This past Saturday, January 21st, the Slovak Club hosted a Tournament to celebrate the release of the Limited Edition Transformers Pinball Machine from Stern. Transformers proved to be a very popular machine, it was almost impossible to get playing time on the game, as it was always occupied by players eager to play the newest Stern.

A Division Champion Al Thomka

The night started early as the high score challenge was won about 1 hour into the event when Trent Augenstein posted a score of over 270 million on Spider-Man.

Following that up was the main tournament which consisted of a bank of 6 games. You played three games on a ‘ticket’ and scoring was done PAPA style for qualifying. After qualifying, players were paired up in best of three one on one matches in the playoffs.

In the A division finals, Al Thomka defeated Trent Augenstein 2 games to 1 to take the championship. It was a hard fought battle that started on Transformers, moved on over to Avatar and concluded on Family Guy.

Brian Flizanes - B Division Champion

In the B division finals Brian Flizanes defeated Travis Hurst in the first finals appearance for both of the players.

To end the night there was a team tournament on Transformers. Each team consisted of two players. those players played one game where 1 ball was split flipper and the other 2 were played individually by each player. The four highest scores advanced to the finals where they all faced off to see who could achieve the highest score. When the dust settled, Mahesh Murthy and Brian Flizanes rose to the top to take home the cash.

Mahesh Murthy and Brian Flizanes Team Champions

Pinball Players,

If you are in the Pittsburgh, PA area and are looking for a great competitive and social league consider joining the Pittsburgh Pinball League. All players make the playoffs and at the finals you will be grouped with players of similar skill levels.

We had over 60 members last season, which makes us on of the largest leagues in the World. Joining give you a chance to meet some local players and play some collections not open to the general public.

Upcoming Schedule:

Week 1: COMPLETED
Thursday January 12th 7:30 PM @ Kopy’s – 80 South 12th St., Pittsburgh 15203
Friday January 13th 7:30 PM @ Kopy’s – 80 South 12th St., Pittsburgh 15203
Sunday January 15th 4:00 PM @ Ace’s – 417 Smithfield St, Pittsburgh 15222

Week 2: COMPLETED
Thursday January 19th 7:30 PM @ Kopy’s – 80 South 12th St., Pittsburgh 15203
Friday January 20th 7:30 PM @ New Great Valley Lanes – 1501 Highwood Ave, North Versailles 15137
Sunday January 22nd 4:00 PM @ Ace’s – 417 Smithfield St, Pittsburgh 15222

Week 3: COMPLETED
Thursday January 26th 7:30 PM @ Lawrenceville Pinball Asylum (Private Collection) – 4300 Butler St Apt 1R 15201
Friday January 27th 8:00 PM @ South Park Clubhouse – 2200 Brownsville Rd, South Park 15129
Sunday January 29th 4:00 PM @ Ace’s – 417 Smithfield St, Pittsburgh 15222

Week 4:
Thursday February 2nd 7:30 PM @ Lawrenceville Pinball Asylum (Private Collection) – 4300 Butler St Apt 1R 15201
Friday February 3rd 8:00 PM @ Slovak Club – 1214 Lincoln St, Vandergrift 15690
Sunday February 5th 2:00 PM @ Ace’s – 417 Smithfield St, Pittsburgh 15222

Week 5:
Thursday February 9th 7:30 PM @ Lawrenceville Pinball Asylum (Private Collection) – 4300 Butler St Apt 1R 15201
Friday February 10th 7:30 PM @ The Blue Room (Private Collection)
Sunday February 12th 4:00 PM @ Ace’s – 417 Smithfield St, Pittsburgh 15222

Week 6:
Thursday February 16th 7:30 PM @ Lawrenceville Pinball Asylum (Private Collection) – 4300 Butler St Apt 1R 15201
Friday February 17th – 7:30 PM @ Ryan Wimer’s (Private Collection)
Sunday February 19th 4:00 PM @ Ace’s – 417 Smithfield St, Pittsburgh 15222

Week 7:
Thursday March 1st 7:30 PM @ Lawrenceville Pinball Asylum (Private Collection) – 4300 Butler St Apt 1R 15201
Friday March 2nd 7:30 PM @ The Dead Zone (Private Collection)
Sunday March 4th 4:00 PM @ Ace’s – 417 Smithfield St, Pittsburgh 15222

Week 8:
Thursday March 8th 7:30 PM @ Lawrenceville Pinball Asylum (Private Collection) – 4300 Butler St Apt 1R 15201
Friday March 9th – The Disco Dungeon – 7:30 pm
Sunday March 11th 4:00 PM @ Ace’s – 417 Smithfield St, Pittsburgh 15222

Make Up Day:
Friday March 16th – TBA

Finals:
Saturday March 24th 12 Noon – TBA

SATURDAY January 21 2011
Slovak Club in Parks twp.
1214 Lincoln St
North Vandergrift PA 15690

Doors open at 3:15 PM.
Qualifying begins at 4:15 PM and last entry is sold at 8:30 PM.

Transformers Limited Edition Pinball Machine will be on hand for everyone to play, no tournament entry necessary!

TOURNAMENT INFO
You will select 3 games from a bank of 6. Scoring will be done in CAX format for qualifying.

You may enter as many times as you like. A divsion entries are $10 and B division are $5. There will be 100% payout on all entry fees.
The top 4 players in A division and the top 6 players in B division make the playoffs. Playoffs will be conducted as one on one matches, best of 3. The highest seed will play the lowest seed in each round. High seed gets first pick of game or order and then the loser of the previous game gets choice of game or order.
A division is for advanced players and B division is for intermediate players.

The tournament directors, at their discretion, may place any player in a higher division as well.

In addition to the main tournament there will be Bump N Win tournaments as well as a High Score Challenge with a $20 prize to compete in.

If you have any questions please contact pittsburgh.pinball@gmail.com

The second player in our Pittsburgh Pinball Player of the Month club is also our first female, Virginia Hendricks.

So, Virginia, what do you do for a living?

I’m a Senior Tax Accountant; however, I do sales tax, not income tax.

How did you get into pinball?

I blame Pete.  A group of us would play the game that they had in the rec room at college.   And then after he and I started dating, I just had to accept that he try every pinball game we walked past. It would have been really boring just watching him play.

What is your favorite individual pinball moment?

Winning the Ironman  B Division Tournament.  It was the first (and last?) tournament I’ve ever won.  But a close second would be seeing Pete place second in C division at PAPA in 2008.

Do you own any machines? Which ones?

We have 5 of them.  TZ, Skyline, Gladiators, Arena and Goldball

What is your favorite pinball table?

Twilight Zone.  It’s the first one I remember playing so of course it holds a special place in my heart.  

Least favorite?

There were a lot I might have put here before, but honestly?  I can’t stand Rolling Stones.  I don’t like the band all that much to begin with and to have Mick Jagger dancing across the playfield makes it even worse!

Where is your favorite place to play and why?

Tough question!  There are so many great private collections in the Pittsburgh area that it is hard to pick just one!  But if forced to choose, I would probably say either Silverball Country Club or PAPA.  Both of them have such extensive and varied collections.  I’m honored whenever I get a chance to play in either location.

What would you say to those thinking about joining the Pittsburgh Pinball League?

You meet a lot of really great people and have a lot of fun.  Also, it exposes you to a ton of different games that you have never seen before.

1. Do you think the Southside is a good place to serve as our “steady location”?
a) yes – 11
b) no – 1
c) maybe – 1

· Geographically yes. Machine choice as of now…not even close.
· I hate the beehive and trying to find a place to park in the south side
· yes, IF the Beehive renovations are finished in time for the season
· S. Side is good, or somewhere similar. Has to be a central location. I don’t think we should alsways base out of the Beehive however. The plan is supposedly only two machines once the renovations are done.
· however, an alternative should be considered if the Beehive is out of commission for too long

With the high number of machines and being geographically centered, this is probably still the best option, even if the Beehive reduces the number of machines.

2. Similar to the Southside, there are locations that have many games within a close walking/driving distance
(ex: Lawrenceville). Should we use places like this for league?
a) yes – 8
b) no – 2
c) doesn’t matter – 3

· If there is a better place- by all means
· B, but i’d still go if they were in multiple places

I think we should give Lawrenceville a try. I don’t know about the winter season (unless necessary), but it would be good for the spring and fall.

3. Should we use places that have an admission fee, but games are on free play (ex: Pin Perfection/Games n at) for league?
a) yes – 8
b) no – 1
c) depends on the cost – 4

· but only if the games are in good working condition
· On occassion, fine. Not regularly. Plus, I don’t like supporting Pinball Perfection as I think they are BAD for the hobby.

A trip to PP once a year seems like a good plan. We could go back to GNA if they ever get their games in decent working order.

4. Aces provides a unique setup for league in that we have to start at 7 with no late calls and be done by 9. Would you like to play there again?
a) yes – 5
b) no – 3
c) doesn’t matter – 5

· This would be a great location for a Sunday date
· Aces on occassion would be fine with me.

We should try it out once this year. Perhaps the winter season would be best for this one.

5. Is there any place that you would like to play that we don’t currently play?

· PAPA
· Silverball CC – 2
· Lawrenceville could be fun. Lots of bars in close proximity – 2
· Not really any I know of. They are putting a doublewide grill in Cranberry…maybe he’ll put games there…..
· Ya, my house! But we don’t have enough functioning machines yet and our space is limited (might be able to during warmer weather when the out of doors are an option for people to hang out.)
· Maybe a Friday night option once in a while can be a tour event where you can play multiple games in a short distance, like the Southside or Larryland. I might be able to host an event that starts/ends at my house and offers my 2-3 games as well as 2-3 games at bars or other locations within a short distance. This may open up more house options who, like mine, does not have enough games to meet the PPL volume.
· I love playing the private collections when they are available.
· south park club house says they can guarantee us min 7 machines for league night, so i would like to see that work out

PAPA and SBCC are private locations and we could only do that with permission from their respective owners/managers.

6. What is your favorite non-home place to play?

· Slovak Club – 3
· NGV – 3
· PAPA
· PAPA! We hang out at Elwood’s sometime in Rural Ridge but they only have one machine. Also like to frequent OTB occasionally
· SP Clubhouse (It was NGV)
· SP Clubhouse / OTB
· If by non-home you mean not my home, probably Scaletta’s. If you mean not anyone’s house then I’m not sure I have one. I play PoTC at Gooski’s a lot because it’s next to my house.
· None that I’m crazy about…maybe OBC?
· Starlight Lounge in Blawnox (CFTBL) , Ellwood’s Pub in Rural Ridge (RFM, Monopoly)

7. If there was a Sunday league day/night, would you participate?
a) yes – 4
b) no – 3
c) only if i couldn’t play on Thursday or Friday – 2
d) maybe – 3

· Not during football season, but otherwise i might.
· I would volunteer to scorekeep
· It would depend on the location. For example, if thurs/fri were South Side and Sun. was a private collection. I would probably opt for Sunday.
· Depends on the time of year….sometimes Sundays can be rough.

It would stretch us thin, so we would need volunteers, but perhaps we should give it a try.

8. League dues are currently $20. Do you think this is good?
a) It is too High
b) it is Perfect – 11
c) it is too low – 2

· I think we could raise it to $25…or maybe $30. This is based on what I hear other leagues are charging. We would still be far below their costs. That would give us more wiggle room for getting giveaway machines…and perhaps up the prize payouts.
· It is definitely not too high. I’m fine with it the way it is, but if it was raised a bit, I’d still join in.
· It is perfect. I felt like I definitely got my money’s worth out of league. I would be willing to pay more for a bigger and better league or if costs went up, but I might start to hesitate if it was much more than $30.
· Dues are fine. I wouldn’t mind if they were higher but some likely would.

If it ain’t broke, no reason to fix it.

9. We currently use the coinball website, email, facebook, and text messaging for distribution of information. How can we improve this?

· By reducing the number of ways you contact the league. texting/e-mail is just fine.
· Facebook is too clunky, but seems to be the leader in easy info gathering. Coinball just seems to be gathering dust. Need to hear from the new members on this one…
· I think its great.
· Communication via texting is great. I feel the tasty humans site should be updated more frequently and be the go-to place for info. Results and schedules seemed to fall behind this season. Give it to a guy that’s always in town (NIQ seems to obsess over the numbers).
· I think the above methods are suitable

10. Are there any changes to the current rules that you would like us to consider?

· Standard start games only- no games in spanish, super games etc. Nothing that would be not allowed at a PAPA game start should be allowed in league. That should mean that the first player should only have the option of pressing the start button before game play starts. Also, have some system in place so finals can start at the listed time, rather than 1 hour later. Perhaps late calls should NOT be allowed for finals.
· I think it would be interesting to have a season where the games are randomly assigned instead of people picking which game they want to play.
· Are the rule sheets on the ‘new’ coinball site? I am guessing that half of the members do not know the rules. I think the rules are fine. Is there a rule about not rounding up scores in data collection? Might wanna add that one.
· Maybe a penalty for missing a week if it isn’t made up.
· Five player groups seem unfair
· We should use the groupings of 1,8,9,16; 2, 7, 10, 15; 3, 6, 11, 14; 4, 5, 12, 13 for finals. It’s mathematically correct to do it this way and rewards higher qualifiers better. Also, I feel you should have to play at least half of the weeks to qualify for finals (keeps a ringer from playing one week, then showing up at finals and winning C). Also, make previous winners move up a division (i.e. LEE won B….require him to qualify for A next season otherwise he doesn’t play in finals (rather than bumping someone down that did). Also, no repeat winners on the game drawing.
· Eliminate the make-up week

Starting finals on time is almost impossible due to the fact that groups need redone when someone does not show. We can only make the sheets and start play after we are sure everyone is there. The rules will go up on the site once we have a better site in place. The finals groupings were based off how PAPA does it, but I wouldn’t have an argument with what was suggested. And while I have no problem with 5 player groups, I still think the scoring should be 4-3-2-1-0.

11. Anything else you would like to add?
· Thanks for your work
· I enjoy the league and I like the way it is run. You guys do a great job.
· Thanks for being awesome. PPL Rules.
· Thanks for taking the time to do this.
· Keep up the good work. My first PPL season was a blast. Looking forward to the next one.
· League officials should show up before the scheduled start time to keep things moving. Several weeks the official was late and/or indifferent about timing. Perhaps the duties of the officials should be rotated to other members from time to time. And lastly…..cash prizes instead of checks….
· Keep up the good work!
· Thanks again.
· I’m not for increasing our fees but we need to cap how much money is “saved” between seasons. If we get a used machine to raffle at a good price and we have enough to cover the party/finals then we need to consider raffling off another machine or more prizes. I can see saving $500 from one season to add to the next so that we can raffle a $1000 game and still cover the party costs but even holding that much can cause temptation and/or be traumatic to the league if lost. The PPL has built up to 60 some players in the 4 years we have been operating and I’d hate to see the group feel cheated and we loose numbers or interest again. I trust our officials but human nature has not changed since Adam and Eve (Biblical, not the porn site) and I think planning how to handle our growth in advance of it is prudent.
· It seems like we’ve had to scramble and add a bunch of public locations the last couple of seasons, you may want to poll the owners of the private collections and ask what is keeping them from offering up their homes for league play. Is it too quick of a turnaround with three seasons a year, is it the fear of unknown members, or is it just not the availability of a Friday night?
· I think a sunday league would be GREAT! it is very difficult for me to make it as often as I would like

You are all welcome. We use checks as they provide documentation of league payments. I think we have been doing a decent job of keeping the league abreast on how the money has been spent.

The only thing that separated them was 1 point. But that 1 point was the difference in the paths that Brett Berkman & Lee Klevins had to embark on Saturday.

In the C Division, the 4 finalists (Mish Paul, Jake Kolojajchick, Rob Seanor, and Scott Stephens) went into the final game with a chance to win the championship after battling on Sea Witch and Spiderman. Scott was able to take the final game of Medieval Madness and claim the C title, with Jake 2nd, Rob 3rd, and Mish 4th.

Lee started the B Division finals as the top seed, and he rode that advantage to win the B Division title in a final round with Ray Bright (2nd), Nick Jaquay (3rd), and Jason Dickey (4th).

Unlike Lee, Brett entered the A finals as the 16 seed. But he played lights out all day, and reached the finals against Jon Replogle, Al Thomka, and Joe Scaletta. Williams Indiana Jones was the first game of the finals, and Jon claimed the 4 points, with Brett 2nd, Joe 3rd, and Al 4th. Play moved to Sea Witch, a very popular choice of the players on the day. But the Witch was very unkind to both Joe & Brett. Al took the 4 points with the win, and Jon inched very close to the title with a 2nd place. Brett claimed the 3rd place point over Joe. The players moved to Indianapolis 500 to decide the A title. JON never got going in the game and finished 4th. Brett jumped out to the lead, but both Al & Joe were having good games. Al was able to get triple scoring and start multiball. But the timer ticked off its last seconds before multiball started, and Al was unable to catch Brett. Brett padded his lead and left everything to the man that was already eliminated. If Joe could catch Brett, Jon would be champion and a three way playoff for 2nd would be held. But Joe’s best effort came up short. Joe finished 4th, Al 3rd, and Jon 2nd.

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Pinball League Season 12 champion – the first 16 seed to claim the title – Brett Berkman.

The Pinsanity tournament was held on October 15th, 2011 at the Slovak Club of Parks Township. In the A Division, Pete Hendricks fought through two of the top ranked players in the Pittsburgh (Al Thomka and Mahesh Murthy) to capture to A division championship.

In the B division, Doug Polka defeated Priyanka Kochhar in the finals to take home the trophy.

The $10 high score challenge on Iron Man was not met, so at the next tournament the prize will be $20.

Standings for Season 2 of the Slovak Club Tournaments

1. Mahesh Murthy 97

2. Pete Hendricks 92.5

3. Al Thomka 82

4. Doug Polka 76.5

5. Al Trezza 74

6. Nick Jaquay 67

7. Tyler Sutton 67

8. Brian Flizanes 65

9. Mark Shaner 60

10. Priyanka Kochhar 52.5

11. Kyle Williams 49

12. Virginia Hendricks 44

13. Larry West 44

14. Joe Mowers 40

15. Todd Williams 40

16. Jack Wunschel 37

17. Ross Wilson 36

By playing in 4 Slovak Club tournaments you qualify for the Slovak Club Pinball Championship. It is an invite only tournament, free to enter with about $200 in cash and prizes awarded.

SATURDAY, October 15 2011
Slovak Club in Parks twp.
1214 Lincoln St
North Vandergrift PA 15690

Doors open at 3 PM.
Qualifying begins at 4:00 PM and last entry is sold at 8:15 PM.
You will select 3 games from a bank of 6. Scoring will be done in PAPA format for qualifying.

You may enter as many times as you like. A or B division entries cost $5. There will be 100% payout on all entry fees.
The top 4 players in A division and the top 7 players in B division make the playoffs. Playoffs will be conducted as one on one matches, best of 3. The highest seed will play the lowest seed in each round. High seed gets first pick of game or order and then the loser of the previous game gets choice of game or order.
A division is for advanced players and B division is for intermediate players.

The tournament directors, at their discretion, may place any player in a higher division as well.

In addition to the main tournament there will be Bump N Win tournaments as well as a High Score Challenge to compete in.

If you have any questions please contact pittsburgh.pinball@gmail.com

Orbitor 1 was a unique game produced by Stern in 1982. It features a curving playfield that makes the ball do interesting and unexpected things. It probably was a bad idea because it ended up being the last pinball machine produced by Stern before they went bankrupt in 1985.

The Pittsburgh Pinball League has grown from a league of 10 players to a league of 50+ in very short order. As part of an effort to help everyone get to know the players, this is the first in a monthly series.

The September 2011 player of the month is Cryss Stephens (CDS)

What do you do for a living?

I am the photographer and head of QC at Little Earth. Basically, I take pictures of stuff and put them online, and when we get shipments in of products, I go through the boxes to make sure our vendors made them pretty.

How did you get into pinball?

I got into pinball while playing with my dad, SAS, years ago. I remember walking into Pocket Change, an arcade in Ross Park mall years ago and playing Judge Dredd’s super game. I didnt know what I was doing, but I knew that having more than one ball out at a time was awesome.

What is your favorite individual pinball moment?

Fav moment would have to be the first time I won the Pittsburgh Pinball League. I won it while it was at ALT’s house, and played very well to earn it. It was quite the rush!

Do you own any machines? Which ones?

Yes, I own one. It’s an X’s and O’s. It’s a simple table, but its totally a shooter’s game. Its great practice for taking your time to plan shots, and increases accuracy and nudging abilities.

 
What is your favorite pinball table?

Favorite pin has to be Twilight Zone. I love the difficulty of the machine, and reaching the wizard mode “Lost in the Zone” (LITZ) is both difficult and rewarding. And once you get there, its enjoyable to get there again, and again, and again…

 
Least favorite?

Least has to be Big Suck Hunter. I actually enjoyed playing the shooting game prior to playing pinball, but the callouts are just annoying and the layout always feels uncomfortable. It’s actually a shame, because I don’t mind the rules of the game, but I guess it’s more of a personal issue with the, in my opinion, stupid callouts from Pappy’s Porch. Ugh!

What would you say to those thinking about joining the Pittsburgh Pinball League?

I’d say Whats there to think about? Its not demanding, and its fun. The people are the gem of the league, and we keep growing. Always different week in and week out!

So the next time you see Cryss out playing pinball, make sure you challenge him to a game!