Stern Pinball and the IFPA teamed up once again to host a tournament at this year’s AMOA show. 22 players competed by qualifying on either the Family Guy or Shrek machine, and then playing out a single elimination head-to-head bracket. Keith Elwin emerged victorious, surviving a near comeback from Zach Sharpe (2nd place) in the final game played on Family Guy. Other finalists included Trent Augenstein (3rd place) and Dean St. Antoine (4th place). For more details on the AMOA show, check out:

http://www.amoa-show.com

Mike Parkins defeated 31 other players on his way to victory at this year’s Inaugural Welsh Classic Pinball Open. Other finalists included Terry Sullivan (2nd place), Greg Mott (3rd place) and Martin Ayub (4th place). For more details on the event, check out:

http://pinballnews.com/shows/welshclassic2008/index.html

https://www.theplaydiumstore.com/TournamentPage.aspx?Topic=Tournament

The Playdium Store, 70 Ronson Drive, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. M9W 1B6. Includes Funland Arcade Auction Sale. Event open 2pm-8pm Friday, 10am-6pm Saturday, 10am-5pm Sunday.

After spending 5 months in the #2 spot, Keith Elwin won the PAPA XI World Pinball Championship pushing him back into the top spot, passing Bowen Kerins, who finished in second place at PAPA XI. 

September saw another increase in our player base (8%) from 2623 players on August 1st to 2835 players on July 1st. 

Biggest movers during August all came from this year’s Torneo Español de Pinball in Spain. The champion from the event, Carlos García Montoro moved up 1279 spots. Juan Antonio Martín Amaya moved up 1054 spots, while Basilio García IV and José María Díez Peláez both jumped 876 spots from their performance.
 
Upcoming events in September include the AMOA tournament in Las Vegas (http://www.amoashow.com), Celebrity Pinball Tournament and Game Show in Los Angeles (http://www.retrogameconnection.com), Borås Pinball Open in Sweden (http://bpo.boraspinball.se), Heartland Pinball and Arcade Supershow in Herrin, IL (http://supershow.popbumper.com) and the Welsh Classic Pinball Open in the UK (http://www.rawdistribution.co.uk/silverballs/welshclassic).

It isn’t often when a PAPA final comes down to the last player, last ball, but that’s exactly what happened. Entering the final game on The Addams Family, there were a variety of ways for PAPA to end in a tie, or for all 3 of the former champions to win the title outright. Keith Elwin emerged victorious, surviving two tie-breakers, and an epic third ball on The Addams Family where he came from 130 million points down to capture the crown. Other finalists included Bowen Kerins (2nd), Lyman Sheats (3rd) and Josh Sharpe (4th).

Reidar Spets defeated 66 other players to capture the 2008 Lidkoping Pinball Masters Open in Sweden. Other finalists included Per Ahlenius (2nd), Johan Genberg (3rd) and Per Holknekt (4th).

Over 60 players competed within the three different divisions (Modern, Solid State and Electro-Mechanical), with the winner of each getting a chance to play in the Championship match. After winning the Modern and Solid State divisions, Keith Elwin (right) defeated Neil Shatz (winner of the EM division – left) in the Championship match. Other finalists within those three divisions included Trent Augenstein, Andrei Massenkoff, Neil Inn, Jim Belsito, Mike Mahaffey and Gene Lewin.

July saw another increase (3%) in our player base from 2537 players on June 1st to 2623 players on July 1st.

Biggest movers during June all came from players that qualified for the finals at this year’s Pin Maine-ia 2 Tournament in Saco, Maine. Chris Donahue moved up 1442 spots, George Palmer moved up 1048 spots, while Dan Lane and Ed Cabral both jumped 978 spots in the World Pinball Player Rankings.
 
Upcoming events in July include the FSPA Pre-PAPA Flip Off  in Fairfax, Virginia and California Extreme, the 1st US major championship of 2008 in San Jose.

The Saturday portion of Pin Maine-ia 2 featured the 2nd annual New England Pinball Championship out in Saco, Maine. 55 players competed in 6 rounds of head-to-head matchups over 10 straight hours of play. The 4 players with the best record after all sessions would advance to the finals. Josh Sharpe came out on top, defeating Bowen Kerins (3rd place) in the semifinals two games to one, and then Mark Ross (2nd place) in the finals two games to one. Bowen defeated Trent Augenstein who finished in fourth place.

For more info check:

http://bpo.boraspinball.se