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The Beast in Buffalo 2025 Pinball Tournament at Pocketeer's new massive expansion!

Pinball Shenanigans·video·26m 59s·analyzed·Aug 11, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.024

TL;DR

Beast 2025 Buffalo pinball tournament coverage with massive Pocketeer expansion and top-tier competitive field.

Summary

Mike Dimas of Pinball Shenanigans provides extensive on-site coverage of The Beast 2025 pinball tournament at Pocketeer Billiards in Buffalo, featuring a newly expanded 20,000+ square foot facility. The tournament draws top international players including Jason Zoller (winner), Raymond Davidson (3rd), and Zach Sharpe McCarthy (2nd), with expanded field sizes (40 players to playoffs vs. 24 previously) and multiple tournament formats including Classics, Main, and Crazy Eights consolation divisions. Dimas documents the tournament logistics, venue expansion, player interactions, and final results across three days of competition.

Key Claims

  • Pocketeer Billiards expanded by approximately 20,000 square feet this year

    high confidence · Mike Dimas directly observes and comments on the expansion while touring the venue

  • Beast 2025 is taking 40 players to playoffs in both Classics and Main, up from 24 last year

    high confidence · Mike Dimas explicitly states this change at approximately 9:20 in the narrative

  • Jason Zoller won Beast 2025 Main event with $2,500 prize

    high confidence · Official award presentation documented in video footage

  • Jason Zoller is the number one player in the world and a two-time Beast winner

    high confidence · Award presentation announcer states this during final award ceremony

  • August 1st is International Pinball Day

    high confidence · Mike Dimas mentions this date explicitly when noting David Morris's birthday proximity

  • Paul Englert is one of the top 10 players in the world and competed at Pinburg prior to Beast

    high confidence · Mike Dimas identifies Englert and mentions recent Pinburg competition

  • Crazy Eights consolation tournament had 30 players in 2025, down from over 70 last year

    high confidence · Mike Dimas directly compares year-over-year participation numbers

  • Zach Sharpe McCarthy finished 2nd place at Beast 2025 Main event with $1,800 prize

    high confidence · Official award presentation; also referred to as potential future number one player

Notable Quotes

  • “This year in the Classics and the Main they're taking 40 players to the playoffs last year was only top 24”

    Mike Dimas@ 4:18 — Indicates tournament expansion and increased competitive opportunities

  • “This expansion is friggin' huge.”

    Mike Dimas@ 7:41 — Direct commentary on the scale of Pocketeer's expansion project

  • “Everybody just went from Pittsburgh to New York for this event.”

    Mike Dimas@ 8:46 — Notes concentration of top competitive players from Pittsburgh regional hub attending Beast

  • “He is the number one player in the world.”

    Award presentation announcer@ 26:19 — Official recognition of Jason Zoller's ranking during award ceremony

  • “I know a guy who won the Crazy Eights Tournament last year yours truly”

    Mike Dimas@ 19:40 — Self-reference to previous consolation tournament victory, shows repeat participation

  • “Maybe I can go back to the Crazy Eights Losers Tournament tomorrow.”

    Mike Dimas@ 19:51 — Demonstrates fall-back tournament option for players not making main competition

  • “Void and Requeue. That's what you gotta do. That's the word on the street.”

    Mike Dimas@ 11:43 — Casual description of tournament mechanics and queue management on day 2

Entities

Mike DimaspersonJason ZollerpersonPocketeer BilliardsorganizationThe BeasteventJeff TeolispersonRaymond DavidsonpersonZach Sharpe McCarthypersonPaul EnglertpersonDave Fick

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Beast 2025 features expanded prize pool, raffle systems, commemorative merchandise, and media partnership with Pinball Profile and Fox City's Pinball

    high · Multiple references to prize banners, translites, shirts, mini machines, raffle tickets, and official streaming/media presence throughout event

  • ?

    community_signal: International competitive presence strong with players from Canada (Ontario, Manitoba), United Kingdom references, and Ottawa participation documented

    high · References to 'Manitoba boys', Carter Castleman 'from Ottawa', UK Open mention, and cross-border participation patterns

  • ?

    community_signal: Pittsburgh identified as significant competitive pinball hub with top-tier players (Paul Englert, Jason Zoller, Raymond Davidson) migrating to Beast 2025 from Pinburg the prior week

    high · Mike Dimas states 'Everybody just went from Pittsburgh to New York for this event' after noting multiple Pinburg participants

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Jason Zoller established as world #1 ranked player with Iron Man demonstrated as high-difficulty endgame machine requiring exceptional skill

    high · Award presenter identifies Zoller as 'number one player in the world' and notes his final table performance on Iron Man at 48 million with 'shot accuracy ridiculous'

  • ?

    event_signal: Beast 2025 tournament expansion from 24 to 40 playoff spots in both Classics and Main divisions

    high · Mike Dimas explicitly states: 'this year in the Classics and the Main they're taking 40 players to the playoffs last year was only top 24'

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.081

0:00
I'm Mike Dimas, and this is Pinball Shenanigans. The Beast 2025. Shawnee Boy and I have just arrived. This is our setup.
0:18
I'll go show you a little tour of our balcony here. This is the M Hotel in Buffalo. Check it out. We got a courtyard view. Very tropical-ish. We got a pool. It's actually a pretty sweet little setup. And actually, we just walked by this. If you look closely, off in the distance, there's a little mini arcade and there's actually an NBA fast break pinball machine in there. So we're in good hands so far. Check it out. Here's our little arcade. Let's go for a quickest tour.
1:07
NBA Fast Break. Oh, it's actually turned on. So it might even be functional. Oh, we're going to have a quick little practice game here. What else we got?
1:23
Crossroads, Lollipop Lane, Change Machine, Buzz and Win. Pac-Man. Oh, it's got three in one. Miss Pac-Man, Pac-Man and Galaga. And Big Buck World.
1:39
All right. Oh, we got two credits. Game on. All right. Toronto Raptors. Of course. All right. We're going to play some NBA Fast Break. And then head over to Pocketeer Billiards. We made it.

  • “You have the horn responsibilities? Every minute? For an hour? That's like the power in the palm of your hand”

    Mike Dimas@ 5:23 — Humorous commentary on practice round logistics with 60-second rotation horn

    • person
    Carter Castlemanperson
    Pinball Profileorganization
    Fox City's Pinballorganization
    Pinburgevent
    M Hotel Buffaloorganization
    Shawnee Boyperson
    Nick Grenanperson
    Z-Macperson
    Pinball Expoevent
    John Borgperson
    Kaneda's Pinball Podcastorganization
  • ?

    competitive_signal: Consolation tournament (Crazy Eights) participation declined from 70+ players (2024) to 30 players (2025), suggesting potential market saturation or tier compression

    high · Mike Dimas states: 'This year there was about 30 players. Last year there was over 70.'

  • ?

    venue_signal: Pocketeer Billiards expansion project approximately 20,000 square feet adding significant tournament capacity

    high · Mike Dimas tours expansion facility and comments 'This expansion is friggin huge' and asks rhetorically 'what is this? 20,000 square feet more of Pocketeer action?'

  • ?

    venue_signal: Tournament logistics improved with formalized queue management (60-second rotation horn system) and expanded playfield banking to accommodate larger field

    high · Detailed description of practice rotation with horn blasts: 'you play 60 seconds on a machine, then the horn blows, and then the conga line moves over'

    • 1:59
    Pocketeer Billiards, Buffalo, New York. Sean's beelining it to get out of the rain. I don't blame him.
    2:08
    Let's go see what we got. Apparently practice has begun. It's like you play 60 seconds on a machine, then the horn blows, and then the conga line moves over, and then you rinse and repeat.
    2:25
    That may be happening as we speak, so it shall be interesting. Here we go. I don't see a conga line just yet.
    2:42
    I see Mr. Teolis. Lots of... a couple familiar faces so far. so this year they got the expansion and it's massive let's just go for a casual walkabout here
    3:14
    maybe the practice is in the expansion room I'm not really sure what the setup is yet. I'm literally walking in cold here.
    3:27
    This is my third year at the Beast in Buffalo, and the third year that it has run, so... Bigger and better each year. Hey, that was Mr. Paul Englert, one of the top 10 players in the world.
    3:53
    Saw him at, actually I played with him at Pinburg just recently, last weekend. It's going to be a lot of top players This weekend But the good news is that This year In the Classics and the Main They're taking 40 players To the playoffs last year was only top 24 and last year I did not make either because uh everybody's so good I'm hardly paying attention to the machines I'm just trying to take it all in I literally can't go over every single machine or I'll be here for uh what's up Dave how's it going man Oh, so the action is in the expansion. Here we go.
    5:03
    I don't know. What is this? 20,000 square feet more of Pocketeer action? Okay. There's the horn. Shawnee's got into the action already. Hi, Jill. Hi.
    5:21
    You got the horn responsibilities? Every minute? For an hour? That's like the power the palm of your hand
    5:33
    I want to fire it once. All right. I'll watch you fire it off in 30 seconds. I want to see this in the meanwhile
    5:43
    Yeah, I know I'm excited to see it and participate in it. I want to be part of the conga line I mean, yo, what's up?
    5:57
    Duncan, how's it going, buddy? Oh, here it is. Everybody, move it or lose it. Not very organized. They need a little more structure in their lives.
    6:11
    All right. Let's check out. This is the Classics Bank. Trident. It all begins with Trident. The best game ever. and then there's a bit of a queue just to get into the practice conga mr ron hallett how's it going buddy fancy seeing you here i told you there a lot of good players everywhere you look bob matthews don mess he is awesome He wrote the book the EM Cyclopedia I refer to it frequently
    6:54
    Looks like Z-Mac on Flash Gordon, Stephen Zoller, Jason Zoller is over here on Ironman, he just won Pinberg. back to friggin back trophy was so huge you had to get a buddy to drive it
    7:19
    there's Donna and Teolis hello here is the hardware's these are sexy I want to bring me home some hardware That's awesome.
    7:41
    This expansion is friggin' huge. Hi, Cursey. How you doing? Good. Alright, this is the main bank. Hey, Greg. How you doing, man?
    8:07
    I see most of these people last week at Pinberg, including Mr. Bowden. Did a great job commentating Pinberg. Hey, Secret Service. If you're looking for how to play this game, I know a guy who did a good tutorial on it. I don't imagine there's too many of them out there.
    8:28
    Tutorials, that is. And or Secret Services. Data East's second game. it's basically a complete rip-off of High Speed. Hello!
    8:40
    I played... I forget her name, but I played with her at Pinburg as well. Everybody just went from Pittsburgh to New York for this event.
    8:53
    This might be the women's bank. Don't quote me. But... There it is. I mean, I can imagine having some fun during some lulls in this section. These are some massive gains.
    9:16
    I can picture doing some gambling. Holy crap. Look at the size of these things. Arcades have kind of changed in the last 40 years. things are slightly bigger.
    9:38
    Anyway, probably should do a little bit of practice, but I had to do a tour of the expansion and everything.
    9:48
    What else do we got? Oh, okay, so there is the pinball profile beast banner over here for, probably for like award presentation and whatnot. you'll be seeing me there soon hopefully and then that's where you cash in all of your tickets virtual tickets for amazing prizes really is incredible so much more space this year I mean that'll be handy because I imagine there's going to be more players too here's some of the prizes for the raffle name that game what is it meteor ah yeah meteor i just saw it as i was saying it we got oh are these up for a raffle too oh look at these big banners nice so is it like buy one ticket and you can have a chance to win everything very cool what's up Teolis hi oh shit sorry I'm stepping on people hey Wes how's it going it's just Wes it's all good so lots of shirts shooter rods translates mini pinball machines mystery goodie bag who knows what's in there cool banners alright well Beast and Buffalo 2025. Let's go. Welcome to the Beast and thank you for coming to Paws and Care Filliers. You are awesome for coming to the Strip Road Circuit. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
    11:35
    Alright, it is the Beast. Day 2. Friday. What's up? Yeah, I just pointed to my shirt. Day 2. Void and Requeue. That's what you gotta do. That's the word on the street. Here is my beverage. But let's check out the auction. I'll give you a tour. It is around, I don't know, 7 o'clock or something like that. I've been here since 10am, so I've been grinding out for a long time. And you know, if you want to be in this zone, you're actually not allowed to. But I'm going anyway. This zone is for those that are on deck. We got Fox City's streaming rig on Joker Poker. I just played a game. It didn't go very well.
    12:48
    So this is the Classics Bank. The Greenins have showed up. The Flintins have shown up. Basically, a lot of people showed up today that weren't here yesterday, including the Raymond Davidsons of the world and some other sharp shooters. I just going to go for a little walkabout here while I wait for or I forgot what I up on I been queuing up and waiting and re and queuing up for a thousand hours and I don even remember what game I up on right now but
    13:45
    What's up, buddy? So, this is the one side of the main. and go sweep around. See what's going on on the other side. I haven't really spent too much time on this side today.
    14:10
    I've played some Ninja Eclipse. I've not played Creature. We actually had a decent score on Victory. Somewhere around 14 million or something. The Stranger Things is evil My god It is Played one game and It hurt Flintstones Haven't played that yet There's Shiny Boy Alien Star Awesome game Had a decent game on that Tron My second game on Tron I got like 30 million I'm like oh that's junk But The way this is set up, it's actually not that horrible of a store.
    14:58
    Oh, um... Secret Service was here, but it really didn't even survive day one. So Break Shot is in its place.
    15:13
    Got Metallica Remastered. Mastered And then the women's bank going on over here But Derek Thompson, mr. Yankton Shawty boy, mr. Shenanigans
    15:32
    Well, it's not live but yeah you do yes I'll add that right here We've got Mr. Teolis playing some creature.
    15:56
    He is the brains and the brawn behind the whole beast in Buffalo. I've seen David Fix. He's part of Pocketeer Billiards here.
    16:12
    I've seen him play a couple games. play some Iron Man. He's quite the tech and also can play a game or two. He's got some skills. Sorry, Drew.
    16:28
    What's up? We got the Manitoba boys. We got Drew, David Morris, and shout out to David Morris. It was his birthday yesterday. Today is August 1st, which actually is International Pinball Day. So, Dave Morris, you were born one day too early, but close enough.
    16:59
    But, pretty cool way to spend International Pinball Day. Anyway I'm bleeding out in Classics I Might be around 30th And you need to be top 40 The main I'm like Probably below the cut right now so Anyway good times That's your update For the Beeston Buffalo 2025 For Friday Action Playoffs For Classics Are tomorrow And maybe even main raffle time come on that's for 200 bucks there might still be a 50 50 but there's these cool banners still
    17:59
    so shawnee boy just won a rush trans light where did he go There he is. Classics finals just ended. Paul Engler took it down. Nick Greenan took second. I did not make the Classics and I did not make the main. That sounds cool. I'd like that. Qualifying just ended for the main. And Jason Zoller is number one seed. Jill King! Hey! Congratulations Jill!
    18:39
    The last one! The Metallica Remastered banner! That would be cool! Here we go! Mike Dynas! Ali Pace! Ah, close! Thank you everybody, we're gonna get ready! Oh, we gotta get Ray Day to sign the poster, yeah! That's awesome! Or translate I should say. He has something to do with this game.
    19:04
    There you go. Nice. Raymond Davidson and John Borg signed. All right, well, that's basically a wrap for me and Shawnee for today. We didn't make the main event.
    19:19
    And the top 40 players are going to be starting pretty soon. Things have quieted down. Some repairs going on. but we will be back tomorrow for the Crazy Eights Consolation Tournament and eight finals will still be going on so we can check that out and I know a guy who won the Crazy Eights Tournament last year yours truly so I didn't make Classics, I didn't make Main but maybe I can go back to back on the Crazy Eights Losers Tournament tomorrow All right, it is the final day of the Beast in Buffalo.
    20:05
    And let clear it out a little bit because we down to the A finals You can see the rig over there on Jason Soller Alex Kelly and Logan Foley please Alex Kelly Logan Foley.
    20:21
    And we have the Dave Souza. We have the Consolation, a.k.a. Losers Tournament going on right here. The Crazy 8s. You got 14 entries. And your best seven scores count. So you better make them count.
    20:45
    These machines in the lineup. What's up, Spicy? These ones are playing pretty friendly, though. So, I mean, everybody is blowing up everything.
    20:57
    Like, just saw someone get a billion on WWF Royal Rumble over there. You can see Shawnee and Shane. I saw $600 million on Jurassic Park over there.
    21:09
    actually I wouldn't be surprised if Sean's in first place right now he's been blowing up everything my first game of Crazy Eights I played Lord of the Rings because I know it well guess what my score was 1.4 million that's how I started my day then I played it again and I got about 40 million or something 30 million which it's not too bad for this coffee but Anyway, that's what's going on today. Some Crazy Eights and some A finals. Zoller still going at it. Alright, Shinyboy and I have front row seats. Got some food on order. But, this is it. Final four right here. Zach McCarthy, Jason Zoller, Raymond Davidson, and Carter Castleman. We are literally like six feet away, so I'm talking quietly.
    22:13
    But Shinyboy is in for the Crazy Eights as of now. The side tournament, he's in sixth. Only top eight make it. When I finished my last entry, I was in ninth. So I am Bubble Boy.
    22:30
    I'm knocking it to Pete. This year there was about 30 players. Last year there was over 70. And Shawnee Boy is going to have to take it down.
    22:46
    Bring the trophy back to Ontario again. Anyway, we got some food coming. So, we're going to watch the finals here.
    23:00
    It's pretty amazing to watch the number one player in the world up close and personal destroying Ironman.
    23:11
    It's got 48 million right now. and it must have played like five ironmonger multiballs shot accuracy is ridiculous alright boys and girls the beast in buffalo has come to a close the final game has ended and we have our results and uh award presentation is going to happen here so I'm just going to follow everybody and I know the results but I'll just let you see them live here I'll take this little shortcut we've got the beast banner over here I don't know if they're gonna bring the rig over
    24:05
    but spoiler alert Jason Zoller takes it down and pretty sure it was Z Mac that took second, Raymond Davidson takes third, and Carter Castleman comes in fourth place. So here comes Tom with the rig, and I will be back as soon as the presentation begins.
    24:35
    In fourth place, with the trophy, and he also was taught for the classes too, from Ottawa, off of Canada's finest and most blessed. It's the world's biggest, you can just play with it, Mark. Carter passed with 900 bucks, the next one passed in black, here we go.
    24:58
    Alright, 900 bucks. Another clock, bigger than his dad's. His dad got one for classic speed. Thanks, buddy. Alright, here you go, Ray. We'll get you a photo here in a second. This guy won the first ever Classics at the Beast two years ago, Alex Scott, who was a third quarter circuit, almost did it. There were a couple guys who got in his way. No shame in the end. They have a huge game to an Ironman, I think, to get here. His name is Raymond Davidson. Come on, all right. $1,300.
    25:27
    Congratulations. There's that. You get the elastic tube. You get some hard work. Beautiful artwork from Joel Newson. There you go. And an expo pass. Are you going to be in Chicago? Yeah. Oh, wow. There we go. Okay, great. in second place a guy who once told me at the UK Open you know what game I hate and everyone picks it on me a creature from the Black Lagoon but he also told me he won the game in the 60th and I saw him win that to get into the finals earlier in the round this guy is one of the best, maybe future number one player in the world Zach McCarthy $1,800 nice flag, let's hear it for my man here we go, I'll give you that I'll take your hand. Thank you very much. $1,800. All right. Awesome. Congrats. We'll get a photo in a second. Hey, guys. First ever two-time winner of the beast. He did it the first time. He's been here every year. He is the number one player in the world. $2,500. An expo pass this October in this beautiful block. Jason Zoller. Woo!
    26:32
    Congratulations. Congrats once again. Two-time major winner of this year's end. There you go. I say that you're a bottle of major glass. All right, there you go. We'll get a photo. Thanks very much, everyone. Thanks to Fox City's pinball. We appreciate it. We're going to do some photos now. Thanks, Tommy.