PINBALL LOUNGE |
Date: October 14th, 2012 Report by Bruce Ng Several months ago I made the short trek to Bavaria to participate in The Pinball Lounge tournament. Robert von Keller and his friends have a wonderful private space just outside of Munich, with about one hundred pinball machines in really great condition. The Pinball Lounge was founded in 2008 and they strive to host one big tournament every year. Robert said he, “founded the Pinball Lounge to build a place for pinball enthusiasts and the pinball community where they can meet, talk, exchange experiences, compete and have fun.” The Munich Pinball League often congregates here. The basement layout is very spacious and houses a wide variety of pins in excellent condition from a 1966 Williams A Go Go to a 2011 Stern Transformers.
About sixty people showed up to participate in this tourney.
There were plenty of snacks and beverage options to keep us fuelled all day long. As seems common in German gatherings, payment for these items was on the honor system. Prices were displayed and patrons would just put money into the cash box and make their own change if needed; a very simple and pleasant system.
The sturdy drink holders on each game got a lot of use throughout the weekend. They came up with this ingenious system from inexpensive readily available parts to equip all their games.
The first part of the tourney on Saturday consisted of rounds of match-play where half of your final score was based on your placement within each match, and the other half was based on your score on each game. Players then entered their own results into the computer. There again, the reliance on the honor system made it easier on the organizers and heartened a few of us foreign visitors to be part of such a trusting and principled community.
On Sunday the 16 best-ranked players battled their way through play-offs and into the final.
Meanwhile the rest got to enjoy a separate Classics Tournament in which participants had to play a list of games at their leisure and however they wanted. No particular order or match-playing was required. The four top players went on to a final. I found this format much more relaxed and enjoyable. I fared far better with less pressure, and even ended with my first ever little prize.
Here are the results of the main tournament: Here are the Classics Tournament results:
For the future, the Pinball Lounge team hopes to, “keep the machines in their best condition, build in a bar, meet more nice people, and have as much fun as ever.” Thanks guys for a great event!
The list of the 97 games at the Pinball Lounge is:
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