5 Days of Competitive Pinball in a Row

 Twin Cities, MN

Pinball doesn't get old...

Making the Tournament Rounds

Last week I played competitive pinball for 5 days straight, well 6 if you count the recreational but still somewhat competitive league.  

It started at LITT for our Tuesday night league.  I used the evening to brush up on my rules and practice shots.  I wasn't gunning for a win that night, because the league I am in is just for fun.  

I even had time for a beer and we had some happy hour food at LITT, which is fantastic.

My friend Brendon was in my group on Tuesday so that was fun.  Here he is putting up a good score on John Wick.

On Wednesday I headed out to Blaine, MN to play at Blainbrook Bowl.  This tournament is packed with talent and I am still learning all of the tables there so my expectations where tempered.  I still did well.  I came in 6th out of 20.  I played really well but then it kind of fell apart on my last game.  If I had done better in my last round I would have come in 4th, which would have exceeded my expectations.  I will keep playing this one and eventually I won't be dead money.

Blainbrook is HUGE.  They have a ton of bowling lanes, a giant bar in back that people hang out in, pool tables, ticket redemption games, and a good number of well maintained pinball tables.

The carpet is also legit!

They have a cool wooden sign in the pinball area too.

Here I am waiting for my turn on Dr. Who.

On Thursday Donna and I drove out to Beautiful Savage, MN.  On the way we stopped by a Replay Sports store so she could trade in her old ice skates for new, better fitting ice skates.  She found what she was looking for and then we continued on to Northstar Pinball Collective.  NPC is at least partially owned by Luke Nahorniak, #1 in the state and #9 in the world.  It's full of great players and I am still learning the tables here too.  I ended up 13th out of 21.  It isn't a great showing, but I have nothing but future potential here so that is good.  I will continue to get out there a couple times a month and will eventually know the tables better and feel more comfortable there.  Being comfortable at a place and on a specific table is so important in my opinion. 

Donna bought figure states but the used hockey skate rack was impressive, so I took a photo of that.

We got to NPC at opening and had the place to ourselves for a bit.  I got to play 3 or so tables I have never played before.  I also got to get used to specific copies of these tables here.

They stream their tournaments on Twitch.  They only streamed 2 of my rounds and I ended up getting strikes in both of those.  You can what them here if you want.  My first round was terrible and is at about the 11 minute mark and my 2nd round shown was better and starts at around the 1h 35m mark.

I got this great shot of Donna using her cool sweater to blend into the table she was playing.  

On Friday I headed back to Bad Penny in St. Paul.  I am very comfortable here.  I came in 1st in early January and 3rd just last week so my confidence was high.

But before the tournament, Donna and I went to Lake of the Isles skate rink and Donna tried out her new skates.

Early on Donna was pretty cautious due to the fact that she was on new skates and had never skated here.  Shortly after this photo she was skating around like a natural.

Bad penny was hopping with 27 players.  I played great throughout the evening.

I was tied for 1st going into the last round.  If I won my round I would win it and if I finished 2nd, I would be 2nd overall.  I didn't do the math for 3rd or 4th place.  It would have been more complex.

I ended up taking 1st for the 2nd time this year (you can read about the 1st here if you want).  A fantastic result.  The round on Elvira was exciting.  I had 2 really bad balls and did it all on my 3rd ball.  I was player 4 so as soon as I was in the lead I could stop playing.  Winning is fun!

On Saturday I headed to 56  Brewing for their monthly tournament.  44 players showed up and 16 players would advance to the finals.  I played great and made the finals but then it all kind of fell apart.  I was on modern tables and about 1/3 of the field were all top of state qualifiers.  I ended up coming in 13th, which is okay, but I could have done better.  I just need to continue to make finals, put myself in a good spot and then play well in that spot.  

This is Ember waiting for Elizabeth to finish her long ball on Jurassic Park.

On Sunday I played in the LITT monthly tournament.  I didn't play well and didn't make the finals but a few of my friends made the finals and one of my friends won it all.  I hope to play better next month.  It's a huge tournament and is a lot of fun.  I guess I didn't take any photos.

That's it for today.  It was a great week of Pinball.  If you missed, Embracing the Cold Embrace of Winter, check it out.  We are enjoying winter here.

Embracing the Cold Embrace of Winter

 Minneapolis, MN

6 Degree, Feels Like -12 Degree Selfie

Living The Cold Life

Our Minnesota winter is going well.  Temperatures have gotten cold but it has mostly been dry so we have only had 2 real snows.  We do get surprise dustings of snow and a Factory Created Snow (read about that here). For the past 20 years or so, I have wanted to experience cold in a place that makes cold livable.  I often talked about spending a winter in Montreal so part of the appeal of living in Minneapolis was to experience The Cold.  I feel like we are doing a pretty good job and we have gotten to experience some pretty low temperatures.  We also really appreciate being connected to The Skyway so we don't have to experience the cold when we don't want to.  We can get to bars, restaurants, and go grocery shopping at Target without ever having to go outside.  Historically, January 17th is the peak of cold here so, if history repeats itself this year, temps are on the upward trend.  Days are already starting to get noticeably longer as well.

Kind people knit warm wear for our unhoused population that somehow manages during these harsh winters.

Our busses and transit run reliably in the snow.

There was a tattoo convention in the hotel behind our apartment and someone took their best attempt at spelling Tattoo.

There was also an attempt at the use of you're.

People are required to keep the sidewalks clear and some fail at it spectacularly, while others do a great job.

The Minneapolis skyline is really pretty at night, especially when it is foggy.

Donna made us a Minnesota Hot Dish to keep us fueled up for winter.

We also purchased stylish balaclavas.

Francis keeps warm in is fluffy blanket

Both my eyebrows and my glasses frosted up walking to play pinball at LITT the other night.

We try to stay in when it gets this cold.  We don't want to mess around with frostbite.

We even have a saying here that may or may not be borrowed from some Scandinavian country, "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing".  

That's it for today.  If you missed, Pinball Tournament Winner Winner #1, check it out.  I won a local pinball tournament.

Pinball Tournament Winner Winner #1!

 St. Paul, MN

I took a selfie with some pinball tables tonight.

Bad Penny Weekly Tournament

Tonight I went to Bad Penny in St. Paul to play in their weekly tournament.  I have been practicing at home and my ball control skills are noticeably better so in my mind I set a goal to win a tournament this year and to play more tournaments.  Tonight was the night!  I played pretty well for 8 rounds and was able to pull off the win.  I placed 1st out of 24 players.  Pinball tournaments, in general, contain a fair amount of luck.  I was matched with the right players on the right tables.  The tournament went from 7 to 10pm with as many rounds as fit in that time frame.  You play 1 table per round with 4, or sometimes 3, players per round.  Each group in each round gets points, 7 for first, 5 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, and 1 for 4th so you really don't want a 4th place.

Round 1 I finished 3rd on Pharaoh for 3 points.

Round 2 I finished 1st on Metallica Remastered for the full 7 points.

I was player 1.  Players 2, 3, and 4 still had a ball to play but they didn't catch me.

Round 3 I finished 2nd for 5 points on Sinbad, a classic table.

On round 4 I took 2nd place on Jurassic Park.  This is one of my weakest games so I was very very happy with 2nd.  I really need to practice this game more or maybe even buy one.

Round 5 was on Big Guns and I took 2nd.  At this point I was bubbling up to the top of the field and as you move up you have to play the players at the top that are having a good night.

Round 6 was another 2nd on Theater of Magic.  At this point I was in the top 6 or so.

Round 7 was a very good draw for me.  I was on Pharaoh again with some of the top players in the state.  I have a much better chance at placing well on Pharaoh than I do on modern game like Venom.  I had a clutch game and placed 2nd and this put me in 1st place at about 20 minutes to 10pm.  This meant there would be 1 more round.  I would be matched with the top players and needed to play well.

Sitting tied for 1st going into what would be the final round.

Play well I did!  I had an amazing ball 2 with 1.5 billion and it carried me to a win which put me in first place outright.  For modern games, Star Wars was a good draw for me.  I am confident on it and some other players, even top players, don't like it.  

When the dust settled, I was in first place.  There was a playoff for 2nd and I was really glad I didn't have to play another game to secure the win.  

I took the mandatory photo of my cash winnings, on the table I won it all on, with the scores in the background as an added bonus.  I was player 3, the player with the biggest score.  :)

It was super fun to play and even more super fun to win.  Since it was the first tournament in the area for the year, I will be the top player in Minnesota, if just for 1 day.  :)

That's it for today.  If you missed, A Not So Silent Night of Player Pianos, check it out.  We watched a silent movie in a guys garage while a piano played itself.