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I’m going to write these first three a bit out of order. This post will be about today’s/tonight’s pinball tournament at The Game Preserve. I will edit the photos in later since I’ve been having trouble getting photos uploaded for some reason. (Done, see end of post.)

Things started off simply enough, with one of the bigger problems being traffic and finding something to eat before the tourney started. I had serious doubts I would be able to both eat and make a quick cash-back purchase at a nearby retailer before the tournament started. As it was, I wound up making it in with only about five minutes to spare; I made it at the stroke of 4 pm, when the tournament was due to start (Phil started it a few minutes late).

The qualifying round started off well enough. I was playing first and put up a score of 430,750 on Blue Chip which is about the best I’ve ever done on that game, let alone in a tournament. It proved to be good enough to launch me out to an early lead. Alas, my good fortune would not continue. The second game was on Jack*Bot and I wound up finishing dead last of four players, 315M+, with the player in third place scoring 335M+. I would also finish last on the following game, Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure (the Williams title from 1993), with an embarrassingly low 13.7M+ against a third place score of 21.0M+.

During a break in the action I would rack up a 255,170 on Trident (non-tournament game) that would restore some of my confidence. I would rebound by scoring 742,930 on Rock Encore with the tournament organizer, Phil Grimaldi, playing in the same game and only able to put 552,600. Even then at this point I’m having serious doubts about qualifying for A division in the playoffs; only the top 8 make A division with the next 8 making B division.

I didn’t record the other scores on Blue Chip, my next game, but my score was 181,360 good for third. Given my first performance on this game earlier in the day I was understandably disappointed and this is the first point where I really started to wonder if I was going to have to settle for B division. I would score 51,690 on Hi-Lo Ace in the next round in a very close four-player match. That score would actually be good enough for second and some hope of A division would remain. I would catch a huge break with a three-player game on Party Zone. My 29.6M+ would miraculously be good enough for first against a 26.1M+ and 2.9M+. I for sure thought I was going to be in trouble after botching the multiball that fell into my lap (a “Surprise! (Instant Multiball)” from hitting the Supersonic Robotic Comic shot). For the rest of the game I would stick to relatively low-risk shots which was good enough to get me through.

The next round would again have me playing Rock Encore and I would win with a resounding 741,900 with the second place score being a mere 229,330. I look at the scoreboard and see that the four ranking points earned from my last round performance were enough to put me in 7th overall, with the 8th place player still playing and nobody else close enough to jump ahead of me still playing. It was merely a question of if I would qualify in 7th or 8th. I was in. I was ecstatic. I was ready for dinner once Phil was done taking roll and making sure everyone was going to stick around for the playoffs (a couple of people had to leave early).

Dinner options near The Game Preserve’s new location are plenty. Let me go off on a little sidebar here: The Game Preserve used to be at Brookhaven Business Park. That business park has since been demolished, and in fact its impending demolition was the reason The Game Preserve had to relocate and was temporarily closed for a couple of months in early 2015. Brookhaven was relatively difficult to get to, but was really a pain to get out of: east on Oakwood Drive, then south on Oakhurst Drive. Every intersection out of the five one must traverse before making it back to Rayford Road was (and still is, I’d guess) an all-way stop, and the posted speed limit is 25 mph. If it sounds like a traffic cop’s dream, it is. To their credit, the owners did make food delivery menus from nearby restaurants available (the snack bar only sells pre-packaged drinks and items like chips and candy bars).

Anyway, my usual move is to walk across the street to Whataburger. With the amount of rain that quickly becomes a non-option. My choices range from The Olive Oil (Greek restaurant), Pit Masters (a great barbecue place, but a bit pricey compared to what I planned to spend), the aforementioned Whataburger, Wendy’s, and probably a few others. I notice a James Coney Island and decide that’s going to be dinner, even if it may be even pricier than Whataburger or perhaps some of the other options in the area if I was willing to go exploring.

Anyway, the playoffs begin shortly after the announced 8:30 pm start time. The semifinal round (for me) begins with Party Zone against Joshua Fishman, Zach Fishman, and James Chacon. Again, I post a disappointly low score of 16.0M and odd change. It’s good enough for first, though, with Zach turning in 10.9M and the other two not even coming close to that. The second game (same players) is Jack*Bot. I get off to an early lead with a first ball well over a billion (I want to say 1.4B or so but I don’t remember exactly). I sign off with 1.917B+, good enough to top Zach’s 945M+ and clinch a spot in the finals. I’d post a 5.8M+ on Lord of the Rings against Zach’s 11.5M+, a 2.1M+ and a 2.0M+.

So I make the finals. Phil, Zach, Micah Key, and of course yours truly. The first game of the finals would be Lord of the Rings. Right after I had just finished playing it to wrap up the semifinals. I’m not terribly fond of this game, though I have had some great games on it. One of which I was about to have, at the best possible time. I stack Gollum Multiball and Two Towers Multiball and then score a flurry of jackpots. “Triple Jackpot One! Trip- Triple Jack- Triple Jackpot Four! Triple Jackpot Fi- Triple Jackpot Six!” etc. and a similar number of double jackpots and unmultiplied jackpots. After ball 1 I left Phil (playing second) with the unenviable task of matching a 29M or so performance. I would sign off with 48.1M+ to Phil’s 24.1M+, Micah’s 14.1M+, and Zach’s 1.8M+.

And then came a game on Elvira and the Party Monsters. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get it going. Phil would finish with 3.14M+, Zach with 2.67M+, and Micah put up what I’d normally consider a rather embarrassing 1,183,850… but I signed off with 1,115,370. I knew as soon as I drained as early as I did that I would in all likelihood finish last in that game. I was not out of it completely, though; there was one final game on Rock Encore.

The problem with this particular Rock Encore table is that the right lower flipper is unforgivably weak. It’s good enough for clearing the ball out of the immediate slingshot area but that’s about it. Forget any 100K+ spinner shots if the spinner is lit (for 10,000/spin). The left flipper was plenty strong, but I never could get the spinner lit for 10,000. I also couldn’t get enough letters and multiplier to get a decent bonus. I would sign off in third with a mere 389,200, good enough to clinch a second place tournament finish (Phil put up 1.5M+).

Nobody will ever be completely satisfied with a second place finish but putting up a higher score against player(s) of greater skill is always a good feeling and a huge confidence builder. I was not able to maintain that level of scoring throughout the finals, but the 48.1M+ on Lord of the Rings was a good feeling. I would like to think it sent a message that in a pinball tournament, I should be taken seriously. I still have a lot of room for improvement, but tonight’s result was very encouraging.

ETA: Gallery of photos, including some other scores from the night. (The three Beat Time scores were consecutive games.)