Here are the August 2023 IFPA winners for Player of the Month and Biggest Movers:

Player of the Month:
Jason Zahler from New Jersey (544.10 WPPR’s – MAIN)
Sunshine Bon from Colmubia, MO (168.57 WPPR’s – WOMEN’S)

Biggest Movers:
Nathanael Callon from Knoxville, TN (+19,567 spots)
Philippe Bocquet from Paris, France (+18,704 spots)
Alyssa Bailey from Victoria, BC, Canada (+13,993 spots)

These players have now all qualified for the Stern Rewards Program for 2023. Congrats to everyone!

KTOO radio in Juneau, Alaska covered the expanding competitive pinball scene within their area. Click HERE to listen.

post courtesy of Greg Dunlap

Kane Macaniff, a beloved member of the Portland pinball community, died of a heart attack recently at the age of 40. Kane started playing pinball in 2010 at the Los Angeles Pinball League before moving to Portland in 2011, where he quickly became a fixture at local events. In that time he played over 600 IFPA certified events, and qualified for the Oregon State Championships four times. Kane was also the founder of Scoreboard With The Cool S, a team that played regularly in the Portland Pinball Team League at Scoreboard Sports Bar.

Kane was hard to miss. He was friendly and gregarious and had a huge personality. No matter what type of event, Kane was always sure to be there. Sanctioned or not, at a bar or a house party. Kane loved playing pinball and hanging out with pinball people. In a remembrance thread on Facebook, several local players expressed that meeting Kane was one of their first and fondest memories of the local pinball scene. One player remembered how friendly Kane was after they got paired up for split flipper at one of her first tournaments. Kane taught her how to aim and what to shoot for, making her laugh and helping to calm her nerves. His league teammates shared stories of epic comebacks to win as well as the after-parties that went long into the night. Kane did not organize many events, but when he did they were not to be forgotten. Most notable was the Taylor Swift themed tournament he ran with Zoe Vrabel in 2013, featuring only machines that had some connection to Taylor, as well as themed prizes.

Personally, I will always remember the time he dressed up as the backglass to Frontier for a Halloween party in 2013. Not only did he nail the costume perfectly, but it also fit his personality to a T. Gruff, scraggly, and larger than life. Kane will be dearly missed.

Two days of sports pinball and great fun, next to the Marmore waterfall and inside the ‘Dino Merluzzi’ Pinball and Modern Art Museum, with a multi-tournament by Ifpa.

Marmore, Terni – An unexpected success, perhaps. But at the same time, well-deserved one. The player Renato Agresti from Lazio raised the cup at the end of the two days of pinball competition at Marmore, in Terni – where the 2023 edition of the “Pinball at Waterfalls – Torneo flipper Marmore” tournament has just ended. He defeated a talent like that of Giovanni Parisella, at the end of the final match for two, after beating some of the big favorites for the title: Gabriele Tedeschi from Rome, who ended at the third place, and Lorenzo Gagliardi from Siena, who has to settle for the fourth place. But in addition to being the first “important” title won by Agresti in an official competition, valid for the world rankings, what makes the Lazio player’s triumph even more special is above all the way in which it happened, because he dominated the decisive match, after the other finalist literally gave the show during the entire qualifying round and in the two days of challenges. Not to mention, then, the long journey that he had to face earlier, in the knockout round, to get to the decisive challenge.

But this success is worth double; triple, indeed. Bearing in mind that the competition, in addition to being valid for the World Pinball Player Rankings (Wppr), was also the sixth stage of the seven scheduled for the current year of the Ics (Italian championship series) circuit, and the only one in our country included in the European circuit Ecs 2023 (European Championship Series).
Along with Agresti, entertainment also triumphed, because that of Marmore was a memorable experience, to put in the book of memories and leave it there forever. Among the moments not to be forgotten. In addition to celebrating the first official competition held in a unique location in Italy, such as the “Dino Merluzzi” Pinball and Modern Art Museum, inaugurated only a few months ago in the Umbrian village, what was staged was a formidable proof of how one can bring value to a territory and to the local community, through the synergy of several subjects. In fact, in addition to the Museum and the Ifpa Italia association, the Pro Loco of Marmore and the parish of Marmore worked on the event, with the support of a series of national and international suppliers, who have joined forces to feed the local initiative: such as the historic companies Faroplay – the Italian Stern Pinball’s distributor, Luxury Games – the distributor of Jersey Jack pinball machines – and Mr.Arcade by GennaGroup, specialist in the world of pinball machines. Thus creating an event sponsored by the Municipality of Terni and the Umbria Region, managing to entertain many people, including professional players, citizens, tourists and simple curious. Creating two real days of fun, for everyone.

But in addition to the main tournament, two other competitions were held. A “side tournament”, always valid for the Ifpa ranking, won by Paolo Luise from Padua, ahead of Alessio Crisantemi and Fabio Squadrani from Romagna, played on vintage pinball machines present in the museum, and a collateral tournament (“Flipperando nel Museo”) open to everyone, where the winner was the other Lazio player Carmelo Vitale, followed by the Milanese Francesco Sacco and the Roman Alessandro Cacialli. While the “quota for women” Tiziana Castellani ended at the fourth place.

Info and pictures about tournament: www.ifpaitalia.it

Info about Italian Pinball Museum: www.museoflipper.it/en

Stern has issued an update to the Stern Rewards Program, the highlight being that Foo Fighters Pro and Premium have both officially been added to the program. Please see the list below for games that are available through the program for immediate shipment:

• Avengers Premium
• Deadpool Pro
• Foo Fighters Pro
• Foo Fighters Premium
• Jurassic Park Pro

Detailed rules for the $tern Rewards Program, including an updated list of qualifiers, and updated list of rewards available can be found HERE.

The 2024 IFPA Pin-Masters: World Pin-Golf Championships are scheduled for March 8th-10th, 2024 at District 82 in De Pere, Wisconsin.

Registration will open on Saturday, September 30th at 11:00 AM CST.

Please take this opportunity to solidify your spot in next year’s IFPA Pin-Masters, which is limited to 144 players.

Entry fee is $350 per player. Any refunds will be paid back at 50% of the registration fee. The additional funds will be added to the prize pool.

Please note spots will be RESERVED for any player that qualifies for the IFPA North American Pinball Championship. Do NOT register if you only intend to participate should you qualify for the IFPA North American Pinball Championship.

Full details of the event are available here:
https://www.ifpapinball.com/tournament_pages/pinmasters/

Should you have any questions about our qualifying process or to find out more information about the tournament, please contact the IFPA at ifpapinball@gmail.com.

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Find secret modes hidden from the galaxy today!

Become an honorary Starfleet officer today!

Keep up with the latest updates, weekly challenges and grand tournaments by visiting www.PinballFX.com and following the team on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

As the 2023 season enters the final 4-ish months of the season, so does the process for selecting those IFPA sanctioned events that end up on the Stern Pro Circuit for the 2024 season.

The top 15 events currently on the SPC will earn the right to stay on the SPC for next season. Each season 5 new events will be included in the SPC, replacing the 5 current events with the lowest average WPPR point total over the past three years.

Here are the July 2023 IFPA winners for Player of the Month and Biggest Movers:

Player of the Month:
Escher Lefkoff from Colorado (790.62 WPPR’s – MAIN)
Ashley Weaver from Renton, WA (97.61 WPPR’s – WOMEN’S)

Biggest Movers:
Susann Hess from Switzerland (+17,079 spots)
Leith Stuart from Australia (+16,435 spots)
John Magnusson from Las Cruces, NM (+15,481 spots)

These players have now all qualified for the Stern Rewards Program for 2023. Congrats to everyone!

The Frederick News-Post posted an article about competitive pinball. Click HERE to read the article.