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

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Ben Allen[/player]
Ben moved up 7741 spots by finishing in 23rd place at the KCB Turns 21 tournament. This netted Ben 0.78 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 10,117th in the world. Ben also sits in 221st place in the Washington SCS.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Jonas Ingerlund[/player]
Jonas moved up 7668 spots from his 86th and 61st place finishes at the 2014 Stockholm Holm Main and Classics tournaments, along with a 26th place finish in the June Stockholm Pinball Manadstavling. In total, Jonas earned 1.27 WPPR points which moved him up to a rank of 7841st in the world.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Jeff Anderson[/player]
Jeff moved up 3905 spots from his 8th and 20th place finishes at the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show Main and Classics tournaments. Jeff also competed in the NW Pinball Championships Main and Classics tournaments finishin in 47th and 38th places. Jeff also had a 7th place finish in the Another Castle Arcade Edition Launch Tournament, and 1st place finish at the June Flip Flip Ding Ding Periodic Tournament. These results netted Jeff 31.04 WPPR points for June, which moved him up to a rank of 1337th in the world. Jeff also sits in 28th place in the Washington SCS.

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 June 2014 tournament performance. 

The biggest movers for June 2014 included [player]Ben Allen[/player] from Seattle, WA, who moved up 7741 spots by finishing in 23rd place at the KCB Turns 21 tournament. This netted Ben 0.78 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 10,117th in the world. Ben also sits in 221st place in the Washington SCS.

[player]Jonas Ingerlund[/player] from Sweden moved up 7668 spots from his 86th and 61st place finishes at the 2014 Stockholm Holm Main and Classics tournaments, along with a 26th place finish in the June Stockholm Pinball Manadstavling. In total, Jonas earned 1.27 WPPR points which moved him up to a rank of 7841st in the world.

[player]Jeff Anderson[/player] from Renton, WA moved up 3905 spots from his 8th and 20th place finishes at the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show Main and Classics tournaments. Jeff also competed in the NW Pinball Championships Main and Classics tournaments finishin in 47th and 38th places. Jeff also had a 7th place finish in the Another Castle Arcade Edition Launch Tournament, and 1st place finish at the June Flip Flip Ding Ding Periodic Tournament. These results netted Jeff 31.04 WPPR points for June, which moved him up to a rank of 1337th in the world. Jeff also sits in 28th place in the Washington SCS.

Congratulations to Ben, Jonas and Jeff, as well as the other players that saw a jump in their ranking from their June tournament performance!

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for June 2014 is [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] from Delaware, OH. Trent earned a total of 104.39 WPPR points in June. This included a Buckeye Pinball Association victory, as well 5th/2nd/3rd place finished in the Pittsburgh Pinball Open's Main, Classics I and Classics II divisions respectivately. Trent also had a 2nd and 4th place finish at the 2014 Souther Fried Gameoom Expo's Main and Classics tournament. Trent is currently the top ranked player for the Ohio and Virginia SCS, and is qualified for Georgia(3rd), Pennsylvania(3rd), Maryland(4th) and Kentucky(15th).

The rest of the top 5 for the month of June included [player]Dave Stewart[/player] from Carnation, WA with 86.10 WPPR points, [player]Cryss Stephens[/player] from Pittsburgh, PA with 86.08 WPPR points, [player]Per Ahlenius[/player] from Falun, Sweden with 85.95 WPPR points, and [player]Sergey Posrednikov[/player] from Seattle with 83.79 WPPR points.

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

Every sport has had legendary rivalries: Bird-Magic in basketball, Palmer-Nicklaus in golf, Ali-Frasier in boxing.

In pinball we have Elwin-Kerins. These two sit at the top of the pinball world, having 12 Major Championship victories between them (Elwin-7, Kerins-5). Rarely do these two giants get to face off head-to-head, but with Elwin emerging as the California State Champion and Kerins emerging as the Massachusetts State Champion, they entered the first IFPA US National Championship as the #1 and #2 seeds.

After defeating Walt Wood (CO) 4-2, Sean Grant (NY) 4-2 and Paul Madison (MN) 4-1, Keith Elwin punched his ticket to the finals. Bowen Kerins defeated Jason Scheffelmaer (KS) 4-0, Cryss Stephens (PA) 4-3 and Andy Rosa (MI) 4-0 to punch his ticket. What followed was an epic match worthy of our sport's first US National Championship, with both Keith and Bowen matching eachother blow for blow during the final. On the line was $1000 cash and the title of "US National Pinball Champion".

Special thanks to [player]Garrett Hays[/player] for editing the video and to [player]Adam Lefkoff[/player] and [player]Mark Steinman[/player] for providing the commentary. Click HERE to watch the video.

In the Black down in Australia published a piece on the resurgence of pinball in the Travel and Leisure section. Check out the article HERE.

The News-Press in Fort Myers, Florida ran an article covering the IFPA Project Pinball fundrasing campaign that is taking the nation by storm. Check out the article HERE.

blog post courtesy of Daniel Spolar

Take a look at this list to see if there is a city near you so you can show your support for the charity and have some fun playing pinball.

• Jul 12th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – Pittsburgh/ North Versailles, PA
• Jul 12th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – College Park, MD
• Jul 12th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – New York/ Middletown, NY
• Jul 13th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – New York/ Brooklyn, NY
• Jul 13th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – Beaumont, TX 
• Jul 13th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – St. Petersburg, FL
• Jul 13th IFPA Pinball Project Fundraiser – Columbus, OH
• Jul 11th – 13th California Extreme- Santa Clara, CA

For more information on this tournament above and other tournaments for this month of July, click here: http://www.ifpapinball.com/calendar/full.php or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/650686285008059/?ref=br_tf

These are charity pinball tournaments. All proceeds go to the Project Pinball Charity Group to help place pinball machines into the Children’s Hospitals. You do not have to be in attendance to donate. You can still help by giving to the Project Pinball Charity through our donation site: http://www.projectpinball.org/ez-shop/

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at ProjectPinball.org

Thank you to all the people that make this possible. Your support makes good things happen!

PinBrawl @ PAPA will be returning on Wednesday, August 13th, 2014, in conjunction with the PAPA 17 World Pinball Championships.

PinBrawl is the ultimate team pinball competition featuring teams of 4 players. Although the competition in PinBrawl is as fierce as any other tournament around, PinBrawl has always been about FUN first.

At the end of the day, PinBrawl is all about camaraderie. Competitive pinball is usually a solitary sport, and PinBrawl has made it possible to play in a group with your closest friends, and meet tons of other people throughout the matches during the tournament. Many players will say that it is the best tournament they’ve ever played in, so don't miss your chance to get in the action!

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

PLAYER OF THE MONTH – [player]Jorian Engelbrektsson[/player] 
Jorian earned a total of 313.27 WPPR points in May. This included wins at not only the IFPA11 World Pinball Championship, but also the Pre-IFPA tournament at 1Up Lodo and the Lyons Pinball Spring Classic. Jorian is currently the top ranked player for the Colorado SCS, and is qualified for Pennsylvania(5th) and Michigan(13th), as well as currently sitting in 19th place in the inaugural ECS season.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Tapio Heilala[/player]
Tapio moved up 8481 spots by finishing in 14th and 10th place in the Oslo Pinheads Open Main and Classics divisions respectively. This netted Tapio 3.59 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 4684th in the world, as well as 372nd in the ECS.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Jeff Teolis[/player]
Jeff moved up 6999 spots from his 3rd place finish at the Total Man Show Pinball Tournament, and 13th place finish at the Stern Launch Party Tournament in Toronto. Jeff earned 2.44 WPPR points from these performances and moved him up to a rank of 5123rd in the world, as well as 45th in the PCS.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Dario Morlacchi[/player]
Dario moved up 6894 spots from his 17th place finish at the Stern Launch Party Tournament in Milano, along with a 21st and 20th place finish in the Italian Pinball Championship Main and Classics Divisions respectively. Dario earned a total of 4.48 WPPR points from these performances, which moved him into now being the 2728th ranked player in the world, as well as 355th in the ECS.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Tim Klaesson[/player]
Tapio moved up 8481 spots by finishing in 14th and 10th place in the Oslo Pinheads Open Main and Classics divisions respectively. This netted Tapio 3.59 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 4684th in the world, as well as 372nd in the ECS.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Mike Barry[/player]
Mike moved up 6942 spots from his 3rd place finish in the Capitol Corridor Pinball League West. Mike earned 4.71 WPPR points from this performance and moved him up to a rank of 3987th in the world, as well as 148th in the California SCS.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Christophe Stucki[/player]
Christophe moved up 5543 spots from his 2nd place finish at the Swiss Flipper Tour – Blandonnet tournament. Christophe earned a 21.95 WPPR points from this performances, which moved him into now being the 1354th ranked player in the world.

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 May 2014 tournament performance. 

The biggest movers for May 2014 included [player]Tim Klaesson[/player] from Sävsjö, Sweden, who moved up 6969 spots by finishing in 1st place in the Korsberga Manadsfinal. This netted Tim 5.04 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 3856th in the world.

[player]Mike Barry[/player] from Vacaville, CA moved up 6942 spots from his 3rd place finish in the Capitol Corridor Pinball League West. Mike earned 4.71 WPPR points from this performance and moved him up to a rank of 3987th in the world, as well as 148th in the California SCS.

[player]Christophe Stucki[/player] from Lausanne, Switzerland moved up 5543 spots from his 2nd place finish at the Swiss Flipper Tour – Blandonnet tournament. Christophe earned a 21.95 WPPR points from this performances, which moved him into now being the 1354th ranked player in the world.

Congratulations to Tim, Mike and Christophe, as well as the other players that saw a jump in their ranking from their May tournament performance!