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Episode 227: The 24 Hour Battle at the Sanctum recap

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·24m 34s·analyzed·Nov 4, 2019
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.038

TL;DR

Sanctum 24-hour tournament recap with player interviews and Jerry Sabernard's first-time championship win.

Summary

Jeff Teolis hosts a recap episode of the 24-Hour Battle at the Sanctum, a major pinball tournament held in New England. The episode features interviews with numerous competitors and organizers discussing the event, game selection, strategy, and community aspects. Jerry Sabernard won the championship, defeating two-time defending champion Bowen Cairns in a closely contested final rounds.

Key Claims

  • Jerry Sabernard won the 24-hour Sanctum championship for the first time

    high confidence · Event recap; Sabernard interviewed as confirmed winner

  • Phil Birnbaum won the Pinball Profile World Tour pre-tournament (75 players, three-strikes format)

    high confidence · Jeff Teolis opening remarks; Birnbaum beat Steve Bowden and others after 13 rounds

  • Bowen Cairns won the Sanctum three years ago and last year (two wins total)

    high confidence · Bowen Cairns interview; Jeff Teolis references his winning years

  • The Sanctum event features Harry Williams' last game, 'Q', which is a nudging game with 15 dead bumpers

    high confidence · Bruce Nightingale explains the game Q in detail during his interview

  • Mid-America Pinball Tour announced for 2020 with seven tournaments currently confirmed, targeting ten total, starting April

    high confidence · Sam Swain interview; states events planned for Texas (3), Oklahoma (2), Kansas (1), Missouri (1), potentially Colorado (3)

  • Ron Hallett drives approximately 2 hours home after events and sleeps 4 hours before resetting sleep schedule

    high confidence · Ron Hallett explains his recovery strategy during interview

  • Bruce Nightingale drove to Chicago during the event attempting to buy a pinball machine

    high confidence · Jeff Teolis joke about Bruce's behavior; Bruce acknowledges the reference

  • Elliot Keith from Baltimore is ranked top 150 in competitive pinball after only 3-3.5 years of play

    high confidence · Elliot Keith confirms during interview

  • Ashton Capone, age 11, is playing in the 24-hour Sanctum for his first time after placing third in the pre-tournament

    high confidence · Jeff Teolis interviews Ashton; Ashton confirms this is his first 24-hour event

Notable Quotes

  • “You have the spinner, and then you have the metal part that goes through it. It actually goes all the way through the spinner, all the way through it. The parts where it comes out on the right and left, you'll notice usually they've got crud all over them. Usually they've got paint, all kinds of stuff. Sand all that off.”

    Ron Hallett @ ~12:00 — Technical maintenance advice for improving spinner responsiveness on pinball machines

  • “If I want to make Pinberg a great event, I've got to do it myself. You can't play as a lady. But you've got to be dedicated to doing it, especially when it comes to any kind of perception of fairness and prizes and publicity.”

    Bowen Cairns @ ~22:00 — Commentary on TD responsibilities and the conflict between playing and running tournaments fairly

  • “I mean, this is, like, my, like, dream. Like, I love pinball so much, and for me, being here, the energy is fantastic. The games are amazing. Like, the whole crowd, the whole energy is just absolutely fantastic.”

    Christina Cimino @ ~38:00 — Demonstrates passionate community culture and appeal of 24-hour marathon events

  • “We are going to try to do a tour in the Mid-America region of the United States, mainly just a regional tour. At the moment, we have, I believe, seven tournaments confirmed. We're looking to get up to ten before we start next year.”

    Sam Swain @ ~42:00 — Announces new regional tournament series addressing geographic gap in competitive opportunities

  • “I stayed in the middle like all day, and then I just finally at the end, where I needed to, finally had some good games.”

    Jerry Sabernard @ ~54:00 — Championship winner describes strategy of energy conservation in marathon format

  • “If I would have known competitive pinball was a thing when I was 12, I'd be here. I've only been playing three, three and a half years. And you're already top 150?”

    Elliot Keith @ ~48:00 — Demonstrates rapid skill acquisition in competitive pinball despite short tenure

  • “most of the prime events in the country currently have moved very coastal, where a lot of the tournaments are getting larger and continuing to grow coastal-wise. but we're trying to continue to grow the tournaments that are within the central part of the United States”

Entities

Jeff TeolispersonJerry SabernardpersonBowen CairnspersonRon HallettpersonBruce NightingalepersonPhil BirnbaumpersonThe Sanctumevent/venuePinball Profile World Tourevent

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Pinball Profile World Tour expanding to December 7th event at Silver Ball Saloon with 48-player capacity, featuring multiple manufacturer sponsors donating prizes and equipment

    high · Bruce Nightingale details sponsors: Comet Pinball (LEDs/prizes), Deep Root Pinball (cash), Stern (signed translites), Jersey Jack (Pat Lawlor flyers), Measel Mods (playfield protector), ULUX Store (trophy), Pin Stadium Lights, Pinball Lifters, Knox Amusement

  • ?

    event_signal: Pinball Profile announces five-day 'SteveFest' featuring consecutive interviews with five notable players/designers named Steve (Ritchie, Daniels, Epstein, Keeler, Bowden)

    high · Jeff Teolis closing remarks: 'SteveFest, the five days of Deep Steve, Steve-o-rama...starting tomorrow with Steve Ritchie...SteveFest...five consecutive days of Steve's'

  • ?

    event_signal: 24-hour Sanctum tournament successfully executed with 100+ players, championship won by first-time winner Jerry Sabernard; demonstrates sustained community engagement in marathon format events

    high · Jeff Teolis hosting wrap-up episode with interviews from participants; Jerry Sabernard confirmed as winner; multiple repeat attendees (Ron Hallett third time, Bruce Nightingale third time, Christina Cimino fourth time)

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Strong positive sentiment toward Sanctum event; participants express passion for pinball culture, community energy, and appreciate organizers' volunteer efforts; marathon format attracts dedicated enthusiasts despite physical demands

    high · Christina Cimino: 'this is, like, my dream...energy is fantastic'; Multiple players returning annually; Jeff Teolis notes organizers (Jim, Dana, Mark) not playing to ensure quality experience; Ashton Capone (age 11) participating despite never staying up 24 hours

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.074

0:00
It's time for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host, Jeff Teoles. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at Pinball Profile. Email us, pinballprofile at gmail.com. Please subscribe on your favorite podcatcher and follow us on Instagram at pinballprofile. Voice kind of recovered. Body, I don't know so much about that. It's the return from the 24-hour at the Sanctum. It's Monday. I woke up after a 12-hour sleep after being up for some 35 straight hours. Probably not the best thing for the body, but pretty darn cool if you're into pinball. And it began on Friday night because 24 hours just isn't enough for pinball. You've got to have a pre-tournament. That's where the Pinball Profile World Tour event happened. A three-strikes tournament, 75 players, a great charity event for Project Pinball. A lot of winners, too, thanks to the great sponsors like Comet Pinball, Deep Root Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball, Measel Mods, Stern Pinball, ULUX Store, and Pin Stadium Lights. Even PinballMix.com. Mark Houser donated a few prizes when he saw what the great event was all about. So thank you very much to everybody. Phil Birnbaum was the winner after 13 rounds, beating out last year's champ, Steve Bowden. Ian Harrower and Eric Wartenberger, who you know from Pinsonati later on this month, they tied for third place. But the big event, that's what it was all about. Let's recap what happened. When you have 24 hours at the Sanctum, you've got a lot of time to talk about things. Ron Hallett's here from Slam Tilt Podcast. You've been coming to this event for years. Yeah, this will be my third straight. And you're crazy enough to come back. Last year was my first, and I just went, you know, I've managed, but it's the week after. That's a tough week.
1:44
Not really. What I do, I drive home, sleep for four hours. What? You drive after this? Yeah, I drive home. Well, I mean, Bruce drives all the way back to Rochester. I only drive back to Albany. Bruce drives to Chicago to try to buy a pin and not get it and then drive home. He's insane. I'll drive home for like two hours, probably get home around noon, sleep for four hours, set my alarm to force myself to wake up, and then I'll stay awake until about 10 or 11, then go to bed, and then I'm back. You know what? We're playing pinball by Stern, not pinball in general, the game pinball by Stern. Very men of title. But there's a spinner on the left, and I was saying, Ron, you're a pretty creative guy. How would you make that spinner more juicy, if you will? What's the best way to grease that thing? Well, this all came about because Jeff hit the spinner and was somewhat disappointed in the amount of spins he was receiving. He nailed it, and it didn't really spin that much. Maybe 10 spins, maybe. You have the spinner, and then you have the metal part that goes through it. It actually goes all the way through the spinner, all the way through it. The parts where it comes out on the right and left, you'll notice usually they've got crud all over them. Usually they've got paint, all kinds of stuff. sand all that off. Just sand it so it's absolutely smooth as you can get it. You should be able to sand all that crud off of it. And also try to clean out the hole in the bracket that the spinner goes into. Like the holes, try to clean them out. Always clean the holes. So after you do that, the most important part, and you probably do this too, is adding lube. So you get Teflon lube. You just sell it at Radio Shack. Like I have one tube. I've had it for 15 years. It's still three quarters full. You will never, ever need another tube once you get one tube. And you just put a very thin coat. Don't use a lot of this stuff. Wherever there's metal-to-metal contact. And then just work it in there and spin that thing, and you will be happy with the results. And that's the key for old games like this. Rip the spinner. Rip the spinner. Yeah, you've got to have a spinner that spins. I mean, come on. Ron, Rip Howlett, thank you very much. Good luck. Good luck to you, too, sir. All right, say hi to Gene Simmons for me. Yes, that's right. Say hi to Gene Simmons for me. Wait a minute, I am Gene Simmons. Why aren't we playing kiss? That's right, they don't have a kiss machine. What's going on? This place sucks. The sanctum is garbage. It's absolutely a travesty. Any place that doesn't have kiss makes me sick. The sanctum's great. What am I talking about? No, no, no. You know, they don't have a family guy here either. What's up with that? Wait a minute, we're in New England. Shouldn't they have a family guy? 100%? I think you're right. Thank you, Ron. Thank you, Stewie. Thank you, Gene. See you all later. Bye. It's early. People are still in a good mood. More importantly, they're still awake. Brian Kravonak is here from Washington, well, near Washington, Virginia, technically. But I see that you've got the Zimmerman Washington shirt on, the Washington hats. Either you're a fan of Walgreens or you're a big Nationals fan. I think it's going to be Nationals this year. What a great World Series. Hell yeah, man. I loved it. All the games. Pretty clutch. The fact that every road team won. That's insane. Man, I thought once we went up 2-0 going back home, we should have had it. And then once Houston came back, I was like, wow, every away team is going to have to win. That's nuts. But anyway, congratulations on the World Series win. How are things in Virginia? Oh, pretty cold, as usual. That's why I live in San Diego now. Oh, really? Yeah. So I'm part of that little clique. So you're in San Diego now. That's a pretty good pinball scene. Oh, yeah. It's awesome. It's tough trying to get people off the beaches and into a dark room to play pinball. And the food's so good there, too. Oh, yeah. It's awesome. Mexican all day. Such a beautiful city. You play with guys like Luca? Yep. Luca's a great friend of mine. Mark Schultz. Derek Price. Derek, yeah. Yeah, so we all have a blast over there. So many good Californian players. Well, anyway, congrats. Good luck at the Sanctum round. One was pretty good for you. All right, yeah, for sure. Thanks, Jeff. Okay, thanks, buddy. All right, bye. Two-time Sanctum champ, including last year. Bowen Cairns is here. Bowen, you've got a first strong two rounds. You almost have perfect. Oh, thanks so much.

  • Christina Cimino is attending the Sanctum for her fourth consecutive year

    high confidence · Christina Cimino interview confirms fourth year attendance

    • Sam Swain @ ~44:00 — Identifies geographic competitive disparity driving need for regional tournament infrastructure

  • “You know why you're staying awake? Do you know why? Because I like to play pinball.”

    Ashton Capone @ ~51:00 — 11-year-old player's motivation demonstrates youth engagement in pinball community

    • Mid-America Pinball Tour
    event
    Christina Ciminoperson
    Ashton Caponeperson
    Elliot Keithperson
    Nicole Bernierperson
    Sam Swainperson
    Chuck Websterperson
    Brian Kravonakperson
    Steve Bowdenperson
    Keith Elwinperson
    Silver Ball Saloonvenue
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
  • ?

    competitive_signal: Marathon tournament strategy emphasizes energy conservation through controlled practice, power naps, and pacing rather than continuous play; players report success from staying in middle standings until final rounds

    high · Bowen Cairns: power naps on couch when not playing; Jerry Sabernard: 'stayed in the middle like all day, then finally at the end had some good games'; Ron Hallett: 4-hour sleep, force wake, adjust sleep schedule

  • ?

    event_signal: Mid-America Pinball Tour announced as new regional circuit for 2020, addressing geographic gap in competitive infrastructure with 7-10 planned tournaments across central United States

    high · Sam Swain formal announcement of tour with confirmed dates starting April 2020; states 7 tournaments confirmed, targeting 10; identifies Texas (3), Oklahoma (2), Kansas (1), Missouri (1), Colorado (up to 3)

  • $

    market_signal: New England Pinball League reports 300+ players with continued location expansion, suggesting sustained growth in regional competitive infrastructure

    medium · Chuck Webster: 'we have over 300 players now, and it just keeps growing. We're adding locations every season'; finals held next week

  • ?

    technology_signal: Spinner maintenance identified as critical for older games; corroded metal components reduce response; Teflon lubrication and sanding procedure documented as effective solution

    high · Ron Hallett detailed technical explanation: sand off crud/paint from spinner shaft ends, clean bracket holes, apply thin Teflon lube to metal-to-metal contact points; notes single tube lasts 15+ years

    • 5:34
    I'm playing all right. This is such a long, grueling event. It's so much fun to have 100 people just going on and keep playing all together all night long. And just conserving energy is real important. Like, I see everybody around me practicing on games. No, no, no. You're wasting all your energy right now, buddy. And I remember even last year you kind of taking, it looked like power naps. You're on the couch and you look like you're out. Yeah, if you're not playing, you might as well be sleeping, right? I guess. No I say there a 24 in Australia where if you sleep they paint stuff on your face Those Aussies You had a lot of fun there Hey it nice to see Alice Cooper here Yeah, it's great to see Cooper in a tournament.
    6:18
    I think they've got the lock-stealing points set off, which is good for a competition. It's a pretty deep game. It's interesting to see what people are going for in competition play because you can win with just a multi-ball, but if somebody else runs them out on you, they're going to beat you. And they get the hurry up. Yeah. I think people are discovering some good depth there. There's still more to program in that game, more to come. Well, get the guy on it, for God's sake. Who is the guy? The guy isn't me. The guy is David Fawcett or Quasma for Alice Cooper, and Eric Pripke is the lead programmer on Haunted House Party. Denise's next one. That's going to be great. on Scott's new game, which I don't know how far away. We aren't that far away from it. Maybe a few more months. Scott said next, though, he said the goal is to hopefully have it out by December. So I know he's pushing hard for that. That's what he said. Oh, geez, man. Roll back the tape. Oh, geez. How are we going to do that?
    7:15
    This is November now, right? It just turned November, yes. Anyway, Bowen, it's always good to play. Good luck trying to repeat. It has not happened. I see that you won it three years ago and last year. So where were you in between? But the moral of last year for me is don't work all night the night before the 24-hour battle because it's not meant to be the 48-hour battle. No. And I was doing really well for about 12 hours, and then I started seeing multiball where it wasn't happening and falling asleep in the middle of games. Oh, boy. No, I fell apart a little bit there in the middle. All right, boy. But it's still fun. Still, this is such a wonderful event, and especially the fact that these folks that we've got, Jim, Dana, and Mark, who are putting their all into this, they're not even playing. I know. They're just making sure it's a great experience for everyone. You know what? You know about that, too, and we've talked about that. First of all, a lot of TDs putting up a tournament, you've got to deal with a lot of stuff. It's hard to play and be a TD, but it's more impressive to me when you give up the chance to play to provide great entertainment for everyone. I've talked to you about it at Pinberg before. I know you'd love to play in it, but it's just a TD. You can't do it. No, it's the only thing you can do. If I want to make Pinberg a great event, I've got to do it myself. Well, not myself, myself. You can't play as a lady. But you've got to be dedicated to doing it, especially when it comes to any kind of perception of fairness and prizes and publicity. When $15,000 is on the line and someone who's making rulings is the winner, It's like, eh.
    8:56
    All right, we're going to keep that in mind. Fairness. I'm going to watch you on Alice Cooper. If I see a flipper code going there, I'm calling BS. I'm not telling anybody those flipper codes. I saved those for the real important. Thanks, Bowen. Take care, Jeff. Thanks. So I talked to Slam Tilt's Ron earlier. I better talk to the other half or he'll get his knickers in a knot. Big knot. He's playing an oddball game, which is perfect. Oddball Bruce Nightingale here. How are you, buddy? All righty, sir. How are you? You're playing Stern's Q. I've never seen this. Yeah, I've seen one. It was at Expo about nine or ten years ago. Explain Q for those who haven't seen it. It is 15 dead bumpers with one active bumper, and it's mostly a nudging game where you actually hit the lit dead bumper. The flippers are basically on the out lane. This game makes Qbert look good. Yes, it does, actually. It's different, totally different. But I've never seen it. It's in great condition. Beautiful, yeah. It's beautiful shape. Jim got a good gem here. And you said Harry Williams' last game. Yes, Harry Williams' last game. I'm sorry. You can cut some slack. The guy made a million great ones. Exactly. This is one of the turds.
    9:58
    So, hey, I'm coming to your place. The Pinball Profile World Tour at the Silver Ball Saloon in East Rochester. We've already got over 30 people signed up. We're going to take 48. It's going to be great. It's going to be fantastic. We're going to get a lot of prizes away. We're going to have a lot of fun. And it's on December 7th. Doors open at 12 o'clock. And come on down. Match play, too. So you're going to get a lot of pinball. And, first of all, your lineup is amazing. You've got a bunch of new games in there. Yes, we do. We have RoboCop right now. RoboCop might be leaving, but we have another TX sector. We have a World Poker Tour. We've got a great game. We've got new sterns. We've got Jurassic Park. So it should be a great time for all. It's a nice mix, too. I like that you've got some old classic sterns in there as well. I do. Plus, I'm going to probably bring in a couple of extras just for the tournament. Wow, this is going to be good. So that's December 7th at the Silver Ball Saloon, the Pinball Profile World Tour. You know what is good about it? You talked about the sponsors. We've already got on every world tour. We've got Comet Pinball supplying some great LED lights and prizes. Deep Roots supplying some cash. Wow, that's really nice. That is very nice. We've got Stern Pinball giving us some signed trans lights. Nice. So that's cool. Jersey Jacks got some great T-shirts and signed Pat Lawler flyers. So that's nice. Measle Mods are giving away a Playfield Protector. Your partner in crime just won one of those. Oh, my.
    11:15
    And we've also got Eulix Store giving us the trophy. and pin stadium lights. We're going to give you a set of those. By the way, all random. All random. And one other thing. Pinball lifters. You're donating that, which is so kind. Yes, I am. So one of the winners will be lucky enough. If they come to the place, they get it. And I see that right here at the sanctum, you've got a big pinball lifter, a PB lifter sign right here. You're one of the early kind of sponsors here. I am. Plus, they actually got a pinball lifter for me for free. Plus, I actually support them with any issues that they have. So they have always been a great place to sponsor. December 7th is going to be so cool because you're also doing this. I love that you and Kat have done this. Everybody who signs up gets $5 off food and drink. That's pretty cool. We try to really help out people, you know, so it's good. You can get a beer, you can get a soda, you can get some food. And Knox Amusement, good friends of yours too, Todd, has also donated some prizing too. So it is going to be a great event. I think it's one of the biggest you have. It will be one of the biggest for sure. And also what I love about all the prizes they all at random It doesn matter how you play Exactly You play like I playing here today it going to be good Bruce have fun You got a few more hours buddy Oh gosh You used to longer You know what I think of the sanctum as 24 hours for everybody else But for you, 24 hours is, I'm going to drive to Chicago and maybe buy a machine and then turn around and come back. I know. Well, luckily I got some hours of sleep here last night, but it didn't show in the first round. I got a zero. First zero ever in match play. Oh, my. Yeah, I know. Oh, well. It's all up here. 7.5, the second one now. 7.5. We'll see you December 7th. Silver Ball Saloon. Bruce Nightingale, thanks. Thank you, Jeff. Chuck Webster's here. He's always here. How many sanctums have you been to? Every one. I think that's six now. Six sanctums. So you must have won a few of them. Of course. I've won a bunch of them in my dreams.
    13:01
    Lylord. Hey, you did win last night at the Pinball Profile World Tour. You won a signed Iron Maiden Translite by Keith Elwin. That's right. It's going to look awesome on my machine. And you know what's so good about winning that Translight after playing the Sanctum? It works as a mirror because that's what we all look like, a bunch of Eddies. Yeah, that's true. By the end of this tournament, everyone's going to be looking like Eddie for sure. How's your lineup, Chuck? My lineup's pretty good. I've got pretty much all the rock games right now. So Metallica, ACDC, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Daryl Smith, all the rock games. Very, very nice. We need a new rock game. What should we get? I want Motley Crue. Motley Crue? Motley Crue. I want to see a Motley Crue game. I never heard anyone say that until now, but yeah, maybe he'll be good. Yeah, I'd do Motley Crue, yep. I'd definitely do Motley Crue. How are things in the New England Pinball League? Things are going great. We have our finals next week. We have over 300 players now, and it just keeps growing. We're adding locations every season. Yeah, it's going well. Chuck Webster, have fun at the Stankham. All right, thanks, Jeff. I saw her last year. I saw her at the pre-tournament as well. Christina Cimino is here from Pennsylvania. How are you? Hi, good. How are you, Jeff? You have come how many years now? This is our fourth year. Fourth year, you and your fiancé. Yes, yes. You're crazy. Like, this is my second, and every year I'm like, I don't know if I could do it again. What makes you come back and play 24 hours? Oh, my God. I mean, this is, like, my, like, dream. Like, I love pinball so much, and for me, being here, the energy is fantastic. The games are amazing. Like, the whole crowd, the whole energy is just absolutely fantastic. And, I mean, really, where else can you play 24 hours of pinball in, like, a tournament like this? So I really love it. And you're, like, wired and wide awake and everything. I'm starting to feel it a little bit, but you're ready to go for another 24 hours. Oh, God, yeah. I'm good to go. Yeah. Lots of caffeine, lots of sugar. Yeah. So tell me about Penn Skate. That's where you play. Yeah, so that's where we have our local monthly tournaments in the Lehigh Valley. It is a skate park, first and foremost, but they have an awesome collection of pinball machines. The owner's really into pinball. And then about probably a year and a half, maybe two years ago at this point, They started up a really great monthly tournament and probably average about 30 players a month coming in. Awesome. So, yeah. Time to do a shout out. Who are some of the best players there? Oh, man. I got to say Cliff Albert, Beyonce, Dennis Gardner. I'd be in trouble if I didn't say that.
    15:23
    Bill Menicello, John Shuffle. He comes occasionally. Nathaniel Gibson. He's always really great. Yeah. But no one there does 24 hours like you. No. You've got that on you and Dennis. I do. and I always talk it up. I come back and I'm like, hey guys, this is an amazing event. But everyone, I guess, a little too afraid of 24 hours. When you get the sanctum medal, do you go back to Penn State and show it and go, you guys are a bunch of wusses? I do. And I even bring it into work and I'm like, hey, let me tell you about where I was. So I show it off to everyone and anyone. Yeah, but let's be honest, when you show up to work on Monday, you're like... A little bit, a little bit. But then that's why I'm like, hey guys, this is what's going on. I'm really proud of this. But this is also why I'm going to be taking a cat nap throughout the day. I enjoyed playing with you. Best of luck. Thank you. You too. You know, I might know a little bit about little world tours, this Pinball Profile world tour, but another guy is doing one. The Mid-America Pinball Tour was just announced for 2020, and Sam Swain is doing it. Hey, Sam. Hi. How are you doing, Jeff? Tell me about the Mid-America Pinball Tour. I think it's great. Thank you. Thank you very much. We are going to try to do a tour in the Mid-America region of the United States, mainly just a regional tour. At the moment, we have, I believe, seven tournaments confirmed. We're looking to get up to ten before we start next year. We should start in April. It should be the very first one. And what are some of the states? The states that are included currently are Texas. We'll have three events in Texas. Oklahoma will have two events, one in Kansas, one in Missouri, and hopefully up to three in Colorado. That's amazing, and I'm sure it will be very well. And having kind of these competitive pinball tournaments in these mid-American states, that's something that's really needed, you think? I don't really know much about Texas and Oklahoma and certainly Kansas, other than your Missouri-Kansas City Royals are about as bad as my Toronto Blue Jays. But that's another story. I understand that. It's needed because most of the prime events in the country currently have moved very coastal, where a lot of the tournaments are getting larger and continuing to grow coastal-wise. but we're trying to continue to grow the tournaments that are within the central part of the United States where the points are there, they're just not there to the point where we can get all of the big name players. Sam, was there any truth to the rumor that you were going to call it Screw the Coast Tour? No.
    17:53
    It's a good title, you can use it. Sam Swain, good luck with the Mid-America Pinball Tour. Thank you very much, Jeff. I enjoy watching this guy play. I think the last time I saw him play at a major event, it was at the New York City Championships in the Classics, where he was in the finals. Elliot Keith from Baltimore. Hey, Elliot, how are you? I'm wonderful, Jeff. Thanks for having me on. I am enjoying the 24-hour battle right now. The last time I was awake this long, I was 12, I think. What was your occasion? I wanted to play video games all night with my friend, I'm pretty sure. So I flying by the seat of my pants I think we all done that I a little older I remember playing like a not a 24 game but an all You saw the Sun come up game of Monopoly a board game Oh, yeah. I actually love board gaming, Jeff. Oh, really? It's the thing I do besides pinball. It's social. You can't do it over the Internet, and it requires you to talk to people and have a good time. That's why I like this hobby. You will never be able to play pinball properly, I guess, over the Internet. Okay, I'm old school. The games I used to play were games like Risk, of course. and Payday. Do you remember Payday? It had the big mail. Oh, yeah. And Stratego. Remember that game? Stratego I still love. It's a great game. The Bombs, the number eight. I remember that. Oh, yeah, man. No, it's a great hobby.
    19:05
    Think of it like beer versus craft beer, your regular beer, Budweiser's Monopoly, craft beer. Think like Settlers of Catan, if you've heard of that, and just branch out from there. I play three times a week. I love it. Oh, good for you. Yeah. Well, you're obviously getting some pinball in there, too, because you're damn good. Oh, my God. I'm trying, Jeff. Sometimes I don't feel like I'm as good as my ranking shows, but I just like to have fun. If I would have known competitive pinball was a thing when I was 12, I'd be here. I've only been playing three, three and a half years. And you're already top 150? I'm trying. Elliot, you're not trying. You're doing it, buddy. Congratulations, and we'll see you at the top of the Sanctuary when this all ends. I appreciate it, Jeff. Thank you very much. It's about 1 a.m. right now. Nicole Bernier is here. You know her, the first ever whipped champion, winner of that Iron Maiden game. How are you doing? I'm doing excellent, thank you. How are you? You know, I saw one of your little secret potions earlier. It's also one of my favorites. I haven't tried it for the 24-hour sanctum, but you and I are both kind of fireball experts, aren't we? We are fireball experts. I've lost count how many I've had. Seriously? Yeah. One before every round and then a couple extras. One before every round? Yeah. I haven't had any yet, which is embarrassing. Don't worry, I will make up for it at the next tournament. It's just right now. You know, I've got some just four feet away. Okay, I don't want any wink, wink, wink. Anyway, how are you playing? I'm playing really well right now. It's kind of shocking. I'm on an upward hill.
    20:30
    I'm playing with Steve Bowden and Ron Hallett. I've never heard of either of them. Way above my pay grade. No, no, no. Go get them. Don't we have to grab a shot or something right now? I believe we do. Sorry, I'd love to talk to you, but first things first. Let's go do this. Apparently there isn't a curfew at the 24-hour sanctum. Here's Ashton Capone. He's 11 years old, and it's 1 o'clock, and you're still going strong, buddy. How are you doing? Good. Now, you were here last year, but you didn't play in the 24-hour sanctum. You did really well in the pre-tournament, didn't you? Yeah. What did you get? I got third place. Third place. There were so many great players there. That was pretty impressive, but you know what? I've talked to a bunch of players. Jack Tappman, John Delzoppo. These are world-class players, and they played with you, and they went, that Ashton kid's pretty good. Makes you feel good? Yeah. So, have you ever stayed up 24 hours straight? No. Never? Nope. Candy bender, nothing? Nope. Video games? Nope. Your first time? Yep. You know why you're staying awake? Do you know why? Because I like to play pinball. Well, it was also because you're giving one-word answers too, which is a brilliant thing to do. You're saving your energy, Ashton. You're smiling. Buddy, how are you playing right now? I'm playing pretty well. Yeah? Yeah. What's your favorite game here?
    21:49
    Um, Harlem Globetrotters. No kidding. See, now I would have thought you would have liked the newer games. Not as much. No? Harlem's a great game. You've got good taste. Ashton, get back to it. Kick some butt. Glad to see you here. Youngest guy at the Sanctum. Congrats. Thank you. We have a new winner at the Sanctum. A first-time winner at the 24-hour final battle. His name is Jerry Sabernard. You did it, man. Oh, yes. 24 hours of this, man. Oh, my God. Now, I was here last year. Correct me if I'm wrong. You were on the wait list, and you were the first person that didn't get in. Is that correct? Yep, that's correct. Ron Howlett got in right before you. How dare he? And you came back. Never going to listen to this podcast again after you've reminded me of this. Thank you. Oh, he has one?
    22:38
    I heard he does. Doesn't he? Anyway. Not as good as yours. Well, let's be honest. I'm delirious right now. I don't even know the name of my podcast. Tell me about it. Dude, congratulations. You beat Bowen. And Bowen was leading almost the entire day. It came down to the last couple of rounds.
    22:55
    Yeah, I think everyone's just getting kind of dizzy and a little disoriented. So he had some rough games and some bad breaks. So it was just tough in the end for him. I stayed in the middle like all day, and then I just finally at the end, where I needed to, finally had some good games. Man, what a long day, though. I know you like the EMs a lot, but there were a lot of nice classics, which you're an expert in, so that was kind of nice. Yeah, I can't beat this lineup. This is everything I like to play, you know, all the older games. Jerry, up on the rafters, you're going to have your name right there. Yeah, it'll go right next to my Connecticut championships. Look at that. He's up twice now. Congratulations. Way to go, Jerry. Jeff, thank you very much. Okay, buddy. I appreciate it. Thank you. It was a lot of fun, as you could hear, and everybody made it through the 24 hours. Some better than others, but still, a great time had at the Sanctum. Thanks to Jim Swain and the crew for doing such an amazing job, and we'll see you at the seventh annual event. Up next on Pinball Profile, SteveFest, the five days of Deep Steve, Steve-o-rama, whatever you want to call it, five consecutive days of Steve's, starting tomorrow with Steve Ritchie, then we've got Steve Daniels, Steve Epstein, Stephen Keeler, and Stephen Bowden to wrap things up. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at Pinball Profile. Email us, pinballprofile at gmail.com. Please subscribe on your favorite podcatcher and follow us on Instagram at pinballprofile. I'm a very tired Jeff Teolis.