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PHILA

Revamped Website!

We have revamped philapinball.com to showcase upcoming regional Tournaments and Leagues!

The major change is the implementation of the Events Calendar.

We look forward to this website hopefully becoming a resource for local Philadelphia pinball players.

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PHILA

PracticeBurgh Note to Attendees: July 4, 2018

A copy of the following e-mail went out to all registered attendees of PracticeBurgh on July 4, 2018:

——————

Hello Everyone!

If you are receiving this e-mail, then you have registered for PracticeBurgh!

We are really excited that you are going to be joining us for what I hope will be an awesome event.

I just wanted to share some information and links to the group and offer to answer any questions that you may have.

Ticket Status

As of this note, we have 36 tickets of 48 sold so far for the event!  If you know of someone who would like to register, the link is here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/phila-pinball-presents-practiceburgh-tickets-46790095435

Attendee List

Here is the Registered Attendee list: http://philapinball.com/practiceburgh-registered-guest-list/

Rules Document

We will be mirroring the Pinburgh ruleset as closely as we can, albeit in a condensed form.  The rules document can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aSWRqeGxHucVKneM1Wm9NAKwdLwAK1P-jVBX9IP78AI/edit

Food and Snacks

As part of the entry free, we’ll be providing some food and snacks for the events.  It will likely be Pizza or Hoagies along with a variety of chips and sweets.  We won’t be providing beverages, so please bring your own or feel free to purchase drinks from the vending machine.  If you have any food allergies that would prevent you from eating Pizza or Hoagies, could you flag that to our attention?

Game List

Since many of you are regular patrons of Pinball Gallery, can I ask you to please flag to my attention any games that may not be playing optimally or games that (in your opinion) should not be included in the event?  If we know of challenges, I can pass them along to Bill and Sherry so that they are aware.

We have been categorizing games into “Early”, “Mid”, and “Late” to give us three groupings of games.  When a round is drawn, everyone will be playing games within that group.

Side Contests

We’ll have a few side events happening during the event, including a TNA Reactor Competition, A “Closest Without Going Over” Competition, and perhaps a few more fun side events!

Pinball Gallery Members!

If you are a member of Pinball Gallery and haven’t requested your partial refund for already being a member, please let us know!

Questions?

if you have any questions, please do drop us a line!

Best,
Corey

Categories
PHILA

PracticeBurgh Registered Guest List

Registered Attendee list for PracticeBurgh on July 15, 2018.

Tickets available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/phila-pinball-presents-practiceburgh-tickets-46790095435

Updated as of July 9, 2018.

Robert Choate
Christopher Chow
Mike Corica
Mike Corica +1
Casey Cuene
Joseph Fox
Joseph Fox Jr.
Nathaniel Gibson
Anne Gibson
Daniel Gilbert
Dave Gubernot
Beck Gusler
Matt Gusler
Chad Hastings
Sarah Hopkins
Corey Hulse
Richard Kennison
Sarah Line
Christian Line
Sue Lubanski
Kevin Lubanski
Rob Maerz
Marianne Pangia
Rick Prince
Jay Robinson
Victor Scelba
David Schumeister
Justin Semke
Brian Service
Brandon Service
Sanjay Shah
John Shopple
Bill Shupp
Nicholas Wahal
Todd Weber
Todd Weber +1
Ryan Weicker
Stephanie Yee
Allison Young
Joel Zingone

 

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PHILA

PHILA Pinball Presents – PracticeBurgh!

We have an announcement!  We are excited to announce a single-day event ahead of Pinburgh called “PracticeBurgh”, which is a one-day Pinburgh-style event.

PHILA Pinball Presents PracticeBurgh
Sunday, July 15, 2018, 10am
Pinball Gallery in Malvern, PA
10 Rounds of Group Match-Play
Single Games on Various Eras of Machines
Split Into Divisions After Round 5
“Practice Finals” for all participants after Round 10

Tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/phila-pinball-presents-practiceburgh-tickets-46790095435#tickets

The cost is $35, which will cover all-day entry into Pinball Gallery, ticketing fees, and contributions to the Prize Pool.

We are capping the entry at 48 players. After those entries are sold out, we will maintain a waiting list.  Refunds will be given up to seven days before the event.

A basic rules document is here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aSWRqeGxHucVKneM1Wm9NAKwdLwAK1P-jVBX9IP78AI/edit?usp=sharing

Please drop us a note at philapinball@gmail.com if you have any questions!

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PHILA

PHILA Pinball Winter 2018 Recap

Hello Everyone!  We are excited to recap the PHILA Pinball Winter 2018 Finals!
Thanks to Matt King for taking photos of the event!  A gallery can be found on the Facebook group page.
**Our Winners:
A-Division
1. Matt Gusler
2. Dave Sharrar
3. Beck Gusler
4. Rick Prince
Congrats to Matt Gusler for crushing the final games on Jacks to Open, Joker Poker, Houdini, and Funhouse to take down the title!
B-Division
1. Dennis Gardner
2. Jack Sharrar
3. Chris Thomas
4. Matt Deibert
Dennis Garner outlasted 25 other players in a twelve-strike brawl to defeat Jack Sharrar in a heads-up showdown on Ghostbusters after surviving the final four on Medieval Madness.
TNA Reactor Champ
1. Jerry F. Kroboth – 3 Reactors, 1.1 Million
2. Ryan Altermore – 3 Reactors
3. Rick Prince – 2 Reactors
One-Ball Laser War Champ
1. Brian Service – 2.7 Million
2. Michael Reimer – 2.2 Million
3. Jerry C. Kroboth – 1.5 Million
Silver Slugger Runs Champ
1. Jay Robinson – 52 Runs
2. Nick Wahal – 28 Runs
3. Michael Reimer – 2 Runs
Our Raffle Winners:

iPad from Booth’s Corner Arcade – Rob Maerz
Railroad Street Growler – Brad Ladutko
University Family Fun Center Gift Pack #1 – Ryan Weicker
University Family Fun Center Gift Pack #2 – Matt Gusler
$1.03 Target Gift Card – Jeffrey Shropshire
$1.73 Starbucks Gift Card – Nicholas Wahal
Congrats to all our winners!
 
**We Want to Thank:
* Booth’s Corner Arcade – Donation of an iPad
* Chester County Sports Arena – Cash for Prize Pool
* Confetti Arcade – Cash for Prize Pool
* North & South Bowl – Gift Cards
* Penn Skate – Gift Cards
* Pinball Gallery – Gift Cards, T-Shirts, and letting us host the event
* PinCrossing – Railroad Gift Cards & Railroad’s Famous Wine Mugs
* Rage Tilt Pinball – T-Shirts for Winners
* University Pinball – Gift Baskets
* Village Arcade – Cash for Prize Pool
**KYW Newsradio Coverage
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/03/31/pinball-regional-finals/
**PHILA Pinball Spring 2018 Season
Casey and Corey need a few weeks to recover and start to plan for the next season.  Stay tuned for announcements!
**Feedback Survey
We’d like to ask everyone to fill out the survey to tell us what you liked, what you didn’t like, and what we can do better.  Please also feel free to reach out to Casey and Corey directly to share your thoughts.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeY3Vyk3mx7_utg2pQoBsbx9sHtmGJEOmU_6GHBXgWCkSLaTQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
**Final Results
A Division Final Results have been submitted to the IFPA and to MatchPlay Ratings.
B Division Results have been submitted to MatchPlay Ratings.
1. Matt Gusler
2. Dave Sharrar
3. Beck Gusler
4. Rick Prince
5. Chris Chow
6. Joel Zingone
7. Jerry C. Kroboth
8. Corey Hulse
9. Jay Robinson
9. Nick Hislop
11. Dennis DeLong
11. Matt Deibert
14. Nathaniel Gibson
14. Dennis Gardner
14. Harry Jackson
16. Jack Sharrar
17. Erik Ryan
17. Chris Thomas PA
19. Cliff Albert
19. Nicholas Wahal
21. Christina Cimino
22. Dylan McGarry
22. Michael Reimer
24. Bill Shupp
26. Brad Ladutko
26. Jerry F. Kroboth
26. Brian Service
28. Jeffrey Shropshire
28. Ryan Altemose
30. Rob Maerz
31. Jackie Himes
32. Brandon Service
33. Kelsie Reimer
34. Casey Cuene
35. Phil Kline
36. Dave Gubernot
37. Anne Gibson
38. Stephen Haberman
39. Brian Thomas
40. Kate Haberman
**Announcements – PinFest
PinFest is coming up the first weekend in May!  We are a Stern Pro-Circuit event this year and have expanded the event to make it bigger and hopefully better.  To make it better, we’re looking for a few things:
Volunteers – People to help with the event!  We’ll give you lots of free entries into the tournament and access to special “volunteer hours” for qualifying
Bring a Machine! – We’re looking for good, fun machines to use in the tournament.
Sponsors – If you or someone you know would make a good sponsor for the event, let Jay and I know.
**PHILAPinball.com
Over the coming weeks we’re going to be reshaping PhilaPinball.com to not only be about the tournament, but also include general information about finding and playing pinball in the Philadelphia area!
It will include a Competitive Pinball Calendar, listing of local places to play, and how to get involved in area leagues and events.  We want to to be a central resource for anyone looking for Pinball in the Philly Area.  Please be on the lookout for that in the coming weeks.
**Expanding the Executive Board
We’re interested to keep momentum going but are looking to expand the PHILA Pinball Inner Circle. For coming seasons we want to ensure that we have an expanded group in place to make the event bigger and better in the future.
Score Tracker – Responsible for ensuring scores are captured
Registrar – Responsible for signing people in on League & Hangout Nights.  Collects E-mail addresses and makes sure that MailChimp is up to date
Social Media Guru – Runs the Instagram and Facebook accounts
Web Architect – Runs the website
Prize Maven – Ensures we have cool prizes to give out each week
Treasurer – Collects the funds, keeps track of who has and hasn’t paid
Referees (x4) – People who are familiar with the IFPA/PAPA Ruleset
If you’re interested to join us, please us know!
Thank you again for an awesome season!  Looking forward to playing more pinball in 2018!
Categories
PHILA

PHILA Pinball Winter 2018 Finals Updates

Hello Everyone!  Incoming message with lots of details!
 
* Sponsors *
Thank you to our sponsors for the Winter 2018 Season!  They will be providing cash and prizes that will be added into the Prize Pool.
* Booth’s Corner – http://www.boothscorner.com/merchant/arcade/
* Chester County Sports Arena – http://chestercountysportsarena.com
* Confetti Arcade – https://www.facebook.com/Confetti-Arcade-Berkshire-Mall-254850791295395/
* North Bowl – http://www.northbowlphilly.com/
* Penn Skate – http://pennskate.com/
* Pinball Gallery – http://www.pinballgallery.net/
* PinCrossing – http://www.pincrossing.com
* Rage Tilt Pinball – https://www.ragetiltpinball.com/
* South Bowl – http://southbowlphilly.com/
* University Pinball – http://universityfamilyfuncenter.com/
* Village Arcade – https://www.facebook.com/Village-Arcade-159016544490511/
* Streaming *
Rage Tilt will be providing Streaming for the event!
* Qualifying * 
Qualifying will end on Thursday, March 29. All scores MUST be submitted by 11:59pm on Thursday evening in order to be counted. We will attempt to perform daily updates of the scoreboard on MatchPlay.
* Qualifying Standings *
Current standings:
http://philapinball.com/scoreboard/
There is a known bug on NeverDrains where two people with the same score will NOT be given the same amount of points, and it will randomly award one person the high score. We have two instances of ties right now:
Nathaniel Gibson & Nick Hislop are tied for #1 on Paragon
Dennis DeLong & Jay Robinson are tied for #1 on Doodle Bug
Scores will be manually adjusted at the close of competition to reflect the correct amounts.
* Finals Attendance * 
If you know you will NOT be able to make it to Finals this Saturday at Pinball Gallery, can you please flag it to us?
* Timings *
Pinball Gallery Opens for Practice at 11:00am
The Competitions will start at 11:30am
Side Games will be cut off at the conclusion of the B-Division Finals
* Adjustment to Tiebreakers *
It looks like there is a good possibility that we will have a qualifier tie for First Place.  We are going to make a slight adjustment to the way that a seeding tiebreaker will be conducted for 1st and only 1st Place.  It will be a best-of-three tiebreaker and will proceed as follows:
* The person with the highest TOTAL points across all machines will get to call Heads or Tails on a coin flip.
* The winner of the coin flip will get to pick either Game or Order on Game 1.
* Participants can choose any game in any of the banks that are part of Finals.
* The loser of Game 1 will have choice of Game or Order in Game 2.
* If necessary, Game 3 will be played on a randomly drawn machine.
* The loser of Game 2 will have choice of Order in Game 3.
All other Significant positions (4th, 8th, 16th, and 32nd) will play out a single game on a randomly drawn machine with coin flip determining the player who gets to choose order.
* Game Banks *
We are working through these at the moment and hope to have it published before Friday.  In the absence of Banks, every single game will be played on Stern Stars.
* Entry Fee *
It will cost $15 to enter Pinball Gallery.
* Coin Drop *
Most all of the games in the Tournament will be on Free Play, with the exception of a handful of games which support the MS Foundation.  A few of these Coin Drop games will be used in the A-Division Banks and will be marked as such when banks are announced.  They are fun games, but we are keeping their use to a minimum and at max, a player will be playing these games once per round.  B-Division will never use any of the Coin Drop games.
* Side Games *
We’re going to have three side contests during the event which are separate from A and B Division.  These games are below, and subject to change:
– Total Nuclear Annihilation Reactor Contest – Who can get the most reactors? – $0.50 a play with the money benefiting the MS Foundation
– Silver Slugger Runs Contest – Who can get the most runs?  Regular score doesn’t matter. – Free Play
– One-Ball Wonder – A selected game will be set to one-ball.  How well can you do on a one-ball game? – Free Play
* Finals Absences * 
Any absences at Finals in the Top 32 will be filled in order by the qualifying position outside of the Top 32 of those in attendance during the Final Tournament.  There was a request earlier this season to consider dropping a player with a bye down to only the level that they would have earned if they had attended (i.e. if you qualified 7th with a Double Bye but couldn’t make it, you would be placed in 16th as that would be Last Place in the 3rd Round).  That proposal will be considered for future seasons but is NOT in place for the Winter 2018 Finals.
* B-Division * 
Anyone not qualifying for the A Division Finals, and those who are knocked out in the First, Second, or Quarter-Final Rounds will be able to play in the B Division Side Tournament.
Please note the change to this season where competitors knocked out of the Quarter-Final Round will be allowed to participate in B-Division.
For any people not in the A-Division finals, we will also hosting the B-Division Side Tournament. This will a ‘progressive strikes’ format. Anyone, even those who did not try to qualify during the regular season, are welcome to join! Competitors play until they have twelve strikes. This will start at the same time as the A-Division Finals. Those eliminated in both the First, Second, and Quarter-Final Round of A-Division will be invited to join the in-progress event and will be given the same amount of ‘strikes’ + 1 as the person currently in first place.
1st – Zero Strikes
2nd – One Strike
3rd – Two Strike
4th – Three Strike
Once there are four or less competitors left, the tournament will move into a playoff round. If there are three or four people remaining, a game will be picked by the person with the least amount of outs, and the top two move on. Once there are just two players remaining, they will play a final game with the game pick going to the person with the least outs remaining. If multiple people are tied with the least amount of outs, each person in the tie will pick a game and one will be randomly drawn.
* Alcohol Policy *
Normally Pinball Gallery does not allow alcohol outside of league and monthly tournaments, however I spoke with Bill & Sherry and they indicated it will be OK if everyone uses cups and keeps their booze stashed in a cooler/bag/etc.  They don’t want people walking around with beers in their hands and leaving them sitting out.  Our ask is that you keep it reasonable, especially when it opens to the public and there will be children around.
If you have any questions for us, drop a note or send us a message.
Best,
Corey & Casey
Categories
PHILA

PHILA Pinball Updates for 2018-03-25

Here’s a mid-day Sunday update for today.

1. Nick Hislop – 800pts
2. Nathaniel Gibson – 800pts
3. Dennis DeLong – 765pts
4. Christopher Chow – 755pts
5. Christina Cimino – 720pts
6. Corey Hulse – 715pts
7. Dave Sharrar – 713pts
8. Harry Jackson – 702pts
9. Bill Shupp – 691pts
10. Michael Reimer – 685pts
11. Jay Robinson – 665pts
12. Dennis Gardner – 662pts
13. Cliff Albert – 653pts
14. Matt Deibert – 639pts
15. Brad Ladutko – 638pts
16. Matthew Gusler – 629pts

Please note that these standings here will differ compared with NeverDrains.  There is a known bug on the site where two people with the same score will NOT be given the same amount of points, and it will randomly award one person the high score.  We have two instances of ties right now:

Nathaniel Gibson & Nick Hislop are tied for #1 on Paragon
Dennis DeLong & Jay Robinson are tied for #1 on Doodle Bug

The scores above reflect the current actual standings adjusted for these point differentials.

Qualifying will end on Thursday.  All scores MUST be submitted by 11:59pm on Thursday evening in order to be counted.  We will attempt to perform daily updates of the scoreboard on MatchPlay.

Remember that the Top 32 people make A-Finals and everyone else is invited to participate in the B-Division Side Event.  We will also have a set of fun side games at the events.

Let us know if you have any questions as we move through the final week of qualifying.

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PHILA

Winter 2018 – Batman 66 and JunkYard

This is a general qualifying announcement about Batman 66 and JunkYard.

* We will NOT BE COUNTING scores on Batman 66 and that machine has been removed from Qualifying.
* We will be COUNTING JunkYard and those scores are now locked in.

A longer, in-depth explanation is below.

Batman 66 was removed from the floor of Chester County Sports Arena on approximately Feb 3, putting it well short of the 50% qualifying requirement.

We are aware the JunkYard has been removed from Barcade and has been replaced by a new machine. For the purposes of the Winter 2018 event, we will be COUNTING the scores on JunkYard as one of the 33 machines to be used for qualifying.

On our spreadsheet where we track, we count a machine as “On” if there are no reported problems. We turn a machine “Off” when someone reports an issue. With our current logic, we only turn it back “On” when we have a positive crowd-sourced indication when the machine is working again, otherwise we assume that it’s “Off”.

According to that logic, JunkYard has been working 43 of the 87 days, which is 49.43% or one single day short of counting.

We have definitive dates for when problems were reported, and subsequently when people indicated that it was working again. What we do not have are definitive dates on when a problem was fixed; only when people observed that it was functioning again.

For the original flipper problem, it was originally reported on Jan 29, and someone reported by a league participant that it was working again on Feb 17, a period of 20 days. What we don’t know is when the problem actually occurred and when the problem was actually fixed, which gives leeway in either direction as to when the problem occurred. However, when we mark a machine as “Off”, we only turn the machine back on when someone has made an effort to go to the location and report back that is is working. It may have been fixed before Feb 17, but we don’t know because it wasn’t reported. A subsequent flipper problem was reported on Feb 23 and reported “working” during a Philly Pinball Club event on Mar 8.

When we assess the situation on JunkYard specifically, the main problem with the game for an extended period was a loose, misaligned flipper that fundamentally changes the angles of the game and puts those playing the game in that state at a disadvantage vs those playing the game in the normal state. Fundamentally, the game was still working and those who choose to put a score up on it were welcome to do so.

Therefore, because our initial arbitrary metric of what constitutes a machine “On” or “Off” in conjunction with the fuzziness around when a machine may actually have been working again, we are going to count JunkYard for qualifying purposes.

We will be taking better action in subsequent seasons to get better clarity and confirmation on the active state of machines moving forward. Any questions or comments can be directed at myself or Casey.

Thank you,
Corey

Categories
PHILA

PHILA Pinball – Updates for 2018-03-13

Hello Everyone!  A number of updates for today.

We have confirmed with Pinball Gallery the Start Times for Finals.

Pinball Gallery in Malvern, PA
March 31, 2018
Doors Open for Practice at 11:00am
Both A and B Division Will Start at 11:30am

Top 32 make A Division
All Others make B Division

Entry Fee will be $15 for an all-day pass. The majority of games that are part of the event will be on Free Play, however a handful of the machines in A Division and the Side Contests will be on coin drop benefiting the MS Society.

Here’s your current Top 12:

1. Nick Hislop – 800pts
1. Nathaniel Gibson – 800pts
3. Christopher Chow – 770pts
4. Christina Cimino – 755pts
5. Harry Jackson – 750pts
6. Dave Sharrar – 726pts
7. Michael Reimer – 711pts
8. Corey Hulse – 707pts
9. Dennis DeLong – 702pts
10. Brad Ladutko – 679pts
10. Dennis Gardner – 679pts
12. Bill Shupp – 678pts

Full Standings: http://philapinball.com/scoreboard/

Today’s Machine Notes:

* Batman 66 will more likely than not be pulled from the Standings.  IFPA rules dictate that a game should be pulled from the standings if it is not present for at least 50% of qualifying.  If the game is not back by Friday, it mathematically cannot reach 50% and will have be be removed.  If the game is back by Friday, there is the potential for it to break 50% and will still count.

Game Status: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XsUdaeus2IJZZTDbAp85VM-yZx3rknNMobqg0hWndE8/edit#gid=958002109

Categories
PHILA

PHILA Pinball Updates for 2018-02-26

Here’s your current Top 12:

1. Nathaniel Gibson – 800pts
2. Nick Hislop – 795pts
3. Christina Cimino – 775pts
4. Harry Jackson – 770pts
5. Christopher Chow – 750pts
6. Michael Reimer – 715pts
6. Dennis Gardner – 715pts
8. Dennis DeLong – 708pts
9. Matt Deibert – 688pts
10. Bill Shupp – 686pts
11. Erik Ryan – 671pts
12. Cliff Albert – 667pts

Full Standings: http://philapinball.com/scoreboard/

I’ve added a column to the Player Matrix that lets you see your Top 8 positions so you can quickly see which positions are counting towards your current standing.  This will hopefully help players see what positions they need to go for as they are out and about playing.  For example, mine says 3|4|5|5|6|9|11|12, which means I’m current counting a 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 11th, and 12th towards my scores. http://philapinball.com/scoreboard/playermatrix.php

Today’s Machine Notes:

* JunkYard is assumed to be down still because of a wonky flipper again.  Please let us know if anyone visits Barcade and sees that it’s fixed.  This game is currently at 37% Days up, but will be pulled (and scores dropped) if mathematically can’t reach 50%.
* Batman is still fighting crime in Gotham and has not yet reappeared.  This game is currently at 32% Days up, but will be pulled (and scores dropped) if mathematically can’t reach 50%.
* We have reports that SpiderMan shots to Doc Ock aren’t registering.  We will still accept scores on this game, and it will still count for standings as it has exceed the 50% threshold.

Game Status: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XsUdaeus2IJZZTDbAp85VM-yZx3rknNMobqg0hWndE8/edit#gid=958002109