is this all you are interested in? If you really JUST want to play great playing pins then without question the only place to visit is VFW.

As much as I have issue with Clay for the whole Predator BS, the guy has the nicest playing collection of diverse pins anywhere.

VFW is well worth the visit to play lots of games. It does get super packed on the good stuff (despite the limited ticket sales, most people are not there for the older games so there are lines for the popular games), but if you like oddballs and older games then you can play a ton in short order.

If you want more than just playing, then MGC is the best show for pure entertainment value/ # of games /social aspect. Also with the new venue I think they will have more space than any other show out there and should not be elbows and butts. Excited to have it in a real city now also with lots of easily accessible stuff outside of the actual show.

TPF is also a very fun show. Huge space, lots of games, fun people, and it seems to be taking over as the announcment show also. It is in the middle of nowhere so outside of the show there is not much to do.

unfortunately if he does not want to compete then ReplayFx is a bad show to go to.

The vast majority of games are used in the big tournament. After the main tournament they open up a good chunk of games to the general public (during finals) but IME they pretty much stopped maintaining them for the weekend by then so lots of broken down and stuff that had already been put through the paces of long days of tournament play. ReplayFX has a huge list of games but what is open to the general public and what is actually worth playing by the time it is open to the public is far fewer unfortunately.

I think Replay also shows how moving games can be hard on them. This sames games when at the old PAPA facility all played extremely well.

I think it is always important for people to realize that while VFW has an amazing total count of games, over 50% are likely not going to appeal to the majority of pinheads (nothing wrong with that). I mention it because I see the constant hype of the numbers but have also witnessed first hand the people that walk alway saying 1 day is enough due to so many of the games not being what they are in to (and the popular ones having a line to play).

Lots of EMs and oddballs, while enjoyed by me, are not considered fun by much of the more casual pin playing population.

In short, dont oversell the VFW show. It already sells out every year anyway, so I see no reason to oversell as it just leads to false expecatations.

I can say after being to expo for mutiple years, it is definately not worth the cost to travel to if flying. It is a very expensive show to attend (just hotel and show/seminar tickets).

Sorry Mike but hard reality is Expo is way down the list in overall # of games and diversity of games to play. It is NOT the show to attend for someone looking to play games.

It is fun for the epxerience, but the OP is asking about shows where he can play lots of games.