The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for February 2013 is Robert Sutter from Switzerland. Robert earned 101.42 WPPR points in February, including a 2nd place finish in both the Main and Classic tournaments at the Dutch Pinball Masters. In addition, Robert had a 3rd and 2nd place finish in the Main and Classic tournaments at the Nordwestschweizer-Flippermeisterschaft.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of February included Trent Augenstein from Delaware, OH with 101.41 WPPR points, PAPA 10 World Pinball Champion Jorian Engelbrektsson from Sweden with 97.63 WPPR points, 4-time World Pinball Champion Bowen Kerins from Salem, MA with 89.96 WPPR points, and Aaron Nelson of the US with 72.47 WPPR points.

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

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).

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for January 2013 is [player]Steve Zahler[/player] from the US. Steve earned 89.36 WPPR points in January, including a 2nd and 1st place finish in the Main and Classic tournaments at the Maryland Pinball Championship. In addition, Steve won the Middletown NY Pinball Open, and finished in 12th place at Pinferno.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of January included Stéphane Pinck from France with 59.88 WPPR points, [player]Steven Bowden[/player] from Somerset, NJ with 54.16 WPPR points, IFPA8 World Pinball Champion [player]Cayle George[/player] from Seattle, WA with 48.30 WPPR points, and [player]Tim Tournay[/player] of the US with 46.87 WPPR points.

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

21 players competed in the February 2013 edition of the Gameworks Monthly Pinball Tournament. [player]Zach Sharpe[/player] (ranked 4th in the world) emerged victorious earning himself $45, and enough WPPR points to move him into 2nd place in the IFPA Illinois State Championship standings.

Zach first defeated [player]Chad Gates[/player] (ranked 4337th in the world) on AC/DC, followed by a victory over [player]Jack Danger[/player] (ranked 2226th in the world) on Avengers. In the semi-finals Zach defeated [player]Scott Danesi[/player] (ranked 1934th in the world) on Family Guy. This led to a final against brother [player]Josh Sharpe[/player] (ranked 12th in the world), and unlike Super Bowl XLVII where older brother John defeated younger brother Jim, Zach came out on top on Soprano’s. Scott Danesi finished in 3rd place defeating [player]Steve Kordek[/player] (ranked 4140th in the world) on Ironman.

Full results can be found HERE. Updated standings for the IFPA Illinois State Championship can be found HERE. The Gameworks Monthly Pinball Tournament is held the first Tuesday of every month, with the next edition scheduled for March 5th.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Year for 2012 is [player]Trent Augenstein[/player]. Trent racked up an incredible 760.58 WPPR points during 2012 moving him from 11th to 6th in the world during the year.

Trent was the IFPA Player of the Month in January, April and May of 2012 having won 23% of the tournaments he played in during 2012, and finished in the top 4 in 60% of the tournaments he played in. Trent's highlights during 2012 included a 2nd place finish at Pinburgh 2012, along with victories at this year's Pinball at the Zoo, Pinbowl Tournament and Pinnesota National Championship.

Trent will be given his award at the IFPA10 World Pinball Championship, scheduled for May 31-June 2, 2013 in Germany. The IFPA wishes to congralute Trent on all of his success throughout 2012.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for July 2012 is [player]Julio Vicario Soriano[/player] from Spain. Julio earned a victory in each of the tournaments he played in during July including the Caja de Cristal Pinball Open, Pinball Party Night Valencia and the Torneo Espanol de Pinball, netting him 85.65 WPPR points.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of July included [player]Adam Lefkoff[/player] of the US with 77.03 WPPR points, [player]Keith Elwin[/player] of the US with 69.13 WPPR points, [player]Zach Sharpe[/player] of the US with 66.51 WPPR points, and [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] of the US with 57.87 WPPR points.

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

The Lowell Sun in Lowell, MA covered the International Pinball Wizard Challenge held this past weekend in Pelham, NH. The International Pinball Wizard Challenge is one of the nearly 350 annual IFPA endorsed tournaments where players can earn World Pinball Player Rankings points, and qualify for the IFPA World Pinball Championship. Featured in the article is [player]Frank Romero[/player] (ranked 63rd in the world), [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] (ranked 6th in the world) and [player]Steven Bowden[/player] (ranked 36th in the world). Click HERE to see the article and watch the video.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that for the third time in five months, our Player of the Month for May 2012 is once again [player]Trent Augenstein[/player], from Delaware, OH. Trent earned 92.59 WPPR points in May, winning both the Pinbowl Tournament in Michigan, as well as the Silver Ballroom Open in St. Louis.  Trent also finished in 3rd place at the Gameworks Chicago Tournament of Champions.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of May included [player]Josh Lehan[/player] of the US with 59.50 WPPR points,  [player]Andy Rosa[/player] of the US with 49.32 WPPR points, [player]Keith Elwin[/player] of the US with 48.84 WPPR points, and [player]Zach Sharpe[/player] of the US with 44.83 WPPR points.

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

In continuing coverage of the upcoming IFPA9 World Pinball Championship, Good Day Columbus Anchor Pete Scalia talks with [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] (ranked 7th in the world) about his upcoming trip to Seattle as he prepares to represent the US at this year's IFPA World Pinball Championship. Check out the video HERE.

The IFPA and Gameworks teamed up to host their 8th Pinball Tournament of Champions from May 4th-6th. PAPA was also in the house for this event, as it was the 2nd tournament on the newly formed PAPA Circuit for 2012. This added $1500 to the prize pool, along with the chance for players to win PAPA Circuit points to qualify for the PAPA Circuit final in March 2013.

53 players participated for the $3500+ in cash and prizes up for grabs, qualifying on Stern's AC/DC, Ironman, Tron and Transformers.

[player]Zach Sharpe[/player] took home his 3rd Gameworks title in 8 attempts, defeating [player]Derek Fugate[/player] (2-1), [player]Jason Werdrick[/player] (2-1) and [player]Keith Johnson[/player] (2-1) to take home 1st place. The deciding game came down to Tron where both players battled to the very end. After the final end of ball bonus from Keith, he fell just short of catching up to Zach's score (45,328,230 to 45,052,540). With the PAPA cameras rolling all weekend, the action was all caught on tape. Check it out HERE.

Other finalists included [player]Keith Johnson[/player] (2nd-right), [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] (3rd-inner left) and [player]Jason Werdrick[/player] (4th-left).

Full results can be found HERE.