Quick update on the fundraising totals from the competitive pinball community.

Between the Kids Fight Cancer campaign associated with the SCS, and the fundraiser events currently being organized for both Barry Oursler and Python Angelo, the IFPA is proud to announce that we've passed the $15,000 mark for funds raised. Special thanks to all the IFPA players that have competed for such great causes, along with Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball and Pinball Inc. for stepping up as sponsors.

There's still plenty of time to get involved by creating an event in your area as part of the Oursler and/or Python campaigns. Just contact the IFPA for details at [email protected]

IFPA HQ is in the news once again. Time Warner's NY1 took some time to visit Modern Pinball NYC and interviews co-owners [player]Steve Epstein[/player] and [player]Steve Zahler[/player]. Click HERE to see the video.

The Wisconsin State Journal recently covered the Waun-a-Pinball Tournament in Waunakee, WI. The Waun-a-Pinball Tournament is one of the over 1600 IFPA endorsed events held around the world where players can earn WPPR points to qualify for the IFPA World Pinball Championship, as well as qualify for the IFPA Wisconsin State Pinball Championship. Players featured include [player]Robert Stickney[/player] (ranked 1566th in the world), [player]Timothy Enders[/player] (ranked 1209th in the world), [player]Steve Tully[/player] (ranked 1983rd in the world), [player]Hilton Jones[/player] (ranked 1244th in the world) and [player]Todd Mcilwee[/player] (ranked 6607th in the world). Click HERE to read the article. Click HERE to watch the video.

February 27th, 2014 marks the 8th year since the rebirth of the International Flipper Pinball Association.

On this day in 2006 the AMOA assigned the rights of the then defunct IFPA over to Steve Epstein and Roger Sharpe to see if they could elevate the awareness and visibility of pinball across the globe.

With the World Pinball Player Rankings now sporting over 22,000 players from 41 countries, the culmination of the first State Championship Series, launch of the European Championship Series, along with the upcoming US National Pinball Championship, Epstein Cup and World Pinball Championship about to take place in May out in Denver, and the arrow continues to point upwards for competitive pinball.

Thanks for the continued support, and we're looking forward to seeing where we can take things in the years ahead

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

PLAYER OF THE MONTH – [player]Andrei Massenkoff[/player]
Andrei earned a total 112.64 WPPR points in January, sweeping the Pacific Pinball Open Main and Side tournaments, as well as finishing in 3rd and 7th place respectively in the 2014 INDISC Main and Classics tournaments.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Steve Stakem[/player]
Steve moved up 10,115 spots by finishing in 56th and 32nd place in the Maryland Pinball Championship Main and Classics Divisions respectively. Steve also finished in 6th place at the Fulton Knockout Showdown Main Tournament, along with a 17th and 8th place finish in the two Side Tournaments. This netted Steve 7.05 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 2279th in the world.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Gabor Vanderer[/player]
Gabor moved up 9003 spots from his 11th and 8th place finishes at the Versenysorozat Main and Classics tournaments. Gabor earned 4.31 WPPR points from this performance and moved him up to a rank of 3962th in the world.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Harry Bolt[/player]
Harry moved up 8809 spots from his 14th and 43rd place finishes at the SHINE Charity Pinball Competition. Harry earned 4.18 WPPR points from this performance, which moved Harry into now being the 4018th 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 January 2014 tournament performance.

The biggest movers for January 2014 included [player]Steve Stakem[/player] from Annapolis, MD, who moved up 10,115 spots by finishing in 56th and 32nd place in the Maryland Pinball Championship Main and Classics Divisions respectively. Steve also finished in 6th place at the Fulton Knockout Showdown Main Tournament, along with a 17th and 8th place finish in the two Side Tournaments. This netted Steve 7.05 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 2279th in the world.

[player]Gabor Vanderer[/player] from Budapest, Hungary moved up 9003 spots from his 11th and 8th place finishes at the Versenysorozat Main and Classics tournaments. Gabor earned 4.31 WPPR points from this performance and moved him up to a rank of 3962th in the world.

[player]Harry Bolt[/player] from London moved up 8809 spots from his 14th and 43rd place finishes at the SHINE Charity Pinball Competition. Harry earned 4.18 WPPR points from this performance, which moved Harry into now being the 4018th ranked player in the world.

Congratulations to Steve, Gabor and Harry, as well as the other players that saw a jump in their ranking from their January tournament performance!

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for January 2014 is once again [player]Andrei Massenkoff[/player] from San Francsico, CA. This makes two months in a row for Andrei! Andrei earned a total 112.64 WPPR points in January, sweeping the Pacific Pinball Open Main and Side tournaments, as well as finishing in 3rd and 7th place respectively in the 2014 INDISC Main and Classics tournaments.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of January included [player]Keith Elwin[/player] from Carlsbad, CA with 81.64 WPPR points, [player]Al Thomka[/player] from Pittsburgh, PA with 70.62 WPPR points, [player]Kevin Birrell[/player] from Seattle, WA with 61.32 WPPR points, and [player]Robert Gagno[/player] from Burnaby, BC with 60.75 WPPR points.

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

The Watertown Daily Times recently covered the MadCity Flipper League in the latest issue of Family & Friends Magazine. Located in the Madison, WI area, the MadCity Flipper League is one of the over 100 IFPA endorsed leagues held around the world. Players mentioned include [player]Steve Tully[/player] (ranked 1981st in the world), [player]Hilton Jones[/player] (ranked 1150th in the world) and [player]Lance Green[/player] (ranked 974th in the world). Click HERE to read the article, which starts on page 10. For more details on the MadCity Flipper League, click HERE.

blog post courtesy of Kevin Stone

The Fairfax Pinball Open hosted two day fundraising tournament on Friday and Saturday until 8pm.  Players competed on a Metallica Pro pinball machine set for 1 ball games.  Each game was $1 to play.  All proceeds, which totaled $654, are being donated to the Barry Oursler family through IFPA.  Stern Pinball and Jersey Jack Pinball provided prizes for the winners and Tilt Amusements provided the Metallica Pro, which continued to collect donations after the tournament was completed.

In order to allow novice and amateur players a chance to win a prize and to provide them incentive to play, we came up with an idea for prizes based on IFPA world player pinball rankings.  We awarded the top finisher first choice of one of two Star Trek Pro translites by Stern Pinball and a signed Wizard of Oz translite by Jersey Jack Pinball.  Then the top finisher between ranking of 1000-4999 received second choice, and then the top finisher with a ranking of 5000 or above received the final translite.  In addition to the translites, the 2^nd place finisher and 3^rd place finisher were awarded tee shirts also donated by Stern Pinball.

The winners of the Oursler fundraising tournament were the following:
1^st Place – Rob Wintler-Cox with an incredible score of 90,186,840 (ST translite)
2^nd Place – Cryss Stephens with another great score of 80,675,640 (Stern tee shirt)
3^rd Place – Mahesh Murthy with yet another great score of 80,225,050 (Stern tee shirt)
Top 1000-4999 finisher – Brian Dye with a score of 45,931,340 (ST translite)
Top 5000+ finisher – Alex Martin with a score of 2,787,470 (WoZ translite)

Total number of players that entered was 67.  We would like to thank everyone that participated on the behalf of the Fairfax Pinball Open, IFPA and the Oursler family for their donations.

Buffalo Spree Magazine recently covered the Buffalo Pinball League in Buffalo, NY. The Buffalo Pinball League is one of the over 100 IFPA endorsed leagues held around the world. Players mentioned include league President [player]Nicholas Lane[/player] (ranked 550th in the world). Click HERE to read the article. For more details on the Bufallo Pinball League, click HERE.