Batcave Masters Player Spotlight 6 of 21 - Tim Chapman

Each day for 21 days, leading up to the 2016 Batcave Masters major pinball tournament to be held May 13th-15th, we will take a look at one of the players competing for top honours in this prestigious event. Who will be the next player spotlight out of the 60 players competing? Find out tomorrow!

6 of 21 - Tim Chapman

Always one to enjoy the theory of pinball, Tim gets some tips from Mr Z-Ball himself. Photo by Matthew Venables: mvenables.com

Region: Newtown NSW

Australian Rank: 37th

Years Competing: 4

Best Result: 3rd place - Pincade 2014 Auckland Pinball Championship (60 players)

Average Finishing Position: 15th

2015 Batcave Masters Placing: 22nd

Monkey on his Back: Richard Rhodes Sydney NSW (6 wins against, 24 losses, 1 draw)

Notes: Stealth isn’t part of Tim’s vocabulary, as his uproarious laugh gives away his presence at any location. But Tim isn’t just the biggest laugh in pinball, those who know him will tell you he also has the biggest heart. Always inclusive, always going out of his way to make sure everyone’s having a good time, and always putting his hand up to help out when needed. That’s not to say he doesn’t take his game seriously by any means though. Winning the first Z-Ball League final all the way back in 2005 (and winning a Star Trek TNG pinball machine for his troubles), he can also be seen attempting to reach zen in pinball tournaments standing on one leg, and stretching between rounds - the sort of character you want to sit down to chat with over a beer and play some tables. Just be careful when you’re looking the other way though, you can never be too sure when a giant man-hug will take you by surprise.

Batcave Masters Player Spotlight 5 of 21 - Greg Siegele

Each day for 21 days, leading up to the 2016 Batcave Masters major pinball tournament to be held May 13th-15th, we will take a look at one of the players competing for top honours in this prestigious event. Who will be the next player spotlight out of the 60 players competing? Find out tomorrow!

5 of 21 - Greg Siegele

Greg Siegele at the Supanova championship. Photo by the Australian Pinball League.

Region: Adelaide SA

Australian Rank: 7th

Years Competing: 3

Best Result: 4th place - Belgian Open Classics Tournament (161 players)

Average Finishing Position: 13th

2015 Batcave Masters Placing: 18th

Monkey on his Back: Johan Genberg, Ulricehamn Sweden (0 wins against, 6 losses, 1 draw)

Notes: As the former co-founder and CEO of Ratbag Games, which was subsequently acquired by and shutdown by the gaming industries behemoth Midway Games in 2005, Greg has been around games for a long time. Joining the pinball competitive scene relatively recently compared to his overall history, Greg has rocketed up the rankings to be one of Australia’s most accomplished players. He has also had the pleasure of representing the country in the invitational IFPA World Championships in 2015 where he finished a respectable 38th, and placed exceptionally well in the Swedish and Belgian classics tournaments, the latter finishing in 4th out of 161 players. Besides his competitive accomplishments, Greg has been very active in the pinball community and with promoting the game. He has interviewed some of the worlds best players and community contributors (Josh Sharpe, Cayle George, Martin Ayub, Jorian Engelbrektsson, Daniele Acciari, Mats Runsten) and you can hear Greg and these interviews on the fantastic Pinheadz Pinball Podcast (episodes 12, 13, and 17).

Batcave Masters Player Spotlight 4 of 21 - John Cosson

Each day for 21 days, leading up to the 2016 Batcave Masters major pinball tournament to be held May 13th-15th, we will take a look at one of the players competing for top honours in this prestigious event. Who will be the next player spotlight out of the 60 players competing? Find out tomorrow!

4 of 21 - John Cosson

John Cosson on the left. Saves lives by day, saves balls by night. Here John can be seen doing what he does best - calmly operating complicated equipment, devoid of emotion. Photo by Matthew Venables: mvenables.com

Region: Gold Coast QLD

Australian Rank: 34th

Years Competing: 3

Best Result: 2nd place - Auckland Kiwi Pincade Pinball Championship 2016 (74 players)

Average Finishing Position: 17th

2015 Batcave Masters Placing: N/A

Monkey on his Back: Peter Watt, Benora Point NSW (0 wins against, 18 losses)

Notes: The Doctor is in. John, a surgeon from the Gold Coast, is affectionately known as chopchop on the pinball scene. As a keen player and collector, it's also difficult not to hear his name pop up here and there if you are a keen enthusiast - he has now co-hosted the long running Pinball Podcast with Don and Jeff, and you can hear his name dropped on other pinball podcasts around the globe including the latest This Flippin’ Podcast. John has an infectious sense of humour and passion for the game that is a joy to witness, and the good Doctor would surely prescribe more pinball as the only cure.

Batcave Masters Player Spotlight 3 of 21 - John Pansini

Each day for 21 days, leading up to the 2016 Batcave Masters major pinball tournament to be held May 13th-15th, we will take a look at one of the players competing for top honours in this prestigious event. Who will be the next player spotlight out of the 60 players competing? Find out tomorrow!

3 of 21 - John Pansini

John trying to win a second pinball machine in the Z-Ball Pinball Final 11, 2015. Photo by Matthew Venables: mvenables.com

Region: Parramatta NSW

Australian Rank: 47th

Years Competing: 2

Best Result: 1st place - Z-Ball Pinball Final 10 (24 players)

Average Finishing Position: 9th

2015 Batcave Masters Placing: N/A

Monkey on his Back: Brett Goodwin, Lake Macquarie NSW (0 wins against, 15 losses)

Notes: The man of many names - Magic Hands, Johnny Pants, The Whistler, 'That Guy Who Won That Pinball Machine'. The many names reflect the good will that everyone feels toward John, as he is not only an active pinball competitor, but active contributor to the community and proponent of all things pinball. Most know him as the founder and tournament director of the Magic Hands Pinball League in Sydney, which also kicked off Australia's first ever Super Selfie League. But he is also a tournament official in the Wildball Pinball League, and runs the video streaming for Wildball as well as the streaming for the 2014 Australian Championship Series major competition. John gives a lot to the community - lugging equipment and prizes from one end of Sydney to the other - and asks nothing in return. He is also an accomplished player winning the 10th annual Z-Ball Pinball Final, in which he took home the grand prize of a very rare Godzilla pinball machine! There aren't many players in the world who have been as lucky nor skilled to take home the ultimate prize for any keen competitor.

Batcave Masters Player Spotlight 2 of 21 - Peter Watt

Each day for 21 days, leading up to the 2016 Batcave Masters major pinball tournament to be held May 13th-15th, we will take a look at one of the players competing for top honours in this prestigious event. Who will be the next player spotlight out of the 60 players competing? Find out tomorrow!

2 of 21 - Peter Watt

Peter Watt posing for a local newspaper feature.

Region: Banora Point NSW

Australian Rank: 1st

Years Competing: 4

Best Result: 1st place - Australian Pinball Expo Championship (115 players)

Average Finishing Position: 3rd

2015 Batcave Masters Placing: 18th

Monkey on his Back: Steve Edwards, Newcastle NSW (3 wins against, 6 losses, 1 draw)

Notes: Peter is often confused as a Queensland resident (this site has got it wrong countless times too!), as Banora Point is right on the border of NSW and Queensland, and Peter competes in the Gold Coast and Brisbane leagues and tournaments. I don’t think anyone would argue against the perception of him being a Queensland local on the pinball scene however, and no one could argue his status as Australia’s number 1 ranked player either. He not only has a ridiculous average of finishing 3rd in tournaments (after having played in 97!), but has the highest IFPA Rating for an Australian player (a metric to measure how often a player beats other players (explained HERE)), and extraordinarily, is rated 4th in the world on this same metric! Peter’s record speaks for itself, and you can be sure he will look to improve on his 2015 Batcave Masters placing last year.

Batcave Masters Player Spotlight 1 of 21 - David Loewy

Each day for 21 days, leading up to the 2016 Batcave Masters major pinball tournament to be held May 13th-15th, we will take a look at one of the players competing for top honours in this prestigious event. Who will be the next player spotlight out of the 60 competing? Find out tomorrow!

1 of 21 - David Loewy

David Loewy wins the 2015 Pinball HQ Marathon

Region: Sydney NSW

Australian Rank: 20th

Years Competing: 2

Best Result: 1st place - 2015 Pinball HQ Marathon (62 players)

Average Finishing Position: 11th

2015 Batcave Masters Placing: 22nd

Monkey on his Back: Greg Siegele, Adelaide SA (0 wins against, 6 losses)

Notes: At age 17, David is one of Australia’s youngest competitors. Having only played competitively for 2 years, it is amazing to see how fast David has learned the game and how often he teaches old dogs new tricks! In 2015 David finished 1st place in one of the biggest annual competitions; the Pinball HQ Marathon. If you talk to his opponents they would tell you the win was not a surprise and was well deserved. You can be confident that when David steps up to the table, his fellow competitors take notice and get ready for a very hard fight.

Newcastle Local Holds His Own - IFPA World Championships

Over the last number of days and two world championships, we have been following a group of six people; Robert Macauley, Brett Goodwin, Naiomi Goodwin, David Peck, Fiona Peck and Danielle Peck. These players represented Australia and New Zealand on the world stage, culminating in the IFPA championship of which Rob, Brett, David and Danielle were our stars and country representatives.

Naiomi Goodwin gives PAPA two thumbs up!

Unfortunately for most of the group, the competition proved too tough. Rob ended up in 59th place, and David 56th. Danielle fared better but ended just shy of the top 32 in equal 39th.

Brett Goodwin, the Lake Macquarie resident in upper NSW, had a much better run. Brett's first time playing internationally, he even had the famed Pizza n Pinball restaurant in Newcastle help raise funds to send him over to the world championship by raffling off a Gorgar pinball machine (no I didn't win, thanks for asking). He and partner Naiomi have been having a blast. Brett managed to qualify in the top 32 at position 27. To say this is a monumental effort is most certainly an understatement!

Robert Macauley and Brett Goodwin.

Brett now faced some incredible competition, being matched in the head to head rounds against Cayle George from the USA. Cayle is not only ranked 11th in the world, he is also a multiple world championship holder, having won both the PAPA and IFPA world championships before! While the 32 players in this top group are all incredible competitors, it would have been hard for Brett to find a tougher first opponent.

Impressively, Brett took it down to the wire. In the seven game playoff, the two competitors were tied after six games. Cayle managed a win on Indi 500, Mousin' Around, and Harlem Globetrotters. Brett managed a win on Attack from Mars, Dracula, and Space Race. It was off to the tie breaker match! I could only imagine how Brett must have been feeling, having taken this multiple world championship holder to a sudden death playoff...

The first game chosen in the best of three match was Dirty Harry, of which Cayle won. The next chosen was World Cup Soccer, and going into the third ball it was close. Cayle on 100-odd million, and Brett on 60-odd. Brett had his third ball cradled on the left flipper, with multiball lit, he just needed to pop that ball in the scoop to potentially start something big and catch Cayle's score. Unfortunately, and as I have seen almost everyone do on that particular World Cup, the shot hit the post next to the hole, and the ball flew straight out the outlane, ending Brett's chances and allowing Cayle to plunge his third ball and walk away.

Brett did very well to end up where he did. Steve Edwards, Australia's former number 1 player and now in semi retirement, is the only Australian to have performed better in the IFPA world championships, making it past the first head to head match.

A huge congratulations to all our representatives for a very entertaining competition. For those that want to follow on with the rest of the IFPA World Pinball Championships, they are still going and you can watch live on the Twitch stream RIGHT HERE.

Author: Marc Bell

Australian Results - PAPA World Pinball Championship

The PAPA World Pinball Championship has concluded once more. A grueling test of endurance and skill with hundreds of players over four days, it is simply the most difficult and prestigious event on the pinball tournament calendar.

Australia had three players competing at this years PAPA as mentioned in previous articles, and they placed in the various divisions as follows;

Robert Macauley (AUS Rank 4)

• A Division (the big one!) - 58th place
• Classics 1 - 96th place
• Classics 2 - 69th place
• Classics 3 - 75th place

Brett Goodwin (AUS Rank 5)

• B Division - 16th place
• Classics 1 - 135th place
• Classics 2 - 42nd place
• Classics 3 - 19th place
• Split Flipper - WINNER!

Naiomi Goodwin (AUS Rank 47th)

• B Division - 70th place
• Women's Division - 9th place
• Split Flipper - WINNER!

Not the greatest result from Rob, with a middle of the road finish for each division he entered. While respectable in the biggest competition in the world, with the worlds best players, I'm sure he'd be disappointed in those results and will strive to do better next time.

Brett and Naiomi fared better in their respective divisions, though it is worth noting they abstained from the A Division. Naiomi just missed out on qualifying for the Women's Division finals by placing 9th, one off the cut off point.

Believe it or not, this is the Split Flipper PAPA trophy...

The good news story coming out of this though is that both Brett and Naiomi won the Split Flipper division! A bit of a fun competition, players choose a partner (and there's trouble if Brett or Naiomi chooses someone else...) and each take a flipper each on the respective game, and effectively play two player team pinball. This requires a lot of skill, trust, and patience as you rely on your partner to handle their side of the game. The team beat some incredible competition including Josh and Zach Sharpe, Adam Lefkoff and Keith Elwin, Jason Werdrick and Jim Belsito, and many, many more. 59 other teams to be exact! What a result for two of the most accommodating Australian pinball players around. Congratulations Brett and Noms!

Of course we can't forget our friends over the pond. New Zealand's best known pinball family also attended with David, Danielle and Fiona Peck.

David Peck (NZ Rank 1)

• A Division - 105th place
• Classics 1 - 41st place
• Split Flipper - 9th place

Fiona Peck (NZ Rank 16th)

• Women's Division - 29th place

Danielle Peck (NZ Rank 2nd)

• B Division - 58th place
• Women's Division - 7th place
• Juniors 1 - 2nd place
• Juniors 2 - 3rd place
• Juniors 3 - 2nd place

A very impressive result for Danielle. Something tells me her fathers number 1 rank in New Zealand isn't going to last much longer...

Before we go and wrap up this years PAPA, there is another great story that came out of this competition - not just Brett and Naiomi's fantastic win in the Split Flipper category. PAPA crowned a new world champion this weekend in Canada's Robert Gagno! Robert has really taken the scene by storm in the last few years, with not only playing some incredible pinball and rocketing up the world rankings to (currently) 10th. But he's also the subject of a new documentary that is being released in just a few short weeks: Wizard Mode.

Robert Gagno, the world's newest pinball champion.

I won't go into the movie here, but I strongly urge you to watch the trailer (click HERE to go to the site) and track down a way you can see it when it's released, as it looks truly amazing. The documentary follows Robert and his family as they struggle with autism and Robert's dream of becoming a world pinball champion. I get the feeling there will be some very quick edits and additions before the movie is released, as the dream has become a reality, and the film can now show one of the great human stories and accomplishments. What a fantastic result!

Author: Marc Bell

World Pinball Championships - Australian Players Compete

The biggest and most prestigious pinball competitions in the world, the PAPA World Pinball Championship, and the IFPA World Pinball Championship, are for the first time happening within days of each other. This of course helps international competitors to play in both, in what could only be described as an absolutely exhausting and ultimately rewarding number of days of competitive pinball.

Robert Macauley from Adelaide (left, receiving the trophy), and Brett Goodwin from Lake Macquarie (right).

Those two competitions are happening in the USA, and RIGHT NOW.

PAPA is an open event that any player can sign up for, yet the IFPA championship is invite only. Every year, the IFPA invites international players who are ranked 1 and 2 in their respective countries. If for whatever reason a player can’t attend (it’s expensive to travel overseas!), then country tournament directors will move down the list of ranked players until they can either a) fill the two spots, or b) reach a cut off point deemed by the country director as the maximum rank that an invite should be forwarded to (in Australia, that cut off is generally 6 to 8 or thereabouts).

This year, Australia has successfully managed to have two representatives attend IFPA, and due to the timing of both IFPA and PAPA events, have two players in each!

Robert Macauley (AUS rank 4th), a seasoned international competitor (and multiple Twin Galaxies video game world record holder), and Brett Goodwin (AUS rank 5th), who is attending his very first international competition.

Robert Macauley.

Robert, from Adelaide South Australia, has a strong tournament record with his best result arguably his win in the 2015 Lake Macquarie Pinball Open. He has also taken the top spot in the 2014 Timezone Supanova National Grand Final, and both the Auckland and Christchurch championships during the 2014 Kiwi Pincade tour. Robert has attended the IFPA World Championship before - in fact just last year - and I’m sure he’s looking to improve upon his finish last year of 40th out of the 64 competitors. This will be Robert’s first PAPA World Championship!

Brett Goodwin.

Brett, from Lake Macquarie in NSW, has made leaps and bounds in his short career in pinball competition, having started just two years ago in 2014. Not letting time get in the way, he’s already a national champion with a win in the 2014 IFPA Australian Championship Series, and wins in both the Batcave Masters and ACS Pin-Golf side tournaments. As mentioned, it’s Brett’s first international outing, and what a way to start! The two biggest tournaments in the world!

The gruelling PAPA qualifiers are already on their way and about a day in. If you think wandering in to the PAPA World Championships would be easy due to it being an open event, you’d be sorely disappointed. Regarded as the most difficult competition in the world to qualify for, players are required to play a qualifier ‘ticket’, which is selecting five games to play out of an available ten, and that ticket of five games are ranked as an entire entry against all other competitors. This means that you can’t have a bad game in that five and just restart that one game. If you have a bad game you are more than likely looking at restarting your entire ticket. Players - to be competitive and make the finals cut off - would likely be required to either have great results in all five games, or ‘blow it up’ on at least two, and post good results on the remaining three. One single bad game could mean the end of your qualifying ticket, and to get back in line and start again.

Just one day in on qualifying (three days of qualifying, finals of the top 24 players on the fourth day), and the level of competition is already second to none. Robert was impressively qualified in 19th place, but less than an hour later had dropped to 25th - just outside the cut off point. Keith Elwin (USA, ranked 3rd in the world), is holding on to the top spot, with Zach Sharpe (USA, ranked 5th in the world), Markus Stix (Austria, 23rd in the world), and Daniele Acciari (Italy, 2nd in the word), barking at Keith's heals.

Keith Elwin, multiple time PAPA World Champion.

To give you some context of what us Australians are dealing with here, even our number 1 ranked Australian player (Peter Watt from QLD) is world ranked 105th. So to say we have our work cut out for us, is probably an understatement!

Brett has elected to participate in the PAPA World Championship in the B Division, perhaps feeling that the pressure of the A Division would be a little too much for his first international outing. So far he is doing very well and is qualified in 3rd place!

Other divisions and standings of interest;

• Danielle Peck (NZ rank 2nd) - 9th in the B Division and 3rd in the Women’s Division
• Naiomi Goodwin (AUS rank 47th) - 6th in the Women’s Division

Daniele Acciari, multiple time IFPA World Champion.

Straight after the PAPA World Championships, the IFPA World Championships begin. Thankfully for our two Australian representatives, there is no gruelling qualifying process due to the invitational structure of the event (although that does mean Naiomi can’t compete!). Instead the 64 country representatives will play in groups of four in the first round in a total of eight sessions. Each session is made up of playing one game from each ‘era’ deemed by the IFPA as OLD, MID, and NEW. Once that round of eight sessions is complete, the rankings will be determined and the top 32 players go through to play head to head matches in a best of seven games! Feeling tired yet?

Provisional first session groupings for Robert and Brett look like this in the IFPA so far;

• Group #8
• 8. Sean Grant (USA)
• 25. Adam Becker (CAN)
• 40. Ernö Rotter (GER)
• 57. Brett Goodwin (AUS)

• Group #14
• 14. Josh Sharpe (USA)
• 19. Markus Stix (AUS)
• 46. Peter Andersen (DEN)
• 51. Robert Macauley (AUS)

Certainly tough groups for both players, but really, there are no easy groups in the world championships...

Join the comments below and let’s see how our players fare in the toughest challenge they’ll face in pinball. You can follow the PAPA divisions qualification and finals live as it happens at the PAPA SITE HERE.

Author: Marc Bell

Z Ball Pinball Musings - Months of February / March

As always, Roger from Z Ball Amusements has released his latest monthly newsletter, this time reflecting on the month that was February / March. Some tasty morsels include a dinner with Gary Stern, some interesting (and tough) questions to the big man himself, and the top earners for February!

Roger Z and Gary Stern (I wonder if there was a selfie stick used here...).

During the dinner, Mark Williams (Z Ball technician) pulls no punches and - as he is want to do - calls it as he sees it as he questions Gary; "So why have Stern gone back to the crappy latches instead of the lock down bar?". Gary responds with equal honesty (and throws Steve Ritchie under the bus!); "I'll be honest you can blame Steve Ritchie for that. He never liked the lock down bars and felt they still moved even when they were locked down, he prefers the latches as they lock down real tight and don't move... plus they are cheaper to manufacture." A line of questioning only a man who has unlatched thousands of lock down bars could feel a passion for...

And of course, Gary deftly sidesteps the question on the possibility of an Iron Maiden pinball machine, by simply reminiscing on the days when everyone wanted Williams (not Mark this time, Williams the pinball company) to make a Rocky Horror Picture Show pinball. Gary should work in politics.

There's lots of information on the upcoming Z Ball tournaments in the newsletter, which I won't elaborate on here. Other than to say Sydney has yet another Super Selfie League with Roger starting one too!

You too can look as cool as this guy, by participating in your local Selfie League (stick not included).

Upcoming dates for the start of the normal Z Ball Pinball League (which I am really looking forward to, it has been way too long...) as below;

• Tuesday May 3rd 7pm Courthouse Hotel
• Wednesday May 18th Lord Raglan Hotel
• Tuesday May 31st Annandale Hotel
• Tuesday June 15th Courthouse Hotel
• Wednesday June 29th Lord Raglan Hotel 
• Tuesday July 12th Annandale Hotel

And last but not least, the top earners across all of Z Ball's sites for February;

1. Game of Thrones - Courthouse
2. Kiss - Courthouse
3. Attack from Mars - Courthouse
4. Star Trek Next Gen - Lord Raglan
5. Twilight Zone - Lord Raglan
6. AC DC - Courthouse
7. Addams Family - Courthouse
8. Walking Dead - Newtown
9. Creature from the Black Lagoon - Courthouse
10. Tales from the Crypt - Belfield

Game of Thrones still holding the fort, as it were. I don't think there's any surprises there.

The full newsletter can be read over at the Z Ball Newsletter Page HERE.

Author: Marc Bell

Bell tops Sydney Super League Final

The first Sydney Super selfie league drew to a close at the end of March, and on Sunday the top qualifiers played off to see who was the supreme super selfie silver-ball soul in Sydney.

City Heroes on George st. Sydney

Nine finalists entered the A division on the day and so games were played in groups of three. Consistancy was the key on the day with each finalist playing 9 games over the 4 hours.

Iron man was a particularly fast player with finalists rarely scoring over 20 million on the day. There were a few last minute game changes to keep the players on their toes. Kiss and Metallica were taken out and replaced with a beautiful ACDC that played magically. During practice Matt Venables. showed us he wasn't phased by the change, scoring a 300-something million on the ACDC. However at the end of the day he was beaten out by the consistancy of skill displayed by Marc Bell.

Paul Reid was hot on Marc's heels chasing 1st, and it came down to the last game. Paul needed a first place on the walking dead in his last group to match Marc's 54 points, however, Matt stood in his way taking the 7 points effectively pushing Paul to 2nd overall.

Young David Loewy took 3rd position, with Ben Hayes following him in 4th.

Final Positions:

Division A
1,Marc Bell
2,Paul Reid
3,David Loewy
4,Ben Hayes
6,Matthew Venables
6,Nathan Clissold
6,John Pansini
8,Regan Rist
9,William Gill

Division B
10,Pat Nichols
11,Tim Chapman
12,Duncan Macdonald
13,Terry Hunt
14,Ron Loewy
15,Robert Cartlidge
16,Michelle Clark
17,Gary Doust
18,Greg McMahon

The selfie fun isn't over! Qualifying for the April Sydney Super League has already begun at the Courthouse Hotel in Newtown.

The Courthouse Hotel. Kiss, Attack from Mars, The Shadow, Creature, Addams Family, Game of thrones, ACDC and Metallica!

The line up at the Courthouse can't be described any other way than EPIC! Some absolute and undoubtable classics like Adams, Attack from Mars, and The Shadow, as well as the latest Sterns like Game of Thrones! This months comp is sure to be a great one!

Author: John Pansini

In Depth: Different Games for Improving Specific Skills

A topic I always find interesting, as a keen competitive pinball player, is which skills are important to master, and which games are ideal for practicing them.

While flipper skills can be practiced on all games, some games are definitely more suited to practicing certain skills than others. Below are some of some my game picks for mastering some of the most important skills in pinball.

Drop Catching

Drop catching is a vital skill, which is utilized constantly by the best players in the world. There is a great Lyman Sheats quote while commentating during a PAPA broadcast, where he simply said, “everything changed when I learned how to drop catch.”  In my opinion the best games to master drop catching are those with nice open playfields, where you often get balls angling diagonally towards the inside (thicker part) of the flipper. A few of my game picks for practicing drop catches are:

• Metallica (perfect returns from Sparky for this)
• Bram Stoker’s Dracula
• Medieval Madness

Live Catching

Having a good live catch in your artillery gives so much more control to your game. It is something that you see guys like Bowen Kerins (multiple world champion) and Jorian Engelbrektsson (current number 1 in the world) use all the time. Unlike drop catching, live catching is effective when the ball is angling towards the centre. Some of my picks for practicing live catching are:

• Creature from the Black Lagoon (feeds from sides)
• Attack From Mars
• Iron Man

Multi-ball Control

One skill, in which you see most of the top players in the world apply, is trapping up during multi-ball, cradle-separating, etc. I was talking to Richard Rhodes (AUS rank 2nd) at Coogee about this and it was his view that this skill is under-used by Australian players. I think the best games for practicing multi-ball control are Williams games, particularly Pat Lawlor games, where there is a very specific shot to make in multi-ball, and you can’t get away with flailing. My picks are:

• Addams Family
• FunHouse
• Fish Tales
• Creature from the Black lagoon

Other Skills

Furthermore, accuracy, dead-bouncing, and nudging (probably the three most important skills) can be practiced on just about anything, . There are also more specialised skills such as tap passing (pick - any 80’s Bally games - particularly Paragon), loop passing (pick - Attack From Mars), post-catching (pick - Spiderman), but these skills probably aren’t quite as important to master as the previous ones noted.

For some great player resources and info on different skills, check out PAPA’s website http://papa.org.

These are just some of my picks of games to practice specific skills - we’d love to hear some of yours in the comments below.

Author: Jack Hutchinson

IFPA Australian Championship Series (ACS) 2016 Watch

The first quarter of 2016 has passed, making this a good time to check in with how the ACS standings are looking for this year. The ACS is surely now recognised as Australia’s official national pinball championships, with Paul Jones the current holder of the title.

The big tournaments which have influenced the 2016 standings thus far are the ACS 2015/Pingolf held in Brisbane, and the Pinball HQ Marathon in Sydney. Minor club tournaments make up the remainder of the results.

Out in front after taking out a big victory in the Pinball HQ Marathon, as well as a strong 2nd in the Pingolf in Brisbane, is Greg. Greg has also been getting around to local tournaments in different states, which will no doubt help his 2016 ACS surge.

Peter Watt, Australia’s top overall ranked player, trails narrowly after his 2nd in the 2015 ACS, and a third in the Pingolf. Peter has also had some solid victories in some smaller local Brisbane tournaments, including a recent Houseball victory still to be posted on the IFPA site.

In third is Paul Jones after his massive 2015 ACS success, and a solid top-4 performance at the Pinball HQ Marathon.

The rest of the top 10 is made up of Brett Goodwin, Pat Nichols, Chris Jennings, Jack Hutchinson, Jordan Tredaway, Luke Marburg and Rob Singh. Some familiar names in that mix, as well as Melbourne wonder kid Jordan Tredaway who has been showing everyone how good he really is in recent times.

From 11-20 we have Marc Bell, Franck Bona, Martin Snicer, Richard Rhodes, Paul Reid, Peter Nash, Chris Watt, Evan Lathouras and Wal Dickie. Some great players in that bunch who will no doubt be pushing for more breathing space in the top 32.

Greg, winner of the 2016 Pinball HQ Marathon. Photo taken from the Australian Pinball League Facebook page.

Making up the remainder of the 32 are Geoff Wills, Glen Forster, Stuart Thornton, Rob Macauley, Matthew Venables, Andrew Ferguson, Mitchell Setschnjak, David Loewy, Andrew Thomson, Johnny Crabtree, Corey Hamilton, Andy Kay and Jason Lambert. Some highly ranked players in there, as well as some newer competitors, who will all be trying to solidify their position for the next 2016 IFPA Australian Championship Series.

It is worth noting that results in NZ do not count towards the ACS, otherwise these standings would look quite different.

For more info visit the IFPA ACS 2016 ranking page HERE.

Australian Pinball Majors Circuit - Batcave Masters 2016

The concept of an Australian pinball majors circuit has only been around for a little while now - in fact just a few short months. The first Batcave Masters tournament -  which was held in Sydney at the tail end of 2015 - started the conversation and aspirations of this recognition. Essentially, due to the IFPA endorsement and points distribution changes that year, the tournament structures that were traditionally run in Australia were no longer valuable events for world ranking points accumulation. A much more exhaustive approach to tournament design needed to be put in place to match the IFPA’s expectation on what constitutes an event that demonstrates and rewards player’s skill.

Marc Bell (yes me!) and Steve Edwards (in the grey hoodie, watching on) battle in the final on one of the three deciding games for first and second place at Batcave Masters 2015.

Besides the IFPA rule foundation, there was also a desire to hold events that would truly be recognised as ‘world class’. In that the structures were such that a level of rigidness and confidence in the rules would be up there with the large international events such as the PAPA World Championships, European Championships, and so forth.

As it stands, there is still no formal recognition, nor formal body, which has been developed in order to agree upon what exactly is the ‘Australian Pinball Majors Circuit’. Though currently it is generally accepted that the following tournaments are a part;

• Batcave Masters (NSW)
• Pinball Expo (NSW)
• Australian Pinball Championship (NSW)
• Queensland Pinball Open (QLD)
• Brisbane Masters (QLD)
• Australian Championship Series (changes annually)

These major events still rely on the enormous efforts of dedicated individuals and are not guaranteed to occur annually or indeed, continuous at all. However it is hoped that with the growing support of the community, and the growing organisational and volunteering effort of others, that we can hope to see some or all of these events taking place every year or two. Indeed, the Australian Championship Series is expected to be annual as it is supported by IFPA themselves who are actively promoting these events to find national champions (and state champions, in the case of the USA).

Rob Macauley (AUS rank 4th) plays a tournament game on Ski Jump, under the trophies and gaze of spectators.

This brings us to the next event in the majors circuit in Australia, which is the Batcave Masters this May. The second Batcave Masters to take place, it is a rigorous tournament held over three days, with the main tournament qualification taking up one of those days, finals another, and then two more ‘side tournaments’ taking place in between. And like other events in the majors calendar, these multi-day tournaments often test a players stamina and focus, not just the players ability to flip the ball. It’s common for players to be competing for 14 hours or more, only to catch a few hours sleep and get up the next day and do it all again - if they are fortunate to stay in the running that is!

With the first event taking place last year, the Batcave Masters was and still is considered by the IFPA as Australia's most highly rated event and most indicative of player skill representation, based on their Ratings Strength metrics. It is expected to retain that crown for it’s second outing. At this point all previous winners of the Batcave tournaments are set to attend this years run, and attempt to defend their honour. Though Steve Edwards (the then ranked number 1 Australian player) has yet to indicate if he will set aside his temporary retirement and join the fun again;

2015 Main Tournament

Competitors get some rare time to have some 'free play' in the bunker, before the 2015 Batcave Masters kicked off.

• 1st: Marc Bell (AUS rank 10th)
• 2nd: Steve Edwards (AUS rank 3rd)
• 3rd: Evan Lathouras (AUS rank 44th)

2015 Side Tournament

• 1st: Paul Jones (AUS rank 8th)
• 2nd: Greg Siegele (AUS rank 7th)
• 3rd: Marc Bell (AUS rank 10th)

2015 Pin-Golf

• 1st: Brett Goodwin (AUS rank 5th)
• 2nd: John Hutchinson (AUS rank 9th)
• 3rd: Richard Rhodes (AUS rank 2nd)

44 of Australia and New Zealand’s best players attended last years event, with an unprecedented 10 out of the top 10 in Australia, and 18 of the top 20. It is expected that most of these players will confirm their attendance for 2016 as well.

Held at a private residence, the Batcave Masters is not an event that the general public, nor the ‘pop-in’ player, can come along and expect to spectate or play in. This tournament has a pre-registration process as well as a preference for existing ‘world ranked’ players. Having said that though, it is not expected to reach capacity and need any culling of the entrants. The full details and registration information can be found on the Aussie Arcade forum thread which you can find by clicking the link here.

gamethesystem.co will aim to delve further into the players and their stories leading up to the tournament. So when it finally kicks off in just over a months time, the anticipation and excitement of one of Australia’s most prestigious pinball events can be shared by all.

The first month of Sydney's Super League in its final qualifying days!

Author: John "Magic Hands" Pansini

March has been a very busy month of intense pinball competition with Pinball HQ's marathon and Pincade happening over the pond (NZ). But if that wasn't enough for you, we also had the first month of the new Sydney Super League. 

If you didn't already know, qualifying for our super league is happening from the 1st to the 31st of March, which means there are only 2 days left to get down to City Heroes on George street to post scores.

Selfie stick is recommended. It is actually quite a challenge getting ones head and score into frame.

There has been some pretty tough competition from some great players like Matt V., Ben H., and Nathan C. who hold the top three qualifying spots currently.

Putting up a score on each machine will earn you points, with the top three scores getting 100/90/85. After that the point value only drops by one so 4th position on that game earns 84 points. This makes the top three spots on a game worth a lot more.

Current standings:

The final will be held at City Heroes on Sunday the 3rd of April. On the day each of the qualifiers will be put into divisions based on their qualifying position. At the moment it looks like Matt, Ben, Nathan and Pat will be playing off in  the A division to determine 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the final.

Zoe Vrabel - Worlds First Women's Pinball Champion

As announced on the IFPA page HERE, Zoe Vrabel has survived a tough head to head elimination bracket to win the 2016 Women's Pinball Championship tournament held in the USA.

Zoe Vrabel with the spoils from the inaugural championship

The first of it's kind, the Women's Pinball Championship had 16 competitors - chosen by world ranking - playing a best of 7 games format and single elimination head to head bracket. Portland's Zoe played a total of 27 games in order to progress through the brackets and finally take the win from Sunshine Bon, also from the USA.

Danielle Peck, 3rd place in the System 11 World Championships

As one of only 3 international competitors in the bracket, New Zealand's own Danielle Peck (NZ Rank 2nd) was unfortunately knocked out in the first round by USA's Echa Schneider. In a marathon 3 hour round, Danni and Echa were 2-2 in some very close games, until Danni had 3 house balls on Volley to give Echa an easy 3-2, and then Echa again taking the game on Batman and win the round 4-2.

Danni's record speaks for itself, with her most recent highlight being the 3rd placing at the World System 11 Pinball Championships held just this month, with 74 players competing.

Congratulations go to Zoe Vrabel and all the competitors of this prestigious - and now annual - event.

Australia's Number 1 Pinball Player Wins Again

Australia's number 1 ranked player, Queensland's Peter Watt, has secured yet another win and another feather for his already crowded cap. Winning the 2016 Brewsvegas competition held in Peter's home state on Thursday 17th March, he fends off the tough competition to take both the 3-strikes tournament, and the Pin-Golf competition held the following Saturday.

Peter only recently took the number 1 spot in the IFPA Australian ranking from the two previous champions that have traditionally ruled the positions for years - Richard Rhodes and Steve Edwards. Peter has been on a surge since winning the Pinball Expo Championship in 2014, and has since won major events such as the 2015 Brisbane Masters and 2015 Queensland Pinball Open.

The full results of both competitions at Brewsvegas 2016 below;

Main Tournament

• 1 Peter Watt
• 2 Chris Eccles
• 3 Chris Jennings
• 4 David Lomas
• 4 Hugh Dickson
• 6 Chris Wade
• 6 Greg Jones
• 8 Caitlan Christie
• 8 Corey Hamilton
• 8 Dirk Booy
• 8 James Angliss
• 12 Adam Segall
• 12 Chelle McIntyre
• 12 Matt Usher
• 12 Andrew Wade
• 16 Barrie Valentino
• 16 Gordon Shears
• 16 Josh Court
• 16 Randal Kempel
• 20 Angus Gillespie
• 20 Bill Segall
• 20 Edward Partridge
• 20 Jock O'Kane
• 20 Michi Henning
• 25 Simon Booy
• 25 Geoff Marshal

Pin-Golf Tournament

• 1 Peter Watt
• 2 James Angliss
• 3 Greg Jones
• 4 Andrew Wade
• 5 Jason Lambert
• 6 Michi Henning
• 7 Nathan Brant
• 8 Bill Segall
• 9 Daniel Figgis
• 9 Chris Wade
• 11 Matthew Hetherington
• 12 Michael Peck

Houseball Returns for Season 2

Houseball, Queensland’s own residential pinball league, returned for the opening meet of season two at Hutch’s last night. Inspired by the success of Wildball in NSW, Houseball was started last year with five members of the Queensland pinball community stepping up to host meets. It has been an undeniable success, and hopefully will continue for many years to come. The inaugural league winner last year was Peter Watt (pictured below with perpetual shield).

Last night’s meet was played exclusively on System 1 Gottlieb’s with the titles being Charlie’s Angles, Buck Rodgers, Sinbad and Pinball Pool. The top 8 who qualified for PAPA-style finals on the night were:

1. John (Jack) Hutchinson
2. Brian Green
3. Joe Taranto
4. Corey Hamilton
5. Peter Watt
6. Rob Singh
7. Chris Jennings
8. Nick Keros

The four who then progressed to the final were Peter Watt, Jack Hutchinson, Joe Taranto and Chris Jennings. Peter proved too strong throughout the semi-final and final and took it out convincingly. Jack took second, Chris third, and Joe fourth. Full results will be available for viewing on Aussie Arcade and will be submitted to IFPA.

It was a great start to what is sure to be another awesome season of Houseball.

Keep an eye out for the time and location of the next meet on Aussie Arcade.

ZBall Pinball Top Machines

As one of Australia's most frequented pinball locations - ZBall's Courthouse Hotel in Newtown Sydney - it's always fascinating to hear what machines are the most popular compared to ZBall's other locations. And unlike just about every other coin-op operator out there, Roger from ZBall actually releases this earnings information in his monthly newsletters!

So how do the new machines fair against the old stalwarts from decades past? Read on!

Top 10 Machines and Locations:

1. Game of Thrones LE - Courthouse Hotel
2. Kiss LE - Courthouse Hotel
3. Transformers LE - Annandale Hotel
4. Spiderman - Orange Grove Hotel
5. Walking Dead LE - Newtown Hotel
6. Attack from Mars - Courthouse
7. AC DC LE - Courthouse Hotel
8. Avengers LE - Newtown Hotel
9. Junkyard - Lord Raglan Hotel
10. Guns N Roses - Annandale Hotel

Interesting to see Junkyard up there in the top 10, but the less I say about that game the better...

Other interesting tidbits from the newsletter include the details of the upcoming ZBall Pinball League competitions starting in May (3 competitions this year, giving away 2 pinball machines as the prizes (yes, GIVING AWAY pinball machines, Roger has done this for 12 years now)), and 3 new pinball machines coming our way to play at the Courthouse Hotel: Safe Cracker, Ghostbusters LE, and Medieval Madness!

You can read the full newsletter by CLICKING HERE, and join the fun that is one of the longest running pinball competitions in Australia's history.

Australia's First Super Selfie League

Do you live in the Sydney or NSW region, and want to get involved in one of the coolest concepts to come about in pinball for years? Of course you do! It's not only stupidly easy to take part, there's also no registration or joining fee. Just rock up and play whenever you want!

The concept of a Super Selfie League really started to take off in the last few months over in the USA, with Josh Sharpe from the IFPA starting his own. It wasn't long after that everyone realised how fun the idea of posting images of your own grinning mug next to your score, and ripping on other people's funny photos, and selfie leagues started popping up everywhere. It's a very social way to get involved in competition play, without the burdens of strict attendance schedules and registration formalities.

Australia now has it's own Super Selfie League, thanks to Magic Hands Pinball in Sydney! Again the concept is very simple; head to the venue that the competition is taking place for the month (this March it's at City Heroes on 505 George Street, Sydney CBD), anytime you like.

Play on one or as many of the 8 machines as you can that include Iron Man VE, Star Trek LE, Metallica LE, Avatar, Tron, LOTR, Kiss and The Walking Dead. When you get a score, take a picture of that score and include yourself in the picture (hence the selfie part). Now head on over to the Magic Hands page and click on Post Score. Then simply;

• Click on the Comments
• Feel free to write something funny - a call to arms, a challenge, taunt your opponents!
• Click on the little Image icon and attach your image
• To post, either log in with your Twitter, Facebook, Google, or Disqus account (it will ask you to create a Disqus identity to map to your other social media account). Or, you can post as a guest by using the 'OR SIGN UP WITH DISQUS' dialogue and choosing the 'I'd rather post as a guest' option (but we don't encourage that, half the fun is participating in the conversation!)
• You're done!

More information is available on the Magic Hands Pinball site HERE. Take part in the worlds newest pinball sensation, and start snapping!