Last night's Pinball Dudes tournament had more than its share of "twists" and turns. I wanted to make a special announcement about last night's events and how future tournaments will be impacted. Thank you to the faithful! We had 22 players last night, including some surprise visitors and a surprise winner.
First, what was the big twist? We decided to try taking the Top 8 qualifiers instead of the usual Top 4. We felt this would create a better chance at fame for those striving long and hard these last few months. And this created some very exciting closing moments. (Congratulations, Jon Hall, for making his first-ever IFPA playoffs!) Everyone in attendance thought this was a great idea, and I am happy you thought so. But I am sad to say we will not be repeating it due to sheer length, even with shortened qualifying and a brief playoff format. The final ball was plunged at the stroke of midnight - way beyond our stated goal of getting everyone home at a decent hour.
So it's back to Top 4 from now on.Second, we had a couple of late arrivals: Steve Marsh and his friend Adam Cane from New York. (Some of you may remember Adam as the winner of the "4 Strikes Saturday #2" tournament back in May when he dominated, taking only 2 strikes that day.) Well, Adam's plane landed just a little bit late, but he and Steve told us they were rushing straight from the airport to the "Dudes" just to play in the Flip Frenzy. (Wow, that's dedication to the sport!) By the time they arrived we were already into most players' 6th game, and the field was led by a few folks at either 5-0 or 4-1. We usually do not allow anyone to join past 7pm, and these guys were a longshot for the playoffs even when expanding to the Top 8. But they wanted to try, and since Adam said he was on a short "pinball vacation" from up north I let them in. (After all, what crazy person flies around the country just to play pinball?)
Despite incredible odds, 15% less time, zero practice on games he never touched before, and maybe a little jet lag, Adam made the playoffs anyway, going 9-2 and qualifying 6th. (Steve joined him in 5th at 11-4.) Then Adam showed us "how they do it in New York" and won both his playoff rounds in commanding fashion.
Two visits to the Pinball Dudes and two wins for Adam Cane!And if you're wondering, yes, we are going to have a new rule about latecomers. Once the tournament leader has completed his/her 4th game we cannot possibly take any new players, no matter if they arrive by car, plane or rocket ship! And a word to future "latecomer dreamers" out there: if you arrive late, your chances of making the Top 4 may be nearly impossible. Not only would you need to win virtually every game to make up ground, but you would still need enough total victories to perhaps force a 4th-place tiebreaker. Simply put, for most of us mortals it's not going to happen.
Please continue to show up on time so you'll get the most excitement out of your evening and the greatest chance at the playoffs.
We will continue to start all Wednesday night tournaments promptly at 7pm.Your final results are here. See you in a couple of weeks!
Flip Frenzy qualifying:
https://matchplay.events/live/k0xzx/standingsPlayoff games:
https://matchplay.events/live/wnv2z/matches
