Throughout the history of competitive pinball there has been a negative perception towards tournament directors participating in events that they also organize.

While competitive pinball is at a stage where many events wouldn't even exist if organizers weren't allowed to play, there is no doubt a perception that conflicts of interest have the potential to impact the results of the tournament.

The IFPA has gotten a ton of feedback pushing for tournaments where organizers do participate to not be endorsed for World Pinball Player Rankings points. We feel this is completely unrealistic, however we have created a bonus structure that we plan to launch starting on 1/1/2016 to help motivate organizers to find neutral non-participating parties to handle the organization and rulings of the tournament.

All calculations of WPPR points will continue to use the same WPPR v5.0 formula, however, an event organized by someone who does not participate will receive a 25% increase to the total points distributed to all players of the event.

We understand many events are already organized for the 2015 season, which is why we have pushed this back to start for the 2016 season. 

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April 2nd update . . .

This was an April's Fools joke! However, we do have some changes to WPPR v5.0 coming soon that will address some concerns we've seen with exploitation of the current system. Details of WPPR v5.1 will be up soon on our ranking-info page.

We will keep track of live in-round standings as much as possible, but on this post and on the live stream.

Qualifying results for the 2015 IFPA Pin-Masters can be found HERE.

Live streaming is also happening HERE.

MASTERS FINALS:
1 – Robert Gagno*** (41-40-37) = 118
2 – Paul Madison (43-41-36) = 120
3 – Zach Sharpe*** (35-43-43) = 121
4 – Andrei Massenkoff (47-32-47) = 126
5 – Johnny Modica (43-33-50) = 126
6 – Josh Sharpe*** (41-39-48) = 128
7 – Chris Basler*** (39-43-48) = 130
7 – Noah Davis*** (45-46-39) = 130
9 – Karl DeAngelo (42-43-46) = 131
10 – Salem Ayoob (44-40-48) = 132
11 – Jim Belsito (42-51-43) = 136
12 – Derek Fugate (45-48-46) = 139
13 – Fred Richardson (48-43-49) = 140
14 – Tom Neighbors (53-36-53) = 142
15 – Phil Birnbaum (45-48-57) = 150
16 – Jeff Gagnon (44-42-90) = 176

NOVICE FINALS:
Travis Batty +59 (F)
Craig Sengstock +40 (F)
Jeff Rank +55 (F)
Robin Lassonde +64 (F)

Standings have been updated after the second round of play.

Results for the 2015 IFPA Pin-Masters can be found HERE.

Live streaming is also happening HERE.

Top 16 make it to the final round Sunday, along with the next 4 best players ranked 250th or below to play for in the Novice Final. Finals starts at 9:45am.

Here are your 2015 IFPA Pin-Masters finalists:

NOVICE FINALS:
Travis Batty (53-51) = 104 *NOVICE FINALIST*
Craig Sengstock (52-54) = 106 *NOVICE FINALIST*
Jeff Rank (48-58) = 106 *NOVICE FINALIST*
Robin Lassonde (54-52) = 106 *NOVICE FINALIST*

MASTERS FINALS:
Johnny Modica (43-33) = 76
Zach Sharpe*** (35-43) = 78
Andrei Massenkoff (47-32) = 79
Josh Sharpe*** (41-39) = 80
Robert Gagno*** (41-40) = 81
Chris Basler*** (39-43) = 82
Paul Madison (43-41) = 84
Salem Ayoob (44-40) = 84
Karl DeAngelo (42-43) = 85
Jeff Gagnon (44-42) = 86
Tom Neighbors (53-36) = 89
Fred Richardson (48-43) = 91
Noah Davis*** (45-46) = 91
Derek Fugate (45-48) = 93
Jim Belsito (42-51) = 93
Phil Birnbaum (45-48) = 93

Today is the culmination of year 2 of the IFPA's State Championship Series. Between the 37 US States and Canadian Provinces that participated in the SCS/PCS, 31 have made the trip to Las Vegas to earn the title of US National Pinball Champion.

Stay tuned to all the action LIVE thanks to the Inland Empire team who will be broadcasting on Twitch.

Click HERE for the live stream.

While Tiger Woods and his 14 Major Championships continues to hunt down Jack Nicklaus' record 18 Major Championships in the world of golf, [player]Keith Elwin[/player] continues to raise the bar on competitive pinball Major Championship victories that will surely be something that is chased for decades to come.

Keith captured his record 8th Major Championship with a victory at the PAPA 18 World Pinball Championships. Keith also has the record for the most top 4 finishes in Major Championships, expanding that total to 13. Fellow PAPA 18 finalista [player]Bowen Kerins[/player] increased his top 4 finishes in Major Championships to 11, while [player]Raymond Davidson[/player] and [player]Adam Lefkoff[/player] entered the record books with their first top 4 Major Championship finish.

To view the most current list of Major Championship stats, click HERE.

blog post courtesy of Greg Dunlap

Offers a New, Free Children’s Facility in Portland, Oregon

Beginning April 2, 2015, Pinball Outreach Project (POP) will offer free pinball to children 13 and under at the local nonprofit's new brick-and-mortar headquarters. Located at 4605 NE Fremont St., Ste. 104, in Portland, Oregon, the new facility will house up to nine pinball machines including a brand new Tron: Legacy from Stern Pinball. Additionally, the headquarters will include a semi-private party area, and space to offer local children’s programming including pinball summer camps, leagues, and tournaments.

“Portland boasts more location pinball than any other city in the United States, however, finding family friendly, kid-focused locations can be difficult,” POP Founder and Executive Director Nicole Reik said. “Creating a fun, permenant, child-focused space is a clear next step in POP’s overall mission.”

POP provides pinball machines to children’s hospitals around the West Coast, bringing the family arcade experience directly to patients and their loved ones. The new POP Headquarters will make it easier for the public to support these efforts. In addition to free-play for children during specified hours, the public can play pinball games at the new headquarters using tokens acquired through donations to the organization.

A grand opening celebration will be held at POP Headquarters April 18, 2015 from 6-9 pm and the public is invited to stop by, learn about the organization, and experience some pinball magic for themselves.

About Pinball Outreach Project (POP)

POP is a 501(c)(3) charity aiming to improve the lives of children by providing pinball games directly to chidlren’s hospitals, schools, and at POP Headquarters free of charge. To learn more about POP or its fundraisers and tournaments visit our website at pinballoutreach.org or call (415) 857-1POP.

The Coast 2 Coast Pinball Podcast continues with their 24/7 competitive pinball coverage. Up next, Nate caught up with [player]Adam Kiesler[/player] and 2014-15 Oregon State Pinball Champion [player]Noah Davis[/player].

Click below to listen:

Episode 143 "From Montreal To Portland or Adam Kiesler and Noah Davis

blog post courtesy of Daniel Spolar

Following the success of last year IFPA/ Project Pinball Charity Campaign fundraiser which raised over $23,000, the IFPA is proud to announce that we are teaming up with Project Pinball to help raise funds for their charity again this year. This IFPA/ Project Pinball Charity Campaign 2015 will not be limited to one month but run the entire year.

The IFPA plans on treating each of these Project Pinball tournaments as a unique event with the point allotment change this year. Each of these tournaments could be worth full value WPPR points decided by the tournament input information as what would be similar to the tournaments you are entering to our site now. Go to the “submit to the IFPA Calendar” link here: http://www.ifpapinball.com/calendar/submit.php, if you're interested in setting up an event and we'll work with you on getting it added to the IFPA calendar. We hope to set up events nationwide and use competitive pinball as a way to help raise funds for this great charity. The tournament must be scheduled 30 days before the tournament is to be held to qualify.

Below is the announcement from Daniel Spolar of the Project Pinball Charity:

After the success of the IFPA/ Project Pinball Charity July Campaign 2014 and the huge support that we received from the pinball community, we are returning with a bigger and better offering for our tournament players. The IFPA and Project Pinball Charity is introducing its new campaign that is not limited to just a single month but will run the entire year. The IFPA/ Project Pinball Charity Campaign 2015 will be a year long tournament fundraiser event. Plus, we are now offering a chance to win a brand new pinball machine of the winner’s choice for its grand prize as well as other super prizes to be won.

We are looking for people, organizers, tournament directors and players willing to get involve make this Charity Campaign come alive and so we can give to the Children’s Hospitals a special gift from all of us!

Organizers and Tournament Directors get your tournaments and dates ready to be included in this charity offering for your tournament players. We will be offering this Pinball Machine Sweepstakes and many other prizes and awards to be used for your tournaments. We will have the full details and requirements at http://www.projectpinball.org/organize-an-event. You will be able register your tournament on that page so we can add your tournament to our list and offer you our full support to you and your players.

We have been working with the IFPA and have greatly appreciated their help, guidance and insight with the new WPPR point changes and their assistance to bring this to the pinball community. The IFPA will allow WPPR points to given to those participating in this charity drive to help entice players to attend. The IFPA points will be determined by Tournament Director’s information submitted as they would for a regular tournament. No extra WPPR point value will be offered just because this is a charity tournament as it was in the past, but hey, you can win a pinball machine and still help people!

Quick Details:

Each pinball tournament that is held as an IFPA/ Project Pinball Charity Campaign Tournament (and meets the requirements) will be eligible to receive entries to the Pinball Machine Sweepstakes for a chance to win the grand prize- a pinball machine and many other awesome prizes. The only way to enter this exclusive Pinball Machine Sweepstakes will be limited to these tournament offerings, no person can buy into this offering directly.

There will be 4 Pinball Machine Sweepstakes entries allotted to each charity tournament.  3 entries will be earned by players for their high final rankings and 1 entry given randomly by drawing a player’s name that did not earn an entry by final ranking. So every player has a chance to win even if you finish in last place.

This fundraiser campaign will be kicking off on March 12, 2015 at PAPA Headquarters during PAPA 18 and continue running until January 31, 2016 with the help from our friends at the International Flipper Pinball Association.

The Long Version:

A lot more of the details, clarifications, requirements, limitations and rules will be posted Thursday 5, 2015 at 10:00 pm est at http://www.projectpinball.org/organize-an-event

Let’s make this IFPA/ Project Pinball Charity Campaign 2015 a huge success so we can continue to give the patients, kids, parents, doctors and nurses that could use our special help by providing a pinball machine for their enjoyment.

We are a registered 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organization 46-3417202. For more information on Project Pinball Charity go to our home page http://ProjectPinball.org or we can be contacted at ProjectPinballCharity@gmail.com

Pavlov Pinball posted an article regarding competitive pinball on their site. They talked with many of the top players to help share some tips on how to become a better player. Click HERE to read the article.

PAPA and IFPA have worked together to create a unified set of rules that we recommend tournament directors use when dealing with malfunctions and other logistics regarding running a tournament (player errors, stuck balls, etc).

While certain formats will need additional rule verbiage to handle specific situations, these rules below should create a nice foundation for which to start with when creating rules for your own tournament.

Updated rules will always be available on both the PAPA and IFPA websites. Click HERE to view those rules. Any questions please don't hesitate to contact us for help in reviewing rules for your event.