Date: May 1st, 2010
Location: SS Billiards, 732 11th Avenue South, Hopkins, Minnesota 55343, USA.

On May 1st, 2010 SS Billiards in Hopkins, MN held its sixth annual May Day Pinball Tournament. Different this year; the event was invitation only.

Below is a copy of the invitation.

INTRODUCTION

This year's May Day Pinball Tournaments were planned from the start to be different to the first year's pinball tournaments. They were also planned to be different to last year’s tournaments.

Not part of the 2010 May Day event, but happening during the event, were three-ball ToPS tournaments on both Spider-Man and Batman.

Information posted for everyone to see

Two games were for sale while this year’s May Day pinball tournaments were being held.

The first game for sale was “The Machine - Bride of Pin•Bot” (BoP)

The second game for sale was “Hook” (Hook).

REGISTRATION

As those invited did not have to pay an attendance fee, no registration was required; only an invitation.

SCHEDULE

From the schedule above, you can see that two pinball tournaments were held. The first tournament was for the ladies and the second was an open tournament. Both tournaments were best two-of-three with players and games being drawn.

A few of the early attendees

Keeping with the original spirit of PAPA, the competitions were held during a normal day in the arcade. This meant that players occasionally had to wait for a non-competing customer to finish his or her pinball game before the competitors could have their turn.

A couple practicing before tournament time

Practice got under way at 12pm and went until 4pm. The Ladies Tournament started at 4pm. Ribs were served at 6pm. The open tournament started a little late at 7:15pm and lasted 'til after midnight.

There were only two problems reported during the event, both of which happened later in the day. The first was a loose screw on the playfield of “Medieval Madness” (MM). The second was that the right flipper on “Creature from the Black Lagoon” (CftBL) would not stay up.

Lloyd readying the woman’s tournament

The Ladies Tournament finished in time for dinner.  The first place winner was Diane. Along with her cash winnings, Diane also won a gift certificate to be used at a local spa, which was donated by Dave G. Sandy was the second place winner, but did not wish to be pictured.

Diane, the happy victor of the Ladies Tournament

A few of the later attendees

At 6pm, a break was taken for food. This is when Lloyd had dinner delivered from Famous Dave's.

Delicious food from Famous Dave's

Dave and Sandy brought in coleslaw while Ruthann and Dan brought in baked beans. 

Slaw and beans

At the dinner break, a little after 7pm, Joe finally made it to Lloyd’s arcade.

Lloyd greeting Joe

Not everyone attended to compete in the tournaments. Some pinheads just came in order to enjoy themselves.

Some: early, later, and very late attendees

Though out of the tournament, Jim stayed and enjoyed himself

Lloyd readying the open tournament

The open tournament was split into two brackets; the Winners and the Losers.

The winner of the Winners bracket was Mike.

Proud and undefeated competitor, Mike

The runner up of the Winners bracket was John.

John, at the machine which helped make him a winner

The Losers bracket took longer to compete. Dave found himself victorious after a long night of pinball fun.  

Dave, the winner of the Losers bracket

Just for fun… Click below if you want to see a short video Lloyd’s goose walking.

Get the Flash Player to see this video clip.

Clean-up

Lloyd changed the games back to “normal” play first thing Sunday morning.

Next Tournaments

Be sure to check the Diary Section of Pinball News, for the next May Day tournament. Because we can’t wait until then, Lloyd will be hosting his Launch Those Geese Party on May 20th, 2010.

NOTE:

All pictures courtesy and property of Lloyd Olson, SS Billiards and are used here with permission.

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