Pinball League Is Back For Season 3

Season 3 of the Pinball League is right around the corner. Season 2 of the Women’s League has already started. With the recent news coverage from CityNews and a few rules changes we wanted to go over what is Pinball League and give some advice to new players.

What is Pinball League?

Come out to league nights and play pinball in groups of 4 or 3 gain points towards league standings.

The cost?

$2 entry fee plus money needed to play the machines

The Rules

Groups are randomly selected and a machine is selected. Earn points based on the scores of the game. First place gets 5 points, Second place get 3 points, Third place gets 2 points and Forth place gets 1 point. After the game is done you will be put in a new group of 4 with a new machine. This will continue for 8 rounds with a different group and machine for each round. At places with only 4 machines each game will be played twice. When a group only has 3 players points are First gets 5 points, second will get 3 points and third will get 1 point. In your group agree to a play order and play pinball. If you play out of turn you might get automatic 4th place for the game. Any extra balls are to be plunged and you walk away from the machine. Playing an extra ball may result in automatic 4th place for a game.

The points you get will go toward league standings after 10 events top 16 go to the playoffs. The two worst event scores will not be counted in the final standings.

Advice for new players

I asked everyone who writes for manitobapinball.com What advice would you give to new players? Below are the responses I got.

Jon Feschuk:

I would just say if you love to play pinball, come down and check us out. You are not  obligated to be there every league game, play when you can, and just enjoy the people and the machines.

Dave Morris:

I think the new League Night formula is a great way for new players to come out and meet a bunch of new people and play pinball with a bunch of new people and really find out if pinball is for them.

As a note for new players Season 1 had a point structure of first got 4 points, Second got 3 points, Third got 1 point and forth got zero. Season 2 went to first got 5 points, second got 3 points third got 2 points and forth got 1 point. The groups also did not switch after each game for season 1 and season 2.

Kevin Peden:

Bring lots of Loonies and quarters. 🙂
Don’t hover while waiting your turn. Most people get a little anxious if you are hanging over their shoulder or the play-field while you wait your turn.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, especially if you aren’t familiar with a machine. Most people will give you a quick idea of what to do on a machine if you ask.
If you come early to practice, don’t monopolize a machine, especially if others want to take a swing at it.
Remember… don’t play extra balls. If in doubt, ask before you plunge.
A good game is a fast game. Try to keep smoke breaks to a minimum while in play, so we don’t get bogged down
And HAVE FUN. IT’s pinball, dammit! 🙂

Mr Miller:

Don’t be afraid of the name Pinball League. This is closer to a casual bowling league and not The National Hockey League. Try not to focus on other players, put up a score in practice or before the event and just try to beat that. Pinball should be fun and league nights are a great time to socialize and play pinball.

Results – 2019 IFPA Manitoba Provincial Championship Series (PCS)

The Manitoba Provincial Championship was held this past (freezing cold) weekend in Winnipeg at Flippin’ Out at The Forks. As mentioned, the top 16 players in the province played it out for the title and the right to represent Manitoba at the North American Championship in Las Vegas.

Jay Woolston faced Marcel Toutant in a best of 7 finals with Jay edging out Marcel for the win. 

Congratulations to Jay Woolston on winning the 2019 Manitoba PCS Championship and good luck in Las Vegas in March.

Congratulations to Marcel Toutant on 2nd place and Jeff Jonuk on a 3rd place finish. 

Jeff Jonuk [JEF], Jay Woolston [JAY], Marcel Toutant [MPT]

The MPL would like to thank Jon Feschuk, Joe Furgal and Spencer Zurek for coming down to help with the tournament. Your assistance made the event run smoothly and was greatly appreciated.

2019 IFPA Manitoba Provincial Championship Series (PCS)

The top 16 in Manitoba battle it out this Saturday for the 2019 IFPA Provincial Championship. These players have been competing all year long in sanctioned Manitoba IFPA tournaments to qualify for the championship. Returning champ Jeff Jonuk will attempt to defend his title against the best in Manitoba.

This tournament is a best of 7, single elimination match play and the winner gets the opportunity to represent Manitoba at the North America Championship held in Las Vegas this spring. 

Saturday January 19th @ 1PM at Flippin’ Out At the Forks. 

**NOTE – Ryan Relleve had to withdraw from the tournament resulting in everyone below where he was in the standings moving up one position. Also it moved #17 Jason Krutish into the PCS as the #16 seed. Although the bracket doesn’t show there will be a single tie breaker game played (B) side for positions 5-16. The battle for 3rd will be a best of 3. All (A) side matches are best of 7.

New Pinball and New Place to Play

With the new year we have a new pinball machine and a new place to play.

The Munsters Pinball was revealed last week at CES. If you wanted to check out the gameplay Deadflip streamed it on his channel. I did not see The Munsters on tv so can’t comment on the theme. The lcg screen is in black and white and has clips from the show. I like how they did the skill shot on the machine. You pick a shot and have a timer if you hit the shot you get bonus points for time remaining. If you hit something else the skill shot fails. The left ramp has a target that comes up and you need to hit. Failed ramp shots normally lead to a quick drain. I think the game needs to be played to get a better understanding if it will be good.

Pro model playfield

Flipping Out at The Forks is the new place to play in Winnipeg. There is a great lineup of old and new machines. The lineup is :

The Addams Family (Bally, 1992)
Checkpoint (Data East, 1991)
Comet (Williams, 1985)
Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast (Pro) (Stern, 2018)
Mars God of War (Gottlieb, 1981)
Operation Thunder (Gottlieb, 1992)
Road Kings (Williams, 1986)
South Park (Sega, 1999)
Space Shuttle (Williams, 1984)
Star Trek (Premium) (Stern, 2013)
Sure Shot (Gottlieb, 1976)
Total Nuclear Annihilation (Spooky, 2017)
Wheel of Fortune (Stern, 2007)

Games has move slightly from photo

Check out the pinballmap app or website to get an up to date list. The Forks can be expensive to park. If you don’t mind a walk there are spots around Provencher Boulevard with 2 hour free parking. Some streets a little further away might also have all day parking. After 5:30pm you might find something closer at metered parking spots along Main Street.