it's time for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teal so you can find everything on pinballprofile.com we're on twitter instagram and x at pinball profile you can email pinball profile at gmail.com and join our facebook group as well if you'd like to show your support that would be wonderful it helps keep the show going don't worry the show will always be free but thank you to those on our Patreon. Patreon.com slash pinball profile. And I want to thank Tony V, Mr. Jake, John L, Dave S, Derek S, and others. I'm here with a guy who won a pretty big tournament a while back in his home country of Belgium. And now he's trying to take that, parlay it, into maybe winning a major. He had a good crack at the European Pinball Championship. Will he be able to do it at the IFPA World Championship, also in Austria? He is Timber Engelbein. How are you doing, Timber? Good evening, Jeff. I'm doing good, thank you. You are doing very good, especially in the pinball world. And you're a young guy at 22. Well, I say that's young. That might be old for pinball now. But no, you're still really impressive when it comes to pinball. But the funny thing is, like a lot of younger players that have been playing for a long time, you actually only started in 2019 and then, of course, had the big lull with the pandemic too. But in a short period of time, you've done well. What made you go from being a video gamer to playing pinball? Well, the thing was, I've had pinball machines at home for my whole life. I've always won the U-Tournament or the Belgian Championship. But I didn't take pinball that seriously. And I didn't really think much of it. I just played only in the Belgian Championship. But when time went on, I got bigger. I went to high school. I played a lot on my Xbox, which I regret. I didn't even touch grass. I just stayed at home and played the Xbox. But then COVID hit and I really got bored of it. I grew up, I really got bored of it. And I was thinking, what am I doing with my life? Come on, Timber, do something. And I had these pinball machines at home. In COVID, yeah, you were locked up. We couldn't do anything. You didn't go to school. I didn't have any lectures to follow or something. So yeah, I've had these pinball machines. And the last year that we could go out, it was the Belgian Championship. And as a kid, I always won the Belgian Championship. And I asked the organizer, can I play with the big guys, with the adults? I said, no, you can only play with adults when I was 16 years old. That sounds like a dream if we could get all the kids. I mean, that's terrible is what I meant to say. But yeah, that's the thing. I was never allowed to play with them. And then the last year before COVID, I got 16 and I played with the adults and I got interred. The first time I played with adults, I was like, oh, yeah, I'm really good at this. Did you have to have fake ID to play with the ID? No, no, no. I was actually, yeah, I did pretty well and I really liked it. And then it was the Badrum Open. organized by the same organizer and yeah I played with the adults too and I got in 23 of 320 players I think nice it was also the first time I saw Paul Englert and it was a very funny story because I saw Paul Englert and he was he was like it's still a little kid playing on his beer box yeah yeah it's still playing on his beer box and I was a scorekeeper and Paul Englert said yeah I want to play Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park was really new by then it was 2019 and my father just passed and I said, hey, dad, doesn't he have to be, has to play the youth tournament? And my dad, he said, he told this to me, Timber, he's going to beat you guys. And I didn't believe him. I was watching, that kid can't beat me, you know? And he put up like 900 million on the Jurassic Park that just came out. I was like, who is this guy? And he played the finals. He got in third or something and brought him open. It was crazy. The key was the box. You weren't standing on a box. I wasn't standing on a box. That's what it was. Maybe, yeah. And look what he did this year. The first European to stop the streak of major winners from North America winning the European Pinball Championship. Congrats to Paul indeed. But the thing was, on the Belgium Open, I got in 20th and then COVID hit. And I really liked the competition feeling of pinball and the stress and everything and the mental game about it. And then I just practiced at home. I practiced a lot because you had nothing to do and I was playing pinball for like a whole day sometimes. And I watched a lot of videos of the JDL streams. I found out about pinballvideos.com and that's how I learned the rules of a lot of games. and that's kind of the time I practice a lot. So that's interesting. Yeah, you've got nothing to do during COVID and the videos are there they great I mean you are very familiar with JDL Pinball and you seen all the European action of course what IE Pinball does and what Fox Cities do the big three if you will of competitive pinball And COVID finally is over and now you're getting to play things. I saw you for the first time in person at the UK Open in 2022 and I've seen you every year since then. That was kind of your first real, real big, big event. It was the first real, real big event. And I won the Classics too and I was like, oh yeah this is really cool and then I just can't get enough of it now yeah and it's a lot easier for you to travel country to country I know you're in Belgium but Netherlands has a lot of pinball not so much Luxembourg but Germany's close by France and some of these other places UK you mentioned so it makes it easier to get around but you did a big jump you went to Indusk this past year didn't you and that was amazing especially in classics yes I went to Indusk it was a present present from my dad because I just graduated and he said yeah Tim you got a you got a present and it was a trip to to Indusk we visited Las Vegas we visited Los Angeles it was a very fun trip thanks to my dad for that and then in the end the the whole point of the trip was going to Indusk and was very nerve-wracking because there was a very very last ticket that I that I qualified and just the way you were in the classics for so long that you weren't able to qualify for the main like you were missing a lot of time true but the thing was I bought like five yeah I bought the the the value pack in the beginning that I got five classics tickets but I was focusing on the main I was playing the main on Thursdays Friday and yeah Friday I didn't after playing whole two days I still didn't qualify I was a little angry and on Friday night like I think it was 10 p.m it was my last ticket I could have played and I had four really good games and then I and then I I played Jaws and I only had 50 million so that was like a ticket killer I couldn't yeah I wasn't qualify with that I was so mad and out of frustration I played one ticket in the in the classics and I qualified in the classics without one ticket and I haven't played any other classics tickets with that so that meant the next day on Saturday I had time until like 4 30 p.m to qualify and then yeah this was Saturday I woke up I was there at the at the opening time because I was a little stressed because of it and then the first ticket it was two good games yeah one bad one, avoided the second card, it was just the same, two good games, one bad one, and then the last ticket I could have played, it was, yeah, it was very nerve-wracking, it was... This is it, you gotta make it count. This is it, and then, yeah, it was, I had my three comfortable games that I did quite well consistently, but it was the two first games that I just, yeah, I couldn't find some consistent games, and then I found out about the bow and arrow, and the Johnny Minmonic, I did those three well too well and then it was the last three games it was Guardians of the Galaxy I think I did well Deadly Weapon and Titov and Titov was the last one what was the last one? Titov Titov oh boy and it's you know if that game if you miss it it's very punishable but if you hit the shots you can just keep going and going and going and it's the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and then I started my first multiball and I hit the super jackpot and I was calmed down like oh it felt so good and then I put up 2.8 billion or something and I was qualified in second it felt so good good for you no that's fun that's a that's a stressful tournament you've been to all the majors except for pinball haven't you i guess papa as well too yeah papa and maybe someday maybe someday it's tough to say it's it's tough for europeans to get over when for the most part three and a half are in north america right so you've always got the european pinball championship you've got an event i'll never miss it's not a major but it plays like a major the UK Open. Yeah. It was a nice treat to go to INDISC but the World Championships every other year. It's in likely Europe and with Austria coming up. It's good competition. Do you like that format with four players in different groups in the tiered Swiss? I like I especially like the formats where you can choose games because it's like makes pinball more strategic. Come playoff time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But prior to that it's just it's banks isn't it? Yeah. But in the bigger tournaments I like the I like the card format in the bigger tournaments because like the European Championship does really well the Royal European but it's like two days of qualifying and if you qualify you qualify one day and the other day you have nothing to do okay here Stefan Riedler did it very well with the JGP tournament which is very fun and all those free play games too right you get to see everything from Spooky and American and we mentioned all the nice homebrews that they had the newest games were here So yeah that was good When you go to a world championship it all game face You're focused in on every match you've got because it's tough to be in the top 32 and to get ahead. There's only 80 players and they're the best in the world. So it's stressful. And you'll have the game list well in advance, too. So you must, just like it was the pandemic time, study on those you don't know, especially maybe some of the classics. For the important tournaments I studied the games indeed, yeah. But yeah, we'll see in the World Championship. I've never played one before because it's always in June. And I had final exams in university in June. And for Indus, I always had exams in January. So I couldn't go to those big tournaments because I had exams. But now I'm done with my exams, so I can go to them. I like that you said, you know, when you were younger, I was just playing Xbox and not doing school and stuff. And I said, Timber, I've got to do something with my life. You're only 22 years old. who isn't still picking their nose and figuring out what's going on at 22 not you you've got a plan you want things to do and you've graduated you just did your thesis actually right before you arrived at the european pinball championship in automotive engineering so you've been in school for your whole life are you gonna travel for a little bit you're gonna get in the workforce what's the plan yeah the thing is now that i finished my studies yeah you got you got to choose what to do you know and the thing is I I'm only 22 years old and I don't want to make the big step to go working permanently and have a have a job so I want to have some more adventure in my life and I was thinking about I really like Spain I went to a couple of tournaments in Spain and it's really lovely so I was thinking about just going to Spain and learn Spanish because it's a nice language to learn and in Spanish I have some adventures in Spain yeah I love the people of course and it's like the fiestas and stuff and the food is really good so I was thinking about going to Spain for a year and work as an engineer in Spain and yeah have fun and enjoy life you know and have some adventures make some memories you know Spain's got pinball too for your hobby as well too some uh Julio Vicario Soriano we just saw here he's one of the legends in that country and there are a lot of good pinball in Spain and some good clubs too and amazing museums too I don't know if you've ever seen the video from when they did that tour it was the virtual expo and they showed all those great games in Spain so it's on my bucket list too I got to get back there I've only been to Barcelona but Madrid I think is my next stop yeah Spain is very interesting they have these interesting classics Spain has very very fun classics it's I always look hard for the classics in Spain well I like that you mentioned the classics because it's near and dear to my heart and I think the younger players and I'm not this is obviously a generalization they gravitate more to the newer games the deep code and they excel i know us again i'm just generalizing here us older folks when we have to play the younger players on the new games like oh boy we're in for it but you and so many other younger people also love the classics which i admire too and you talked about your success at the uk open at indisc and everywhere else you go when it comes to classics. What's the charm for classics for you? It's like a more relaxing game, the classics, you know? The fun, it's less complicated, it's just shooting the ball up there and you get your hogs balls, but if you just accept that hogs balls are possible in classics, just yeah, okay. I don't get too angry about classics, you know? In the moderns machines, if I lose my ball, it's like a mindset. I always think there's no luck in pinball. I know there is, but it's just a mindset. And if I lose the ball in the moderns, I always think it's my own fault and I think about what should I do better, what could I have done better, you know? And that's what, yeah, it can piss me off a bit. But in classics, if you shoot it up there through the spinner and it comes down straight on the middle, you can't do anything about it. And I just accept it and go on to my next ball, you know? Yeah, a good attitude to have. And it probably helps with your success too, having that proper mindset. Well, that's interesting because when you have a bad game, when you have a house ball after house ball, what is the biggest mental part of the game? I mean, you're already prepared in advance by knowing the rules of the game, but getting rid of the nerves. What is it that you and the other top players do? You probably had to go through this when you won the European Championship. Congratulations on doing that in your home country. But what was going through your mind at the time? And do you remember those things in future tournaments Yeah the mental game The mental game is the most important part in pinball at high at high level that that for sure you know if I if I come up to a game I just don think about what happened in the past if I play my third ball I don think about what I did in the first two balls I just good or bad good or bad it don't even matter it's just what I I think about what's lit what can I do what's my plan for the next ball and I don't think about the past and yeah I try to execute what I have in mind and the thing is you know there's always these uh Some players that go to me, oh I had a horse ball on this one and I get sling sling drain this and that I don't like that if you do that, you know It's like you give the bad energy and I always say yeah don't think about it and just go to your next ball That's the only thing that matters is the next ball. Yeah, indeed So it's that's what goes on in my head I just only think about the next ball and if I had the bad ball, so be it I just I don't think about it. And the thing is you also have I also think of myself I have three balls. I can have one bad ball. That's very likely two bad balls could happen, you know and three bad balls is like almost impossible it's still possible sometimes i'd have three bad balls but this that's yeah that's what goes on if i have two bad balls that's the that's the the way i'm thinking i almost impossible that i have three bad balls that's like the mindset i have and then i just play my best game and try to execute what i have my plan that i have in my mind so good insight from one of the best players in the world from timber anglebane and by the way timber it's not a common name i don't know anybody else named timber we know the kesha song and stuff but i have friends that have a nickname called Timber but I played baseball a lot so in baseball you swing a bat with a wooden bat and if they're good hitters they might get the nickname of Timber of course lumberjacks when they're chopping down trees Timber you're chopping down pinball players so is there any timber chance when when you're playing pinball where'd the name come from the name actually came from a dog my my could have been Tintin yeah no my parents they I actually was about to be called Jeroen or if I was good, I would have been called Fran. Okay. Not Lassie? Yeah, but like two months before my birth, my parents, they went to a couple of friends of them and they had a dog called Timber. The dog was very old, so I never really met the dog. Maybe once. Maybe they have a picture of me and Timber, but... That's odd. My parents, they had the decision that if it was a boy, my father could choose a name. And if it was a girl, my mother would have chosen the name. And I was a boy, so my father, he would have called me Jeroen, but he heard about the name from a dog and he said, yeah, Timber is a cool name. And then he called me Timber. It's a very cool name. And I once had that kind of same agreement your parents had where I was going to maybe have a say in if I had a daughter. I have three sons. And probably it's good that I didn't have a daughter because the name I wanted to name my daughter was Disney. Disney? I wanted to call her. It's cool. And who doesn't love Disney? Right, I love Disney. And maybe she makes a buck off it or something like that. But anyway, my wife said, oh, no, they'll call her goofy and stuff like that. I'm like, okay, all right, fair enough. So anyway, I think the second choice I had, and I told this to my youngest son, Brady, the name we did agree on was Sydney. Sydney. And the reason, please forgive me, but the reason I did this was at the time, I really liked the movie Scream. And I just loved the guy, hello, Sydney. and it just stuck with me. So, you know, it's a stupid reason to name your children. I'm done having kids. You don't have to worry about any other dumb names out there. There are only cool names out there like Timber, and I appreciate you coming on Pinball Profile. Best of luck at the World Championship. Thank you, Jeff. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com, Twitter, X, Instagram, at Pinball Profile. Great Facebook group as well. and you can send us an email at pinballprofile at gmail.com. If you'd like to subscribe to Patreon, that would be wonderful. Don't worry, the show's free, but we do appreciate your support. And thanks so much to Lua W., to GME Law, to Sean I., Colin M., and Erica's Pinball Journey. There are so many of these. Thank you so much for this. Hope you enjoyed our conversation with who I once called the muscle from Brussels. He's not even from Brussels. What should we call you? The gent from Ghent. The gent from Ghent. Timber Engelbein. I'm Jeff Teolas.