Posted by Aaron on April 27th, 2012 |
0 commentsHey Rosecitypinball.com enthusiasts!
Sorry this took me a bit, but here is part 2 of my Denver pinball adventures. I have enlisted the help of local Denver tournament player David Dahl-Hansson to help explain how players in Colorado battle for supremacy in the WPPR rankings. I had the honor of getting my butt kicked at two of the monthly tournaments in Colorado, The 1 up tourney and the Lakewood Grill Tourney. Colorado has one of the most competitive pools of frequent tournament players in the country and you can always find well maintained machines. I would compare their tournament competitor’s abilities to any tournament we run that has a good mix of Portland and Seattle players. Check it out!
Colorado is one of the pinball hotbeds in North America. There are lots of players, tournaments, and collectors all over the state. The center of the Colorado pinball community is Lyons Classic Pinball. A nine-year-old pinball parlor with 35-40 beautifully maintained machines, Lyons is one of the reasons the caliber of player in Colorado is so high. At Lyons tournaments, to be competitive, players have to compete on games from 1961-2012, although oddities like Joust and Atari’s Hercules are excluded from competition.
There is a large pool of competitive and casual pinball players in Colorado. The overall level of play is quite high, and the state currently boasts five of the 64 players at IFPA 9 in Seattle. Most monthly tournaments attract around 30 players on average, and have been growing steadily.
Most of the tournaments held in Colorado are monthlies. Currently, there are six different monthlies held within an hour’s drive of Denver. When looking at IFPA’s list of the players with the most periodic tournaments under their belts, it is no wonder that several Coloradoans make the list.
There are also several leagues. The original and most popular is the Mile High Pinball League held at Lyons Classic Pinball twice a year. There are also leagues in Denver and Fort Collins. In terms of annual tournaments there are several different kinds. Lyons Classic Pinball has a large double-elimination tournament the night before the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown. In addition, Donavan Stepp organizes Pintoberfest every October. Last year was also the year for the inaugural Turkeyfest all-EM match play tournament, which was a great success.
One of the most popular and enjoyable tournaments in Colorado, or anywhere, is the annual Dory Hill Pinball Campout. A bunch of pinheads get together in September every year and rent cabins at a campground at almost 10,000ft up in the mountains. Most people bring pins and we play in various tournaments all weekend.
The largest pinball event on the calendar in Colorado is the annual Showdown. Held towards the end of April every year, the Showdown draws top players and collectors. There are usually 100+ machines, and rare and odd machines tend to show up alongside the usual suspects. Krull, Jolly Park, Motor Show, and many others have made appearances. During the Showdown, a great variety of tournaments are played all weekend. The Showdown is held at a hotel, so it is a very convenient show to visit for players and collectors.
Their Showdown is happening this weekend and hopefully David will fill us in with how things went. Get out to Denver for a tourney or two. I propose we put together a camping Pincrew for the Dory Hill Tournament this fall.
Nathan Stellhorn
RCP Standings have been updated.
