050: Five Tips for First Tournament + Dream Theme Revisited!

PodcastJun 3, 2026By Live From The Rock Room

Punk Rock Pinball Podcast

47 min

Summary

Tournament tips + dream theme discussion (Fantasy Island pinball).

Episode 50 of Punk Rock Pinball Podcast covers two main topics: first, five tips for first-time tournament players (based on Jill Grun's social media post), including managing downtime, keeping your phone charged, knowing how to start multiplayer games, paying attention to player order, and looking up game rules; second, a recurring "dream theme" segment where hosts discuss their ideal future pinball game, with the current dream being a Fantasy Island pinball machine in the style of early 1990s games.

Highlights

Punk Rock Pinball HQ in Bloomington, Illinois now has 36-37 pinball machines listed on Pinball Map, with almost all working
A competing pinball museum south of Bloomington responded to RHQ adding machines by adding more of their own
Downtime between balls in tournament play is significant, especially with competitive players, and sitting down when possible is good advice
Playing out of turn in a tournament results in immediate disqualification for that round regardless of score
RHQ owns approximately 50% modern Stern machines and 50% older machines (Bally, Williams, Gottlieb), but does not own Barrels of Fun, Spooky, or Jersey Jack games