Episode 115: Who is this guy?

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·17m 22s·analyzed·Mar 19, 2018

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

Interview with TPF Wizards champion Robert Byers, a listener-turned-guest competitor.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Robert Byers, winner of the Texas Pinball Festival (TPF) Wizards division and finalist in the Classics, after discovering Robert was a longtime listener of Pinball Profile. The episode covers Robert's tournament victory, his introduction to competitive pinball through Jim Belsito at TPF 2005, his home game collection, and his tournament schedule including upcoming events at Cactus Jacks, NYC Championships, and Pinberg.

Key Claims

Robert Byers won the TPF Wizards final and finished in the Final Four of the Classics division at Texas Pinball Festival
high confidence · Direct statement by Teolis and confirmed by Byers throughout interview
Robert has been attending TPF since 2005 and discovered the event through a Google search while traveling to Dallas
high confidence · Byers explains his origin story: 'I've been going since 2005... I did a Google search what to do in Dallas and Texas Pinball Festival popped up that same weekend'
Jim Belsito defeated Robert in the finals of Robert's first TPF tournament (2005) via loser's bracket, winning 4 games straight on NASCAR
high confidence · Byers recounts: 'this guy comes from the loser's bracket... proceeded to destroy me in four games straight because he had to beat me twice on NASCAR'
Robert's WPPR ranking was 184 a year ago and is now 84th, expected to climb to top 50
high confidence · Teolis states: 'I notice that you currently are 84th... a year ago when we were playing at Bat City, you were 184'
Texas players dominated TPF finals, with Garrett Hayes winning last year and Colin finishing fourth
high confidence · Teolis asks: 'last year it was Garrett Hayes Colin was even fourth and you were ninth last year'
Robert practices with an EM machine (Lancers) with two-inch flippers at home to prepare for classics play
high confidence · Byers states: 'I got an EM at the house now with two-inch flippers, which has been tremendous from a practice standpoint'

Notable Quotes

“I've learned to focus on play the games, not the people. And, you know, we're all a community here.”
Robert Byers @ mid-episode — Response to criticism about his 'D-Generation X' Triple H chop celebration gesture during finals play; demonstrates community-first philosophy
“I did not play bad. I got beat. I would be upset if I just laid an egg out there. But I put up three solid games on three machines, and I just got beat by some great scores and some great players.”
Robert Byers @ early-mid episode — Reflects mature competitive mindset: credits opponents' superior play rather than blaming self in Classics Final Four
“I got nothing to lose. I'm in the top four. Just play the game. Just just play the game.”
Robert Byers @ mid-episode — Describes mindset entering Wizards finals; credits psychological reset and examining tournament field as key to victory
“You picked that because you knew I couldn't, because he was going down the middle and you had a better chance or something, not knowing who he was or anything about competitive pinball.”
Robert Byers @ early-mid episode — Recalls initial frustration with Jim Belsito's machine selection strategy at 2005 TPF; illustrates learning moment about game selection tactics
“I think it's to the point now it's the premier show to go to.”
Robert Byers @ mid-episode — Assessment of TPF's status in pinball tournament landscape after attending since 2005
“If Colin can win it from Austin, Texas last year, I might as well just keep that tradition going and have me win it from Austin, Texas this year.”
Robert Byers @ late-episode — States goal to win Pinberg following Colin's prior year victory, establishing Texas dominance narrative

Entities

Robert ByerspersonJeff Teolisperson Jim Belsitoperson Bowenperson ColinpersonGarrett HayespersonRyan Cperson

Signals

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community_signal: Listener-to-guest conversion: Robert Byers binged-listened to 20+ Pinball Profile episodes starting in December, emailed suggestion for interview, and was subsequently invited on show after TPF victory
high · Teolis reads email exchange: 'you asked if I was coming to TPF... you said do I have a suggestion... I suggested head to head... only a few days later you've whipped through 20 of these podcasts'
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competitive_signal: Texas players (Garrett Hayes, Colin, Robert Byers) dominating TPF tournament structure with strong showing in both Wizards and Classics divisions; suggests regional competitive depth and training culture
high · Teolis notes 'is there a rule in Texas that only a person from Austin can win it'; Byers acknowledges 'in the semifinals... one group of non-Texans and one group of Texans... at least two to represent in the finals'
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design_philosophy: Home game tilt settings calibrated as 'friendly' to allow family play but intentionally harder than typical home setup to prepare for tournament-level machines
medium · Byers: 'I think it's definitely a good idea to set your home games up pretty hard. And then you're downgrading from there when you go to an event'
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event_signal: Texas Pinball Festival confirmed as major tournament with 160-person cap, dual-division format (Wizards/Classics), and visibility through streaming; positioned as 'premier show' in pinball community
high · Teolis: 'It is everyone calls the new Expo TPF, the Texas Pinball Festival'; Byers: 'I think it's to the point now it's the premier show to go to'
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Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.052

0:00

it's time for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teal us you can find our group on facebook we're also on twitter at pinball profile emails pinball profile at gmail.com and please subscribe on either itunes stitcher or google play a mystery guest but i think one you'll enjoy for sure this goes back to february 26th i got an email okay jeff i just finished binge listening to the Slam Tilt Podcasts from one to the current. I started December 5th and you're up now and I'm looking forward to listening to all the Pinball Profile episodes. I said, oh, that's great. You asked if I was coming to TPF. I couldn't because I've got Louisville, Chicago, Denver, and a few other trips. So TPF wasn't in the cards. And you said, do I have a suggestion for the next Pinball Podcast? I suggested head to head. So only a few days later, you've whipped through 20 of these podcasts of mine. Easy to do. And made some neat comments too. And I have to read this one. This one's from March the 6th. It says, Jeff, love the profiles. Just finished episode 57 and really wish I knew about this when you were at Bat City last year. I remember you walking around with a mic and thinking, who does this guy think he is and what is he doing? LOL, awesome stuff. Once I get caught up, if you ever need to fill a spot, I would love to come on the show and shoot the, you know what? I'll be at TPF, Cactus Jacks, New York Championships, Bat City Open, and Pinberg. So hope to see you at one of those. Now back to your show. I wrote, ha ha, for sure you can come on. That was March the 6th. And I have to think there's some assist I should be getting because it gave you a little bit of pinball profile. Karma. I'm talking to Robert Byers, the winner of TPF, Wizards, and also a Final Four for the Classics. Congratulations, Robert. Great to talk you, buddy. Thanks, Jeff. I appreciate you having me on. I just listened to another five or six on the three-hour drive home, so I think I'm up to episode 82, 83. So maybe I'll be able to hear myself talk in another couple of weeks. For sure. And I'm releasing this right away because what an exciting weekend for you. I mean, to win one, great. To be in the top four of two, unreal. And what we're talking about, you're in the final four of the classics, but you won the Wizards final. How exciting was that for you? Oh, it was pretty intense, as you could tell by the Twitch excitement and to have everybody out there cheering for me. I've come in second in a few other circuit events prior to this, so I'm definitely not comparing myself to Josh with the seconds, but it was nice to get a number one at this level of tournament, that's for sure. You have cut up to pinball profiles. You get it. Atta boy. I do get it and I always look forward to when Josh is on just to see uh what the razzing is going to be back and forth it's just terrific well that makes one of us um is there a rule in Texas that only a person from Austin can win it because last year it was Garrett Hayes Colin was even fourth and you were ninth last year I think yeah I think the two the year previous than that um when Jack Danger streamed everything I was top qualifier but got knocked out in the second round. So I don't know. There's just something about Texas boys and Texas tournament. I don't know if you noticed in the, uh, uh, in the semifinals, it was one group of non-Texans and one group of Texans. So we were going to have at least two to represent in the finals. That was, that was kind of cool. I did see that in the semis. That was cool. And something else that was seen on the stream. I'm sure a few people want to know the answer to this question. What was with the degeneration absolute during the finals? I know I've already got some questionable comments on Facebook and I appreciate you asking me that so I can clarify. So, you know, when I was growing up playing pinball as a kid, I was also into, you know, WWF at the time. And I've always been a big wrestling fan. And one of our Texas group members, Matt Quance, is always doing Nature Boy Woos. And so forget what tournament was three or four years ago. I started doing the Triple H chop and I'm never ever doing that towards a competitor So let me clarify that I doing that at the game to let it know that I getting ready to drop the pedigree from Triple H on it So I give it the D generation s Triple H chop You know most of the time it like after I started a multi or maxed out the bonus on Paragon you know, it's not at the competitors. Even at the end, that was just me celebrating playing the games. I've learned to focus on play the games, not the people. And, you know, we're all a community here. And so it's just an enjoyment thing. I guess a little bit of showcase in a little bit, but again, it's not at the players. It's just, you know, I'm taking this game down right now. Here we go. Chop. I guess it's easier to do that move than the Stone Cold Steve Austin, which I thought you would have done Stone Cold for sure. And maybe cracking the beers. I guess it's just not appropriate. It goes all over the glass and whatever. Yeah, exactly. You know, when I saw the comments, I'm like, maybe I had to switch. What would I do? And actually Stone Cold came up, you know, the Texas rattlesnake, but then, you know, liquid and pinball just doesn't go to good together. So I might have to stick with the chop. Final four of the classics. That's great to make it. Were you disappointed? Because I know you're a classics expert. I don't know if I'm an expert or not, but I've been a stern, you know, as I've got back into pinball four or five years ago, you know, really good at the sterns. But as I've started to enjoy the classics, I've got better. I managed to go up to Papa and finish seventh in a classic up there, which really boost my confidence. And I got an EM at the house now. with two-inch flippers, which has been tremendous from a practice standpoint. But I wasn't disappointed, and here's why. I did not play bad. I got beat. I would be upset if I just laid an egg out there. But I put up three solid games on three machines, and I just got beat by some great scores and some great players. And there's just no room to get angry at that. They beat the game better than I beat the game, so congratulations. That's good advice, too. I like hearing that it's not the player you're playing it's how good a score can you get and if people beat you you tip your cap and go congrats so I did like hearing that from you that's good but it maybe gave you some confidence thinking wow I had some good classics games sure didn't come out ahead but still top four nothing to sneeze at and now you're in the main finals and I guess if you would have finished fourth and that may be a little disappointing that you couldn't have maybe got third second or in the case that happened you got first so how were you feeling? What was your mindset going into the finals of the Wizards, the main finals?

6:41

Honestly, I won my first two games in the semis, and I was a lock going into that third game. So I kind of had time to reflect and just take a breath. And I started looking at the field of players this year that came to TPF because of the great tournament that Colin has put on. And I was like, wow, you know, I've climbed up in the top hundreds and I'm looking around and there's, you know, a handful of top 10 and and a lot of top 20 and a lot of top 50. And I kind of told myself, I got nothing to lose. I'm in the top four. Just play the game. Just just play the game. And I kind of lucked out because Bowen got knocked out and Colin got knocked out. and I think Jason was third qualifier. So that was the other big thing for me is I looked up and I'm going to run the bus. So I get to pick the games. And that kind of settled me. I'm like, okay, I just got to play my three games and what will happen will happen. It is what everyone calls the new Expo TPF, the Texas Pinball Festival. I haven't been to either, but from everything I've heard, it is the show to go to. And did you get to see much of the show because you're so busy playing pinball? I didn't. I've been going since 2005. An interesting story there. You know, I grew up playing pinball. You know, you've heard it from Eric and a lot of different players. I was in a bowling family and I was in the arcade a lot. And I learned really quick to play pinball machines. And so I had fallen out of that through college, through the early 90s, and pinball machines started disappearing. We talked about it a thousand times. and so I had met my future wife in Austin and she was going up for a wedding or a baby shower or something in Texas, or sorry, up in Dallas and I did a Google search what to do in Dallas and Texas Pinball Festival popped up that same weekend We were going like I gonna check this out And I go in there and they like we having a tournament So okay I play Well I end up making the finals and going through it was double elimination two out of three going through the winner's bracket and not knowing anything about competitive pinball. And then this guy comes from the loser's bracket. He's an okay player. His name is Jim Belcido. Never heard of him. I know. He's just one of those obscure guys. Got hot that day. and proceeded to destroy me in four games straight because he had to beat me twice on NASCAR. And I was so mad at the time because he picked, there was four machines and that was the only machine we played. And he picked the machine that the ball was shooting straight down the middle off of the car, mode start, 50% of the time. And I was like, yeah, I think I remember telling him, hey, you picked that because you knew I couldn't, because he was going down the middle and you had a better chance or something, not knowing who he was or anything about competitive pinball. But then as I look back on that, that's when I realized I've got to figure out how to nudge games, move games, because he gave me that advice. He's like, well, you weren't shaking it when it was coming out. And so once you determine that that's the action of that scoop, you've got to do something different. And so that kind of started me out in playing pinball. And so that loops us back around to Texas Pinball Festival. I've just seen it grow and grow and get more exciting and bigger and larger. And, you know, I think it is. I think it's to the point now it's the premier show to go to. That's a good answer, too. And you've answered, I'm sure, a question Ryan C. from the Head to Head Pinball Podcast wants to know when he always asks, how'd you get into pinball? So thanks very much, Robert, for giving us that answer. It's something for Ryan there. It's Ryan C. It's not Ryan C. Come on, get it right. Get it right, Jeff. He may disappear off the face of the earth. He's staying at my place for the next few days. So we'll see how that turns out for Ryan. See if he makes it back to Melbourne or not. But I did run into him about two 30 in the morning on Saturday. He came down to say congratulations and we were, we were talking a little bit. So it seems like a cool guy. And you walked out of there with your wallet.

10:57

It's too bad. You didn't get to see, or maybe you did. Alice Cooper? Because I was kind of curious. I saw the streams and I was fascinated. The game looked great. Everybody I talked to on Facebook texts all said it played great. Did you get a chance to flip or two? I didn't. And part of that is, you know, limited entry, 160 people, you know, you've got to get your games in on Friday. And I was anticipating, you know, going in that I am going to make classic finals. And that was Saturday morning. And so I'm not going to have time to play any main games on Saturday. So it was all business for me on Friday. And then when I do get breaks, my lovely wife, Polly, brings my two boys, Luke and Desmond. They're nine and six now, and they want to spend time with dad. So unfortunately, they love pinball, but they also love video games. So I think we spent probably about three hours, four hours over two days playing Rampage and Unlimited Starts. so they could just keep destroying buildings, which was fine. It was a blast. Very good. And I know we're going to be seeing you in the Houston area too for some Space City events, their expo. And I know you go up to Cactus Jacks too. I guess that's probably the next thing for you, isn't it? Yeah, Cactus Jacks. And then I'm actually parlaying a work trip in Philly is actually the week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the week after New York City Championships. So I was able to get the 138th out of 140 spot for that. So that'll be a fun weekend going in there and testing the waters out there in the northeast. I'll see you at that one. When I first saw you was last year, as I mentioned earlier in your email to me, Bat City Open in Austin there at the incredible Buffalo Billiards. I really enjoyed that tournament a lot too. You and I, I don't know if you remember this, you and I were in the main playoffs. I can't remember which round it was. I got to drive the bus and I'll never forget your reaction. I had to pick a bank and the bank I picked with the first game being Lexi Lightspeed And you said I don even know if I want to play And wait a second that game from Texas How could you not It was a fun game Yeah yeah I just hadn played it I mean it been out and he had a lot of people coming over playtesting the games, you know, P3. And the game's growing on me. But at the time, I hadn't played but like one or two games in qualifying. And I just really didn't know the game. Of course, I think I won that game, which was a good start. The other thing I remember from that match was a couple epic saves on Embryon out the right out lane with nudges without tilting. That felt good. I think that one was caught on TV, too. So that was pretty awesome. I was destined to fail. The bank we had to play was, as you mentioned, Lexi Lightspeed. Then we played Adams Family. Brian O'Neill just on the fly kept hitting the chair on the right foot. He nailed it every single time. I'm like, okay, I'm behind here. And then the last game, I'm like, okay, this is good. I've got one at home. embryon. I tilted two out of my three balls, forgetting that my embryon doesn't have a tilt bob. It might be different in a tournament, not the smartest move on my part. Yeah, we've ran into a lot of situations here where there's some up and coming players, especially in the Houston area that are really good, but where they play is very, very, very friendly tilt bobs. And they get in the state championships and different venues in that city and they're tilting every ball for the first day. And so it's definitely something I've tried to set up my games at home to be not Papa A division level, because I want to be able to play them and my kids to play them. But I think it's definitely a good idea to set your home games up pretty hard. And then you're downgrading from there when you go to an event. What games do you have at home? Currently, I have a Getaway. And then I added a Paragon. Ha ha. So I knew how to play that just a touch. I have a Genie, which I love, and I have my EM is a game called Lancers, which is a fun little two-inch flipper game. I noticed that you currently are 84th. That is going to skyrocket. I have to assume top 50 after this. So congratulations. I think a year ago when we were playing at Bat City, you were 184. So this has been a great ride for you, Robert. and I'm looking even at your Pinberg results too. Two years ago, top 75, last year just missing the A-finals at 44th. So this year at Pinberg, is it A-finals or bust? You got to make the playoffs? Yeah, that's my goal. Last year came down, it was the last game we were on NBA Stern. I got my multi-ball started and hit the jackpot shots, but it wasn't magnet catching and recording the jackpots. And then the guy that went last, it did, and he passed me. And so that put me in that best two out of nine people playoff on Quicksilver and just couldn't pull it off. But so my ultimate goal is, if Colin can win it from Austin, Texas last year, I might as well just keep that tradition going and have me win it from Austin, Texas this year. You Texans, you really like to take it all in. Texas isn't big enough. You got to take on the world. That's how it works for you guys, isn't it? It is. It is. Well, I look forward to seeing you. I guess it'll be New York City where I see you next and then Pinberg and wish you all the best and hope things are safe there in Austin, too. We're thinking about you, those crazy bombing things that are going on. Hope that's coming to an end very, very soon. Yes, I was actually we were in Big Ben National Park hiking when all that happened. So we were out of touch, like no cell phone, no Internet, no anything. So we come back and we see all this and it's just it's just crazy. So appreciate that. Well, it's a beautiful city. I enjoyed it. Loved the barbecue. My goodness. Oh, that was good. I could go for a brisket right now. But anyway, Robert, congratulations on TPF Championship there. It's well-deserved. You've been playing great for a long time and not surprised on this end. Thank you. I appreciate it, Jeff. You've been listening to Pinball Profile. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at pinballprofile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. And please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. I'm Jeff Teola. The Generation Up Think you can tell me what to do?