New Zealand's Own Danielle Peck Wins the 2017 Texas Pinball Festival Women's Tournament!

Danielle Peck - your new Texas Pinball Festival Women's Champion.

If you follow pinball competition you already know Danni - she is one of the worlds best female competitors in the pinball scene. Likewise if you attend Australian and New Zealand major tournaments you would have met her many times as one of the players you hope you don't draw in your round.

And now, just hours ago, Danielle took out the Women's Wizards Tournament at the 2017 Texas Pinball Festival - not only beating a very tough field, but beating the current Women's World Champion Helena Walter!

Congratulations Danni from all of us here at Game the System and your Australian / New Zealand fans. Onward and upward to the PAPA World Championships just weeks away!

Updated Finals Standings! Meet the Marathon Pinball Players for 2017 - Pinball HQ Marathon Qualifying on Now!

* Updated Sunday 26th for finals

The Pinball HQ Marathon, now in it's 4th year, is on again with qualifying taking place all week! It's not just called a Marathon for the sake of sounding exhaustive - if you wish to qualify you will have your endurance tested as competitors attempt to get within the top 24 finalists by posting scores all week, 11am to late every day. Not only that, but there are 16 different pinball machines you have to register scores on. I'm tired just thinking about it...

Norbert Snicer awarding the first Endurance Medal to Jett Reid, the first under 15 year old to play all 16 qualifying machines. Photo from the Pinball HQ Facebook page.

There will be the usual prizes, cash and trophies for the top finishers for the event. However, in addition, there are a swathe of prizes given out to competitors including; highest ranked rookie, highest rank qualifier, highest ranked female player, highest ranked under 15 year old, highest ranked under 10 year old, and an endurance medal for all players under the age of 15 who play all of the 16 qualifying machines! Norbert, the organiser of the Marathon, has really pulled out all stops for this tournament.

Fresh out of the shipping container - Aerosmith is Stern Pinball's latest machine, and not only is it part of the Pinball HQ Marathon tournament, but it's the only one currently in the country! Photo from the Pinball HQ Facebook page.

It's Thursday morning as of this writing, and so we are well into the qualifying stages. Here are your qualifying leaders so far, with two days left to go before finals on Sunday!

* Updated finals standings - Top 24 are through for today's main event.

1    PAUL JONES
2    RICHARD RHODES
3    FRANCK BONA
4    PAT NICHOLS
5    BRETT GOODWIN
6    PAUL REID
7    GAVIN DROGEMULLER
8    MATTHEW VENABLES
9    GREG GEE
10    ANDREW FERGUSON
11    ZAC VERON
12    REON SEENEY
13    GREG McMAHON
14    MARK TIBBETTS
15    NAIOMI GOODWIN
15    MICHELLE CLARK
17    DEJAN GOLJA
18    DUNCAN MACDONALD
19    PAUL HIGGINBOTHAM
20    MICHAEL MORRISON
21    REGAN RIST
21    ANDREW WASZKIEWICZ
23    PETER MENZEL
24    AARON CRICHTON
25    LINDSAY DAWTREY
26    MARTIN SNICER
27    IAN HOOPER-RICHARDSON
28    WILLIAM GILL
29    DANIEL BARDEN
30    LISA CONROY
31    ROD BROOKS
32    LARISSA GOSCOMBE
33    CHRYSANTHE PSYCHOGIOS
34    JOHN ARENA
35    RALPHE NUNN
36    JOSH GOSCOMBE
37    JETT REID
38    GEORGE ALEXANDROU
39    NORBERT SNICER
40    GORAN KLEUT
41    ASHLEY KINGSTON
41    NICHOLAS FREESTONE LITTLE
43    GLEN ANTHONY CROWE
44    KERBY REID
45    CHERYL BROOKS
46    JAMIE BRODRICK
47    KEN OWEN
48    ZDENKA SNICER
49    MICHAEL ANDERSON
50    JENNIFER MILLER
51    YVETTE TAM
52    TIM McREIS
53    TREVOR WALSH
54    JACK JOSEPH KINGSTON

See the Top 3 that Smashed the Coogee Pinball Flip Frenzy Just Hours Ago!

* Update as of 27th Jan - Full results added

The Coogee Flip Frenzy was held tonight at Coogee Diggers and attracted both a tough and diverse field - with the usual competitive suspects as well as a good number of female and younger players which is very welcome to see. A testament to how much work tournament director Norbert Snicer has toiled and put into his Pinball HQ League, growing the pinball sport across Australia and demographics.

Paul must be getting tired of holding up trophies and posing for cameras...

Paul Jones takes the win and yet another trophy to add to the mantel. Whilst newcomer - at least to these pages - Paul Higginbotham takes 2nd place and a very welcome return from David Loewy taking 3rd.

David Loewy 3rd (left trophy), Paul Jones 1st (centre) and Paul Higginbotham (right trophy) 2nd.

Congratulations to all players who came along for the night and showed what pinball competitions are best at - getting a goup of people together, enjoying each others company and the chaos of the silver ball!

The 5 Best Players to Watch in the IFPA Australian Championship Series in February

The IFPA Championship Series finals are taking place all over the world in February, and Australia's top 32 champions will fight it out in Melbourne to see who claims the title in 2017. Previously held in Sydney in 2015 and Brisbane in 2016, now it's Melbourne's turn to show the world Australia's best.

This picture was taken at the 2016 Batcave Masters - where many picked up a majority of World Ranking Points going toward their ACS seeding this year. Photo by Matthew Venables Photography http://mvenables.com

Here Game the System lays down the facts and figures - and boldy predicts the top 5 players most likely to stand above the rest and hold aloft the cup!

Jordan Tredaway - Here taking 1st place at the 2016 PAX Australia Pinball Championship.

1. Jordan Tredaway - Australian Rank: 5th out of 1673 players

Location: Melbourne VIC

IFPA ACS Seed: 1st

Jordan is the youngest competitor in this years ACS and one of the newest competitors on the scene. He hasn't let time get in the way of clawing to the top of Australian pinball however - he's seeded 1st out of the 32 players, and has had a habit of winning just about every tournament he enters. His first major tournament win being the 2016 Melbourne Matchplay Championship, he also won the Melbourne Matchplay Flip Frenzy and the 2016 PAX Australia Championship. You will be sure all players will be dreading being matched up with Jordan in the ACS - even those that have been playing for over 30 years!

Paul Jones - Last years ACS Champion.

2. Paul Jones - Australian Rank: 6th out of 1673 players

Location: Wollongong NSW

IFPA ACS Seed: 5th

Not much needs to be said about Paul that hasn't already been said very recently - including news that he is one of two players representing Australia this year in the IFPA World Pinball Championships in Denmark (check post below this one), and that he's the defending champion having won the previous Australian Championship Series in Brisbane last year. The only other thing to be said is to try and avoid playing against him, and be sure to watch him if you're not!

Brett Goodwin (right) - Powered by caffeine...

3. Brett Goodwin - Australian Rank: 4th out of 1673 players

Location: Lake Macquarie NSW

IFPA ACS Seed: 6th

Brett is the type of player that effortlessly steam rolls opponents and doesn't break a sweat doing it. He's represented Australia in the PAPA World Pinball Championships and IFPA World Pinball Championships last year in the USA. He also happens to be the Australian Championship Series champion of 2015 which was held in Sydney. A very friendly and approachable guy, but just watch out if you're playing him - he's got a serious streak that won't let you get away with any funny business!

Robert Macauley (right) - Pinball and video game champion.

4. Robert Macauley - Australian Rank: 3rd out of 1673 players

Location: Adelaide SA

IFPA ACS Seed: 13th

This is a guy you need to keep an eye on... His outward calm and quiet demeanor is an interesting contrast (or perhaps compliment) to the level of skill he posesses with not just pinball, but all of gaming - his many world record scores on Twin Galaxies will attest to that! He was also one of the two Australian representatives for last years PAPA World Pinball Championships and IFPA World Pinball Championships in the USA along with Brett Goodwin. There's always been an air of unmatched skill in the top 4 ranked Australian pinballers, and Rob is the only one of those 4 attending the ACS this year. Don't underestimate this guy just based on his ACS seed this year...

Matthew Venables (right) practicing his other art - photography.

5. Matthew Venables - Australian Rank: 15th out of 1673 players

Location: Sydney NSW

IFPA ACS Seed: 17th

You want a dark horse for this years ACS? Those who know Matthew will tell you he's certainly not a dark horse at all, but he has yet to take a major championship and therefore might fly under the rader of general recognition. He's always up there though, finishing in the top 5 of just about everything he enters. And he keeps getting better, and he keeps smashing every grand champion score that's around. At some point he's going to crack that 1st spot in a major - and it could be this time.

Interestingly, this years ACS may be remembered for the players who aren't competing rather than who is. All 3 of the players who have previously held the spot of Australian Rank number 1, and top 100 in the world, are unable to make it this time around for various reasons (even though each one did qualify). Peter Watt (Australian Rank 1st), Richard Rhodes (Australian Rank 2nd), and Steven Edwards (Australian Rank 8th). You can be sure many of players competing will be breathing a sigh of relief for that!

Peter Watt - Australia's current number 1, is unable to attend this year.

Here's the full list of 32 players and their seed for this years ACS. Any one of them can take the win on the day.

1. Jordan Tredaway - Aus Rank 5th - VIC
2. Greg Gee - Aus Rank 13th - NSW
3. Luke Marburg - Aus Rank 9th - VIC
4. Martin Robbins - Aus Rank 12th - VIC
5. Paul Jones - Aus Rank 6th - NSW
6. Brett Goodwin - Aus Rank 4th - NSW
7. Jason Lambert - Aus Rank 7th - QLD
8. Gavin Drogemuller - Aus Rank 31st - QLD
9. Stuart Thornton - Aus Rank 21st - VIC
10. Johnny Crabtree - Aus Rank 14th - VIC
11. Pat Nichols - Aus Rank 18th - NSW
12. Paul Reid - Aus Rank 23rd - NSW
13. Robert Macauley - Aus Rank 3rd - SA
14. John Hutchinson - Aus Rank 11th - QLD
15. Greg Siegele - Aus Rank 10th - SA
16. Rob Singh - Aus Rank 17th - QLD
17. Matthew Venables - Aus Rank 15th - NSW
18. Brian Schleibs - Aus Rank 25th - VIC
19. Michi Henning - Aus Rank 46th - QLD
20. Stacey Borg - Aus Rank 35th - VIC
21. Jasen Mouritsen - Aus Rank 29th - QLD
22. Andrew Ferguson - Aus Rank 19th - NSW
23. Wal Dickie - Aus Rank 39th - VIC
24. Geoff Wills - Aus Rank 49th - VIC
25. Grant Quinn - Aus Rank 33rd - QLD
26. Marcus Sezonov - Aus Rank 41st - VIC
27. Marc Bell - Aus Rank 20th - NSW
28. Nick Hamhougias - Aus Rank 32nd - VIC
29. Chris Wade - Aus Rank 61st - QLD
30. Alex Nunn - Aus Rank 43rd - VIC
31. John Ebejer - Aus Rank 37th - VIC
32. David Peck - NZ Rank 1st - Auckland NZ

The Australian Championship Series will kick off on the 10th February at the Thornbury Bowls Club, Melbourne Victoria.

Breaking! Meet the 2 Aussies that will Represent the Country in the World Pinball Championships

* Updated 18th Jan - Luke Marburg response added

News just to hand is that the two Australian players that will represent the country in the IFPA World Pinball Championships this June in Denmark has just been decided! Confirmed to attend - and now I'm sure quickly putting together travel plans - is Paul Jones from Wollongong NSW, and Luke Marburg from Melbourne Victoria!

Paul Jones. No stranger to readers of this site. He has a habit of winning - well - everything!

Paul Jones has amassed a tournament record in a few short years that veterans would be jealous of - finishing 1st in pinball majors such as the 2016 Brisbane Masters, 2016 ACT Pinball Championship, and the 2015 IFPA Australian Championship Series. Paul was also Game the System's first ever Player Feature and you can learn more just by heading over to the People section of the site!

We contacted Paul and asked his thoughts on being invited to what would be just a dream for most:

"Obviously honoured mate to represent your country at anything - especially something that I am so passionate about. Can't wait to get over there amongst the best in the world and hopefully do my fellow Aussie pinheads proud. Really looking forward to it as it will be a great experience."

A rare site indeed - usually Luke is running the tournament, not playing in it!

Luke Marburg has been a driving force in the resurgence of leagues and pinball tournaments in Victoria. This pro-active and motivated attitude toward the sport has been recognised by the IFPA world body as he was recently asked - and subsequently accepted - the role of Australian IFPA Country Director. He has also racked up an impressive record especially in the many Victorian pinball leagues, with no less than ten 1st place finishers.

We contacted Luke and this is what he had to say:

"I'm really excited. Getting an invite to the IFPA World Championships is a dream come true, and quite possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's a rare chance to meet and test my skills against the world's best. Glad to be heading over to Denmark with Paul; I'm sure we'll have a blast."

Congratulations goes to both players who are not only two of the very best players in Australia, but are also two of the nicest guys you could meet. I could not think of two better people to show the world how we drink beer - I mean play pinball and be ambassadors for the nation.