Gordon2 – Page 58 – Skill Shot

Pinball Tournament Etiquette

by Kayla Greet

Let’s be clear about one thing: there is a fundamental difference between playing pinball with your friends for fun and bragging rights, and playing in a tournament you paid to be in for prizes and bragging rights. I’ve done the former much longer than the latter, and am quickly learning certain codes of conduct and etiquette while, yes, still having a ton of fun.

This piece will brief you on what’s considered rude or inappropriate when prize money and pinball tables are on the line. If the people you are playing against happen to be your friends, you probably know what you can get away with in the name of good fun, but don’t act a fool when playing a stranger, whether they’re better than you or not. If you’ve been doing some things listed here, we don’t hate you. We just want you to knock it off. Now.

GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS
If you’re going up against someone you’ve never played before, much less met, introduce yourself and shake hands. Have a good sportsman demeanor and wish each other luck. Well-meaning trash talk is acceptable, but do so only with your friends and others you know will appreciate the joke.

SHARE TIPS (BUT NOT TOO MANY) ABOUT THE GAME YOU’RE PLAYING
Say you choose a table that your opponent has never played before. It’s considered good form to answer any questions about the rules and basic game play. You certainly don’t have to help, but if you catch your opponent reading the info card on the table, it’d be nice to give them a few quick pointers. However, things like “I used to own this game,” or quirks specific to that particular pin such as “The sinkhole kickout always goes straight to the left flipper” aren’t necessary to share with the competition.

COLLECT YOUR END OF BALL BONUS QUICKLY
Tournaments are often hours long, so anything you can do to expedite the process (while still playing the best game you can) is much appreciated. For example, at the end of your ball when the game is counting your bonus, hitting both flippers at the same time will collect your bonus instantly on many games. Also, hitting both flippers when you activate a mode or get extra ball will skip the cut scenes on many games and go straight to the action.

DON’T PLAY WITH GREASY HANDS
So the host provided pizza for lunch. Or maybe you snacked on a bag of potato chips in between rounds. Great, sounds delicious. Now go wash your damn hands!!! Not only will it be difficult for you to play with your fingers slipping off the flipper buttons, the person who has to play after you is will be none too happy. There are players who ritualistically wipe down the buttons and front of the machine before they play, just in case.

DON’T RUB SALT IN THE WOUND
In just about every style of pinball tournament play, each game will have 2-4 players, so you will rarely play a game by yourself. Before you play in tournaments,you ought to be accustomed to playing with multiple players, recognizing when it’s your turn, making sure not to tilt your opponent’s ball and understanding when your turn is over. Say that you are the last player, you have been kicking ass the whole game and now it’s the last ball of the match and you’re clearly the winner. It’s considered rude to play through this last ball of the game. Either ask your opponents if they mind or follow the customary practice of plunging the ball, letting it drain and then thanking the other players for a good game.

GIVE YOUR OPPONENT SPACE
Don’t crowd around people when they’re playing. Even if this is something that you are ok with when you play, not everyone feels the same way and might not want to get distracted every time they see you in their peripheral vision. This includes not storing your stuff next to a table in play, no flash photography, video taping only from a comfortable distance and sometimes even turning off the pins on either side of the table in use for the time being.

IT’S NOT THE MACHINE’S FAULT
Look, some of these tables are older than you. Don’t bang on the glass, push them, shove them, kick them, shake them or otherwise abuse them when you drain a ball. Games don’t last forever — deal with it without damaging the whole reason you’re there and possibly tilting your opponent’s ball. Acceptable displays of frustration include: stomping away, giving the machine the finger, cursing, fist clenching and beer drinking.

HEY, WHERE DID YOU GO NOW?
Rudy may say that to you on Funhouse when you get a Skill Shot, but you know who doesn’t want to have to say that? Your tournament opponents! If you need to take a trip to the bathroom, grab a drink, take a smoke break or run to your car, just make sure you clear it with everyone you’re playing with at the moment. There’s only so much waiting around and/or searching for you that people are willing to do before they just drain your ball when you’re not around to play it.

Originally published in Skill Shot 23, March/April 2012

Right after our last issue was sent to the printer, we were informed that the annual Northwest Pinball And Gameroom Show (PAGS) was moved to the second weekend in June. We were not the only ones surprised by this date change as the IFPA9 World Pinball Championship, which is being held in Seattle this year, is also scheduled for that very same weekend. This presents a conflict for many: regular expo volunteers, those who qualified for this year’s World Championship tournament, and also visiting players who planned on arriving a week early to attend the Show. Despite the date change, the NW Pinball Championships — usually held during the expo – will still happen on the original date (June 1-3) but will now be held at the Holiday Inn in Marysville WA. To add to the confusion (or not), the expo also changed their name this year to the Northwest Pinball & Arcade Show to better reflect itself to the general public (who may not know what a Gameroom is). NWPAS? PAS? PAAS? It’ll always be PAGS to us! XXOO

Another interesting development since last issue is the takeover of pinball operations at Full Tilt Ballard from Space Age Amusements to Bobby Conover’s 20XX Amusements. Bobby’s been itching to make his mark with an expanded pinball route for some time (he already had a pin at Café Mox) so it is nice to see him get a chance to flex his muscles. During the transition, both operators have had machines at this location at the same time. This is a unique situation for Seattle, as 20XX moves in and Space Age moves out one or two pins at a time. Full Tilt Ballard has become a pinball powerhouse in the short time they’ve been open as they currently have 13 games there, including pins such as Bram Stroker’s Dracula and Johnny Mnemonic, which haven’t been around for awhile, either in good working condition or at all. And stop asking Bobby if he’s going to charge 75¢ per game!

The Seattle Pinball League had their first general membership meeting of 2012 just before the annual Janufest Party at Rod Olsen’s house. There was a lot of talk about limiting the number of tournament styles and coming up with ways to shorten the length of the monthly events. Since the SPL usually meets at private homes, tournaments lasting over 6 or 7 hours can sometimes cause conflicts with the host (and their spouses). Other topics of discussion concerned the general purpose of the SPL (competition vs fun) and clarifying the rules about guests who win tournaments when it comes to year-end SPL Finals, a sore spot in 2011. It was a nice clearing of the air, and new board member Aaron Bendickson is doing a great job of bringing more communication to the SPL. Janufest itself was a happy time of fancy beers and pinball. A particular highlight was the whitewood CSI in Rod’s bedroom and Jason showing us how he could put his legs behind his head. Hmmft!

A few weeks later the SPL had a chance at a trial run of the new self-imposed time restraints at their first tournament, a four-round VRPA tournament which was also held at Rod’s. While new friends were made and much fun was had, the tournament lasted over 8 hours (despite Spider-man’s center post removal, amongst other tricks). The next SPL tournament was a Round Robin format held at Todd Mac’s house, which is always a treat, not only because of his great pinball line-up but also for his vintage arcade collection. The 9PM deadline ended up being ignored not only due to the excellent playing that day but also because the host made the finals. Back to the drawing board, we guess. Fun was had by all despite Sprite-soaked socks at the end of the day. Wet!

The first weekend of February was a busy one. It kicked off on Friday night with Cathy Cartoon’s birthday celebration at Add-a-Ball Amusements in Fremont, which lead to an impromptu (and final) visit to Liberty House for a Skill Shot Tournament with Jeff Groper and Mitch Anderson. We tried to play all the different game styles written about in our previous issues, but after a while it just wasn’t practical: everyone was too drunk. Groper also kept playing the music very loud to bother his housemates as some sort of revenge. Saturday was the first (?) Pinbrew beer tasting and pinball tournament at Dorky’s in Tacoma, organized by Steve Cartoon. The venue was closed to the public for the beer tasting for the first three hours, which seemed to annoy Steve, but the tournament was well-attended. It’s always great to visit Dorky’s, even though the upper floor was closed off for the tournament and policed by the beautiful yet intimidating Janice Edes. JJJ won despite his supposed underdog status (not). At the same time Dorky’s co-owner Caroline hosted a Chili Cook-off, which she also won with her delicious white chicken chili. Sunday was the first 1st Sunday Tournament at Shorty’s in which JJJ almost cemented his not-an-underdog status by narrowly losing to tournament organizer Paul. Pinball is fun!

In case you didn’t already know: Stern Pinball’s latest release ACDC (Pro) recently debuted. The official Launch Party for the Seattle area was held at Dorky’s, with other unofficial launches later taking place at the Seattle Pinball Museum and the Seattle Waterfront Arcade. After the Transformers release, which had multiple (official) launches, all the new Stern pins will only have one official launch that will rotate each time between different locations. That makes sense since some of the last few had unhappy customers and venues. ACDC is a pretty cool pin and we look forward to playing the premium (and limited edition) versions of the game, which will have a lower playfield (among other features) that the Pro version does not. Shorty’s is getting the “Let There Be Rock” version. (Sorry Rod.) Noise pollution!

Did you notice that Shorty’s recently switched out their Medieval Madness? They pulled it for maintenance and replaced it with the one previously at Duck Island Ale House, then brought it back with a new playfield and other improvements. There’s been a lot of activity at Shorty’s (the warehouse) recently as they get pins ready for the opening of the Unicorn’s new basement game room, Narwhal (opening later this spring). Shorty’s owner Avout recently hired local Bally expert Brian Headley specifically to work on Fathom, which we assume means it will return to Shorty’s (the bar) as the games rumored for Narwhal are going to be less vintage machines. Like Wheel of Fortune? We hope so. Free Spin!

Shorty’s was also the location of two different tournaments on the same day on March 4th: the monthly 1st Sunday Tournament (which began at 3) and the Beard and ‘Stache Tournament (that started at 6). We have some reservations about the new single elimination format now used during the Sunday tournament (when we lose in the first round), but it is rather nice to have an event be short and sweet compared to other tournaments that sometimes seem to last forever. While it’s cool that Sunday tournament organizer Paul Sonier uses the Tourney Helper app he created to keep the scores, we wish he would bring back the sack of numbers for drawing which game to play. It seemed more transparent, as opposed to his new way of doing it: a coin toss and quick math (in his head). The Beard and ‘Stache Tournament was run by Kevin Lessig and was part of a larger charity event benefiting foster kids. If you didn’t have a real beard or mustache you could still play because they had fake staches for you to wear. Triple J finally cemented his non-underdog status that day by winning both tournaments. Zing!

The (semi) Annual Georgetown Open returned in February and added a new location (The Mix) to the other bars that are part of this roving tournament (Calamity Jane’s, Jules Maes, and 9LB Hammer are the other locations). Hosted by Larry Reid and Mike Poetzel, it’s an event that encourages imbibing and also gives everyone a free t-shirt just for entering. Timmy Smith got a little bit more than that when he was the first one out of the tournament (taken out by team Skill Shot) and was later tossed on his head. Sorry, Timmy! Claire won a prize for being the last woman standing, Bro Bro was the most enthusiastic, Sherry walked home, and ELF won the grand prize: a barrel of beer! Beer!

The Seattle Pinball Museum also held their first Quarterly Tournament on March 15th. As a way of promoting competitive pinball to less experienced players, SPM did not include World Ranking Points. It still drew many of the best players in the city, who not only play for points, but also like to compete for the fun of it (and cash). Perhaps a novice or kids tournament might be a better angle, since an all-ages tournament with no points is more of a handicap on younger up-and-coming champions like Raymond and Kevin, who can’t compete at tournaments that are held in bars. Kidz rule!

The Seattle Pinball Museum was also one of the sites of the Reel Grrls short film Still Playing, which they recently entered into the International Documentary Challenge. They had 5 days to plan, film and edit an experimental short film, which they chose to make about the local pinball scene. They also filmed at Full Tilt Ballard and the Skill Shot Office, and Skill Shot’s Bernard, Nosebleed and Graham were all hilariously and prominently featured in the film, as was SPM’s Cindy and Charlie Martin, and Space Age Amusement’s Marc O’Farrell. A premiere showing of the film was held at SPM. The short won’t be available online until the contest later this spring, but when it is we’ll post a link on our website! Pinball Quicksand!

Did you notice how great Skill Shot 22 looked? That’s because local pin fan and printer Don Weyland has stepped in to help us out with the printing. It looked great! Our last Folding Party at The Lookout was the most successful yet and all the copies were folded in a record 2.5 hours! It doubtlessly helped that we began at an earlier time than usual. Thanks to everyone who helps fold and distribute Skill Shot; we couldn’t do this without you! We are also planning on having a new t-shirt available this year, most likely in time for the NW Pinball Show. Maybe a hoodie, too. Don’t shoot!

One of the first pins removed from the Full Tilt Ballard takeover was Whirlwind, last issue’s The One To Beat. We heard that RAY beat the score so we were going to move the contest when the machine went to the Feedback Lounge, but Space Age reset the scores. With no photo there is no glory, so please take a pic if and when you conquer our TOTB challenge so we can at least put it up on our website. Also, check out our website for local tournament results and upcoming events on our pinball calendar. And don’t forget to check out our Seattle Pinball List online, where we keep the most up-to-date listings of pinball games (please let us know if you discover any changes). Skill Shot #25 will be out this August and it will also be our 5th anniversary! We are going to have a party. Party!

Pinball Tidbits: The Aquarius Pinball Party was apparently a lot of fun until Mitch discovered that Sagel ate the cupcakes. It’s a war now! * Gordon Brown and Amanda Kunzi won the 2nd Annual Dorky’s Couples Tournament on Valentine’s Day. Awww. * The Simpsons Pinball Party holds the current title of Most Pins on Location in Seattle with 9 machines, followed closely by Fish Tales with 8. * Pinball pioneer and innovator Steve Kordek died recently at the age of 100. He was the first person to design a pin with two flippers at the bottom of the machine. His best known machines on location locally are Space Mission and Grand Prix. * The new Wizard of Oz pin from Jersey Jack Pinball will make its Seattle premiere at the NW Pinball Show this summer (June 8-10). You can also win one in a raffle! * Avengers will be the next new pin coming from Stern, followed by Resident Evil. Or are they? * We have not been invited to play Dolly Parton yet…

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