i won on it cause i know the skill shot haha. those flippers were junk tho, nearly impossible to get back up to the top. and on the top was only able to make the loop to the apron once. glad ive been lucky enough to play a nice example thanks to Lyons Classic Pinball

Thanks. But I disagree with your assessment on that being the primary element of what differentiates people in Finals banks, and what led to my victory. Time on the specific physical copies of the finals bank pins is certainly helpful, but I actually had very LITTLE time on the games in the Dialed In bank, other than Robocop.
I'd played an early code version of Dialed In twice at TPF. And didn't do very well -- the flippers at TPF were fairly weak.
I'd played Andromeda exactly one time 3-4 years ago when I was walking around PAPA and playing a single game on pins I'd never played. I knew how to start the MB -- that's it.
I'd played PAPA's High Hand once before (in last year's Pinburgh finals).

Furthermore, it was definitely FAR from the first time playing those titles for Josh, Keith, and Cayle. In all likelihood, they all had more playing time than I did on every pin, with the exception of Cayle on Dialed In (I'm assuming he doesn't have access to one yet in the Netherlands).

Last, I even chose NOT to play on the Aerosmith bank, the only pins I'd had any time on during the weekend (I had played 3/4 of that exact bank back in Round 2 on Thursday).

tell us more how awesome you are, lol.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/main-street-mayhem-ii-more-mayhem

well you look well seasoned..lol. i guess some people pick up things quicker than others. even having time on every game on the planet, and knowing the ins and outs. it does not mean you would win every time, but you have a better chance of playing well . the highest ranked players pretty much know them all and in finals with THOSE players its gonna come down to who gets the better bounces and lucky in lanes etc on top of skill.
skill takes you to a point, then other ingredients are needed.

time on games and game knowledge not only of "rules" but manipulations in addition to skill is what has potential winning.
some games you actually have to play "wrong" in order to get the highest points coordinated with time allotted.
like heh, dont play the modes or go for multi ball, just shoot that spinner over and over after you light spinner millions. do nothing else.
or, when the ball comes of that kick out it usually drains near the right on this game so bump it at this point .

we all know who the best player is and others who are close.
but you cant beat those players if you are playing a game you haven't touched before or minimal and they have.
idc if someone says, here are the rules, now go play.
at an extreme high level top 16 in playoffs A bracket at papa or pinburgh, that will not work.

i mean, on jokerz for example, i saw cayle lower the ramp but never shoot it to lock a ball on purpose just to have the ramp there to deflect ball coming from the pops so ball doesnt go stdm. so he could just shoot the upper left gate over and over to avoid locking a ball someone may steal.
those types of things arent written on inst cards and you need have lots of time on a game like that to play it unorthodox. and when playing in groups when lock stealing is present, strategies change of course.

also, i could have chosen first or second in that match and i chose 2nd thinking he may leave me a locked ball. but to my surprise there was a ball in the lock already from a previous game so cayle as player 1 already had a ball locked . i didnt even think to look at that as balls usually clear at end of games. A big mistake i made . didnt notice until he stated playing and only locked one ball for m ball and got the 4 mil jackpot. then he never locked a ball again purposely. smart move so none of us would steal.
those little things can hurt you at high level.

As usual, always adding a ton of value to any online conversation you grace with your insults, Hilton.

Completely agree. While I didn't have a bunch of time on some of those games, those that know me or follow my comments/interests online know that I'm a "student" of the game, developing notes and observations on just about every pin that PAPA has (or where to find them). Knowing something about games with which I'm unfamiliar helped level that aspect of the competition, because against the likes of Keith, Cayle, and Josh, I need all the help I can get.

This, too! I wasn't so familiar with how those side lanes on High Hand have a tendency to drain SDTM at certain speeds. I do now! Learned the hard way on both balls 1 & 5.

oh, come on...

You win the largest tournament in the world to date (congrats BTW) but then come here to humble brag. inserts eye roll emoticon.

Your entire post was just to say "I won because I am better" Just take the win with pride, no need to come tell us how you had no experience on the games and everyone else had more than you to try and pump yourself up further.

humble brag is not a flattering color on anyone.

Dude won Pinburgh. As far as I'm concerned, he can brag in any style or color he wants.

Yeah I want to hear more from Colin too.

Did you just run on adrenaline the whole final round or were you feeling pretty relaxed, especially after that first win? (I think you won dialed in but not sure).

I've have never had too many issues with nerves, but I am piss poor at making shots. Very inpatient and just try to power through it, when I should just trap up and reset my aim. What's your normal routine for when you just cannot find shots? Or is that not much of any issue anymore at that level? Haha. Congrats. That was fun to watch.

Thanks.

Laughable. Your reading comprehension and interpretation skills elude you -- but from what limited online commentary of yours that I've read, this doesn't surprise me. I addressed one specific disagreement regarding the amount of game time I'd had on the finals bank of pins being the difference-maker, and you jump to a conclusion of me as a braggart? Those that know me -- and you do not -- would hopefully disagree with your rude assessment.

And to set the record straight: I think all three of the other Pinburgh final four (as well as many others in the Finals) are better than me. But for at least one tournament, I was fortunate enough to be victorious -- and it was made all the sweeter that it was at my favorite tournament, my wife and boys were there to experience it with me, and it was against players that I've admired since getting into competitive pinball.

I'm not letting you steal my joy. Go troll someone else.

secret of the pros...

images (resized).png

You were the best on that day that is all that counts, you get your name in the rafters and you are now a part of pinball history... Soak it in man your a world champion hope I get the chance to dethrone you next year. Congrats!!!

This is why it's COMPETITION and not just casual playing. And the variety and need to know games and adapt is what makes Pinburgh great.

A competition is never just about who is the best player.. it's about who pulls it all together that day, that moment.

I was feeling remarkably calm for all three rounds of finals. I typically got nervous in the past -- and it's shown in my previous PAPA & Pinburgh finals. Other than a good run in one PAPA Classics finals, I've made a bad habit out of exiting in the first round of finals (twice in PAPA B finals, once in PAPA A finals, and in last year's Pinburgh finals). This year, I had an attitude of just being happy to be in the quarterfinals (and each subsequent round), and any advancing/win as being gravy. It helped a lot. There were still nerves, particularly in that last game on Andromeda, but it was a lot more manageable this year.

I won on Dialed In in the semis, and that definitely helped me relax that round.

I've morphed my style of play over the past 6 years to become a control player, so I trap up often. Flipping from a trap will naturally improve your chances of timing your flip correctly, and also adjusting to an earlier/later flip after missing your prior shot. I often audibly tell myself whether I was early or late to try to remember to adjust my next shot accordingly.

If there's another shot in the game that can get good points, I might switch to something else. You could do this on a game like Addams Family. But for pins like Robocop, Andromeda, Frontier, etc, you really MUST make the 2 or so key shots in the game. So if you're missing, keep trying, but make an adjustment on your next flip.

I guess it goes to show you should always walk up and take a minute to survey the machine and not just assume all the 'regular settings' you'd expect are enabled. I know it burned me once or twice throughout the weekend by assuming one setting and getting another. I definitely would have assumed the 'clear ball lock' would have been one of them.

I was jokingly shooting for 39th, because that place got ~15 points last year and that's what I need to crack the top 1k. I'll take my almost 7 points from Pinburgh and try to find the rest somewhere else sooner than later. Short term goals and all.

Congrats to Colin. Very fun finals to watch for sure. I still wish they had 2 large screens above the stage that were showing both semis games getting played. That gallery is pretty large and as awesome as the monitors are they get hard to see once you are a few rows back. I'm bringing binos next year so I can sit while playing certain banks and still check in on scores from afar.

What does one have to do to either sign up for Pinburgh 2018 or at least get on the waiting list?

Be quick on the trigger on Replayfx's website on December 2nd at 11 am.

I signed up 25 minutes after the site launched and got waitlisted. (Eventually made it in though)

I was 30 mins late and was 40 spots down on the waitlist. Haha

Did you still get a chance to play?

Yep. I got in like 2-3 months later.

It was something like 10-12 minutes for the first 800 spots to be taken. I wonder with 1k spots next year if it will be the same. Either way, I plan to be fast on the trigger when things open up.

I believe 1K is a request at best right now. The organizers have certainly not committed to growing any more. There are real limitations around space, machines and staff that may not allow further growth

I heard something different.

it was pretty easy this past year to grab a spot if you just went on when they went on sale. nothing crazy.

Pretty sure anyone that got on the waitlist in the first week got in during the first month post onsale. It seems a bunch of people grab spots and then figure it out later and cancel prior to refund period.

This next year could be worse for that since it seems to have grown even more.

That's was I was told as well. But maybe they will just add a group to each bank?

Hopefully just to the outer banks. The inner banks aren't too bad right now, but they are reasonably full. Adding another group to each bank would make it too packed on the inside IMO.

Oh yeah forgot about that. Definitely no more people to those middle banks.

What if one side of those middle rows was used for the replacement games? That way those are always unused and allows for more room with only one side of the isle being played.

As I recall it was 23 minutes to sell the original 740 slots. It was later when the cap was moved to 800 players.

This is a good idea!

There are currently no firm plans to have 1,000 spots for Pinburgh in 2018.

In order for us to accommodate 1,000 players a lot of planning needs to occur.

Quad booking groups for the whole tournament is a no-go from my perspective.

Your recollection is really bad.

Pinburgh sold out faster than ever this year. In under 30mins all slots were taken, and all tickets were sold in under an hour. People who got in 45mins in were waitlisted.
http://tiltforums.com/t/pinburgh-2017-tickets-on-sale-december-3rd/2208

The waitlist was 300 deep in under two weeks. The reason a good number of people on the waitlist got in this year was because in February they expanded the field by an additional 60 players
http://papa.org/2017/02/02/pinburgh-increased-to-800-players/

And note the waitlist was STILL more than 300 AFTER expanding the field..

In years prior, pretty much anyone who traveled and was there, were able to compete. At the end, they usually were short a few players. This year that did not happen, and not many waitlist people on site got in.. even tho they lost 10 players from checkin until the end.

no, my recollection was spot on... Go online when they go onsale and no problem. A 45min sellout is like a decade in my world of concert tickets and rock art where sell outs for 20k venues sell out in 3 seconds.

by all accounts the event is right sized now. What they should fix is the system in which people grab spots and then drop them later.
probably time to make it a 50% non-refundable on day of purchase. Then people would stop grabbing slots and then make plans later.

life?

Well good to know that a pinball tournament is now on the same level as a U2 concert!

Nevermind your BS about the waitlist. You just can't ever admit your fluff is just that. (if they didn't expand the field... nearly 400+ people who wanted to go.. wouldn't have been able to). 400 when the field is only 740 is a sizable number!

Sounds pretty trivial, but imagine if you were the guy who dropped $500-$1000 getting there hoping to get in. I can only imagine the rant thread you would have created if you were one of those people... How the system is broke, how you have the answer, etc.

20-30 that didn't get in is infinitely more than the number who didn't get in the entirety of the event's past.

The last two years it HAS been a big deal to get registered... you gotta be ready that day, that time. And yes, making plans 8months in advance. Thank god they allow people to make changes... this is pinball, not landing rockets.

I would never go without a ticket in advance, but appreciate your continual attacks and dramaqueening.

I've never played in Pinburgh before - where do we go to signup when the time comes?

I have faith! Going from PAPA to flood destruction back to full PAPA in less than a year was amazing. If you guys can do that, you can do anything.

https://www.facebook.com/events/110264256314344/

Has anyone received an email in regard to how to collect winnings?

nothing here...

They did post on facebook about getting the names entered this week on their ewallet thingie. I would expect the email soon soon.

If you competed and won money at ReplayFX, make sure to read and fill out the eWallet form:
https://replayfx.org/prize/
If you filled this out at the show, your account should be manually created in the next week. You will receive an email with your username and password once we've manually created your account!

eWallet email just showed up. Thanks!

any idea when intergalactic will show up on the ifpa?

mine too, but after I finished the signup, the prize funds aren't there yet. Guess Replay still needs to deposit the funds.
I was hoping it was already there.

I was gonna ask the same question. It WAS an IFPA Event, correct?