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

The biggest movers for April 2014 included [player]Tapio Heilala[/player] from Austevoll, Norway, who 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.

[player]Jeff Teolis[/player] from London, ON 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.

[player]Dario Morlacchi[/player] from Milan, Italy 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.

Congratulations to Tapio, Jeff and Dario, as well as the other players that saw a jump in their ranking from their April tournament performance!

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for May 2014 is current World Pinball Champion, [player]Jorian Engelbrektsson[/player] from Stockholm, Sweden. 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.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of May included [player]Keith Elwin[/player] from Carlsbad, CA with 204.88 WPPR points, [player]Cryss Stephens[/player] from Pittsburgh, PA with 201.70 WPPR points, [player]Daniele Celestino Acciari[/player] from Italy with 192.13 WPPR points, and [player]Jerry Bernard[/player] from Patterson, NY with 148.77 WPPR points.

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

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for April 2014 is [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] from Delaware, OH. Trent earned a total of 134.17 WPPR points in April. This included top 4 finishes at the Doublewide Grill and Slovak Club Pre-Pinburgh tournaments, as well as at the Ohio Pinball & Gameroom Festival Main and Classics Divisions. Trent is currently the top ranked player for the Ohio and Virginia SCS, as well as being in the top 16 for Pennsylvania(2nd), Maryland(4th) and Kentucky(15th).

The rest of the top 5 for the month of April included [player]Fabio Francescato[/player] from Italy with 83.28 WPPR points, [player]Chris Tabaka[/player] from Jackson, MI with 81.46 WPPR points, [player]Dayvv Brooks[/player] from Ava, MO with 74.34 WPPR points, and [player]Eden Stamm[/player] from White Rock, BC with 70.04 WPPR points.

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

The IFPA is excited to announce we've completely redesigned our tournament calendar to make it easier for players to find IFPA endorsed events near them. We have also moved the IFPA Leagues module to this area to help players find and join leagues that may be near them.

The new IFPA calendar also has an updated process for tournament directors to submit their event to be added to the calendar. You will notice that no organizer will be allowed to select a date that isn't at least 30 days in the future. We are also requiring a full address where the tournament will be held, as well as website with details of the format. You will also notice an additional field asking for an email address of the person that will be submitting results. This is because tournament directors will no longer be submitting results via email to the IFPA, but will be responsible for submitting them directly through the IFPA website (coming soon!).

We also have some big things planned for the launch of the 2015 season, including the biggest changes we've ever made to the WPPR system since 2009. Stay tuned for those details later in the year.

Any questions/comments, please contact the IFPA.

The inaugural IFPA European Championship Series is now through Event #9 out of 17, after hosting events on back-to-back-to-back-to-back weekends. Since our last update, Spain, Germany, Poland and France have all hosted their ECS events.

An incredible 633 players have taken part in at least one ECS tournament, with [player]Michael Trepp[/player] continuing to sit at the top of the standings, with 13 countries currently represented above the top 32 cut line. The current ECS standings are available HERE.

The next ECS event takes players to the United Kingdom, where the 2014 UK Pinball Open will be taking place August 29th-31st. Details of that event are available HERE. The entire ECS schedule can be found HERE.

With the help of [player]Garrett Hays[/player] and his slick video editing skills, we’re excited to release the video of the inaugural Illinois State Pinball Championship match between [player]Joshua Henderson[/player] and [player]Dave Hegge[/player]. On the line was $100 cash, the State Champion trophy, and free entry into the inaugural IFPA US National Pinball Championship. Special thanks also to [player]Adam Lefkoff[/player] and [player]Mark Steinman[/player] for providing the commentary. Click HERE to watch the video.

Wired Magazine stopped by the inaugural IFPA Illinois State Pinball Championships this past February. Click HERE to read the article.

Express Milwaukee did a piece covering the Uptowner which hosts tournament monthly IFPA endorsed tournaments in the Milwaukee area. Click HERE to read the article.

Capital News Service did a piece on [player]Joe Said[/player] (ranked 101st in the world). Click HERE to read the article.

Following the success of the fundraiser campaigns for both Barry Oursler and Python Anghelo, the IFPA is proud to announce that we are teaming up with Project Pinball to help raise funds for their charity. July 2014 will be "Project Pinball" month at the IFPA.

Similar to the other fundraiser campaigns, the IFPA plans on treating each of these Project Pinball tournaments as a unique event, worth full value WPPR points, even if a particular location is already hosting another annual event in 2014. Get in touch with the IFPA at [email protected] 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 to be played in the month of July to qualify.

Below is an announcement from Daniel Spolar of Project Pinball:

Project Pinball Charity is looking at putting on a month long fundraiser for its “placing pinball machine across the globe campaign”. This fundraiser will starting July 1st and running until July with the help from our friends at the International Flipper Pinball Association.

Before I get too far ahead, I would like to give a quick and brief description of what Project Pinball Charity Group is and what we do. Simple- Project Pinball puts pinball machines in the Children’s Hospitals at no cost to the hospitals. Plus we do all the maintenance and upkeep on a monthly basis to keep these machines up and running.

Good news is that we found out how beneficial a pinball machine can be in this type of setting while having great success and we want to branch out and help other neighborhoods, cities, towns and maybe your community. A single pinball machine can offer powerful therapeutic benefits which fit perfectly with the dynamics of a hospital environment while providing the additional beneficial effects of keeping patients active and mobile and also providing amusement. We are a registered 501(c)(3) 46-3417202 For more information on Project Pinball Charity go to our home page http://ProjectPinball.org

This is where you come in and where we need your help. We would like you to help by organizing and running tournaments or fundraisers that will help us with this growth so we can be in the capacity to provide machines, support and service to your local hospital in your communities. This is a loftily goal but one we are going to stride for. This going to happen one community, one hospital and one pinball machine at a time and will be a lot better and more than what we had four years ago when we started our charity.

We have been working with the IFPA and have greatly appreciated their help, guidance and insight to assist us to bring this to the pinball community. IFPA will allow WPPR points to given to those participating in this charity drive to help entice players to attend. They will grand 25 point base for the main tournaments and then 12.5 base for a side tournament.

I would like to list several locals, cities, town and etc.across our globe that are willing to participate to help others in need.  Personally, I am willing to help you get a good jump on organizing, hosting, contacting people, players, sponsors and more. I am willing to listen to the needs that we have in our different communities to successfully form a plan that will aid in accomplishing our goals.

Let’s make this huge success that we can make it be, to give the patients, kids, parents, doctors, nurses that could use our special help by providing a pinball machine into their lives.

We can be contacted at ProjectPinballCharity@gmail.com or you can call me direct at (239) 287-5497