Quoted from Whysnow:in some cases, yes. We have events where free really does mean 100% free.
in most cases, the majority of WI events you could get by with spending under $5 (coin drop and a cheap beer if that is your thing) and in that case there are some people that dont have the funds and I have personally paid for their games so it was still free.
I don't understand how the Hell this does any good for anybody.
Apparently in Wisconsin (the center of the competitive pinball universe), the scene subsists mostly upon pointless tournaments with zero stakes, and operator/locations making 5 bucks per person (gross/before expenses) for these events. Seems like for most of them these places would have "made" more money if they didn't even bother opening that day.
The majority of the crying in this thread centers around the "this isn't good for pinball!" argument. Well that's all well and good, but pinball needs to learn what Vegas figured out decades ago - attracting cheapskates isn't good for business.
We are professionals here folks! Let's turn up the volume a little!