Meet your new country director...
L C M
A.K.A. Luke Marburg
On Tuesday night it was announced that Luke has been appointed as the second country director for Australia.
What does this mean?! Is Dan out of the job?
No. Luke will be assisting Dan with assessment and submission of all new Australian tournaments from now. This means that Dan will be still solely handling any tournaments that have been already submitted.
So who’s this Luke guy...?
Luke Marburg is currently ranked 8th in Australia and 305th in the world according to the IFPA rankings. For perspective, 8th in Australia is one above Jack Hutch, and one below Greg Siegele. Luke has been running local comps in Melbourne for roughly 3 years, and coming from a poker background, he has a real knack for tournament mechanics.
Martin Robbins, a local of Melbourne had this to say:
“This is great news for the Competitive Pinball community. Luke is not only a great guy but is the most knowledgeable person I know when it comes to tournament rules, formats, rulings and overall knowledge of the global pinball scene. With so many more tournaments now in Australia the amount of work required by Dan to keep on top of things must be huge and Luke coming on board only helps us now but enables more clubs, leagues and one off tournaments to be supported.
Further, Luke is crazy when it comes to numbers, calculating chances of success and keeping everyone informed of their progress during comps - he is the go to person at most Melbourne comps especially as he attends all of them regularly - he is absolutely the most committed person to the Melbourne competitive pinball community.”
We did get a chance to speak to Luke at the PAX gaming convention this past weekend and he told us that he fell into the role. Luke had been helping Dan with some of the more complicated aspects of pinball tournament rules and gradually over time became an obvious choice. All that was left was Dan’s recommendation to the IFPA for the official appointment.
Luke’s enthusiasm for the role appeared tentative, and I suspect this is due to the amount of responsibility. However, during the PAX IFPA pinball competition he was very clear in explaining formats and when called on to make a ruling it was done quickly and without hesitation. Already he has taken up the role like a veteran.
The position of country director fills an essential function without which competitive pinball could not operate. Dan and Luke receive nothing in return for the effort they put in, and so we have to praise Luke for stepping up and taking on this role.
There is now an official contact email for the Australian country directors that can be used for tournament and score submissions. ausifpa@gmail.com
Author: John Pansini