The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Year for 2020 is Eric Stone from Fort Myers, FL. In the shortened 2020 season, Eric was still able to rack up an incredible 458.24 WPPR points during 2020 (which would put him in the top 50 in the world based on ONLY these 3 months of play). Eric currently sits as the #2 ranked player in the world having moved up from the #12 ranking at the start of the year.

Eric played in 10 events during the 2020 season, winning 6 of them, while finishing in the top 4 in 7 of them. Eric also finished as the IFPA Player of the Month for January 2020.

Eric’s highlights during 2020 included his first Major Championship title, taking 1st place at The Open – IFPA World Championship back in January. He also won the Classics II division at INDISC while finishing in 2nd place in the Classics I division.

The IFPA wishes to congratulate Eric on all of his success throughout this shortened 2020 season!

The IFPA is pleased to announce a new award from the 2019 season, and that’s the Rookie of the Year award. This award is given to the player that earns the most WPPR points in their first year of active play. Our Rookie of the Year for 2019 is Axel Blonde from Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Axel racked up an incredible 366.09 WPPR points during 2019. Axel participated in his first IFPA sanctioned tournament in April 2019. Fast forward 8 months and Axel currently sits as the 226th ranked player in the world, and is the top seed in the upcoming 2019-20 IFPA British Columbia Provincial Championship.

Axel’s greatest achievement of 2019 was his 16th and 9th place finishes at the NW Pinball Championships Main and Classics events, one of the stops on the Stern Pro Circuit during the 2019 season. Overall, Axel won 27% of the 44 events he played in during 2019, while placing in the top 4 at 73% of his 2019 events, a truly remarkable achievement.

Congratulations to Axel, our first IFPA Rookie of the Year! Best of luck to all the players that have yet to start competing on their journey to becoming IFPA’s next Rookie of the Year.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Year for 2019 is Johannes Ostermeier from Munich, Germany. Johannes racked up an incredible 1231.38 WPPR points during 2019. Johannes currently sits as the #1 ranked player in the world having moved himself up from 5th at the start of the year.

This is where I typically list all of the achievements from the Player of the Year, however it’s the first time in IFPA history that the Player of the Year is also the player that won the World’s Greatest Pinball Player award. We’ll just leave that fact here and move on.

The IFPA wishes to congratulate Johaness on all of his success throughout 2019!

The IFPA16 field is nearly set, with 62 out of the 64 players locked in. The IFPA European Pinball Championship and IFPA North American Pinball Championship Satellite spots will both be up for grabs in February/March to fill the final 2 spots.

A record 22 countries will be represented at IFPA16, along with 17 players in the field that have won a Major Championship at some point in their career (Keith Elwin, Jorian Engelbrektsson, Daniele Celestino Acciari, Raymond Davidson, Cayle George, Franck Bona, Albert Nomden, Zach Sharpe, Robert Gagno, Jörgen Holm, Colin MacAlpine, Jim Belsito, Robert Sutter, Adam Becker, Escher Lefkoff, Levente Tregova, Andrei Massenkoff).

At rank #48, Fred Richardson from the US became the last player above the cut line.

Check out the field HERE.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Year for 2018 is Trent Augenstein from Delaware, OH. Trent racked up an incredible 1578.18 WPPR points during 2018. This beats the previous record of points earned during a year of 1425.50 (also by Trent in 2017). Trent currently sits as the #6 ranked player in the world having held that spot from the start of the year.

Trent was the IFPA Player of the Month in June, July, August and September of 2018 having won 32 of the 90 tournaments he played in during 2018, while finishing in the top 4 in 58% of them.

Trent’s highlights during 2018 included a 3rd place finish at the IFPA15 World Pinball Champinoship, along with 2nd place finishes at the Texas Pinball Festival , 24 Hour Final Battle at The Sanctum, Buffalo Pinball Summer Open (Classics), 1st place finishes at the Pincinnati Matchplay Tournament, The Amazing Pinball Race and Pinball at the Zoo. Trent earned his 3rd career top 4 Major Championship finish with that 3rd place IFPA15 finish.

The IFPA wishes to congratulate Trent on all of his success throughout 2018. The IFPA posts this with the caveat that there are still 71 sanctioned events left on the IFPA calendar, and it’s likely that Trent will play in most of them.

The IFPA15 field is nearly set, with 62 out of the 64 players locked in. The IFPA European Championship and IFPA US National Championship Satellite spots will both be up for grabs in March to fill the final 2 spots.

18 countries will be represented at IFPA15, along with 12 players in the field that have won a Major Championship at some point in their career (Adam Becker, Andrei Massenkoff, Cayle George, Colin MacAlpine, Daniele Celestino Acciari, Escher Lefkoff, Jim Belsito, Jorian Engelbrektsson,
Lyman Sheats, Raymond Davidson, Robert Gagno and Zach Sharpe).

At rank #66, Lyman Sheats from the US became the last player above the cut line.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Year for 2017 is Trent Augenstein from Delaware, OH. Trent racked up an incredible 1425.50 WPPR points during 2017. Trent currently sits as the #6 ranked player in the world having moved himself up 6 spots from starting the year ranked #12.

Trent was the IFPA Player of the Month in March and November of 2017 having won 30 of the 96 tournaments he played in during 2017, while finishing in the top 4 in 56% of them.

Trent’s highlights during 2017 included 1st place finishes at the Louisville Arcade Expo, 24 Hour Final Battle at The Sanctum, Ohio Pinball Show, OBX Fall Pinball Bash, Cactus Jacks Silverball Showdown, Bat City Open and Main Street Mayhem II. Trent also earned his 2nd career top 4 Major Championship finish having placed 4th at the PAPA20 World Pinball Championships A-division.

The IFPA wishes to congratulate Trent on all of his success throughout 2017. To celebrate Trent is playing in 7 different tournaments simultaneously RIGHT NOW.

The IFPA14 field is nearly set, with 63 out of the 64 players locked in. The IFPA European Championship Satellite spot was just won by Taco Wouters from the Netherlands, while the IFPA US National Championship Satellite spot will be decided in March.

IFPA14 will set a new record for most countries represented in the history of any pinball tournament with 20.

At rank #69, Ben Granger from the US became the last player above the cut line.

IFPA14 also breaks another record by featuring 15 players in the field that have won a Major Championship at some point in their career.

The full field of participants is available HERE.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Year for 2016 is Steven Bowden from Franklin Park, NJ. Steven racked up an incredible 1377.00 WPPR points during 2016. Steven currently sits as the #6 ranked player in the world.

Steven was the IFPA Player of the Month in August of 2016 having won 24 of the 55 tournaments he played in during 2016, and finished in the top 4 in 47% of them.

Steven’s highlights during 2016 included 1st place finishes at the Pittsburgh Pinball Open and Pinvasion, along with a 5th place finish at Pinburgh. Steven also won 7 out the 12 Modern Pinball NYC Super League tournaments during 2016, racking up 506.42 WPPR points in the process.

The IFPA wishes to congratulate Steven on all of his success throughout 2016, and for being one hell of a podcast co-host.

The IFPA13 field is nearly set, with 62 out of the 64 players locked in. The IFPA European Championship Satellite spot is being determined right now, while the IFPA US National Championship Satellite spot will be decided in a few short weeks.

18 countries will be represented, a record for a US-based IFPA World Pinball Championship. This includes Thailand which will see its flag on the World Pinball Champion trophy for the first time.

IFPA13 shattered the previous world record for the cut line for at-large bids into any IFPA World Pinball Championship. At rank #52, Adam McKinnie from the US became the last player above the cut line, shattering the previous US-based IFPA record of rank #79 set at IFPA11 in Denver and the Europe-based IFPA record rank of #66 set at IFPA10 in Germany. The cut line has since moved a bit as we’ve had 3 players cancel since IFPA13 registration closed.

IFPA13 also breaks another record by featuring 15 players in the field that have won a Major Championship at some point in their career.

The full field of participants is available HERE.