Dude, you're slacking. Where's the countdown?

Wow, the rate went up a lot and asking for a non-refundable deposit. Guess I'll wait till we see the blocks from the other hotels and will stay there next year. I like the Embassy but the room was nothing special this year. Had to be moved due to a non-working AC just to go to another room that didn't work well either

Kind of disappointing as TPF is getting pretty pricey to attend now. Still worth it but getting close to that point.

I have to be honest, that I fully thought they may have delayed announcement of TPF 2018 and would have thought about another location. From the short period of time I was volunteering this year I saw a lot of things the Hotel/Convention center were majorly slacking on.

Damn, you made me look at my receipt for this year. 3 days for $450 So the price increase isn't as much as I thought but dang this is getting expensive.

Can you get a scan of the plastic in questions? I'll do my best to redraw it in PS and we could potentially have the same company that will be printing the Batman DE playfields print the image on some lexan or we can reverse print it on a water slide if it's a small plastic. It wont be perfect but is better than nothing.

Quiddity knocks it out of the park with the response to Grapevine. While I 100% agree I liked that location (not the hotel but actual location) better it was just WAY to small for TPF.

I'm seeing $150 a night for the Embassy. Thought it was supposed to be $140. Anyone confirm what the rate should be?

Suggestion for next year.

Any chance we can get a side tournament added next year and also, for final brackets. I really think they should add the limitation that you can only pick a game once. Adds to the strategy and would do away with the same games being played over and over and over and over and over.... I really like the strategy it adds too.

Maybe make the side tournament a pump in dump thing with the majority of the funds being paid out to those that completed in that format. May get a few more people into tournament play since it's less financial output upfront. Maybe just a bank of 3 or 4 games since it's a side tournament.

That's a tough one as someone has every right to show up at noon on Sat and put in just 8 games and qualify if they are capable of doing that. Not everyone can get there on Friday and it actually felt like this year a lot of players did just play on Sat. I get there early and do most of my playing Friday so i don't have to sit in the long lines on sat though. Good point though but not sure how they can accommodate it.

Agree 100%. You register for the ticket to play so they know whom should be playing so not even sure how that could have occurred unless they were updating players. If someone wants to back out then it should go to the waiting list so that's a real good suggestion IMHO.

Such a shame that people in this hobby are always trying to take a buck out of their fellow hobbyist pocket.

I'm of the opinion that if their is a "wait list" that no transfers should be allowed. Just a refund to the original buyer and the next person on the wait list gets the spot. You should be able to give to a friend but since their really is no way to police that and prevent exploit then that really should be the policy (no transfers).

It is a good thing that that's the only issue from the tournament now. Just goes to show just how good of a Job Ken and Colin have done getting it on track!

Still missing the fish hook but it's getting closer to acceptable.

on second thought. Going to keep my opinion on that matter out of this thread to hopefully not derail it more.

Yuppers. It's a clear path for us to follow.

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That just about sums it up but you rambled. I would just say one word - "disappointed"

With all due respect, can we eliminate the Untied Airlines stuff from the thread and maybe just keep that to the basement?

FYI. United Airlines did not beat the guy up. The security/police did (if you call it beat up anyways) as they were removing an unwilling person from an airplane. After 2 officers negotiated with him to get him to leave what do we really expect to happen next? At some point force is used (in this case excessive) but still necessary. The policy that caused it all is beyond stupid (and needs to be blown up) but responsibilities of actions is getting mixed up but what else do we expect with the media these days.

P.S.S. - Does everyone know they are supporting a convicted felon whom has a VERY sketchy past? As much as I hate to say it, but I will, to me Karma just finally caught up to that SOB.

How is that racist at all. You are putting some big words in my mouth that I did not use. So are you blind enough to not know the difference between what happened and whom should take ownership of what occurred? The airlines should take responsibility for the policy and security/police should take responsibility for how he was handled. That is not the case in nearly all the media broadcast or people's attempts to be funny with memes.

And YES I still feel karma got his ass. It's funny though how everything is racist when people disagree with someones stance and the person in question is not white. Get over yourself. Zero about race at all (you are the one being racist by bringing race into a conversation that was not about race).

I don't appreciate being called a Racist when you have no Fing clue. And lastly, no I did not post the past of the officers involved because none of them a CONVICTED FELONS. If they were, I would say the same. I also did not post all the rest of this guys past that is VERY sketchy. Do your own research if you want to know more.

Oh, and since you can't read well. I'll state it again.

I DO NOT agree with the policy that cause the situation in the first place. Nor do I agree with the amount of forced used on the guy. Which i thought was pretty clear in my post.

last I will say of this. What I said was borderline prejudice but not even remotely close to racist.

I will openly admit that I am prejudice to those whom have dealt drugs and participated in sex crimes in the past. I don't care if you did pay your debt which is very debatable for this guy based off his sentence (probation for 96 counts).

True that. Lots of good eats around the hotel. Next year I think I'm staying clear of the food trucks though. Got an unlucky batch from the one serving burgers with eggs on it this year Maybe Karma finally caught up to me though.

Glad I wasn't the only one. I'll keep looking throughout the day.

Only 72 now. Going fast.

Shoot, they made me pay in full in advance. Good news is I forgot about that money being spent already so the show feels less expensive now

He said wife so I'm betting she's a Fixer Upper fan and wants to visit the Magnolia store. Some people also go to see the Branch Davidian stuff.

Will be honest that their Zoo is pretty nice as well but I'm still not leaving Dallas for Waco...

Not yet. Pretty sure they are still trying to find a good mix of pins that can be there early (thursday).

Glad to hear you got it sold. Guessing that means it's GOTG time for you!

METLE is ready! Rebuilt flippers, rubbers, all new sleeves in everything, full pf strip for cleaning and waxing. About 10 hours of work but I want it perfect for the tournament.

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Probably the same or worse (as the show keeps getting more popular). I actually use the peak hours to seek out some of the less popular titles. Generally no lines, which is a plus, and I've found some pretty fun games that way that I would have never played on purpose if things were slower.

IMHO, Sat afternoon is NOT the time to play the new modern games at MARCO, FUN, CT, etc as it's not uncommon to have 10-15 people waiting. I just don't find any games worth waiting 45mins+ for. I save those games for Sunday as that's the slower day.

Great to hear. Glad it's open to everyone. Great idea and move for those that made that dicision.

Speaking of glass, I may be tempted to put some or sterns version of invisi glass on my Met if any vendors are bringing any at a decent price.

Fyi, those bringing games, Harbor Freight has their movers blankets on sale for 5 bucks.

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They are separate games. The list they posted was of all 20 games. I don't believe they have specified which are for wizards or classics yet though. You can obviously eliminate the modern games but from the rest of this list I'd be prepared for all of them until they announce which is for which group.

I smell dollar games! I challenge you to one for sure.

Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to play it but I do hope that the cat mod is removed for the tournament

Ping snailman. He is the TD. My understanding is that he will contact you when a spot opens up.

Officially noon. Should be able to load in earlier but I'm not sure if they will be ready to inventory games.

"Show set-up officially begins at noon on Thursday, March 15th until 11pm. You may arrive earlier, but we will still be setting up the electrical and drapery so you may just be sitting around waiting. The ballroom will re-open for continued set-up on Friday morning at 7 am, March 16th.

We encourage early arrival for load-in and set-up. Friday morning is good; Thursday is better."

Tournament is being steamed. Quite a few A listers coming this year which shows the prestige the show and tournament are getting now. I'm excited to get to see Robert, Gagno, Karl D, Bowen K, Steven B, Johnny M, etc compete in person. I left Colin out on purpose of that list as I've seen enough of him playing. He keeps kicking my butt all the time so I'm used to watching him play...

Here is the link to the standings which also shows a link to the twitch stream - https://www.neverdrains.com/tpf2018/playerIndex.php

Here are the top 10 players coming this year. Pretty stacked so should be exciting to watch! Yes, I was bored at work and pulled all the players and their rankings to see whom was coming.

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Couple reasons IMHO

- on stern circuit so it's worth good points
- last 2 years went smooth for a pinball tournament.
- pretty good payout at 2 grand for first with 700 for 4th. Payouts for top 16.
- addition of classics tournament
- with Colin' s playing success and him being TD there's probable more confidence in the tournament as well.

Made it to Dallas. I know how much y'all like food pics so here you go. No jealousy though for my fancy lunch

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+1 on this. Pinball and the festival is so popular now that this huge space is cramped tighter than a can of sardines now on Sat. That's great for pinball but it's feeling that TPF is close to (if not already) outgrown it's current location. It's a nice venue but I found it tough to even walk through most of the isles.

Not sure of a solution but I think the cramped quarters was the only negative. Overall another great show!

Think that was just Friday's attendance. Sat was a bit busier than that!