The Las Vegas Informer posted our press release on the 2015-16 IFPA State Championship Series. Click HERE to read the article.

The IFPA is proud to announce that registration for the 12th Annual IFPA World Pinball Championship is now open! For more details check out the registration page HERE!

The initial invite list is open for the top 120 players in the World Pinball Player Rankings as of 1/1/2016. Based on the interest of the top 120, we may extend the invite list additional spots so please monitor the registration page at your leisure. Should you be interested, please send payment to the IFPA as your way of committing to attending the tournament. Should you not be interested, it is equally important that we know, so please send an email to the IFPA stating you will not be available to participate.

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.

Two of the 64 spots will also be available for the highest ranked finisher not already in the IFPA field. One is reserved for the 2015-16 IFPA US National Pinball Championship and one is reserved for the 2015-16 IFPA European Pinball Championship.

The IFPA13 World Pinball Championship is sponsored by Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball, Heighway Pinball, Nitro Amusements, Zen Studios, Raw Thrills, Planetary Pinball Supply, Bay Area Amusements, Brady Distributing Company,  Color DMD, Double Danger Pinball Accessories, Tilt Amusements, Betson Enterprises, Raw Thrills, Farsight Studios, Game Exchange of Colorado, HyperPin, Play Meter Magazine, Suzo Happ, Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown, the Professional and Amateur Pinball Association, the Amusement and Music Operators Association, and the American Amusement Manufacturers Association.

With the 2015 pinball season officially behind us, the World Pinball Player Rankings continues to show no signs of slowing down within the competitive pinball community. We wanted to take a quick look back at the growth we’ve seen during 2015.

We’re proud to say that the total number of players the IFPA is now ranking at the end of 2015 is 38,651. This represents a 32% growth from the end of 2014 where we had 29,369 players. In addition, the number of players that played in an IFPA endorsed tournament during 2015 was 16,436, up 23% from the number of players that were active during 2014.

We’ve also seen continued growth in the number of tournaments popping up all over the world. Total number of events for 2015 was 2727, up 11% from last year.

The IFPA wishes to thank everyone in the competitive pinball community for continuing to support everything we do to spread the world about our incredible sport to the masses.

Final details are now in place for the Cooper’stown Pinball Party Showdown, with the addition of a 1970 Gottlieb Flip-A-Card pinball (plus Alice 1970 “Easy Action” CD) as a prize choice in the “Coop’s Classics” Pinball Tournament.

Alice has been busy autographing Rock & Roll memorabilia for skill and raffle prizes, while his “Solid Rock” Charity Facebook page reports – Alice is planning to come!

To give their respective fans a chance to get in on the Cooper’stown Pinball Showdown fun, Alice and Coach Ditka have made a limited number of Tournament entries available Online – ( bit.ly/1Zxp6Ec ).

This FWTG Tournament features 2 player skill “Tiers” – “A” & “B” Divisions – with awards and prizes for ALL player Skill levels.

Top prize in the Main Tournament will be a NEW Pinball Machine!

For more information, call Vicki @ 612-999-FWTG (3984)

A quick reminder that there are TWO components of the Flippin’ With the Greats campaign:

1) The FANTASY LEAGUE – A “League” where IFPA members can support their favorite NFL team (and win cool stuff) by simply buying an IFPA medallion Personalized with the Player’s name, IFPA #, and the NFL team they support.  Great prizes will be distributed to League Participants throughout the season. Click HERE for more details.

2) The TOURNAMENT SERIES – A Nationwide series of tournaments to be scheduled throughout the NFL season culminating in the SUPER BOWL Pinball Party at Alice Cooperstown in Phoenix, Az. Click HERE for more details.

The Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund (GGAF) is a non-stock, non-profit 501(c)3 organization, providing financial grants and “pro bono” medical assistance to retired NFL players in dire need.  The organization focuses on the humanitarian side of post-football related issues, which include coordination of social services to retired players who are in need due to a variety of reasons including inadequate disability and/or pensions.

Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, also. Solid Rock’s primary mission is to make an everlasting difference in the lives of teens by helping them meet their spiritual, economical, physical, and social need.  Alice Cooper’s Rock Teen Center offers a safe, engaging environment during non-school hours –a time when they are most vulnerable to drugs, violence, and gangs. Maintaining a teen’s worst enemy is too much time on their hands Solid Rock provides the music, arts, vocational programs and fellowship that challenge teens to discover their passion through music, dance, self-expression, and creativity. Learn more at www.alicecoopersolidrock.com.

Support and Follow our 2015 Flippin’ With the Greats Pinball Campaign and “Like” Gridiron Support on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/gridironsupport.org

Qualifying for the 3rd annual IFPA State Championship Series is now complete, and it’s now time for us to find our qualifiers for the 35 different IFPA State Championship finals. These finals will all be held simultaneously on February 13th, 2015, with 560 finalists competing for not only a State Championship title, but also a spot in the second annual IFPA US National Championship.

View the final qualifying standings HERE.

IFPA State Representatives should be sending out emails to the top 50 from each state shortly. Important to note that if the IFPA does not have your email address on file, we have no way of being able to contact you. If you feel you should have received an invitation to one of the IFPA State Championships and did not, contact the IFPA immediately at ifpapinball@gmail.com, or Click HERE to edit your profile.

Registration for all 35 states closes on Sunday, January 17th at 7pm CST. Any player that has not accepted their invitation by that time will be ineligible to participate.

Remember that no player is allowed to compete in multiple IFPA State Championships. Players that qualify for more than one IFPA State Championship will have to make their choice during this open period of registration. This will mean that many states will go far past the top 16 players in order to fill all 16 spots.

Any questions about the SCS, or anything IFPA related, please contact us at ifpapinball@gmail.com

As State Representatives alert us to who is attending, we will be updating the registration page HERE.

For our Canadian friends, the PCS registration page is available HERE.

This latest documentary on pinball offers a chronologic survey of the development of pinball machines from the first coin-operated games to our contemporary high tech pins.

The DVD is divided into five chapters. Pinball History ~ rise and shine of the silver ball chronicles how pinball evolved from the game of bagatelle, and rapidly grew during the depression years to become a mass-market low-cost form of entertainment. Viewers are taken on a journey through the invention of many pinball features now considered commonplace such as pop bumpers, return lanes, score reels and flippers.

The second chapter is titled Pinball Technique ~ the lights are flashing, the bells are ringing and shows how a pinball machine actually works.

The third chapter is called Designers and Artist ~ pinball art and pinball design. At the beginning of the pinball era, the constructive design of the machines seemed more important than their aesthetic appeal. However, through the decades focus shifted more and more towards artwork, and artists became as important as technical engineers.
Chapter four: The Man and their Machines ~ pinball-mania and pinball-maniacs. Playing pinball is one of the most challenging competitions between man and machine, which requires utmost concentration, amazing skills and first-class fitness. As well as some luck of course.

The last chapter is titled The Silver Ball rolls on ~ pinball-revival and pinball-future. Pinball continues to electrify millions. New locations and businesses are opening their arms to the charms and allure of the game. The surge in the popularity of pinball over recent years is unparalleled, as both the young and the young at heart are rediscovering the joys and challenges that today’s machines elicit with a choreographed experience unlike any other.

Same Player Shoots Again features interviews with Raphaël Lankar of the Paris Pinball Museum, game designer Steve Ritchie, and former Dutch Finance Minister and pinball fan Gerrit Zalm.

Same Player Shoots Again is available directly from the makers through their website
www.pinball-dvd.com

The IFPA is excited to announce that the following players have been now qualified for the $tern Rewards Program based on their December 2015 IFPA endorsed tournament performance! These players have until August 15th, 2016 to exercise their reward option.

TOP 1000 RANKED PLAYERS
Any eligible players that finished in the top 1000 for the end of the year World Pinball Player Rankings.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Brian Watson[/player]
BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Otso Karhu[/player]
BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Thomas Reichenstein[/player]

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

The IFPA is pleased to announce that the following players saw the biggest jump in their world ranking based on their December 2015 tournament performance.

The biggest movers for December 2015 included [player]Brian Watson[/player] from Portland, OR, who moved up 17,406 spots from the following results:

Brian moved up to a rank of 4189th in the world, and 96th in the Oregon SCS.

[player]Otso Karhu[/player] from Finland moved up 15,242 spots from the following results:

Otso moved up to a rank of 7437th in the world.

[player]Thomas Reichenstein[/player] from Switzerland moved up 11,442 spots from the following results:

Johnny moved up to a rank of 6707th in the world.

Congratulations to Brian, Otso and Thomas, as well as the other players that saw a jump in their ranking from their December tournament performance!

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for December 2015 is [player]Steven Bowden[/player] from Franklin Township, NJ. Steve earned a total of 114.80 WPPR points in December. This included the following results:

Steve is currently ranked 2nd in the world (for at least another day or two) and is in the top qualifying position for the 2015-16 New Jersey and New York SCS, 5th in Illinois and Pennsylvania, as well as 15th in Connecticut.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of December included [player]David Riel[/player] from Pittsburgh, PA with 110.78 WPPR points, [player]Dave Stewart[/player] from Carnation, WA with 109.08 WPPR points, [player]Francesco La Rocca[/player] from New York with 107.69 WPPR points, and [player]Per Schwarzenberger[/player] from San Francisco with 106.60 WPPR points.

Congratulations to Steven and the other top WPPR point earners of the month!

The IFPA is proud to announce that [player]Jorian Engelbrektsson[/player] has finished at #1 on the World Pinball Player Rankings, thus earning IFPA’s top honor as the 2015 “World’s Greatest Pinball Player”. No single tournament victory will ever secure this title for a given year. Only consistent play at the highest level over the course of multiple years leads to players reaching the pinnacle of the World Pinball Player Rankings. This is the 3rd time that Jorian has been crowned the World’s Greatest Pinball Player, having earned it back in 2009 and 2014.

Jorian’s greatest achievement of 2015 was being crowned European Pinball Champion at EPC2015 in Belgium, while finishing in the top 10 of all 4 Major Championships in 2015 (3rd at IFPA12, 5th at PAPA18 and 9th at Pinburgh 2015). Jorian held the #1 nearly wire to wire in 2015 minus a brief stint at #2 after Keith Elwin won PAPA18. Besides his win at EPC2015, Jorian won the 2015 PAPA Circuit and earned victories at the Swedish Pinball Open Classics Tournament and the Swiss Open Main Tournament.

Overall, Jorian won 23% of the 22 events he played in, while placing in the top 4 at 55% of his 2014 events, a truly remarkable achievement. Jorian will be given his award at the IFPA13 World Pinball Championship, scheduled for April 12-14, 2016 in Pittsburgh. Congratulations to Jorian, and best of luck to everyone on the upcoming 2016 season in the race for #1.