PAPA 23 World Pinball Championships – September 10-13, 2026

This is an emergency broadcast. The Pinball Capital in Stone Park IL is being invaded by the PAPA 23 World Pinball Championships!

20% of all proceeds from the event (and 100% of extra pinball machine raffle entries) will go towards the #988 Suicide and Crisis Helpline in memory of the amazing Lyman F. Sheats Jr. In two years this event has raised nearly $100,000 for the charity! The event will be held Sept. 10-13th and will feature separate Main, Women’s, Classics, and Youth Division events! There will also be a Senior’s Division running in the Main Division this year! Main/Women’s/Classics are all changing to Hybrid Best Game! There is also now an option for a $50 Women’s Division only pass that gets eligible players access to the venue all weekend and entry into just the Women’s Division! Full details are available at https://lfs.papa.org/papa23/.

Tickets go on sale May 15th at noon here https://www.ifpapinball.com/papa23/.

More importantly than anything else though we need volunteers! This event literally cannot happen without help from the pinball community, most of all with scorekeeping. If you are interested in giving some of your time to support an amazing cause please consider signing up here: https://forms.gle/Sc5drii4RLYnV3YE7.

Volunteers can receive exclusive rewards including the PAPA 23 medal designed by the incomparable Ryan Claytor, the orange PAPA 23 volunteer shirt, free entries to Main and Women’s Divisions, and even a PAPA 23 hoodie!