, you can play a whole bunch of tabletop games, there's panels cosplay, it's just a really really cool thing and pinball is kind of like a little cherry on top I think Scott Denise is there usually, oh I love Scott Denise Yeah, it goes on. So that's like my closest big explore or party this spring. And if you're also interested in coming to play or volunteer,
    41:18
    or volunteers, I mean, you know, I got to plug it, Jamie. Got to get volunteers, okay, because it takes a village to run these tournaments. It takes a village. You need TDs, you need rigs, you need whatever, you know, for me. yeah I need 16 pinball machines and I need 10 volunteers and out of those volunteers I need about 4 of those to be TDs because I organize it and do all the things but I don't play it I don't TD because it's just easier if I don't but people always step up so anyways that's Midwest Gaming Classic first weekend in April 2024 those are my big things coming up I'm very excited last question for you think we can get a spot at Pemberg if you got a spot would you go well I'm not going to try for a spot but if I got a spot would I go and it's only how many people this year 100 maybe it's not it's not a lot if 100 people and it's a random draw of people that go and I know that I got a ticket I would probably go I would go to Pindberg and I say that because I don't want to know that like you know Raymond's going to be there to play as much as I love him I wouldn't want to play against him because it's a small not a lot of people means it's a smaller it's not a lot of people with a lot of good players means it's a smaller opportunity for me to do anything as a competitor I see what you're saying yeah I just want to go for the spectacle that is I'd rather go cry at Indisc and I mean that so affectionately but that scares me that's like a much harder monetary card format you know I just can't do the card format I would be way too nervous I would get four scores in and in the fifth I would choke oh yeah or like you have two bad games and you're like I guess I'm just going to finish the card because I should experiment and play those other games I would literally have a panic attack on the floor and in this if I had to do the card system and so what's the point of that I don't need to up my meds I'm just not it's just I'm just not there yet right uh right and I think if Pinberg was a thousand people yes if Pinberg was 300 people yes I would definitely then it would be hands down no worries but I think the smaller amount of people it makes me a little bit more nervous because I'm like I'm probably not going to do that great and if I'm going to make I want to see the spectacle and all of that but I have to think about Rachel as the competitive player and where am I buying my whoppers basically where am I spending my money in order to get my points and so what's going to be the most conducive for me to earn or where is the best place for me to get those points in terms of the other players and that kind of thing so as much as that sucks to have to say that i do have to pay put that to consideration if i play something like pinberg at the current capacity but i will say i'm super excited for them i never had an opportunity to go to the first one for the the original og so to me i think that in a couple years once you really get blown rolling away um i'm i can't wait to make it out there so a question that's going to be incredible and one of the things that we're going to be trying to build here is our Bayou Bash, which is our October tournament that is a mandatory costume. It's a Halloween Bayou Bash. We do a three-day event, and that might be something that we... I do have a roadshow red costume. Well, I mean, it's mandatory, so you'd have to pack it in the bags. You would have to do it, but we'll talk about that some other time. please listen to Rachel wherever podcast media can be streamed and downloaded you are absolute delight I knew this would be a great podcast thank you so much of course you can contact Wormhole at Wormhole Pinball at gmail.com for rental you can follow us on Twitch and YouTube and of course Fox Cities Pinball please follow Fox Cities they are honestly one of the best streaming of competitive pinball that there is there's three of the goats and I finally got my trilogy Thank you, Jamie, so much for the opportunity to be here. I really enjoyed my time chatting with you, and thank you for letting me share my passion about pinball. Love you so much. You're lovely. Thank you so much, and I knew that would come across so easily. So thank you so much, Rachel. You take care, and what an absolute pleasure. You too. All right, take care. Curly hair.
    46:08
    I don't know. I don't know if you're going to win the curly hair contest with me. You have some curly hair. Well, I'm not in the contest. I just want to see it because I didn't know you had curly hair. No, no, I just make everything in no contest, Rachel. I can't help myself. Oh, well, bring it on.