California Extreme 2013
This year I was only able to make Saturday evening of California Extreme which was really unfortunate. The show is bigger than ever with over 550 pinball and video games so wait times were a lot better than the last two years. Stephen Kleckner of the East Bay Pinball League ran a Street Fighter 2: Hyper Fighting Tournament. A Metallica Launch Party Tournament was held in the Marco Specialties booth. The main pinball tournament, captained by PAPA TV honcho Bowen Kerins, took advantage of some hot new software by competition player Karl D’Angelo and it’s just such a leap for competition play that it trumps even the best run pen and paper efforts. It’s a very exciting time for pinball.
If you have some good pictures or a link to your flikr/picassa or other photo gallery, send me the link here and share your CAX memories.
Pinball Banned in LA!
…back in 1940, that is.
Above: Primitive pinball repair techniques often resulted in disastrous consequences.
Look closely at those games (larger image after the jump) and you’ll notice there’s no flipper buttons. Pinball was mostly a game of luck back then. It might seem strange that pinball was banned for several decades in most major cities, but they were in fact used for gambling.
From the LA Times Archive:
Mayor Bowron and his Police Commission urged the adoption of the anti pin-ball law on the grounds that the machines are used for petty gambling, so widespread that the police are totally insufficient in number to enforce the law.
The rest of the article and bonus pic here.
Metallica Launch Party Results
At long last, here are the sorta-highly-anticipated results.
Our Novice Champion, as well as top female player, was Echa Schneider of the Radio Pinball Union. Echa won TWO plaques and TWO translites. Now that Echa has won a novice event, she is no longer eligible to play in novice!
NOVICE FINAL Results:
1. Echa Schneider
2. Chris Harkins
3. Kenley Fritts
4. Erin Ray
5. Ashley Woodworth
6. Brian Berry
7. Kenny Smith
8. Matt Talley
(Jeff Fehervahi qualified for Novice but left. First alternate Matt Willmarth also left. Finally Kenny Smith was selected after several attempts to find an alternate).
In Expert action, the final match came down to O.G. legend Neil Shatz (NES) and PAPA 2011 World Champion Andrei Massenkoff (ANM). It’s always awesome watching these two guys throw down since their styles could not be more different. Andrei plays a fast, loose “flow” style while Neil is a surgeon who controls the ball with unbelievable finesse and patience. Which Pinball-Fu style would prove to be more powerful?
Neil was playing in the 3rd position and Andrei was 4th, giving Andrei the advantage since he knew the score to beat and could adjust his strategy going into his final ball. Neil finished his game with a solid but beatable 42 Million. Andrei looked like he was settling into a groove to overtake him but came up just a few million short. CONGRATS TO NEIL SHATZ!
On to the results. There were two games in the tournament. Top 6 from each game played in the Expert Final, while the next 4 from each group who qualified for Novice moved on to the Novice Final. Placement for the remaining players alternated between Game 1 and Game 2, with the starting position (13th) going to the Game that had the highest qualifying score overall. Note that per IFPA rules, Novice Finals do not affect overall tournament placement or ranking points awarded.
| Player | Qualifying | Quarter-Final | Semi Final | Final | |
| GRAND CHAMPION | Neil Shatz | 52,314,230 | 67,222,110 | 31,536,800 | 42,196,270 |
| 2 | Andrei Massenkoff | 53,915,360 | 32,691,930 | 103,288,440 | 36,674,150 |
| 3 | Dylan Joliffe | 14,826,870 | 34,912,980 | 25,037,750 | 15,032,570 |
| 4 | Jim Vierra | 26,337,970 | 46,984,930 | 18,390,440 | 5,625,320 |
| 5 | Tony Martineleh | 27,248,640 | 22,149,910 | 14,964,080 | |
| 6 | Eugene Gerhstein | 24,547,280 | 18,589,390 | 10,793,590 | |
| 7 | Per Schwarzenberger | 21,965,280 | 26,929,890 | 3,562,750 | |
| 8 | Chris Lindboe | 28,458,710 | 21,284,290 | 3,304,920 | |
| 9 | Josh Lehan | 31,558,520 | 15,357,960 | ||
| 10 | Gene Hwang | 37,908,250 | 8,888,970 | ||
| 11 | Devon Kelly | 31,941,280 | 5,068,670 | ||
| 12 | Josh Warren | 42,582,910 | 5,006,980 | ||
| 13 | Echa Schneider | 25,889,790 | |||
| 14 | Brian Berry | 14,078,740 | |||
| 15 | Chris Harkins | 23,095,540 | |||
| 16 | Ashley Woodward | 13,673,520 | |||
| 17 | Erin Ray | 22,623,900 | |||
| 18 | Jeff Fehervari | 13,150,980 | |||
| 19 | Matthew Talley | 20,379,520 | |||
| 20 | TJ Beyer | 12,298,490 | |||
| 21 | Damien Charlety | 18,656,650 | |||
| 22 | Kenley Fritts | 9,984,630 | |||
| 23 | Matt Willmarth | 16,868,280 | |||
| 24 | David Lee | 7,665,500 | |||
| 25 | Mike Hafner | 16,278,780 | |||
| 26 | Kenny Smith | 7,100,100 | |||
| 27 | Noah Boyes | 15,365,780 | |||
| 28 | Glenn Bedford | 6,914,720 | |||
| 29 | Mitch Tunick | 15,183,650 | |||
| 30 | Mike Wallace | 6,319,900 | |||
| 31 | Marc Marasco | 14,354,300 | |||
| 32 | Charlie Shaw | 6,125,650 | |||
| 33 | Dexter Dong | 13,864,130 | |||
| 34 | Gerald Hacket | 5,644,920 | |||
| 35 | Walter Hurwitz | 11,942,090 | |||
| 36 | Eric Wagonsonner | 5,465,670 | |||
| 37 | Francisco Grajales | 7,667,590 | |||
| 38 | Matt Andreikin | 5,457,590 | |||
| 39 | Erin Griffin | 6,806,200 | |||
| 40 | Dylan Eichenbaum | 5,113,470 | |||
| 41 | Chris Couteir | 4,883,490 | |||
| 42 | Marc Lucio | 4,459,770 | |||
| 43 | Darren Ensley | 4,401,280 | |||
| 44 | Kaila Angello | 4,372,820 | |||
| 45 | Jon Olkowski | 4,096,030 | |||
| 46 | Alex Samonte | 4,142,130 | |||
| 47 | Cary Carmichael | 3,962,240 | |||
| 48 | John Laughtman | 3,903,460 | |||
| 49 | Molly Reisman | 3,303,660 | |||
| 50 | Jeremy Travis | 3,852,810 | |||
| 51 | Chris Heilig | 3,204,290 | |||
| 52 | Andreas Pedersen | 3,530,630 | |||
| 53 | Bill Davido | 2,630,000 | |||
| 54 | Zachary Taylor | 3,279,340 | |||
| 55 | Elias Zamaria | 2,940,220 | |||
| 56 | Veronica Setter | 1,195,570 | |||
| 57 | Andrea Johnson | 2,741,010 |
Mikky Ekko – Kids
PAPA Circuit Finals Rounds 11 – 15
Tips: Preparing EMs for a Tournament
Here we go:
1) Make sure the Tilt functions and that the factory tilt bob is installed.
2) If possible, re-install the tilt bob inverted. (This will require disassembling the tilt). This minimizes its settle-down time after a shake or a tilt. Also, it reduces the possibility of player 1 “tilting through” to cause a tilt to player 2. In most tournament rules, this means an instant disqualification for Player 1, and then requires a judgement call as to how best deal with Player 2 (since s/he didn’t get to play), so the best overall situation is to avoid this scenario to begin with. It also means more lively play by players.
3) Test with the max number of players to make sure all score reels and resets are working properly. In other words, if it’s a 2-player EM, ensure that the switches score consistently for both players, and make sure all drop targets, bonus lights, etc. operate consistently and reset from player 1 to player 2.
4) Pull glass and verify every switch is functioning and scoring correctly (I typically hit each switch 5 times on each player while watching score reels)
5) Don’t use Gottlieb Sys 80 or Atari games unless your tech really understands the idiosyncrasies of these games and can fix them fast.
6) Clean and wax, ideally two coats of wax.
7) Flipper and sling rubbers should be new or like-new. Slings should be very responsive. All else should be intact – no cracking, especially loose, etc. Upper playfield rubbers, where they matter (example: Jumping Jack, where nudging into saucers is key), should be new or like-new. Probably a good idea to put a bag of replacement rubbers in one of the games. One broken flipper rubber can slam the breaks on your tournament if you don’t have a spare.
8) Set to free play. EMs require moving a connector on the floor of the cabinet or underneath the playfield to enable this. Possibly in the backbox.
9) Plunger should be clean and consistent. Plunger skills can sometimes be very important on EMs (example: Klondike, where the right plunge can mean many extra balls)
10) All playfield bulbs and backbox indicator lights functioning.
11) Score/instruction cards in place. One of the nice things about EMs is they are often so simple a player can learn a solid basic strategy from reading the instruction card. Don’t deprive players of this option, particularly because few players have regular access to EM games.
12) Flippers should be rebuilt and adjusted so that they’re the same height in the full-up position.
13) The flippers should stutter (bounce) minimally when released. Williams EMs are kind of bad in this respect, in my experience. Put another way, it should be possible to drop catch by a skilled player.
14) The Feed from the inlane should be clean or minimal bounce. Unless you intentionally want to make the game tougher or make a repeatable shot tougher to hit. (Example: left upper playfield shot on Wizard).
Inlane bounce occurs because the inlane guide has gradually worn over time, creating a larger and larger gap between the inlane guide and the flipper over time, which results in the ball hitting the equivalent to a pot-hole on its way to the flipper and skipping. This is expensive to correct (requires a replacement inlane guide), and in the end, it’s the same condition for everyone, so it’s not a defacto reason to not use an EM, but something to be aware of.
15) If Tilt ends game (like on many 70s Gottlieb games like El Dorado or Target Pool), put a sign on the game so players know it, and also consider letting them know during the player orientation.
16) Put a sign up on the game to note if the game is 3-ball or 5-ball. This is especially important on “tilt ends game” games, as those games don’t typically award any sort of end-of-ball bonus and the player should be encouraged to tilt as much as possible to win on their final ball.
Summer of George Tournament
Huge thanks to Per Schwarzenberger for running a top-notch event, and thanks to Gene X for his pro-photog skills in capturing it!
Old-school legend TJ Beyer takes first.
ANM wears New Balance shoes.
More pics here: http://store.orangephotography.com/sfpins
CANCELLED – Time Attack 6/26
Sorry everyone, but life happens, and I have to reschedule this event.
NES Wins Metallica Bay Area Launch Party!
Francisco concentrates…
57 players showed up for the Metallica launch party, proving once again the Bay Area is a force to be reckoned with on the pinball scene. This event almost didn’t happen, but TJ Beyer and the IFPA made sure we could represent. Thanks to everyone who came out and proved it all worth it.
Repeat Pin a Go Go Champion Josh Lehan
Thanks to Per Schwarzenberger, Josh Warren, Dylan Eichenbaum, Ashley Woodworth, and Damien Charletty for helping with registration and score-keeping duties. Thanks also go to STERN Pinball and the Pacific Pinball Museum for providing prizes for the event.
I’ll have full results up in the next few days, but in the meantime, some quick results:
The mastermind Neil Shatz
GRAND CHAMPION: Neil Shatz
2nd: Andrei Massenkoff
3rd: Dylan Joliffe
4th: Jim Vierra
Novice and Womens Champion: Echa Schnieder
Gene X is our resident professional photographer and he got some stunning pics of the event. Check out his site!
http://store.orangephotography.com/sfpins/h6242d084#h66b19a8b
Kudos to you, Michael!
Mike Schiess celebrated a birthday. Happy birthday, Mike!
If I had to name just one person who has changed Bay Area Pinball the most I’d say Mike Schiess, without hesitation.
Mike has done more in the bay area in the world of pinball than anyone. Mike is the mind behind the Pacific Pinball Museum and the Pacific Pinall Expo. He’s hosted dozens of tournaments and brought pinball to places you wouldn’t even imagine, like Maker Faire and City Hall.
Thanks, Mike! Your skills are legendary.
2013 IFPA World Championships
The International Flipper Pinball Association held it’s annual World Championship tournament this past weekend. The tournament is an invitational comprised of the top IFPA point-scorers of the year.
Local player Andrei Massenkoff, as well as friends of the Bay Area scene, Danish players Mads Kristensen and Mikkel Sjolin, competed in the event. Martin Ayub of Pinball News did an excellent job covering the event. Check it out!
http://www.pinballnews.com/shows/ifpa2013/index.html
Bay Area player Andrei Massenkoff on the right.
Steve Epstein (left) and Roger Sharpe (not pictured) pioneered big competition play in the ’80s and ’90s. They’re the “Steve Kordek”s of competitive play. Mads Kristensen, middle, wearing an Oakland Pinball Mafia t-shirt. Josh Sharpe, main honcho of the IFPA, right. Pics from pinballnews.com
Jorgen Holm of Sweden: The World Champion of Pinball.
More pics here
Pin a Go Go fan video
pinballbayarea.com 