I've been playing pinball for about a year now, going to tournaments about once a month.

I think I have the most fun when I play in a small informal league once a month.

But I have been thinking: what can I do to encourage and help newer players get better? I'd really like to start 'giving back' in a bigger way, beyond the important things of being nice and encouraging others and showing techniques and explaining rules.

I had an idea: what if I lent a copy of the Pinball 101 DVD to the player in last place, and promised them that if they bring back the DVD next month, I'll cover their tournament entry costs that month. That way, the DVD is "floating" and can help many people improve their skills.

Here are my own thoughts on this:
1. People might feel bad receiving an intro-to-pinball DVD. Like they suck or something. Depends on the ego and the person, I guess.
2. People might not 'get into' the spirit of the idea, and keep the DVD for themselves. If I do it, I'd have to do it in spite of that happening.
3. Ideally, I'd like to give a copy of Pinball 101 as a prize, but that would get expensive in the long run (unless our tournament was subsidized).
4. Maybe I should change what place to lend the DVD to... maybe 5th place? One below the qualifying line?
5. Maybe I should just watch players and play it by ear and look for ones that would appreciate the offer.
6. I think this might work better with tournaments with younger kids than 20-something adults.

I'd like The Best and Brightest's thoughts on this.

@royce - We mostly have regulars. I'm going to try it, I think. Will post the results of my experiment.

@TigerLaw - Hope you can make one! I find that tournament format makes a big difference.
We do the following, and people seem pretty happy with it (our crowd is 20- and 30-something 'hipsters' who attend bar frequently, with a few pinball enthusiasts thrown in, but mostly hipsters). Our location has three machines.

- Qualifying is: play each game once, or twice if time permits given the group size. Four player games for qualifying runs. Best score per player per table is recorded and made official. 1st place on a table = 1pt, 2nd place = 2pts, and so on. Top 4 lowest scores go to a 4-player playoff. We automate this with an Excel Spreadsheet. Tie breaker games are done to break ties.
- Playoff: All four players playoff in a single game (we used to do multiple games, but it started taking too long, so we switched to one). 1st gets 1pt, 2nd gets 2pts, 3rd gets 3pts, 4th gets 4pts. They get added to your score.

We are sponsored by a local craft brewing company, which donates prizes: A case and a few six packs of 'shorts', which are "b-stock" bottles that do not meet the stated amount of contents on the outer wrapper. They aren't allowed to sell them by WI state law, so this gives the brewer free publicity. 1st gets the case and a few brewery tour tickets, 2nd gets a six pack and two tickets, 3rd gets a six pack, and fourth gets a ticket. When a big music festival was in town, they gave out free tickets to that. It's fun and informal. But its very Milwaukee; a very beer and bar driven culture.