Besides coming to the conclusion that this behavior is odd and unlike him, what else did you glean from the time you met him?

Escher (the number 2 ranked player on earth) also conceded a game (after ball 1) today on f14, to eric stone.

Will he also get a thread?

Easy Levi, nice tournament brother. I think it’s just a question of , why mail it in if you don’t know what will happen?

Believe it or not, but I was rooting for you. I want you to win something, bro.

You are tired and want to go home? You’ve just had enough?

I’ve conceded a game in a tournament before. I didn’t know I was disrespecting the sport.

I didn’t say anything about disrespect. If you are truly sick of it, make it look good for a minute. This kind of thing isn’t tolerated in any other sport or “activity .” You show your opponent and the crowd respect by trying, even if half hearted. Tennis, Chess, Darts, whatever, that wouldn’t happen.

If you listen to Eric and Cayle after the tourney both of them said it’s more out of respect when that is done…..they did not see it as a sign of disrespect. People are making a big deal out of nothing.

There some times you know you are beat…it didn’t make any sense for Escher to waste energy/effort when it may be better to focus on another game. These big tournaments are grueling…..they mentally drain you.

Let it go….

Is it disrespectful to rage tilt out when you know you don’t have a shot in hell and keep bricking the same shot? Because that’s my jam…

I didnt see it, but reading this I could also see this as a sign of respect. Like hey good game, you got me today, respect, move on. Almost like conceding a hole in golf in a skins game

Pinball is a different “sport” if you want to call it that. It has completely different rules…..In what other sport can a player “PICK” their game? You can’t compare it the same way to other sports. Respect can be shown in different ways.

Now…a solution if IFPA cares to address this is to make it illegal for players to turn a game off and “require” players to plunge all balls…that would nip this in the bud and end future discussion of this issue except you’ve may have an occasional plunge hit a switch and drain (not try). Just accept that sometimes when you are you beat you know it. It happens.

You get it.

Did he turn around and shake winners hand?
If so, then it's done. Your beat.

Big whoop

For what purpose...whats the fucking point?

Yeah anybody who thinks IFPA would bother with this dog and pony show nonsense doesn’t know the IFPA very well.

So we don’t have people trying to make something out of nothing. That’s all it may prevent…but people will make a fuss about something else and next thing ya know we will have a doping or sign stealing scandal LOL!

Sometimes it’s just over.

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Well thats the thing; we don't.

Please keep in mind that Pinball Players are Professional Athletes. I read it here on pinside.....

On a brighter note..Great tourney!!! Some crazy good pinball was played and clinics were held on some of the games by the best of the best.

Your right…WE don’t but maybe the OP has an issue with it as he brought it up for discussion. The chat on the stream definitely thought it was an issue.

And the chats on pinball streams are always the voice of reason and sanity… everyone knows that!

Rambo would beg to differ…

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I’m glad people are talking about a tournament.

It’s a little unfortunate It always takes something that offends people or someone getting a drink thrown in their face, but maybe that can change if more people watch and enjoy.

Enjoyed your commentary….it’s always good to hear from someone that was in the moment…and knows the rules of games to give a little play by play of what is going on or what options a player has. Appreciate your time and I know you had to be tired as well. That just looked grueling watching from the sidelines.

Ain’t that the truth.

Whats the discussion? He felt more energy could be used later and didn't play the ball. Or he had to shit. Or he had his mom on his mind. Speaking of moms....

My wife & I had to go to her parents house for a make up Mothers' Day that was postponed early this month (UFF!).
So this morning I F&*^ed her Ti$@W or "Tit-^&%*ed" her as the kids say.
NOW, obviously not really that exciting, it's been done many many times but it's been awHile; and super fun! But anyway...later that night my daughter hit the right TWD ramp and it was cool...I had to walk away from my game to see it!

EDIT: So...as you can see; things come up.

I have no idea what’s what here, but this is a Pinside HOF worthy post. Cheers!

Its simple really..Happy Mother's Day!

[Removed]

NOW, if you'll excuse me I'm going to play some AIQ. Which is like SOOO awesome after dipping it under 8° (TWSS!)

Wait ... Keith Elwin plays pinball competitively too?!

SHUT the back door!

I can’t wait to hear what happens on Father’s Day.

Yes, conceding on Ball 3 of your final game, with your World Championship tournament life on the line, is an absurd thing to do.
I'm not Keith Elwin, I have no 11 major championships under my belt. None of us know what his real intentions were in conceding.

Was I confused/shocked? Absolutely.

Did I have a problem with Keith's decision? No.

The biggest thing that made me disappointed was not Keith conceding, but rather it was those chat members that just downright condemned Keith for his decision. "Keith lost cool points," "Keith lost GOAT status" etc. Seeing those that praise Keith as the greatest player ever turn around and bash him for conceding to Escher made me sick. Yes, it's a sport. Yes, he may have come back on ball 3. Who knows?

"But Dalton, Escher conceded on F14 against Eric!"

Number one, Escher was down by an astronomically large deficit. Much more than Keith was on Dialed In. Number two, Escher had games left to play. Not to mention he just fought 9 games against Keith before he got to Eric. Escher was probably running on empty at that point, needing to save all the energy he had left. Tournament players can tell you that your energy will be sapped in long tournaments like this. Maybe it was Adam who told Escher to concede. Once again, who knows?

In the end, I view his concession as a sign of respect towards Escher, a young worthy opponent who fought tooth and nail. Maybe he wanted to see Escher go on and win another major. (It ain't like Keith has 11 of them already lol) Last I checked, conceding games is not illegal.

Overall, people are blowing this way out of proportion and need to just let it go. It's all water under the bridge at this point. I honestly feel bad for Keith, who is going to receive bombardments of flak for this.

Oh and some Ti&*^ing. I mean I hope.

This literally has nothing to do with Tit^#*#ing.
Maybe...the IFPA should limit Pinside posts to stuff that involves Tits. And um...well you know.

Simpletons who seek perfection in others will always find a way to be disappointed no matter what.

I highly doubt he's gonna lose any sleep over this nonsense.

Can't understate the physical and mental drain. Counting the open tournaments, they played 8 days of pinball at "The Asylum". Players, staff, and volunteers were likely suffering, so no shame in keeping things moving.

Pre-IFPA17 Tournaments:
22-23: Sunday-Monday, 6th Annual Match-Play
24: Tuesday, 6th Annual Pin-Golf
25: Wednesday, The Asylum’s International Elite Three Strikes Pinball Tournament
26: Thursday, IFPA17 Epstein Cup
27-29: Friday-Sunday, IFPA17 World Pinball Championships

Well that's why Keith is as cool as the other side of the pillow! He's authentic, doesn't care what you think and he sure doesn't let something/anything like that bother him so..

When did pinball become a sport?? Lol.
That’s silly.

that's why any pro worth his salt is packing Depends (TM).

i was 1 of the observers of almost like the whole pinball stream yesterday, and boy i enjoyed the stream a lot, lots of great pinball play
and yes game 9 between Escher and Keith, had a very surprising ending, Escher had a great last ball, keith had a little climb to make (200K to 1M)
but it wasnt like climbing the Mount Everest on this,

even chatter Rayday (Raymond Davidson) his Co worker at Stern had to make a comment about Keith Conceding, he didnt get that aswell -

(he said if Escher made like 14Million on Dialed In , it would have been more understanding to do so, and i agree to that comment)

a lot of people were very surprised by his action to just plunge off and leave the stage.

especially when u take into account that his Tournament Life was at stake, if u concede with the knowing u can catch him back with another game, that would have been way different to me, but he plunged his last ball to his tournament death, that is unheard of, and yes many people which backed keith up said stuff like, flight to catch plans etc etc, but keith did not explained why he did that with the commentators, why he didnt wanted to fight for his Tournament Life.

never give up, never surrender applies to pinball aswell i feel. and yes pinball is mentally very exhausting, i know that like no other..

the finals between Daniele Acciari and Johannes ostermeier on the previous IFPA finals on Dracula displays exactly why there is always hope to catch up.. even if it might have been a dead end road, Keith could have tried to win it everybody wanted to see that happen. as we like to see keith play and not throwing the towels in the ropes

Maybe he pulled a hamstring?

See this all the time in Snooker.
It’s a show of respect that there is no point even trying to get loads of Snookers when there is next to no points on the table.

Holy smokes….lol

Maybe he was tired of having to wear a mask still on memorial day weekend 2022

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Maybe he was pissed off and just wanted it to end. I don’t know, but this isn’t normal Elwin behavior. He wasn’t down a completely unreasonable amount.

At least he didn’t put a glass of sprite on the pin and kicked the legs.

A couple months ago he withdrew from a tournament here at District 82 in the middle of it if I'm not mistaken he was in the lead at the time. I really think he's just playing for kicks now and has nothing to prove to anybody, his own beat for sure.

He threw the fight for a back-hander.

Maybe Keith just didn't dig Dialed In? For me, it was a sign of respect. Keith has nothing left to prove as a player.

With all of his work & responsibilities at Stern (as one of today's best pinball designers), it's incredible he still plays at this level!

I watched some of it.

Made me realise how incredibly accurate the top players are.

Eric's accuracy is phenomenal.

I can pull off live catch after live catch, make amazing saves and it all counts for nothing if I miss shot after shot, as a drain is going to be a sure thing!

Frustrating as accuracy is the hardest skill by a mile to improve.

Everything else can be practised and learnt.

Sometimes you gotta know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em…

What if… and bear with me here folks… but is it possible that Escher had kryptonite in his pocket??

This would explain the entire sordid ordeal!