Chris is the lucky new owner of the Strikes & Spares pinball Courtesy of Peters Billiards.

Next Prize for FWTG LEAGUE Participants is this beautiful set of 6 NFL Star Medallions.  This 6 Medallion set features matching serial numbers and 2 color Epoxy Fill corresponding to each players' team colors.

The drawing for this NFL STAR SET will be December 18th.  Buy your personalized IFPA / FWTG League Collector Medallion NOW to be eligible for this and future FWTG prize giveaways!

Thank you for supporting Coach Ditka's Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund.  Your participation in the IFPA / FWTG League directly benefits Coach's GGAF!

Please make sure to "Like" Gridiron Support and the IFPA on Facebook as well!

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

1) The LEAGUE – This is fantasy football meets pinball. Sign up and join the team of your choosing. All the WPPR points you have earned in 2014 will go towards helping that team in the standings. We will be raffling off prizes the rest of the year to league members, including NFL memorabilia, pinball memorabilia, spots into the Grand Final, and actual pinball machines. Click HERE for more details.

2) The TOURNAMENT SERIES – This will be the IFPA's December charity fundraiser campaign supporting the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund. There will be 32 tournaments held in the various NFL cities, along with Coach Ditka Wild Card tournaments available for cities outside of the NFL markets, where players can donate to the cause, and play for a chance to advance to the Grand Final and win other prizes. 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.

Get behind Coach Ditka's Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund and "LIKE" Gridiron Support on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/gridironsupport.org.

With the help of [player]Garrett Hays[/player] (ranked 197st in the world) and his slick video editing skills, we’re excited to release the video of the World Championship match from the IFPA11 World Pinball Championship between [player]Jorian Engelbrektsson[/player] (ranked 3rd in the world going into IFPA11) representing Sweden, and [player]Keith Elwin[/player] (ranked 1st in the world going into IFPA11) representing the US. On the line was $1000 cash, a brand new pinball machine from Stern Pinball, the iconic Space Jet trophy and title of World Pinball Champion. Special thanks also to [player]Adam Lefkoff[/player] and [player]Adam Becker[/player] for providing the commentary. Click HERE to watch the video.

Mycentraljersey.com published an article on the Flip Off Hunger event held at Eight on the Breakin Dunellen. Click HERE to read the article.

CBS affiliate KOLR 10 in Springfield, MO covered the 2nd annual Flip Off Hunger event. Click HERE to watch the video.

The IFPA is excited to announce that the following players have been now qualified for the $tern Rewards Program based on their October 2014 IFPA endorsed tournament performance! These players have until August 15th, 2015 to exercise their reward option.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH AWARD – [player]Daniele Celestino Acciari[/player]
BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Dan Thompson[/player]
BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Doug Langs[/player]
BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Jeffrey Wirth[/player]

The $tern Rewards Program rewards dedicated players by providing them with the opportunity to use their rewards to purchase new Stern Premium games and other Stern merchandise at special IFPA prices.

In addition to AC/DC Premium, both Star Trek Premium and Metallic Monster Premium have been added to the lineup of eligible games available for purchase under the program. All games purchased through the $tern Rewards Program will include a custom certificate and t-shirt exclusive to the program.

Qualifying participants will also be eligible for discounts at the Stern online store which features a wide range of Stern and $tern Rewards Program merchandise exclusive to the IFPA rewards program.

Pinball players around the world can qualify for the program by participating and performing in IFPA-sanctioned pinball events. Top-ranked players, most-improved players, and player-of-the-month earn rewards points in the annual program.

The eligibility requirements for 2014 have been expanded to include players that finish in the top 1000 of the IFPA’s World Pinball Player Rankings at the end of the calendar year.

To learn more about the $tern Rewards Program, visit the IFPA website at www.ifpapinball.com/SternRewardsProgram

The IFPA is pleased to announce that the following players saw the biggest jump in their world ranking based on their October 2014 tournament performance. 

The biggest movers for October 2014 included [player]Dan Thompson[/player] from the US, who moved up 11,929 spots from the following results:

Stern Launch Party Tournament – Chicago
Main Tournament – Finished 25th – (0.46)
IFPA POP Fundraiser – Columbus
Side Tournament – Finished 12th – (0.53)
IFPA POP Fundraiser – Chicago
Main Tournament – Finished 10th – (1.70)
Pinball Chicago Party
Main Tournament – Finished 10th – (1.46)
Side Tournament – Finished 3rd – (4.06)
Pinball Expo Flip Out Tournament
Main Tournament – Finished 108th – (2.75)     
Dan moved up to a rank of 2856th in the world, and 75th in the Oklahoma SCS.

[player]Doug Langs[/player] from Canada moved up 8121 spots from the following results:
IFPA POP Fundraiser – London
Main Tournament – Finished 15th – (1.40)
Doug moved up to a rank of 7979th in the world, and 91st in the Ontario PCS.

[player]Jeffrey Wirth[/player] from West Seneca, NY  moved up 7154 spots from the following results:
Stern Launch Party Tournament – Buffalo
Main Tournament – Finished 14th – (0.64)
IFPA POP Fundraiser – Buffalo
Main Tournament – Finished 10th – (2.44)
Matti moved up to a rank of 5239th in the world, and 123rd in the New York SCS.

Congratulations to Dan, Doug and Jeffrey, as well as the other players that saw a jump in their ranking from their October tournament performance!

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for October 2014 is [player]Daniele Celestino Acciari[/player] from Rocca di Papa, Italy. Daniele earned a total of 166.52 WPPR points in October. This included the following results:

Danish Pinball Open
Main Tournament – Finished 2nd – (37.36)
Side Tournament – Finished 1st – (23.94)

Pinball Expo Flip Out Tournament
Main Tournament – Finished 7th – (41.04)
Side Tournament – Finished 4th – (25.10)

Stern Launch Party Tournament – Chicago
Main Tournament – Finished 8th – (6.42)

Country House Tournament
Main Tournament – Finished 1st – (31.82)
Classics – Finished 13th – (0.86)

Daniele is currently in 3rd place in the European Championship Series, and is also qualified for the Colorado (3rd) and Illinois (14th) SCS.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of October included [player]Jorian Engelbrektsson[/player] from Stockholm, Sweden with 153.08 WPPR points, [player]Steven Bowden[/player] from Franklin Township, NJ with 150.51 WPPR points, [player]Chris Basler[/player] from Illinois with 145.71 WPPR points, and [player]Frank Romero[/player] from Rockland County, NY with 137.00 WPPR points.

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

Applause on WVIZ/PBS in Cleveland did a piece on the resurgence of pinball in the area. Players featured in the video included [player]Brian Hill[/player] (ranked 278th in the world), [player]Sean Watterson[/player] (ranked 6183rd in the world), [player]Ben Haehn[/player] (ranked 757th in the world), [player]Don Johnson[/player] (ranked 246th in the world), [player]Michelle McCleester[/player] (ranked 762nd in the world) and [player]John Delzoppo[/player] (ranked 144th in the world). Click HERE to watch the video. 

There's 2 months left in the 2014 IFPA State Championship Series season, and we couldn't be more excited about the growth of interest compared to 2013. Last year the IFPA saw over 5200 players compete in the SCS, and this year we've eclipsed that with 5870 players having already competed through November 2014.

We currently have 33 states included in the SCS, which will all culminate in the IFPA State Championship finals. These finals will all be held simultaneously on February 7th, 2015, with over 500 finalists competing for not only a State Championship title, but also a spot in the IFPA US National Pinball Championship. The State Championship tournament details are being added to the IFPA calendar as the State Reps finalize those details.

View the current SCS standings HERE.

For those players north of the US border, the IFPA Canada Provincial Championship Series is also currently in progress. Current standings for the Canada PCS are available HERE. A reminder that the Provincial Champions will also qualify to participate in the US National Championship starting in the 2014 season.

We are also excited to announce that the official satellite spots for the IFPA12 World Pinball Championship will come from the 2014-15 IFPA US National Pinball Championship, and the 2014-15 IFPA European Pinball Championship. The highest finisher in each final that has not yet qualified for IFPA12 will win a free spot into the World Championship.