I know any of the 12 states could have been used in your example, but mine was chosen.

With all due respect to Trent and anyone else that qualified in Florida, if someone wants the title, come try to earn it.

Playing here does not guarantee walking away with the title.

We have some decent players here, and some of us don't travel much. For what it's worth, IFPA shows I have a 3-4-2 player vs player record against Trent at tourneys, and in the 5 tourneys in my state, I finished ahead of him 3 out of 5 times.

Again, I think Trent and all of the other out of state qualifiers in our state are awesome.

But, the only sure bet of playing in Florida in February is the warmer weather

That is awesome!

To be fair, the one competitor listed with a home state of NY in the Florida top 16 list spends quite a bit of time down here. In fact, the record shows he has played in 18/24 eligible Florida events. He was not listed in the top 16 in his home state of NY, so playing in Florida makes perfect sense.

He is part of our Florida pinball family as far as I and many of the Florida players are concerned and I don't consider him an "out-of-stater".

Thanks! This year will be interesting for us since he is the reigning state champ

I'd love to earn a SCS trophy to sit next to his, or maybe even he repeats! Either way would be OK with me

In any event, it's a great time for family pinball!

We don't travel much. The trip out to Colorado was awesome and we met some great pinball people and saw some amazing sites. Beautiful area.

If one of us is fortunate enough to represent our state (we have 2 shots!) I am sure a first time trip to PHOF/Vegas will be a treat.

Bingo!

I love the fact that once a year some of the top pinball talent comes down to my state for a circuit event. It is a thrill and honor to play with these guys.

Prize money is great, but our sport allows the opportunity for regular players to play directly against world recognized players, in their own backyard, and that is awesome!

(And every once in a blue moon, you just might not get clobbered *too badly* !)

On one hand, I commend IFPA for even allowing the runner up to represent the state.

However, while this adjusts for situations where the State Champion is unable or unwilling to attend, and gives the next most qualified person of the State tourney a shot, the simple fact is that allowing anyone other than the State Champion to compete at the Nationals is just begging for an asterisk or explanation when listing the State Champions who are competing and their results.

The more one moves down the list, the more awkward it is to explain, and would seemingly invite the potential for some conspiring. Not saying anyone would, but imagine how it might look if a top seeded person is upset by several lower seeded players and the lower players all somehow "could not attend" or conversely if several top seeded players "could not attend" to allow for a Cinderella story to unfold. Those are just a couple of very hypothetical examples that could occur in a bizarre parallel universe.

In short, I agree only one of top 2 placers should be allowed as a representative as already stated in the IFPA rules.

I see that some places already know the potential games. Last year and this year, we in Florida don't have any idea what games are going to be used.

While the game list surprise is interesting, I think all competitors knowing the game list would help people formulate game picking strategies and learn a little about the game ahead of time, which is not necessarily a bad thing-particularly for this caliber of tourney. With so many games out there, nobody can know all of the subtleties of each game.

The practice session is of course helpful, and is a time where many pinball players are scrambling searching for game info and papa videos on their smart phones and tablets. Sometimes knowing what sequence lights a 1000 point spinner on some obscure EM can make a world of difference.

In any case, looking forward to it!

Florida top 4:

1 Brian Dominy
2 Atticus Palmer
3 Dan Coyle
4 Jeff Palmer

Some really tight matches. Awesome day!

Congrats to BCD!

Back to back 1-2 for you and Tim. Awesome!