In celebration of the upcoming World Pinball Championship this May, the IFPA will be taking over Denver with a WPPR point bonanza of tournaments for flipper fanatics to enjoy!

World Championship Week starts with the Lyons Spring Classic, the official IFPA Satellite event for IFPA11. Taking place May 16th-18th in Lyons, CO, the Lyons Spring Classic is an event on the 2014-15 PAPA Circuit. As the official IFPA Satellite event for IFPA11, there is ONE spot available to get into the field of 64 players and play for the right to be crowned World Pinball Champion. Full details of the Lyons Spring Classic can be found HERE.

The IFPA will be back in action starting Monday, May 19th with the Pre-IFPA 1up Lodo Tournament in Denver. Full details including schedule, format, entry fees, prizes will be available soon. Learn more about 1up Lodo HERE.

World Championship Week continues Tuesday, May 20th when the IFPA moves on to Pinball Jones in Fort Collins, where we will be hosting the Pre-IFPA Pinball Jones Tournament. Full details including schedule, format, entry fees, prizes will be available soon. Learn more about Pinball Jones HERE.

Wednesday, May 21st, we head back to Denver to the 1up Colfax. The IFPA will be hosting the PreIFPA 1up Colfax tournament. Full details for this tournament will also be available soon. Learn more about the 1up Colfax HERE.

The IFPA will also be crowing the first IFPA US National Champion, which is the culmination of the first SCS on Sunday, May 18th. The 2nd edition of the Epstein Cup where the 8 best players from Europe battle the 8 best players from North America will happen Thursday night, May 22nd. Finally, Sunday, May 25th, IFPA's World Championship Week concludes with the crowning of the new World Pinball Champion. Hosted by Game Exchange of Colorado, and sponsored by Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball, AAMA, AMOA, Marco Specialties, Gameworks, Play Meter Magazine, Raw Thrills, Betson, Brady Distributing, Pinball Center, Farsight Studios, Zen Studios, PAPA, Color DMD, Suzo Happ, Bay Area Amusements and Planetary Pinball Supply, the IFPA11 World Pinball Championship will feature the most competitive field of participants in pinball tournament history from 16 countries, including 7 current and former World Pinball Champions. IFPA11 will be happening all day on Friday and Saturday as we work the field down from the 64 qualifiers, to the 8 finalists that will be competing Sunday morning for the World Championship. Full details for IFPA11 are available HERE.

For any questions regarding any part of IFPA's World Championship Week, contact the IFPA at [email protected].

Registration is now closed for IFPA11, and we couldn't be more excited about the field of participants!

IFPA11 will set a few records, the most amazing being that each of the top 16 ranked players in the world will be in attendance. The previous record was set at IFPA7 when each of the top 5 ranked players participated.

16 countries will be represented, a record for a US-based IFPA World Pinball Championship. This includes Norway which will see it's flag on the World Pinball Champion trophy for the first time. 

Another IFPA record that has been set is the cut line for at-large bids into a US-based IFPA World Pinball Championship. At rank #79, [player]Cesare Datri[/player] from Italy became the last player above the cut line, shattering the previous US-based IFPA record of rank #165 set at IFPA9 in Seattle. The Europe-based IFPA record still stands at rank #66 from IFPA10 after initial registration, although the actual cut line moved to rank #88 after some player cancellations leading up to the tournament.

IFPA9 in Seattle featured a record 7 players that have been crowned World Pinball Champion competing in the same tournament. We're excited that those 7 players are all returning to compete in IFPA11 – Cayle George, Andrei Massenkoff, Keith Elwin, Jorian Engelbrektsson, Daniele Celestino Acciari, Bowen Kerins and Lyman Sheats. In addition, current IFPA World Pinball Champion Jörgen Holm returns to defend his crown, making for a new record of 8 World Pinball Champions under one roof for the first time.

The full field of participants is available HERE.

A reminder that 1 more IFPA11 spot is still available at the Lyons Spring Classic the weekend before IFPA11. Full details for that tournament will be available soon.

In what will go down as the most underwhelming finish in World Pinball Championship history, we're ready to show the Game 5 footage from the IFPA9 World Pinball Championship final match. [player]Daniele Celestino Acciari[/player] had a 3 games to 1 lead over [player]Cayle George[/player] after stealing a win on the road on Cayle’s Attack from Mars pick. Old Chicago was Daniele’s “OLD” era pick, and with a win he would earn the title of World Pinball Champion for the second time. Commentary provided by both [player]Cayle George[/player] and [player]Adam Lefkoff[/player]. Check out the action HERE,

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for July 2013 is former World Pinball Champion [player]Cayle George[/player] from Seattle, WA. Cayle earned 102.09 WPPR points in July. This included a vicorty at Super Multi-Brawl, 2nd place finish at the Midsummer Classic Pinball Tournament and 4th place finish in the Classics Division at California Extreme.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of July included [player]Bob Matthews[/player] from Thousand Oaks, CA with 95.20 WPPR points, [player]Robert Gagno[/player] from Canada with 75.22 WPPR points, [player]Julio Vicario Soriano[/player] from Spain with 73.60 WPPR points, and [player]Steven Bowden[/player] from Somerset, NJ with 72.81 WPPR points.

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

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for June 2013 is World Pinball Champion Jörgen Holm from Sweden. Jörgen earned 197.05 WPPR points in June, 130.66 of which were from his victory at the IFPA10 World Pinball Championship and 3rd place finish in the Charity Challenge. In addition, Jörgen finished in 3rd place in the Main tournament of the Stockholm Open, as well as winning the Classics division.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of June included [player]Zach Sharpe[/player] from Chicago, IL with 170.02 WPPR points, [player]Cayle George[/player] from Seattle, WA with 102.66 WPPR points, [player]Robert Gagno[/player] from Canada with 100.94 WPPR points, and [player]Tim Hulin Bouard[/player] from France with 100.12 WPPR points.

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

Continuing coverage of the upcoming IFPA10 World Pinball Championship takes us to Seattle, where Q13 FOX checked in with IFPA8 World Pinball Champion and IFPA9 runner up, [player]Cayle George[/player] (ranked 4th in the world). Cayle is also the captain for Team USA at the inaugural Epstein Cup. Check out the video HERE.

With over 17,000 players in the World Pinball Player Rankings, only 12 players in the history of this sport have claimed the title of World Pinball Champion. With IFPA10 and PAPA16 on the schedule for 2013, this year marks the 25th and 26th opportunities that players have a chance to join this prestigious club. Will IFPA10 see the 13th World Pinball Champion crowned? Will previous World Pinball Champions [player]Andrei Massenkoff[/player], [player]Cayle George[/player], [player]Daniele Celestino Acciari[/player], [player]Jorian Engelbrektsson[/player] or [player]Lyman Sheats[/player] keep that count at 12 and add to their own legacy? We will find out in a couple of months, as the illustrious Space Jet trophy is ready and waiting to be hoisted by the next World Pinball Champion.

Registration is now closed for IFPA10, and we couldn't be more excited about the field of participants!

IFPA10 will set a new record for most countries represented in the history of any pinball tournament with 19. Included in the field are the two previous IFPA World Pinball Champions, [player]Daniele Celestino Acciari[/player] (IFPA7 and IFPA9 World Pinball Champion), and [player]Cayle George[/player] (IFPA8 World Pinball Champion). Both Daniele and Cayle will be serving as team captains for the inaugural Epstein Cup battle between Europe and the USA.

Another IFPA record that has been set is the cut line for at-large bids into an IFPA World Championship. At rank #66, [player]Alain Boulieu[/player] from France become the last player above the cut line, destroying the previous record of rank #126 set at IFPA8 in Sweden.

The full field of participants is available HERE.

A reminder that 1 more IFPA10 spot is still available at the IFPA Satellite Tournament in Rodenbach the weekend before IFPA10. Full details for that tournament will be available soon.

Last week we announced who will be representing Team Europe in the inaugural Epstein Cup. With IFPA10 registration now officially closed, we're excited to announce that the roster for Team USA has now also been finalized.

Representing Team USA at the 2013 Epstein Cup will be IFPA8 World Pinball Champion and team captain [player]Cayle George[/player] (ranked 3rd in the world), [player]Zach Sharpe[/player] (ranked 4th in the world), [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] (ranked 6th in the world), [player]Josh Sharpe[/player] (ranked 12th in the world), [player]Joshua Henderson[/player] (ranked 15th in the world), [player]Andrei Massenkoff[/player] (ranked 24th in the world), [player]Lyman Sheats[/player] (ranked 22nd in the world) and [player]Jason Werdrick[/player] (ranked 36th in the world).