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Episode 347: UK Open, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2022
PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago24 min listen
Neil McRae discusses the big event in south London at the London Croydon Hotel, September 30-October 2, 2022. Inspired by INDISC. 5 tourneys! Big prizes! I think I'll have to go. You should too!...
Highlights
- The UK Open will have a guaranteed first prize of £5,000, one of the biggest payouts in pinball.
- Registration hit capacity within about eight days of opening, crossing the 150-player threshold for the main tournament.
- The tournament will feature approximately 60% UK participants and 40% overseas players.
- Pinball Republic (formerly Flip Out London) was forced to rebrand after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from a trademark holder when the venue's landlord changed.
- Top European and international players including Arvid Flygear, Vigo, and Robert Petroni from Italy have registered for the UK Open.
- The UK Open was inspired by InDisc and modeled after that tournament's format and scale.
- Ladies' pinball in Europe has less momentum than in the US, and the UK Open ladies' tournament is intended to help grow the sport regionally.
Notable quotes
“I've been to Indisc last two events and watched it kind of desperate to go there prior to that. When you see the effort that Jim, Carl and the others... You see the effort and hard work they put into it and the quality of the tournament and the scale of it. And, you know, it's just amazing.”
“I just said to myself, you know, there's only two of us from the UK there, me and Kirk. And I kind of said to myself, I'd really love for people to experience this back home.”
“The biggest fear you have, Jeff, when you run an event like this is, are enough people going to come? And I'm pleased to say we crossed that boundary within about eight days.”
“We're not going to, you know, we don't have the money to go fight a big legal battle. And we'd rather spend money on pinball machines than lawyers.”
“If everybody comes and plays one game but loves it, that would be enough for me. We're going to play a lot more. But the name of the game is to play some great pinball, So spend some time with your friends. Have a great time. Go home and look forward to signing up the following year.”
“It's going to be one of the biggest pinball events in Europe. We've got the biggest price for the Open. It's £5,000. That's one of the biggest payouts in pinball.”
“I went, oh, boy. See, whenever my wife has a business trip, all I have to do is get there. I got free hotel. This is wonderful.”
“You've put this event as maybe the biggest thing in England, and I'm including the Platinum Jubilee celebration for the Queen. That's nothing compared to what you're doing, Neil.”
Entities
- InDisc· event
- UK Open· event
- Croydon Hilton· organization
- Flip Out London· organization
- Pinball Republic· organization
- Andrew Foster· person
- Arvid Flygear· person
- Carl· person
- Craig Poulin· person
- Jason Sudeikis· person
- Jeff Teolis· person
- Jim Belsito· person
- Kirk Sadler· person
- Levi Neyman· person
- Martin· person
- Neil McCrae· person
- Peter Blakemore· person
- Robert Petroni· person
- Vigo· person
- Ted Lasso· product
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