Gauntlet Tournament by FunWithBonus
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Presenting… the official Jersey Pinball Association Gauntlet Tournament T-shirt. The tournament sponsors will each receive one of these shirts at the beginning of the Spring 2010 league season. I would like to take time to congratulate the winners of the JPA Gauntlet tournaments: Andrew Drabik – winner of the Spring 2009 tournament, and Jim Fordham – winner of the Fall 2009 tournament. I also would like to thank those players who sponsored the tournament: Koi Morris, Jim Fordham and Ed Zeltmann. Next season there will most likely be a PinGolf style tournament in addition to traditional league play. I’m looking forward to next season’s competition. For those of you who are interested, the Jersey Pinball Association meets on Wednesdays for 10 weeks in the Spring and in the Fall. The next season will begin in early March, and new players are always welcome.

                          

2009 Canadian Pinball Championship in Toronto, Canada

All those who thought this might have been a small affair were drastically mistaken as over 120+ competitors attempted to qualify for the 2009 Canadian Pinball Championship. Many of the “heavy hitters” were there including Bowen Kerins, Paul Madison, Neil Shatz, Cayle George, Eden Stamm and more. Shrek, NBA, Batman, Dale Jr. were the tournament games, and there were multiple copies of each game. In fact, when a machine went down because of a mechanical problem, it was whisked away and a new one would almost magically be put in it’s place! This kept the action consistently high for the entire event. Gary Stern of STERN Pinball, Inc. was also on hand to present the prizes to the winners, which included a new-in-box NBA pinball machine awarded to Sean O’Neil. With the attendance that this event received, next year’s event may rival PAPA‘s attendance. The tournament staff ran the event so well, I believe The Playdium Store will be ready for that.

Pinball News also has a detailed analysis of the event with pictures and results.

                          

Neil Chapman puts up a great Donkey Kong score at the 2009 Canadian Pinball Championship

                          

Before the Event:

During the Event:

At the Cupids and Canines Casino Night and Pinball Tournament on February 7, 2009, over 350 people played blackjack, poker, craps, roulette and pinball at the Professional Amateur Pinball Association’s (PAPA) headquarters in Scott Township (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania. Tournament players and pinball enthusiasts could play over 400 pinball machines from all eras, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Batman (The Dark Knight), two of the newest offerings from STERN Pinball, Inc. In addition to the admission fees, all coin-drop from the pinball machines went to charity.

Every paid attendee at the event received $20,000 in “play money” to use at the casino gaming tables. Each $5,000 in “play money” earned you one ticket to use for the chance auction and raffle. You could also re-buy “play money” if you were tapped out.

Among the charities that benefitted from this event were: Bob Wow Buddies (Camp Bow Wow) and the Pittsburgh-area Humane Societies with the goals of promoting canine cancer research and animal adoptions.

Want some "Candy"?

Though the event officially opened at 8:00 PM, PAPA President, Kevin Martin opened the facility at 11:00 AM for the pinball tournament competitors. Multiple time World Pinball Champion Bowen Kerins organized the event.

Among the games involved in the tournament were:

Batman (The Dark Knight)
Harlem Globetrotters
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Family Guy
The Simpsons
Flip Flop
Paragon
Jungle Queen
Medieval Madness
Judge Dredd

Joust - 2 Player Versus Pinball Game

A $10 entry fee bought you a slot in a group of 8 players for a satellite tournament/preliminary round (though, your admission into Cupids and Canines came with one free entry into the tournament). Each group of 8 players was split in half. These two groups of 4 played a “best of three” series where first place in each game earned 4 points, second place earned 2 points, third place received 1 point, and fourth place got zero points. This was later changed to a “best of two” series because of the high amount of people who wanted to enter the tournament.

Finishing first or second overall in your group meant you advanced to the next round of four players with the winner of that group reaching the final round. A great feature about this system was that as soon as you lost a round, you could immediately reenter. A new preliminary round began as soon as eight more players were ready. A portion of the entry fees for the pinball tournament also went to charity. Trent Augenstein, ranked number 6 in the world as of this writing, won the tournament and took home an electromechanical pinball machine donated by PAPA.

It was a fantastic event, and I encourage all, who are looking for a slice of pinball heaven, to come out to the PAPA world headquarters when it reopens for the PAPA 12 World Pinball Championships this August.

Pinball, as far as the eye can see!

Cupids and Canines
PAPA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Article

I realize now that it is not a particularly good idea to record by walking around with the camcorder at belt-level. It seems to produce a bouncy, first-person shooter type of effect on the video. “The More You Know…”