We're looking to round up some volunteers to help us with hosting the Stern KISS Pinball Launch Party tournaments.

The date Stern is targeting is June 19th-21st weekend.

If you are interested in helping serve as an IFPA representative for a launch party in your city, please send me an email (ifpapinball at gmail dot com) including the city you live in. We'll then get that information to Stern to try and find a distributor/operator/location owner in your area to match you up with to get the party set up.

IFPA representative duties would include game setup at the site, along with running the tournament portion of the party.

LIVE Bracket is located here:  http://challonge.com/IFPA12

Click the match to view details of matches in progress

Standings through Session #8 available HERE.

LIVE Streaming available at: http://www.twitch.tv/bitwalktv

Tie-breaker round currently in progress. 8 players for 4 spots for the 32nd place cut line to be played on Shrek. This will be on the live stream.

EUROPE – 112 points
USA – 122 points

It takes 117.5 points to win the Epstein Cup

Team Europe:
Members –> Franck Bona, Mats Runsten, Paul Jongma, Michael Trepp, Jorian Engelbrektsson, Jorgen Holm, Daniele Acciari, Robert Sutter
Game Choices –> Lost World, World Cup Soccer, Scared Stiff

Team USA game choices:
Members –> Zach Sharpe, Josh Sharpe, Trent Augenstein, Cayle George, Bob Matthews, Adam Becker, Jon Replogle, Cryss Stephens
Game Choices –> Xenon, Radical, Metallica

IFPA President [player]Josh Sharpe[/player] (ranked 15th in the world) was recently interviewed by Coast 2 Coast Pinball host [player]Nate Shivers[/player] (ranked 2025th in the world) to talk about the WPPR v5.1 changes, Modern Pinball NYC's Super League and the upcoming IFPA12 World Pinball Championship. Check out the interview HERE.

IFPA President [player]Josh Sharpe[/player] was recently interviewed for the latest edition of the Pinheadz Pinball Podcast out of Australia. Josh spoke with [player]Greg Siegele[/player] on how to host a pinball tournament if you've never done it before. Click HERE to download the podcast.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that the following players saw the biggest jump in their world ranking between December 2014 and April 2015. 

December 2014:
[player]Florian Hipp[/player] from Stuttgart, Germany (up 11,297 spots), [player]Germain Mariolle[/player] from Redmond, WA (up 8910 spots) and [player]Orion Smith[/player] from New York (up 7511 spots).

January 2015:
[player]Ben Tesser[/player] from New York (up 7838 spots), [player]James Hearsey[/player] from Seattle, WA (up 7717 spots) and [player]Jono Sandilands[/player] from the UK (up 6938 spots).

February 2015:
[player]Ace Madjlesi[/player] from Memphis, TN (up 12,262 spots), [player]Casey Cuene[/player] from Milwaukee, WI (up 10,162 spots) and [player]Jessica McHugh[/player] from Denver, CO (up 8181 spots).

March 2015: 
[player]Cameron Austgen[/player] from Seattle, WA (up 3776 spots), [player]Valerie Rader[/player] from St. Louis, MO (up 3755 spots) and [player]Marcus Jeppsson[/player] from Sweden (up 3715 spots).

April 2015:
[player]Robert Smith[/player] from Michigan (up 1052 spots), [player]Brent Stiles[/player] from Cincinnati, OH (up 1042 spots) and [player]Carlos Regis[/player] from Brazil (up 1018 spots).

Our apologies for falling a bit behind on these announcements. We're going to do a quick catch up and then plan on staying current going forward.

The IFPA is pleased to announce our Player of the Month for December 2014 through April 2015.

December 2014 –> [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] (168.33 WPPR points)
January 2015 –> [player]Zach Sharpe[/player] (79.34 WPPR points)
February 2015 –> [player]Robert Sutter[/player] (98.39 WPPR points)
March 2015 –> [player]Zach Sharpe[/player] (294.61 WPPR points)
April 2015 –> [player]Kevin Birrell[/player] (142.68 WPPR points)

Congratulations to Trent, Zach, Robert and Kevin, along with the other top WPPR point earners over these months!

Video footage from the 2015 IFPA Pin-Masters is now available:

Round 1 coverage, click HERE
Round 2 coverage, click HERE
Final Round coverage, click HERE
 

Video footage from the 2014-15 IFPA US National Pinball Championship is now available HERE.

Congrats again to Robert Gagno, our US National Pinball Champion . . . from Canada.

World’s Leading Maker of Arcade-Quality Pinball Machines and Project Pinball Charity Group Team Up To Share the Love of Pinball with Advocate Children’s Hospital Patients

OAK LAWN, IL – April 21, 2015 – Today, Stern Pinball, Inc., the world's oldest and largest producer of arcade-quality pinball machines, announced its plans to team up with Project Pinball Charity Group to dedicate a brand new Stern Iron Man pinball machine at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, IL. The dedication will take place on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 in honor of Zach Dacy, a Chicagoan youth who beat cancer after a long battle.

"There are thousands of children undergoing intensive medical treatment in children's hospitals across the country,” said Daniel Spolar, founder and Senior Director of Project Pinball. “We want to help ease their pain and speed their recovery by giving them a reason to get out of bed, to socialize, and to have to fun by playing an iconic American pastime… pinball!"

Stern Pinball has joined Project Pinball, a charity dedicated to providing recreational relief to patients and their families, as well as the physicians and nurses who care for them, for the Advocate Children’s Hospital pinball machine dedication. The Project Pinball Iron Man pinball machine is signed by Stern Pinball employees including Iron Man game designer, John Borg, and will be placed in the hospital for patients to enjoy.

“We are thankful to be teaming up with Project Pinball and Advocate Children’s Hospital to share our love for pinball with patients such as Zach who have faced these challenges,” said Gary Stern, Chairman and CEO of Stern Pinball. “Our goal is to provide patients with a fun, entertaining getaway and put a smile on their faces.”

The Dacy family and supporters will be joined by Project Pinball’s Daniel Spolar, Founder and Senior Director, and Tess Brennan, Development Coordinator. Stern Pinball staff will also be present for the April 28th hospital dedication, including Gary Stern, Chairman and CEO; Jody Dankberg, Director of Marketing and Licensing; and John Borg, Iron Man game designer.

“We’re incredibly grateful to both Project Pinball and Stern Pinball for donating this machine to our hospital,” said Lisa Boland, Child Life Manager of Advocate Children’s Hospital. “This will be an entertaining diversion for our pediatric patients and help them concentrate on something other than tests, treatments and procedures.”

For additional details regarding Advocate Children’s Hospital Oak Lawn, please contact Julie Nakis, Public Affairs and Marketing Coordinator at [email protected].

About Stern Pinball, Inc. 
Stern Pinball, Inc., headquartered just outside Chicago, Illinois, is the oldest and largest producer of arcade-quality pinball games in the world. Stern’s highly talented creative and technical teams design, engineer and manufacture a full line of popular pinball games, merchandise and accessories. Recent Stern titles include WWE Wrestlemania, The Walking Dead, Mustang, Star Trek, Metallica, The Avengers, X-Men, AC/DC, Tron, Transformers, Avatar, Iron Man, Batman, Spiderman and many more! All of Stern’s pinball games are crafted by hand and assembled by Stern’s expert team. A broad range of players enjoy Stern’s games from professional pinball players that compete in high-stakes international competitions around the globe to novice players who are discovering the allure of the silver ball for the first time. To join the fun and learn more, please visit www.sternpinball.com.

About Project Pinball Charity Group. Inc.
Project Pinball Charity Group. Inc. is dedicated to providing recreational relief to its small patients and their families, as well as the physicians and nurses who care for them. A pinball machine is a powerful instrument that offers therapeutic benefits that fit perfectly within the dynamics of a hospital environment. It helps keep patients active and mobile while also providing amusement. Project Pinball continues to see how helpful a pinball machine can be in a hospital setting. Headquartered in Bonita Springs, Florida, Project Pinball Charity, a nonprofit 501(c)3, has been placing and maintaining pinball machines nationwide into Children’s Hospitals since 2011. To learn more about Project Pinball Charity, visitprojectpinball.org or email projectpinballcharity@gmail.com.