Here are the March and April 2018 IFPA winners for Player of the Month and Biggest Movers:

Player of the Month:
March 2018 – Cryss Stephens (170.39 WPPR’s)
April 2018 – Johannes Ostermeier (201.10 WPPR’s)

Biggest Movers:
March 2018 – Kristin Castle (+19,303 spots), Aaron Wilbur (+15,633 spots) and Dominique Cuzzone (+8747 spots)
April 2018 – Carlos Bleycher (+13,688 spots), Will Bacon (+13,361 spots) and Doug Burgess (+10,034 spots)

These players have now all qualified for the Stern Rewards Program for 2018. Congrats to everyone!

Now in it’s 5th season, the interest in the IFPA European Championship Series has never been stronger. In response to this interest, we’re officially expanding the number of finalists that qualify for the ECS Final from 32 to 64. The finals format has also been improved to better represent the prestige of the event. Those details can be found HERE.

In addition, the IFPA is excited to announce that we will be applying a 25% WPPR Bonus to the ECS Final (similar to what we do with the 50% WPPR Bonus for the 4 Major Championships). This will also apply to the other IFPA Country Championship Series finals (Australia, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, North America, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom). This bonus will be applied retroactively to previous Champions of these events as part of the WPPR v5.5 changes for the 2019 season.

The current ECS standings are available HERE.

blog post courtesy of Mike Burgess

Huntertown Heritage Days is welcoming the inaugural Indiana Pinball Show and Tourney. “We’re excited,” said Mike Burgess, owner of Fort Wayne Pinball Wizard’s World Arcade, located at 14613 Lima Road. “Huntertown has welcomed us with open arms and the community as a whole supported our team throughout our first season. We’re proud to report that, as the host of multiple State and nationally recognized tournaments, Wizard’s World Arcade has become known as one of the elite pinball facilities in the Midwest.” Burgess reported that, “This is just one way we can give back to the community, while raising awareness of family fun and the excitement of competitive pinball in the area.” The Indiana Pinball Show and Tourney will be held at the Allen County Fairgrounds in the Home and Family Arts Building from Thursday until Saturday during festival hours. A schedule of events includes multiple tournaments along with several pinball and arcade machines set for ‘free play’ throughout each day. Those choosing to play in sanctioned tournaments may qualify for state and world-wide ranking points. “Arcade related vendors will also be in attendance showcasing pinball machines, arcade games, coin-ops, and all the cool things you need to complete your game room, including neon signs, gas pumps, and more.” Tournament winners will be awarded with trophies,” Burgess stated.

Cost for the Indiana Pinball Show and Tourney ranges from Adults at $15 per day, kids 5-13 – $8 per day, and kids under 4 – Free. Burgess continued, “To celebrate 100 years of service by the Huntertown Fire Department, we are bringing in two Williams “Fire” pinball machines. Fire is a great game for firefighters as well as anyone who enjoys the firefighting theme. It’s a family friendly machine that can be enjoyed by adults and kids. This is going to be fun and we’re looking forward to aligning with the Huntertown community to offer this entertainment alternative for young and old alike.” Along with finding additional Show information, advance tickets will be available for $10 and may be found at https://www.facebook.com/IndianaPinballshow/ or email indianapinballshow@gmail.com.

The RoShamBo Podcast covers unique competitions, and their second episode was a deep dive into the IFPA World Pinball Championship. They chat with Josh Sharpe, Zach Sharpe, Adam Becker, Raymond Davidson, Adam Lefkoff and Escher Lefkoff. Click HERE to listen.

EPC 2018 will be played at Tampere, Finland on 7th to 9th of September. There are Main, Classics, National team, Ladies, Juniors and 1-Ball Game tournaments during the weekend. The tournament is organised by Finnish Pinball Players association. The registration opens at Tuesday 8th of May, 6PM GMT. Click HERE to read more about tournament.

Ryan Smith from the Chicago Reader wrote an article on the resurgence of competitive pinball. Click HERE to read the article.

Tucson News NOW recently covered the Tucson Pinball League’s season championship out in Arizona. Click HERE to watch the video.

CBS13 in Sacramento recently covered the Capital Corridor Pinball League in the area. Click HERE to watch the video.

CBS afffiliate WCAX3 in Burlington, Vermont recently covered the Pin-Masters of Vermont tournament that took place. Click HERE to view the piece.

3TV/CBS5 in Arizona did a piece on Tracy Lindbergh’s recent participation in the 2018 IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship as well as the local events she organizes in the community Click HERE to watch the video.