My Start with Pinball

From and Getting Started:

Originally from Miami, FL. Grew up as a Nintendo kid, playing at the Fun n Games arcades at the mall and the arcade in the Don Carter Bowling Center that used to be in Kendal, FL. While I remember the pinball machines in the arcade my whole focus was devoted to the arcade games of the late 80's and early 90's.

When it came to pinball i never understood how the game was supposed to be played until i got the Williams Pinball Arcade Collection from Farsight Games on my Xbox 360. I got the game on a whim and loved the way the game taught me the rules of the tables and eased you into play. Along with Zen Pinball I started to get more and more interested in the games, but soon came to a point of having to move out of South Florida and to Orlando, FL.

The Movie and the Club

After moving to Orlando I came across the pinball doc "Special When Lit" for the first time and was surprised to find that there were still places to play and groups all around the country.

Being new to the area and not knowing to many people I searched out pinball in Central Florida. I came across what felt like an old forum for Florida Gamers, but soon found that there were several groups around the state. The closest one to me was the POPS group, which met monthly at the time at collectors houses to play and have tournaments. Luckily the group was very inviting to me and the meet ups soon became somethign that I would look forward to each month.

The Lounge Opens and League Starts

In early 2015 I found out about a local spot which would be turned into a pinball only arcade. Up until that time there were two main places to play arcade games in Orlando, Player One and BART. But this was going to be completly dedicated to pinball and I couldn't wait for it to open. So in May 2015 The Pinball Lounge finally openned in Oviedo, FL.

Kurt and Ed, the guys that openned the place, did a great job and many POPS members came to the openning. Since then a weekly league has begun which I have begun to help with and the lounge itself has kept a good group of people playing each week.

2016 and Becoming a Tournament Player

Near the end of 2015 I dipped my toe into tournament play. The first at Free Play Florida and then a Year End Florida State Tourney at the Lounge. While I did not have the funds at the time to really get into it, I will have much more time in 2016 to go around and play in different areas of the state, so I am looking forward to playing in more tourneys and possibly going out of state to check out a few other conventions if I am able to.