The first thing I learned about competitive pinball was to go last if I could and it was bullshit. This is a fairly incoherent and unstructured rambling about why. It applies primarily to matches between two players as that is what people in the Seattle area are most likely to encounter in weekly tournaments. I’ll probably get distracted. I’ll probably end up talking about something else. But first, start going first.
The pressure in a pinball match used to start for me before the game even began. I had to worry about winning a coin toss because going second is supposedly valuable. Don’t get me wrong, it is – if you’re extremely good, have mastered playing under pressure, know a variety of scoring strategies for the game you’re playing, and have actually practiced achieving specific point objectives. The reality for most of us is that we practice pinball by accident. We play by ourselves or casually with friends and with no more of an objective than to do well and not to drain. We aren’t concerned overmuch with any score but our own. The only time this can happen in competitive play without a lot of mental gymnastics is going first. I used to worry about winning a coin toss. Now I really don’t care. I get to go first almost all the time and I get to play the only ball of the match in which another person isn’t involved.
The most unfortunate thing about competitive pinball is that as often as the outcome is the result of playing well, it is just as regularly due to the competition playing poorly. I don’t know how many matches I’ve won in part because the other player was convinced I was going to win, but I’m pretty sure it’s substantial. I know the look on somebody’s face right before they make themselves lose, I’ve made it myself enough times. That being said, encourage your opponent to win for you. Picking to go first throws a lot of people off. I’ve had people try and talk me out of it or automatically attempt to start the game when they lose the coin toss. Go into a match with the expectation you are going to win. People are intimidated by confidence. And before anybody gets uppity, I’m not advocating actively trying to make an opponent play poorly, but there’s nothing wrong with being aware of the impact your choices can have and benefitting from them. Finally, opening a game with a good ball is the single greatest advantage you can have. The better you get and the more you practice going first, the more often it will happen. This is especially beneficial when playing somebody better than you. Most of the times I’ve found myself losing a match with a large skill differential in my favor are when they had a great first ball and I let it get to me. I look at going first as an opportunity to make a statement, to let the other player know what you’re capable of. If they can respond, great. If they can’t, great.
But what if you want to actually benefit from going second? Learn rule sets. A handful of games have nuances that give decisive benefit to position such as shared ball locks or progressive jackpots. Learn multiple scoring strategies which will allow you to make decisions based upon your opponent’s score. Watch ball returns during the other player’s first ball if you’re playing an unfamiliar machine. Finally, practice losing. The next time you’re playing pinball by yourself and you have a terrible first ball, set a scoring objective for your second balI – like to pick something I should be able to regularly get to and then double it. Do the same on your third ball. At some point I realized that what I was doing when I played on my own was reinforcing the idea that I would have a bad game and that I could just keep playing until I had a good one. Now every bad game I have is an opportunity to practice playing from behind. If you’re going to play second, you’re going to have to play from behind on at least one ball every game.
Seattle’s pinball community is nothing short of amazing, and hosting events has been a great foundation for learning the culture of the pinball world. It has really helped me to connect with folks. People ask me why I like to host and the answer is simple: I love what I do. I love bringing people together and watching relationships flourish from the simple catalyst of a pinball match. That stranger you just beat on your third ball of Terminator 3 could become your new friendly rival.
It’s not as easy as it looks, yet it is simple. Yeah, you could host a tournament and have people play pinball, that’s cool and all, but will the players take anything from that experience? Anyone can host, but how you host is what sets your tournament apart.
First, it helps to be patient, or at least have some form of composure. Most tournaments start off without a hitch: everyone is attentive, excited, and ready to play pinball. Most of Seattle’s tournaments take place in bars, so by round four, many players are not paying as much attention. That’s not as bad as it seems. People are drinking and socializing and having a good time. Ultimately, that’s what you want at your events. You may find yourself chasing down players to get results.
Energy is a must! Pinball tournaments always go longer than expected. A good host is able to go the distance. As badly as you wanna drink with the best of them, you have to remember that you are responsible for keeping the tourney going and making sure everyone has a fun and safe time.
A good host advertises their product. Word of mouth is fine, but people feel more included when you personally invite them to your event. I ask every new person I meet through tournament play to come play at an event I’m hosting. I’ll get contact information and even go as far as sending them a friendly reminder the day before or day of. It also helps to use social media when getting the word out about your events. A little advertising can seriously increase your turnout! Advertise!
Can you be interesting? Charisma is a necessity in the world of pinball hosting. Take a look at some of the people who run these events: Ramsey Sierra, Brad Hayden & Gordon Ornelas, Justina Russo, Sergey Posrednikov, Maureen Hendrix, Hannah Holmberg. Each one has their own style, and their own class, which is what makes their brand their own. Alexa Philbeck’s tourney won’t have the same exact vibe as Michael Warfield’s, but you know what you are getting into when you attend either’s events. If you like it, you keep coming back for more. Pinball tournaments often mirror the personality of the host.
Humor helps people enjoy the tournament just that much more. Whenever I announce, if possible, I’ll try to throw in something witty just to keep everyone awake and get a little giggle from the crowd. I have no problem poking fun at my pinball skills (or lack thereof) in front of an audience. When I don’t take myself too seriously, it helps everyone else not take themselves too seriously either. It’s pinball and it’s fun. Those are the only two things that matter. Ultimately, we are all there just to have a good time.
How does one become a successful host? Patience, Energy, Advertising, Charisma and Humor. No, I didn’t intend to make an acronym with PEACH, but hey, if it helps you become a great host…then I guess it’s a thing.
Originally published in Skill Shot 49, August 2017
On April 1st the International Flipper Pinball Assocation (IFPA) announced that beginning in 2018 they plan to start charging a $1 per player “endorsement fee” for any tournament that awards IFPA World Pinball Player Ranking points. Skill Shot’s Gordon (SS) sat down to a Facebook Messenger chat with IFPA President Josh Sharpe to ask a few questions about the controversial proposal. This is the lightly edited long-version of the interview published in Skill Shot 48.
Skil Shot: When did the IFPA first decide on the endorsement fee for 2018?
Josh Sharpe: Like the first of internal discussions, or the moment where we were actually like “We’re doing this”?
SS: Both. I had heard about the discussions happening behind the scenes before the announcement but I am curious on how long it was discussed internally beforehand…
Josh: I know really since the State Championship Series (SCS) kicked off there has been a plan to try and raise the profile so to speak of that campaign. We never thought the community would be interested in supporting it, and figured at some point we would be ‘ok’ risking a shrinking market of events to make this happen. So whether we grew things to 25,000 players in the database… 30,000? 40,000? 50,000? 100,000? 200,000? like at what point does there need to be ‘more’ for the sport in terms of it being a serious thing? We figured 50,000 was that right number to give this kind of campaign a shot. We also knew PAPA was implementing their new Circuit $5 fee and waited for them to be the guinea pig with respect to having events fund this ‘prize pool for the elite’ and the feedback they received was positive enough for us to give our campaign a shot. State Reps were roped in on things in early February prior to the State Championship tournaments from this year and there was some good discussion there that went on, and that ultimately helped shape things. Originally it was 33% split between the States/Nationals/World’s and that morphed based on the feedback – we dropped the World Championship funding because of some tax issues with collecting money in Europe for the IFPA and focused more on keeping those funds “IN STATE”. So a majority of the money collected isn’t redistributed to the ‘elite elite’ most of it goes back within that state and that allows us to make it a “successful thing” for more players. We’re able to pay off 752 players as a result rather than just the 40 that get paid in the PAPA Circuit or the 47 at Nationals.
SS: The State Championships and IFPA Nationals began in 2014?
Josh: 2013 was the first season, finals were Feb 2014.
SS: While you are checking find out how many participated in the first one compared to this year.
Josh: 4940 participated that first year. We had just about 10,000 this last year 2016 season.
SS: And that is the number of players that were in the actual State Championships? (including Canada/Provinces)? Or just the number of players involved in IFPA events all year?
Josh: That was the number of players involved in the SCS qualifying along with Canada. There were 448 finalists that first year, now there are 752 number of players involved overall is a different set of stats.
SS: Does the 448 include Canada? I believe that their championship was held seperately the first year if I am not mistaken.
Josh: You are correct, year one did NOT include Canada (there were only two provinces) and the winner of those provinces actually played a match against each other out in Denver as an exhibition but they weren’t integrated until year 2.
SS: From what I understand the players in the State Championship Series have been paying an entry fee to compete in them each year? $20 I believe is the amount I read. Oh yeah, are there more than two provinces participating now?
Josh: Yes to the $20 – that was the amount we settled on after wanting to make sure that people wouldn’t pass on their right to participate -originally the talk was $100 each. Canada is now up to 7 Provinces.
SS: When deciding on charging the new endorsement fee was this a way to have the players in the State Championships not to have to pay to be in that tournament, or will they still expect to pay the $20 to participate in it?
Josh: Not knowing how things were going to play out, we’re keeping the $20 fee for year 1. That was for marketing purposes. We can guarantee a bigger prize package we KNOW it will be bigger, cause every $1 added will truly be added. Assuming we hit a level we are satisfied with, we would then most likely waive that $20 fee going forward with all 16 players getting paid out, that $20 fee will be subsidized. so if I win $47 in illinois just for qualifying then i still win $27.
SS: When you say “that” was for marketing purposes do you mean originally or going forward?
Josh: For year 1. If we didn’t charge the $20 fee, and this fell flat we could end up generating less than the $320 per state and we didn’t want that to happen, so if a state raises $100 for the year it’ll be $420 for the pool that year.
SS: I’m not sure I understand, do you mean in 2014? (for year 1)
Josh: it’s been $320 per state every year since year 1 – $20 per player X 16 players. Going forward with this new plan the money raised through the endorsement fee will be in addition to the $320 generated at the championship itself from the 16 participants.
SS: So you are hoping or expecting to generate at least $100 from each state next year to add to the prize pool?
Josh: I’m saying we have no expectations. If $100 is generated we can say it’s an ADDITIONAL $100 rather than saying what once was $320 is now $100 and by this change we just slashed the prize package by 67%.
SS: Yeah I guess it will depend on the state and number of events they host. Some states like WA would certainly exceed the $320.
Josh: Exactly we’ve run models based on 2016 data but that can’t be taken seriously as TD’s (tournament directors) will adjust things.
SS: But others (states) probably don’t have that many tourneys?
Josh: Either choosing not to have their event sanctioned or reporting differently to be more efficient with respect to the fees…
SS: Is that what is meant when the fees are described as an “experiment”?
Josh: that’s exactly right . . . there’s so many variables at play we have no expectation as to how it’s going to go, we just know we want to find out. Some people took offense to us “experimenting”, and that was probably not the best word for me to use…
SS: How are the National Championship entries paid?
Josh: Currently? (pre-endorsement fee)
SS: What does that mean?
Josh: it means RIGHT NOW this fee doesn’t exist. it didn’t for 2016 and it doesn’t for 2017 either. it starts with the 2018 season. So “How are the National Championship entries paid?” is a different answer if you want the 2018 answer or the 2017 and prior answer.
SS: So if a player can get to the event they don’t have to pay entry fee? Currently and in the past. I am assuming that if they are currently paying an entry fee they will continue to do so for at least the first year same as the State.
Josh: Correct, there is no entry fee for Nationals. the prize pool is currently covered by fees taken from the States along with sponsorship dollars. (Stern sponsors it with a NIB Pro machine as top prize.)
SS: What do you expect to change in 2018 in the regard?
Josh: Prior to 2018, of the $320 generated we pulled $100 from each state for the Nationals prize pool (roughly 31%). In 2018 we’ll be pulling 25% of the endorsement fees collected to feed the Nationals prize pool since we are still taking at least the $100 from the $320 in 2018 we can guarantee that the prize pool for Nationals will be LARGER than ever before.
SS: Going back to the Edorsement Fee discussions IFPA had, how was the 75/25 split decided?
Josh: Once we removed the World concept we had a 67/33 split and the State Reps talked it down arguing to push more of this money back to the local level and less to the elite national level and through that discussion I agreed with their comments. We have a private message board for all the State Reps where IFPA related items get discussed.
SS: What does the word “elite” mean in this context?
Josh: Most often I would say it’s the top 50-100 players in the world – are sort of that group. But if you dive into the data of who is actually playing at Nationals there aren’t many of those 1-100 ranked players, so the whole SCS/Nationals concept is really designed to not favor the world’s best players (by design).
SS: Well some of the top 100 don’t live in North America…
Josh: Sure, but the top 60 of those 100 do, so it captures that level to me. So for example WA State had 6 participants out of 16 ranked in the top 100 this past year. 63% of the players fell lower than that rank. At the national level, 16 of the 40 participants were ranked in the top 100 this past year so 60% of the players fell outside of that ‘elite’ group.
SS: I hope you’re not counting Cayle!
Josh: He was too busy playing the in ECS 🙂. However it would be possible for a Euro to qualify through their play in the US like what Jorian or Daniele have done with the PAPA Circuit.
SS: I don’t believe they have bothered to travel for a State Championship have they?
Josh: Nobody in Europe has, but the prize pool also hasn’t been that enticing, if it was higher? You never know 😉 at some point it’s proven they WILL travel.
SS: Why did you decide to announce the Endorsement Fees changes on April 1st?
Josh: Because I’m an asshole 🙂. For years we’ve made April 1st announcements, maybe the past 4 or 5, and it just lined up well to do the April Fools April Fools – the meta april fools joke.
SS: Do you think that that added to the blow back you received about them?
Josh: Ultimately I don’t . . . I think those that had/have a problem with what we’re doing would have had the same issues whether it was April 1st, December 25th or ‘random day’.
SS: What is the difference between IFPA Rankings and WPPR points?
Josh: It’s one in the same. WPPR is the IFPA rankings system there is also the IFPA RATINGS system that is a separate thing, but WPPR rankings, IFPA rankings, IFPA points, WPPR points people use those terms interchangeably. “Whopper Points” were sort of the ‘currency’ in terms of how people talked about them for the past 11+ years.
SS: I read on the IFPA website that there will be “No Points” events listed on the IFPA Calendar where no WPPR points will be award but the results will impact the IFPA ratings. What does this exactly mean?
Josh: Back at the end of 2011, we announced a secondary ranking system and that was the IFPA Ratings System you can read that announcement here: https://www.ifpapinball.com/ifpa-ratings-system/it’s a completely different way we rank players at events that don’t reward WPPR points, still have an impact on this IFPA Ratings calculation. So for example if you beat me in a non-points event there’s no credit given to you in our WPPR system however in the IFPA Ratings system you would increase your rating for that victory and my rating would decrease
SS: So it’s a similar system that has been running alongside the main ranking points all this time? Or at least since 2011…
Josh: Correct. Most people haven’t noticed but we actually have THREE rankings systems all running concurrently. Most people only care about one of them and that’s the WPPR system of course.
SS: How does the rating system differ from the ranking one? Do players stay pretty much in the same order in both?
Josh: They are completely separate metrics, so while there are similarities in that the “best players” are at the top there are different ways they get there for each different system. So take you for example your ranked 1688th by WPPR Rank but 4326th by IFPA Rating that’s a pretty big difference and it’s based on those two calculations being completely separate ‘things’ You’re 2206th in our 3rd different system which is “Efficiency Percentage” but you can get lost in those ‘other ranking systems’ we do because like I said, most players don’t follow them or have any interest in them.
SS: Does the rating of a player have any effect on their ranking?
Josh: The IFPA Rating impacts the ‘strength’ of that player, with respect to the value they add to the tournament they are playing, so it does have some impact on the WPPR points awarded at every IFPA sanctioned event.
SS: Ahh I’ve sometimes wondered about that! Is it the same with someone’s Efficiency Percentage?
Josh: It really came about because there were good “local” players that weren’t highly ranked because they didn’t play enough. The Rating metric doesn’t require that high level of play in terms of quantity it, makes it’s best guess at your skill based on the data it has available. The Efficiency Percentage isn’t used at all in the WPPR formula at this point it’s strictly a ‘for fun’ metric.
SS: So for those tournament directors that are hesitant about paying the Endorsement Fee they can still register as a non-points tournament and still get some useful information from it? Say for our (Seattle) Monday Night Pinball league where there are certain WPPR Points restrictions concerning how many highly ranked players can join a team?
Josh: Absolutely. They can register as a non-points event, and those results will impact the IFPA Rating of all the participants based on that data that will continue at no charge from the IFPA.
SS: But this would not impact anyone’s State Rankings?
Josh: Correct. State Rankings are based solely as WPPR points earned as the metric for those standings.
SS: It seems like you need to get people to start paying attention to those Rating Points since it would be a way to relieve some of the pressure off tournament directors to always feel the need to have WPPR Points awarded to get people to come to their tournaments.
SS: I saw and read that but the non-points tournaments seemed hidden in the last paragraph… As well as being something different that the IFPA Challenge matches. It seems like something that should have a post of it’s own.
SS: Do the same rules apply when submitting to the IFPA Calendar when holding a non-points tournament? 30 days in advance, etc…
Josh: The non-points events will still need to go through the 30 days in advance rules but other than that it’ll be pretty loose. What we won’t allow are events to submitted ‘after the fact’. If this endorsement fee is the catalyst to the Ratings system taking off and becoming a more meaningful looked at metric then that’s great for us to continue serving ‘everyone’ at their various levels of interest.
SS: Like any sort of format? Skill Shot runs a tournament every month where we allow a guest host to run it and decide on a playing format or style (one handed etc) would something like that qualify?
Josh: We don’t include any tournament formats that aren’t ‘normal playing’ so no one handed, no teams, no blindfolded, Etc.
SS: Clown noses required?
Josh: haha we’ll consider it 🙂
SS: Then we may consider registering.. Anyways back to the IFPA Challenges, so anyone can challenge anyone else correct? Does it have to be in a public venue?
Josh: Only players with full IFPA profiles can challenge or be challenged. it does not have to be in a public venue it can be anywhere at anytime.
SS: If someone doesn’t have a profile yet how do they get one?
Josh: They could email us to have one createdand then they would have to update that profile here: https://www.ifpapinball.com/menu/user-profile/ that would register their account with us
SS: Do the Challenges need to be registered 30 days in advance also?
Josh: No you could literally decide to have one on the spot at the bar with another random player as long as both are registered the challenge matches need no advanced warning to register. You would submit it to the calendar most often AFTER the match is done and then once we accept the match, results could be submitted.
SS: Do the Challenges need to be registered 30 days in advance also?
Josh: We wanted to make sure the flexibility was there on our side. I understand most people don’t know where/when they will be at a location and if I show up to a bar and some guy walks in and you want to ‘play a match we want to support that level of casual competitive activity.
SS: I am assuming that each player’s ratings will affect the amount of Rating Points obtain?
Josh: you are correct with respect to the Ratings impact i’m not up on the Glicko calculation but my understanding is that the better rated player risks more ratings pointsto lose than the lower rated player in that match.
SS: But it has to be all 7 games? or can they quit once someone has won 4 of them?
Josh: Once someone has won 4 games the match is over. We don’t use that match detail in the results submission it would simply list the winner as 1st place and the loser as 2nd place
SS: Will there be a separate results page for these on your website?
Josh: It’s being discussed.
SS: Back to the Endorsement Fees, what was the thinking behind making charity events needing to pay for their points? That seems to be a controversial decision.
Josh: it presents a loophole to the system that would then have to be managed. Can I say I’m running an event and donating $.05 per player to Project Pinball TECHNICALLY it’s a charity event, so does that ‘check the box’ for us in talking with the pinball charities. They run into expenses all the time – paypal fees for donations taken online versus cash in person – and with us not forcing any event to be endorsed we leave that to the charity and the organizer of the event to figure out – if they think that is a worthy expense for the cause.
SS: Well Points do add value to events so I guess it could be looked at as an operating expense such as renting a venue…
Josh: Correct for some events it won’t be worth it, where for other charities they may think it will be – to draw more players out to donate.
SS: How do you feel about Bowen taking himself off the IFPA Rankings? From what I’ve read it seems like that was at least part of his objection to the new system…
(Past pinball champion and previously highly IFPA ranked player Bowen Kerins recently had himself removed from the IFPA ranking system.)
Josh: I felt it was a bit hypocritical considering his support for PAPA doing the same thing with their Circuit I made a post about that on Tilt Forums but outside of that, I ultimately have no opinion on anyone wanting to remove themselves from the rankings for ‘any reason’ it’s something that is available for those interested. I don’t spend too much time worrying about those people NOT interested.
SS: How many “supressed players” are there anyways? I’ve heard that there are a few more for other reasons. Are there any others because of the Endorsement Fees?
Josh: Looks like there are 34 in total we don’t often hear the reasons so I couldn’t tell you I haven’t seen anyone else on Facebook post something about it as some sort of ‘protest’ or anything but you could tell me 🙂 if I’m missing something…
SS: I haven’t seen anything. What about women’s tournaments; will Endorsement Fees apply to them as well?
Josh: No. We had a plan to do the ‘same thing’ and feed the Women’s Championship prize pool but we’re still in the growing phase of the Women’s rankings similar to what I mentioned earlier waiting for that right moment and 50,000 players in the database feeling like that ‘right moment’
SS: So once there’s 50,000 women players?
Josh: That would be a good goal 🙂 Right now there 1688 women in the WPPR rankings let’s try to take it to 5000 first at least.
SS: Hopefully it comes soon – Seattle is doing its part to increase the ranks!
Josh: Damn straight! I would hate to slow down that momentum in any way and actually emailed with a bunch of the top ranked women about it in advance.
SS: Just to let them know that women’s tournaments won’t have to pay?
Josh: No, to get their feedback on whether we should do it or not back in the discussion phase and a bunch of them were in favor of starting it in 2018 ultimately I decided against it.
SS: What about for states that have restrictive playing or gambling for money rules? I’ve heard that Wisconsin has some complicated ones…
Josh: We will deal with those issues as it comes up. Right now the IFPA operates on sponsorship dollars and we can put THOSE dollars to use for states where this can’t be done and treat their money collected towards our operating expenses and ultimately if nothing can be done, we’ll take those funds and just keep them for our operating purposes. We operated at a slight loss last year, so at some point if I had to dip too far into my own personal pocket book, this fee would end up going towards us operating as well. Fortunately our sponsors keep us going for the most part.
SS: Speaking of which, many have expressed surprise that you just didn’t promote the whole Endorsement Fees as being used for operating expenses in the first place and then kick back some of the money back to the SCS/NC if the first place. Why not?
Josh: I like to be transparent about what we plan on doing with those funds. Ultimately I’m not out to make money with the IFPA I’m not out to lose money on the venture but it’s my way of giving back. If we NEED these funds to survive you would see that announcement where the IFPA takes 10% of the endorsement fees collected (for example) for operating and ‘pays out’ the rest. Right now we can run at keeping 0% but I have no idea what the future holds. For those that want to sleep better at night, they can rationalize the fee in that manner and ultimately that is true – WPPR points were free (and) they are no longer free; it is a “paid service”. If you are interested in it, you’ll have to pay for that service whether we keep the money, pay it out, light it on fire IMO is irrelevant we’re simply changing a service that was free, to a paid service.
SS: Do you think it is fair for states like WA to pay so much more towards the Nationals?
Josh: I do 🙂
SS: Many seem to see it as a way to reduce your work load…
Josh: And you’ve made a great assumption there because WA is also the state where we plan on losing the most events with respect to endorsement sooooo how do you know? 😉
SS: I don’t for sure.
Josh: Assuming WA is still ‘larger’ than most states for 2018 I like that it will create a separate motivation for SCS qualifying. There is debate as to whether out of towners that may qualify for WA will now CHOOSE WA because of the large State prize package even if that means a tougher path to Nationals, where as right now the best choice for a ‘good player’ is to choose the easiest path to Nationals since every State pool is the same financially. I like the push-pull mechanic that (it) creates. I also like the ‘right sizing’ of events with respect to the world rankings of players in the larger areas. If a weekly tournament chooses to submit monthly or annually or ‘whatever’ that brings down the number of points that event is awarding over the course of the year, and for most of the world, they can’t compete with these larger areas so now these larger areas will ‘right size’ to deal with more appropriately sized fees – or subsidize that pool for the smaller areas and I’m completely fine with that strategy.
SS: I don’t think that WA/Seattle is a particularly large area compared with much of the country, we just have a large pinball scene.
Josh: When I talk “area” I talk scenes, I talk about ‘impact on the WPPR rankings’ in terms of points distributed and WA has distributed nearly 50,000 WPPR points to anyone that has played within the boundaries of that state. Whereas NY, even with NYC is at 18,000. Much of that has to do with WA being a more mature scene.
SS: Well it is a big social thing as well here.
Josh: Absolutely and that’s the best part of trying this for us. “IFPA play” isn’t the only way for people to play, so to think that we could somehow “destroy” a scene is ridiculous and gives IFPA far too much credit for what’s going on. We’re simply focusing the players/organizers that are interested in us rather than simply counting ‘everything’ we could. If a weekly continues as a non-points event, I think that hits on the most important point in all of this that the weekly event CONTINUES.
SS: I agree in a way, but people love those points!
Josh: There are certainly a large number of players that do. Now do they only love them because they were “free” or do they love them enough to pay for the right to earn them? That is what we’ll find out because I don’t know the answer yet.
SS: Well they pay at least $5 at a time for them currently… How long do you plan on keeping this experiment going before you decide yeah or nay? Was a time line discussed during your initial plans concerning this?
Josh: We implement changes every year, and typically after the first 3 months we have a solid idea on whether that change is meeting the goals of the change I don’t imagine this being much different.
SS: Do you having any closing statements or is there something that you wanted me to ask?
Josh: Not really . . . I know that it’s a tough topic to discuss from a ‘neutral’ perspective, everyone tends to have an opinion that shapes their comments. I will say I’m not one who is afraid to TRY THINGS so all the hypothetical fears of this or that happening doesn’t phase me one bit. I think you’re destined to die if you’re not actively looking to make things better and there hasn’t been a change the IFPA has made in the past 11 years that wasn’t met with some disapproval, so I’m quite used to dealing with that. My biggest hope is that people understand that we come at this with the intent to make the sport BIGGER rather than strictly serving trying to pad the pocketbooks of the world’s 25 best players. Believe me, I’d much rather hear dissenting opinions than NO OPINIONS. When we make a change to the Efficiency Percentage calculation and NOBODY CARES that’s my biggest fear 😉
Getting on Board with Monday Night Pinball
by Alexa Philbeck
MNP Season 1 pre-season meet up.
When Monday Night Pinball (MNP) was in its infancy just three years ago, the pinball scene looked a little different. Add-A-Ball was still only one level, they had just opened Point-Break a few months prior. The 8-Bit Arcade and Flip Flip Ding Ding had just opened, and Another Castle had recently brought pins to their Edmonds location. Geoff Simons and Dave Stewart began the league, originally called Pinball Seattle, with the support of Tim Tournay, and based on the pinball league format used in New York City. The first season featured ten teams of eight players.
Since that time the league has seen steady expansion and today consists of twenty teams of ten players, competing in two ten-week seasons per year every Monday night. The league, like the pinball scene in Seattle, has exploded and has been a huge success for players and venues alike. Up until this season, Geoff and Dave acted in tandem as the commissioners of the league, making all the necessary rulings and decisions that come as part of a competitive gaming environment. But with 200 players participating every Monday night, and the inevitable rise of issues, they decided it was time to form a Board of Directors.
Season 1 score sheet
The MNP board consists of myself, Heather Loudon, Sophie Spickard, Michael Adcock, and Taylor Minter. Geoff and Dave selected us from a list of candidates after posting in the MNP Captain’s Page, and initially asked for our help to decide where to host the Fall season finals before setting the official board. We were then tasked with a list of concerns and prioritizing those that needed to be addressed before the beginning of the current season.
The reason for having a board is to create a fair and consistent decision making process, while also including more diverse representatives from across the league. Some topics we have discussed so far include expansion teams, qualifications for new venues, and some tough decisions about specific incidents that occurred in relation to league play. One of the major topics we are continuing to address is player, team, and location conduct. We are a friendly league, and a lot of our league members are our friends, but we are also committed to resolving conflicts in an impartial manner.
MNP Season 3 meeting.
One of the first choices we made as a board was to go public with an announcement of who the board members are, and a general push for greater transparency with league operations. We want league members to understand what our goals are, and also to be honest about the challenges we face as an organization. Some of our major priorities include creating a budget and establishing financial transparency, more specific qualifications and requirements for team captains, and creating a league mission statement. In fact, one of the our most important tasks is to establish the structure of board itself and how it will look going forward! We started as an “interim” board, but we hope to announce a more democratic process for rotating board members by the end of this season. We have a lot to accomplish in limited time, but we’re confident we can effect positive change by taking some simple steps forward.
Most importantly, we hope that everyone understands that they are welcome to start a conversation with any board member about the league. With our push for greater transparency, we also want to encourage league members to share their feedback and experiences with the board, so we can better serve you. Monday Night Pinball has gone through many transformations through the years, and we hope that by building a solid framework for decision making, we can see it through many more successful seasons.
A fun way to play 2-player competitive pinball and improve your accuracy.
Pinball practice at AddaBall
In “Drillin’ Fools,” you will study all of the main shots in a game, and practice shooting each one repeatedly. Pick a “par,” and that will be the number of times to make each shot. You won’t be paying attention to the scoreboard, just counting your shots. It is good to have basic mastery of dead flips and post passing before playing this way.
Put a bunch of money in the machine and start up a 4-player game. Then simply switch players every time a ball drains. Since the score is inconsequential, keep switching even if you are awarded an extra ball. The first player to finish wins! Each player keeps track of their own progress towards the goals (your opponent can help you remember how many shots you’ve completed). If neither player has completed all the objectives, start another 4-player game and resume your progress!
AFM playfield
Let’s look at Attack From Mars as an example. The main shots (clockwise) are Left Loop, Left Ramp, Lock, Saucer, Scoop, Right Ramp, and Right Orbit. Let’s say you are playing with a par of 5. Your first objective is to shoot the Left Loop five times. No other shots count towards your goal until you’ve got all five. After that, start focusing on the Left Ramp and try to hit it five times before moving onto the Lock shot. And so on, until you finish with five Right Orbits. Can you do it all in one ball? Your progress carries over from turn to turn until you finish. Depending on the difficulty of the game in question, you may want to adjust the par or the order of shots.
Want to play cooperatively? Both players follow the same set of objectives together instead of making progress separately. Don’t have a buddy to play with? This style also makes for a great game of solitaire.
Highway to the Danger Zone
by 2nd Place Andy [two_third last=”no” class=”” id=””]My strategy for the Addams Family is quite narrow. Many of the shots and features of the game can be ignored. This is helpful, however, because there are fewer situations to practice or memorize. Instead, I just focus on keeping control of the ball in each of the game’s three Danger Zones.
You will repeatedly have to deal with these Danger Zones, so master them and you will exponentially improve your score.
The first Danger Zone is the Graveyard exit shot from the mini Thing flipper. This is generally accessed from the left ramp (or Bear Kicks during the Seance). It is tempting to shoot across to the Swamp for 5x value. However, safely feeding the left flipper is more desirable. A slight nudge here can keep the ball away from the left outlane. Try nudging right just as the ball passes by the mini flipper to guide it into the 2 Bear Kicks lane. With practice, both the Electric Chair and Bear Kick Ramp can be shot safely as the ball rolls down the left inlane. Take note that if you activate Thing Flips from the Bear Kick ramp, the mini flipper will always engage, making it impossible to feed your left flipper.
The second Danger Zone are the kickouts- Electric Chair (left) and Swamp (right). Right before a ball kicks out, the game warns players with a thunderclap sound and a flashing lightning bolt. The lightning will flash on the same side as the kickout! Hopefully, the kickouts follow the same trajectory every time. However, be prepared to adjust your strategy to compensate for machines with less consistent kickouts.
Let’s look at all the different options for stopping the ball after it comes out. You can find descriptions (and often videos) of these maneuvers online (www.ipdb.org) if you are unfamiliar. From easiest to hardest to perform: Hold Trap (I call this “hold and pray”); Dead Pass; Flip Trap / Live Catch; Drop Catch; Reflex Flip (flipping the ball right as it comes to the flipper). Unless you have incredible, repeatable accuracy with this last method, I do not recommend it. However, most novice players play exclusively this way. On an ideal machine, Hold Traps and Dead Passes work 100% of the time from both kickouts. Usually a Dead Pass works on at least one side. Once you have the ball safely trapped in the cradle, you may attempt a post-pass (if possible) before shooting the next shot.
The third Danger Zone is the right inlane (such as after shooting the Bear Kick ramp).
Controlling a rolling ball is difficult! Try out: Hold Trap; Hold and Tap (flip the flipper hard right before the ball gets there, and it may stop entirely – usually more effective with a small nudge); Inlane Pass / Bop Over / Tap Pass; Inlane Loop Pass; Rolling (Live) Post-Pass; Reflex Flip (careful!); Half Volley (For games where the ball does not have enough momentum to complete a rolling pass, hold the flipper up, then release just after the ball touches the flipper, then quickly strike the ball again. This propels the ball much slower than a reflex flip, yielding a safer ricochet on missed shots); Alley Pass (“Shatzing the inlane”). I must emphasize that dialing in your Reflex Flip seems like the simplest option here, but it is also the most likely to drain. So try out everything else and see what’s the most consistent!
Try all the options! Figure out what works for you. See if you can perform a move 10 times in a row. Experiment, assess, adjust. The idea here is to navigate each Danger Zone perfectly every time. Then follow the flowchart for massive points. Good luck!
Originally published in Skill Shot 44[/two_third] [one_third last=”yes” class=”” id=””]
Side Bar Glossary By Kayla Greet
Hold Trap – Just as simple as keeping your flipper up to trap the ball as it rolls through the inlane or out the kickout.
Hold and Tap (sometimes called Flip Trap) – Similar to above, keep your flipper up to trap, but if there is considerable speed on the ball, give the machine a nudge or tap the flipper to dampen the velocity.
Dead Pass / Dead Flip – One of the easiest moves because it involves doing nothing at all! Keep your flipper down, let the ball bounce off the rubber and arc over to the other flipper.
Live Catch – When the ball hits your flipper, engage it to meet the ball exactly when the flipper is fully extended. This halts the ball, makes it look as if it is stuck on the flipper, and will allow you to trap it.
Drop Catch – Much like the Live Catch, you’re essentially ‘bunting’ the ball. Pull the flipper back just as the ball makes contact. This mutes the energy of the ball and then you can re-engage the flipper to trap.
Reflex Flip – “See ball, Hit ball.” Nothing fancy.
Post Pass – Start with a trapped ball. Then take the trapper flipper and give the button a half tap, which sends just enough kinetic energy to arc the ball to the other flipper, often but not always ricocheting off the above slingshot post.
Inlane Pass – This motion often involves a feed to the flippers from a ramp shot, like the Bear Kick on TAF. Hold your flipper up like a mini ramp and allow the ball to pop over to the other flipper. Sometimes it requires a bump or nudge to the front of the machine for a little extra oomph.
Bop Over – Same as Inlane Pass but with a fluttering “flick” of the flipper to give the ball extra momentum.
Flick Pass / Tap Pass – Let the ball roll to the end of the flipper and give it a tiny tap (so tiny in fact that the flipper will not appear to move) to transfer it to the other flipper. Usually works best on electromechanical (EM) games.
Inlane Loop Pass – Starts as an Inlane Pass but drop the flipper as soon as the ball makes contact. Works well on games with high speed inlanes.
Rolling Post Pass – Same as the Post Pass but with the ball in motion instead of a trap.
Alley Pass / Shatzing the Inlane – This move, made famous by California player Neil Shatz, involves the ball in a trap on a flipper and tapping the button just enough to get the ball to travel back up the inlane rollover. Great way to take advantage of a lit inlane to qualify its award, such as an Extra Ball.[/one_third]
This is an attempt to count the minimum number of flips it takes to reach 1 billion points using Doctor #2 (Patrick Troughton) / Sonic Boom approach. It requires only three different shots on the playfield and the least amount of live “scary” shots, keeping your ball relatively safe compared to other, riskier approaches. Assuming you make every shot, your game should go like this:
Choose Doctor #2 which adds Hang On time and doubles that score. Plunging will feed the ball to your right flipper. Shoot the far left shot (H) past the upper flipper to receive your HANG-ON award and set up the O / PLAYFIELD MULTIPLIER ramp shot from the upper flipper. Shoot the upper ramp ten times to start the Sonic Boom and activate the ball diverter to feed the ball to the lower left flipper. Now spell “WHO” by hitting the right ramp (W), the HANG-ON shot (H), and the upper ramp (O) for 40 million per letter and a return to the upper flipper to start it all over again. Before you do, you’ve already earned 144,875,000 points! Not only that, but you’re a mere nine easy O ramps away from the next Sonic Boom. This is where your ramp-hungry zombie stamina comes into play because you will have to do this series of shots five more times.
After the 2nd COLLISION you will have 304,875,000
After the 3rd – 478,875,000
After the 4th – 654,875,000
After the 5th – 832,875,000
After the 6th – 1,010,875,000
Math!!!
This approach requires 74 flips. Sound like a lot? Don’t worry! Once you get the hang of the upper ramp, it almost becomes a comfortable or safe experience, and there are only 13 live “scary” shots total to worry about before reaching our goal: six “W” shots and seven “H” shots. These can only be mastered through lots of practice. (fun practice hint! – spell WHO without starting shuttle mode and the ball will return to the lower left flipper every time, setting you up to do it again. You have to spell WHO pretty much consecutively, or at least within a few seconds per letter in order to get big money and no whammies. This is also true during your 40 million per letter Sonic Boom, so don’t miss!)
This is only one of four strategies I know of, and to be honest, actually pulling this off without missing a single shot is extremely difficult to execute. There are so many cool things to do on this amazing table, so don’t be afraid to explore other options. For an incredibly in-depth look at choosing other Doctors (or why to choose #2) and different methods of gaining ridiculous points at a higher risk of draining, refer to Bowin Kerins’s online guide. http://www.ipdb.org/rulesheets/738/drwho.htm
Do you want to go to the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show in Tacoma this weekend (June 5 – 7) and you don’t have a car?
It is fairly easy to take public transportation from Seattle to the Tacoma Convention Center. Sound Transit Express Bus (ST) #590/594 begins on Stewart St at Yale/Denny and has stops on 2nd Ave downtown, 4th Ave in the ID, and the bus corridor through SODO. These busses are much nicer than a regular Metro Bus, and the trip takes about an hour and will take you a short block from the Convention Center. Get off at Pacific and 15th in Tacoma and you can see the Convention Center from the bus stop. Fare from Seattle to Tacoma: $3.50/adult $2.50/youth.
Both routes run on the weekdays but only ST #594 runs on the weekend, with busses running every half hour throughout all of the days. Running right in front of the Convention Center on Commerce is the Tacoma Link, which is a free light rail train. Taking the Link train to the end of the line (two stops) will put you a short walk from Dorky’s at the corner of S 9th and Pacific. If you take the Light Rail to the other end of the line, you’ll get to Frieghthouse Square which offers a very diverse food court and small shops similar to Pike Place market.
Commerce is also the street where you will catch the bus back to Seattle. There are many bus boarding zones on this street and not all busses stop at every one, so it’s a good idea to scope out which boarding zone the ST #594 services just in case you need to run for it (like we did). WARNING: The last bus leaves Tacoma at 10:20 PM.
If you miss the last bus, the only option that we know of is to take a cab to Sea-Tac airport’s Light Rail Station and catch the train to Seattle. The last train leaves at 12:10 AM. Consult Sound Transit for more details on times and bus stops: http://www.soundtransit.org/ Note: The Sounder train is often discussed as an option for going to Tacoma from Seattle but the last train is at 6:15 PM on Friday and it doesn’t run at all during the weekend.
The above was originally posted on June 3, 2013. According to the internet all the information is still good but we haven’t taken this bus ourselves since last year. The dates in the article have been changed to this years event. – ed
second is supposedly valuable. Don’t get me wrong, it is – if you’re extremely good, have mastered playing under pressure, know a variety of scoring strategies for the game you’re playing, and have actually practiced achieving specific point objectives. The reality for most of us is that we practice pinball by accident. We play by ourselves or casually with friends and with no more of an objective than to do well and not to drain. We aren’t concerned overmuch with any score but our own. The only time this can happen in competitive play without a lot of mental gymnastics is going first. I used to worry about winning a coin toss. Now I really don’t care. I get to go first almost all the time and I get to play the only ball of the match in which another person isn’t involved.
but I’m pretty sure it’s substantial. I know the look on somebody’s face right before they make themselves lose, I’ve made it myself enough times. That being said, encourage your opponent to win for you. Picking to go first throws a lot of people off. I’ve had people try and talk me out of it or automatically attempt to start the game when they lose the coin toss. Go into a match with the expectation you are going to win. People are intimidated by confidence. And before anybody gets uppity, I’m not advocating actively trying to make an opponent play poorly, but there’s nothing wrong with being aware of the impact your choices can have and benefitting from them. Finally, opening a game with a good ball is the single greatest advantage you can have. The better you get and the more you practice going first, the more often it will happen. This is especially beneficial when playing somebody better than you. Most of the times I’ve found myself losing a match with a large skill differential in my favor are when they had a great first ball and I let it get to me. I look at going first as an opportunity to make a statement, to let the other player know what you’re capable of. If they can respond, great. If they can’t, great.
upon your opponent’s score. Watch ball returns during the other player’s first ball if you’re playing an unfamiliar machine. Finally, practice losing. The next time you’re playing pinball by yourself and you have a terrible first ball, set a scoring objective for your second balI – like to pick something I should be able to regularly get to and then double it. Do the same on your third ball. At some point I realized that what I was doing when I played on my own was reinforcing the idea that I would have a bad game and that I could just keep playing until I had a good one. Now every bad game I have is an opportunity to practice playing from behind. If you’re going to play second, you’re going to have to play from behind on at least one ball every game.
