The IFPA and Namco’s Level 257 are pleased to announce the start of a new monthly pinball ‘Super League’ at the Schaumburg Level 257 location in Woodfield Mall. The kickoff party tournament will take place on Tuesday, January 5th at 7pm.

Details for the kickoff party tournament:

Entry fee will be $5 plus the cost of games. Tournament format will be best game qualifying (100-90-85-84 scoring), with one attempt allowed on each machine. The top 4 players will advance to the finals to play a 3-game PAPA style final (40/30/20/10% payout).

Level 257 will be offering special “pinball game cards” which will allow IFPA players the ability to play the pinball machines on a per credit basis rather than having to purchase time cards to participate. These cards will be available for purchase at the front desk for $20, with each game available at $.75 per play starting January 5th and going forward.

Immediately following the kickoff party tournament, the LEVEL 257 MONTHLY PINBALL SUPER LEAGUE will officially begin. Qualifying will be available all month during business hours, with the finals of each month happening on the first Tuesday at 7pm (last qualifying game starts at 6:30pm the night of Finals). Players will be able to play as often as they want, with their highest submitted score being used for the qualifying standings for each game included in the tournament.

Here is how it will work:

STEP 1 – Fill out a registration form at the front desk and pay the $5 entry fee to join

STEP 2 – Play anytime! Take pictures of  your best scores and email to  [email protected]! All photos must include a picture of the player and their score on the display.

STEP 3 – Follow along the LIVE standings at: http://www.neverdrains.com/level257

STEP 4 – FINALS NIGHT! First Tuesday of every month at 7pm! Win cash and prizes! All participants from the month are invited to finals. The top 4 spots will play the “A” finals, next 4 in the “B” finals, next 4 in the “C” finals, etc. The winner of every division will win $10, with the remaining entry fees going to the top 4 finishers (40/30/20/10%). Should there be more than 40 players for the month the “A” division will feature the top 8 finalists instead of the top 4. Finals format will be PAPA style 3-game rounds.

The IFPA and Enchanted Castle are pleased to announce the start of a new monthly tournament at the Lombard Enchanted Castle location. The tournament will take place on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm, starting on March 12th. With over a dozen games on location, Enchanted Castle is one of the newest hotspots to play pinball in the Chicagoland area.

Entry fee is $5 plus the cost of games. Tournament format is a single game, single elimination head-to-head bracket. Games and seeding will be chosen at random.

All cash from entry fees will be paid out to the top 4 finishers each month. World Pinball Player Rankings points will also be awarded for all participants.

Please contact the IFPA at [email protected] with any questions.

21 players competed in the February 2013 edition of the Gameworks Monthly Pinball Tournament. [player]Zach Sharpe[/player] (ranked 4th in the world) emerged victorious earning himself $45, and enough WPPR points to move him into 2nd place in the IFPA Illinois State Championship standings.

Zach first defeated [player]Chad Gates[/player] (ranked 4337th in the world) on AC/DC, followed by a victory over [player]Jack Danger[/player] (ranked 2226th in the world) on Avengers. In the semi-finals Zach defeated [player]Scott Danesi[/player] (ranked 1934th in the world) on Family Guy. This led to a final against brother [player]Josh Sharpe[/player] (ranked 12th in the world), and unlike Super Bowl XLVII where older brother John defeated younger brother Jim, Zach came out on top on Soprano’s. Scott Danesi finished in 3rd place defeating [player]Steve Kordek[/player] (ranked 4140th in the world) on Ironman.

Full results can be found HERE. Updated standings for the IFPA Illinois State Championship can be found HERE. The Gameworks Monthly Pinball Tournament is held the first Tuesday of every month, with the next edition scheduled for March 5th.

The IFPA and Gameworks teamed up to host their 8th Pinball Tournament of Champions from May 4th-6th. PAPA was also in the house for this event, as it was the 2nd tournament on the newly formed PAPA Circuit for 2012. This added $1500 to the prize pool, along with the chance for players to win PAPA Circuit points to qualify for the PAPA Circuit final in March 2013.

53 players participated for the $3500+ in cash and prizes up for grabs, qualifying on Stern's AC/DC, Ironman, Tron and Transformers.

[player]Zach Sharpe[/player] took home his 3rd Gameworks title in 8 attempts, defeating [player]Derek Fugate[/player] (2-1), [player]Jason Werdrick[/player] (2-1) and [player]Keith Johnson[/player] (2-1) to take home 1st place. The deciding game came down to Tron where both players battled to the very end. After the final end of ball bonus from Keith, he fell just short of catching up to Zach's score (45,328,230 to 45,052,540). With the PAPA cameras rolling all weekend, the action was all caught on tape. Check it out HERE.

Other finalists included [player]Keith Johnson[/player] (2nd-right), [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] (3rd-inner left) and [player]Jason Werdrick[/player] (4th-left).

Full results can be found HERE.

The IFPA, Gameworks and the Chicago Pinball League are pleased to announce the start of a new monthly tournament at the Schaumburg Gameworks location. The tournament will take place on the first Tuesday of each month at 7pm, starting on December 6th.

Entry fee is $5 plus the cost of games. Tournament format is a best of 3, single elimination head-to-head bracket. Games and seeding will be chosen at random.

All cash from entry fees will be paid out to the top 4 finishers each month, with additional prizes like Gameworks game cards and Stern goodies available as well. World Pinball Player Rankings points will also be awarded for all participants.

Pre-registration is encouraged so we can prepare for how many players to expect.

Please contact the IFPA at [email protected] for any questions, and to sign up for December's tournament if you're interest.

The IFPA and Gameworks teamed up to host their 7th Pinball Tournament of Champions. 30 players participated for the $2000+ in cash and prizes up for grabs, qualifying on Stern's The Rolling Stones, Ironman, Tron and Avatar.

Josh Sharpe went 6-1 in the finals, defeating Trent Augenstein (2-0), Chuck Jackson (2-0) and Zach Sharpe (2-1) to take home 1st place. Other finalists included Zach Sharpe (2nd-inner right), Lyman Sheats (3rd-right) and Chuck Jackson (4th-left).

Full results can be found HERE.