Beerpressure *ahem* Not that I have any experience myself - but if you park at the convention center, you're a hop, skip, and a jump from delicious cooler beers and snacks in between rounds. If you aren't competing there's a ton of places to get food/drink. If you want close-ish beverages - I'd give the Sharp Edge a try. It's about a block further but not as packed as the closer options (and half price Belgian drafts during the happy hour that coincides with dinner break even if you are in Pinburgh)

I'm guilty of being able to drop catch most of the time, but never figuring out how to utilize it (aim for the next shot, etc) with it... It's on my list of to dos before the next big tourney. (consistently tap pass and better manage holding during multiball being the other biggies)

As far as the divisions - I'd argue that one thing we need to keep in mind is that the average talent at Pinburgh isn't the average talent level at a local tourney. You have people paying high hundreds if not thousands to fly/stay/eat/etc just to play in this thing, and that takes a dedication that outstrips what would normally be considered lower talent. I had a crap day one and fell to D by one point, felt poorly about it, and wished I was restricted to at least C. That said - Although the first few groups were as expected on Friday, after the dinner break I found other players in my situation and it was about as competitive as I remember C was the prior year. (case in point - 550k on Mars Trek shouldn't be third in a true D division...)

I think this is why the PAPA D was restricted as high as 7500 this year - to give new players a chance to experience tournament style, pressures, experience, etc... I would like to see Pinburgh adopt a similar higher restriction to give some players that same shot. (maybe 1,500 or so... It would be interested to see how many players that even encompasses). I know players who were new to competitive pinball, joined to give it a shot, qualified in D, and continued to get pounded day two into total discouragement.

Two years ago, I had a guy in our bank that didn't plunge off, but specifically stated 'I'm just live flipping because I'd rather have a shot at money in C than qualify in A or B'. Not sure how to better address it, but it does happen. I also didn't tell a TD, but after the fact was told I most definitely should have.

Sorry this is a bit all over the map - written over the course of an hour or two during first day back to work.

ditto.. I won LIS this year, but was notoriously garbage on any machine with lightning flips...

SS and FT are supposed to have them, so that's not too big a deal for me. It's the 'hey, you've played this 100s of times but check this out' that kills me. I had embarrassing games of Batman and Spiderman. (neither broke single digit millions).

I went 18/12/17/13 across DMD/Late/Early/EM... Which is strange cause I'm typically killing it on EMs and early SS but generally am less proficient at DMDs. (especially from a rules perspective). Even stranger is the breakdown - I rarely got skunked at an EM/Early SS, but took a ton of 3rd places on EMs (servicable, but rarely 'got hold of one') - but for the late SS I either killed it or came in last (1 3rd out of 9 games).

I never thought to break it down like this - but I'm glad I saw yours. Thank you very much for posting this kinda breakdown... This gives me a lot more to think through (skills to work on, machines to try and get in house for additional practice, etc etc...)

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.

hey - I had to pay $1.50 to get a blank check to scan in (who has checks?) PLUS the whopping dollar for ACH AND a buck for linking my bank account! That's 2 whole double cheeseburgers and a round of pinball I'm missing out on!!!

Seriously though - I just want to throw out that I got a text that my funds were available. By the time I logged in it was already automagically routing to my bank account with no issues cause I did the above by reading the directions I got at the event. People love to get loud and pissy when things aren't working, but worked exactly as advertised for me. Here's hoping I win money again next year so I can experience the pain and tyranny of losing another dollar.