Holy Cow! (insert Harry Caray voice) This is the closest race we have seen yet. As we enter the last night for October only a few points separate positions 2-5 in the standings. Who will make A and who will slip down to B? Can anyone knock Matt from 1st? Get down to MSA tonight from 7-11 for your last chance to improve scores for October!
And with this being the last day of the month that means November Selfie League starts tomorrow! The games for the month of November will be Big Indian, King of Diamonds, Funhouse, Twilight Zone, and The Walking Dead.
What’s that? You are nervous to come to week 1 of LPL Winter Season 2017? Don’t be! Here are some tips, tricks, and tutorials for all the games on the schedule for week 1!
Avatar LE
My personal strategy on Avatar LE is to always lock a ball in the link shot ASAP (especially if you get the Navi ball enabling double scoring), the shot seems easier and safer to me backhanded from the left flipper. Try to start that multiball immediately (again I use the left flipper backhand shots to bash the now locked ball to activate the multiball). Once there start to bash away at the stand up target bank and robot toy on the right side of the playfield thus stacking the games two main multiballs. The captive ball to the far right will allow you to add a ball, and every time you complete the upper roll over lanes the green x inserts on the playfield all light. The next x shot you hit will now have a multiplied value, lots of green x’s = lots of points on the DMD! The other modes all seem to come as you continuously work for multiballs over and over. Good luck!
Big Indian (Large Native American in the 2016 Vault Edition)
One of the newest editions the floor at MSA, means I have little advice. Attempt to complete BIG via the rollovers up top. Try to take out the upper left drop targets as often as possible. The vari-target on the lower left is tempting, but it also = almost certain death. Otherwise typical EM advice, keep the ball in play and shoot some stuff.
Captain Fantastic
Step 1: Bring music playing device and que up Elton John’s Greatest Hits, I prefer to start with Rocket Man followed by Tiny Dancer.
Step 2: Seek out Craig Farner, he is the tall guy so thin you will think he hasn’t eaten a cheeseburger in about a decade, he recently smashed the #13 player in the world Trent Augenstein on this game and he will have all the advice for you on this game. If you can’t find Craig, seek out Dan St. John the owner of MSA. Although Craig had the victory over Trent at Main Street Mayhem last month, he hasn’t been able to beat Dan ever since so Dan must also have good advice.
Step 3: My strategy is to use the upper right flipper to down the drop targets on the left side of the playfield. One of two things will happen. I will either continue to down the drop targets, win free games and feel really good about myself. Or I will instantly use that upper flipper to shoot the ball to the left outlane scoring virtually zero points on three (oh snap now 5!) consecutive balls. Also complete the left and right rollover lanes up top (A&B) for double bonus as often as possible, this game can be all about the bonus, and be sure not to tilt.
Creature from the Black Lagoon! (My personal favorite game)
CFTBL is the best pinball game ever designed, it is just a fact. My personal strategy is to play for multiball and multiplied jackpots all the time. It is not the best strategy to score well on for our league format, but I love the game and the sound effect of that jackpot, and especially the super jackpot are like nothing else in pinball! To start with I hard plunge just as the last “s” in “kiss” is going out to complete Kiss on the plunge earning the “F” in “FILM” I then shoot the center scoop to build toward the “I”, after that I begin my shots up the middle to complete the upper rollers spelling “PASS” to earn my “L”, and lastly I shoot the far right VUK to earn my “M”. Now I have spelt “FILM” and flashers will be going off on the far left and right shots indicating a shot to either side will start multiball. Personally I prefer to hit the left shot to start it as it sets up my next shot better, but either will work. Once in multiball I try to get one ball on left flipper, and one on the right. Using the right I shoot the left ramp allowing the ball to travel around the ramp and down into the swamp bowl earning letters in “CREATURE” to multiply my score (wow this game has a lot more spelling than I ever realized). Once I have maxed out my multiplier at 4x, I then begin shooting my yellow flashing triangle inserts to “find the creature”, once she is found then shoot the center scoop to “rescue the girl”, and then again shoot the center scoop to collect the jackpot!!!!!!!! Once a jackpot is collected you now want to shoot up the middle and back into the pop bumpers for 25 hits to light the SUPER JACKPOT! That is also collected at the center scoop. One you have collected the 4x SUPER JACKPOT, you can proceed to walk away from the game as the likelihood of any of your opponents catching your score is almost non-existent! It is the equivalent of a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th inning of game 7 of the World Series.
To do well in league though….you may just want to work towards a multiball, play “Move your car” mode by shooting up the middle 5 times, and then quickly collecting the hurry up value at 8 million and continuously hitting that shot over and over. You can also get playground wards and mystery awards at the right VUK shot, and the center scoop and hope for unlimited millions on the left ramp which is a very lucrative mode if you have that shot dialed in. Meanwhile I will still be attempting my multiplied jackpot strategy and cursing loudly when I instantly drain my multiball and then brick the snack bar shot to restart it.
Eight Ball Deluxe
Ahhh….ye’ olde EBD! Another great 80’s bally game. I honestly can’t believe that tutorial is 15 minutes long. This is the perfection of the idea simply to understand, difficult to master. Shoot the drop targets on the right to collect the balls. Finish by shooting the upper right single drop target (the 8 ball, which the game will repeatedly tell you to “Shoot the 8 ball” when it is ready). Completion of the right drops and the 8 ball will lock in a bonus value you fo 56,000 for the first completion, and then 112,000 for the second completion. Once completed with a set, now work on the inline drop targets on the left side, these are your bonus multipliers meaning that a completed right side drop bank earning a guaranteed bonus of 56,000 points can be multiplied up to 5x earning 280,000 points just in bonus. I try to avoid the pops as much as possible as they can shoot the ball SDTM in the blink of an eye. Upper left flipper should be used with extreme caution at all times, and mastering the dead flip and post passing is hugely advantageous to putting up big scores on this game.
In case you couldn’t tell I sometimes get very bored at work, hence I bring you Week 1 tips, tricks, and tutorials. Good luck, and see you all there next Tuesday!
We are officially just 1 week from the start of the newest season of Lafayette Pinball League! We meet Tuesday, November 1st at 7:30 PM at Main Street Amusements! This will be known as our Winter 2017 league as we will finish after the new year has begun. The season will be 10 weeks long, calendar here. We will continue with our requirement of playing in a minimum of 3 weeks to be eligible for the finals event. You will be seeded based on your best 8 weeks out of the 10, meaning your 2 lowest weeks are dropped. Other than the just about everything else is remaining the same as always.
Any questions or concerns I can be reached via email tsskinne@gmail.com, lafayettepinballleague@gmail.com, text 574-596-2668 or 765-537-8293 or our LPL Facebook page.
As always I encourage people to spread the word, bring a friend, neighbor, kid, stranger, family member, sworn enemy, or whoever to get a few more folks playing some competitive pinball with us. I think we have a good & fun league, and the best location in the country for pinball.
And with that here are your games for week 1!
Games are Avatar LE, Big Indian, Captain Fantastic, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Eight Ball Deluxe!
Hey everyone! We are just over a week away from starting our winter season, Tuesday, November 1st at 7:30 PM just in case you needed another reminder.
I’ve been gone for a week but we had some big events happen in that time. Last Tuesday thanks to a group effort the MSA Monthly Tournament ran without issue and Tom Vandenberg was able to claim the October title! Congrats to Tom, and thank you to Mark Uncapher who came down from NW Indiana to play in the tournament and finished 4th, we hope to see you back for some more. Dan St. John was the Runner-Up, and Craig Farner came in 3rd.
Selfie-League will continue for the next 7 DAYS! Get down to MSA and get in some practice before winter season gets here. Email me scores tsskinne@gmail.com, text me scores 574-596-2668, or simply join matchplay.events and submit your own scores for the tournament. Play entirely at your own convenience just have to have scores submitted by midnight on the last day of the month. Here are the current standings for October as well as a reminder of what games we are playing this month!
Hey Everyone, just in case you didn’t know Pinball Expo in Chicago kicked off today. The doors for the exhibition hall open tonight at 6PM. Loads of stuff going on this year including the unveil of Batman ’66 by Stern, Alien by Heighway Pinball, and Jersey Jack Pinball’s 3rd game designed by the famous Pat Lawlor. Should be lots of other cool stuff to check out as well and lots of games in the free play area.
Those of you interested in competitive play there is a large tournament being run by Trent Augenstein that takes place over the next three days as well.
I’ll be heading up to check out the show tonight and heading back late. I think I already have one person joining but room in the car for up to 2 more if anyone else wants to join us. Will be leaving around 4PM Eastern, and leaving when the show closes for the night 12 AM Central time, should get us home to Lafayette a bit after 3 AM. Cost is $30 cash at the door I believe.
Thank you and congrats to everyone who made it out to participate in the Fall 2016 Lafayette Pinball League Finals last night at Main Street Amusements! As always thank you to Dan St. John for allowing us to use his amazing location to host our league events. A big congratulations goes out to our new Champion Matt Peace as well as to the repeat Runner-Up Tom Vandenberg! Darcy Thomas made a very strong showing with a 3rd place finish and Dan St. John rounded out our final four coming in 4th.
Here are the full results:
I also tried to take some pictures of everyone playing in the early rounds, I apologize if I missed anyone, but I feel like league is important to all of us for a variety of reasons and it was nice to try to capture the fun moments. Plus you know this means there is a Winter Season hype video coming…
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Reminder that next week will be the Monthly 3-strikes tournament. I will be gone on vacation, but the tournament will still be run through Brackelope as usual. Still starts at 8PM and is 3 strikes format with a $5 entry fee.
Our winter league starts back up November 1st at 7:30 PM. View the calendar here.
Lastly I’ve contacted Double Danger Pinball who did our logo and shirts for Main Street Mayhem, as well as the newest batch of Main Street Amusement shirts about designing a league logo for us that we could use on a shirt and custom awards in the future. I’m including a brief poll, a simple yes or no response.
Reminder that this month’s selfie league games are listed below! If you get eliminated from finals tonight don’t feel the need to run out and smash the bridges on Main Street into little pieces instead stick around and play some of these games and take pictures of your scores!
Here are the current standings!
Also reminder that although there is no league next week it will be the 3rd Tuesday Monthly Tournament! Followed by that we will have one week off before we begin our Winter Season for the Lafayette Pinball League!
Hey everyone!!!! Reminder that tomorrow night is the finals for our Fall 2016 Season!!! We will have a brief awards presentation for last season’s winners, like literally a minute, before we start the tournament so please be on time or early and ready for tomorrow. Remember the finals typically runs a bit later than our average league week.
Also remember there is a $10 entry fee to play in the finals! A portion of the money goes to awards, the rest gets split between the finalists. All matches, winners and losers bracket, are best of 3, and the tournament is double elimination. The higher seed gets choice of game or position on game 1. The lower seed gets choice on game 2. If game 3 is necessary the choice returns to the higher seed. All games on the floor of MSA are eligible to be selected unless otherwise noted due to some malfunction. Extra balls you receive one plunge, and zero(0) flips. You can not attempt a skill shot / soft plunge over and over. If your plunge fails to clear the shooter lane than your opponent gets to plunge your ball.
Our bracket will be updated live online and is available to view here . I recommend saving the link to your phone for your viewing while the tournament takes place.
After we have crowned our new champion feel free to stop by DT Kirby’s for some celebratory food and drinks.
Hey guys, the Lafayette Pinball League Fall 2016 Season finished regular season play last night and we will officially be crowning our new champion next Tuesday 10/11/2016 at Main Street Amusements!
Here are the standings after the final night.
The finals tournament will start promptly at 7:30 next week, be sure you are on time. We will be using a 16 man, double elimination bracket. Rounds will be played head to head in a best of 3 games format. The higher seeded player will get choice of either game or position on game 1, the lower seeded player will get choice of either game or position on game 2, and if game 3 is necessary the choice of game or position goes back to the higher seed. All pinball machines on the floor on Main Street Amusements are available to be selected to play unless otherwise noted before the event due to a playability issue with the machine.
Currently we have 14 players eligible to play in the finals by having participated in at least 3 weeks of seasonal play. We will be using a 16 man bracket giving a bye to Keith and Matt as the #1 & #2 seeds respectively. Bracket is subject to change based on attendance next Tuesday, look forward to seeing everyone there. We will also be handing out awards from last seasons finals before the start of the tournament Tuesday since it just came to my attention that I have forgotten to do that, my apologies.
Last reminder is that tonight is the finals for September Selfie League! Start time is 7:30 .
Group A is Matt, Tommy, Keith, and Tom.
Group B is Ryan, Dan St. John, Craig, and that other Dan.
Group C is……hopefully someone shows up for group C, it would be Joe, Rob, Darcy, Chris, Terry, Brian, and/or Bob….So show up and play 3 games of pinball for some points and some pride.
Lafayette Pinball League 