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As the summer comes to an end, competitive pinball has continued to thrive, though last month was sleepier than most. Still, players were out and about, attending circuit events, local bashes, and quite a few big 'ol pinball parties. Whether used for four weeks of relaxation or consistent practice, August was exactly what we needed as the tournament schedule ramps up into the craziness of September and October.
For our seventh edition of The Score Card, we're keeping you up to date on the Stern Pro Circuit with a pair of big-time tournaments. One held at a proverbial Mecca of competitive pinball, and the other at a comfy spot in one of pinball's “super states”. As we prepare for a flurry of big events in the coming months, let's take a quick moment to look back on the big plays, close-calls, and triumphant wins of August's competitions.
As the name implies, the District 82 Summer Pinball Classic was held at District 82 Pinball Arcade, located in De Pere, Wisconsin. A legendary location in the modern competitive scene, even if you've never been to D82, you've probably seen some footage of their tournaments online. It's also the host location for 2026's IFPA21 World Championship as it returns to the United States. Known for attracting the very best players from across the country, District 82 hosts a selection of events with high quantities of tournaments, with the Summer Pinball Classic being no exception. From August 15 to 17, there were four tournaments at D82 Summer Pinball Classic, including a certified Classics event, the Stern Pro Circuit Main event, and a couple of knockouts for good measure.
Unfortunately, the event was not streamed live for viewers to enjoy, and it seems to be the only Stern Pro Circuit event that was withheld from broadcast. Although the popular streamer laser_los was kind enough to go live for a hectic bout of legendary “$5 Volley” (check his YouTube channel for the video when it's uploaded), the official competitions were left in the dark. Still, we can gather some of the drama from the final results. For the main Stern Pro Circuit tournament, 113 players in total showed up to play 20 games of Match Play qualifying, with the top 24 players earning their spot in the A Division playoffs. Top qualifiers saw the likes of Andy Rosa, Sean Lind, Ryan Spindler, and plenty of other high-caliber players, leading to a tough field in the playoffs.
The solid qualifying performances from these top-seeded competitors carried over into the playoffs though, with Andy Rosa, Sean Lind, Jack Slovacek, and David Daluga making it to the finals; all players who had qualified in the top 8. Jack Slovacek got out to a strong start with back-to-back wins on White Water (Williams 1993) and KISS (Bally, 1979), while the rest fought over second and third place points. In the final game, Tommy (Data East, 1994), Andy Rosa nabbed a win, giving him a much-needed boost in total points, but Jack did not relent, earning enough points to secure an overall first place finish.
The Northwest Pinball Championships was the last Stern Pro Circuit event in August, drawing in over 130 players for a big battle on the West Coast. Held at Lynnwood Bowl and Skate in Lynnwood, Washington, NWPC 2025 offered four competitions, including the main Open, Classics, Women's, and a charity tournament for good measure. Qualifying and playoffs were all streamed live on Twitch by GeekGamerTV, providing ample coverage across the entire event with fantastic commentary all weekend long.
All qualifying sessions were double card, a slightly lesser-seen format in general competition, but still prevalent enough to take note. Similar to standard card format, double card has players picking a selection of games from the established bank and playing them solo, with one chance per card to put up a high score. Since your best two cards count, there's a bit more wiggle room than in standard card, but it's still less forgiving than Match Play.
The NWPC Women's tournament was played on a bank of six games, with an emphasis on moderns and mids over classic machines. Out of the 40 ladies who put up qualifying scores, only the top 8 made it into the playoffs, with only the semi-finals and final rounds between them and the championship. Max Stewart, MK Walker, Karrie Hill, and Emily Reilhan carved their way into the three-game finals, which kicked off on Black Knight: Sword of Rage (Stern, 2019).
Though brutally unforgiving as expected, MK stuck to mode play and pulled out a win, while Emily fought from the back of the pack for a second place finish. Star Wars (Stern, 2017) was the arena for game two, and while most players struggled with the lightning-fast play, MK persevered and picked up another win to secure the championship for the second year in a row. In the final game on Hoops (Gottlieb, 1991), Karrie Hill led early on, but Max Stewart nailed a 3-ball super slam on her final ball for a whopping 3 million points, giving her enough total round points to take second place overall behind MK.
The Classics tournament saw over 135 players putting up their best cards, with the top 28 making it into the A Division playoffs. The bank consisted of 8 games and was varied with both common tournament titles and a few rarer machines, including Dragon Fist (Stern, 1981), Meteor (Stern, 1979), Paragon (Bally, 1979), and more. After three playoff rounds of high-stakes flipping, only four competitors remained for the final round: Escher Lefkoff, Derek Price, Ryan Slanicka, and Trevor McDonald.
In game one, Genie (Gottlieb, 1979), Ryan and Derek were subject to multiple house balls, sliding into third and fourth place, while Escher and Trevor actually got to flip more than a few times. Opting to mostly shatz and hit the spinner, Escher put up a modest 260,000 points with Trevor trailing at 160,000, giving Escher his first win of the finals. Moving over to Dragon Fist for game two, everyone struggled on their first ball, but Escher found a groove on his second and third, putting hefty pressure on the rest of the group. Ultimately, no one was able to come close to Escher's 750,000 point score, giving him yet another win.
Meteor was the last battlefield of Classics finals, and while Escher had a high probability of taking the overall victory due to the previous back-to-back wins, everyone came out of the gate fighting. It was a spinner-rip heavy match with a side of advanced flipper skills, as Escher tap passed, while Derek, Ryan, and Trevor trusted the up-post for Kirk passes aplenty. While all players locked in for finals-worthy play, Escher edged above the rest by 200,000 points, finally securing the Classics championship.
Like Classics, the Stern Pro Circuit Open tournament pulled in over 130 players for qualifying. The bank consisted mostly of moderns and mids like The Mandalorian (Stern, 2021), World Cup Soccer (Bally, 1994), and X-Men (Stern, 2012), but with a few oddballs like Devil's Dare (Gottlieb, 1982) and Class of 1812 (Gottlieb, 1991). 40 players made the cut into the A Division playoffs, with a field of exceptionally tough competitors. There was nowhere to hide from top-ranked players, with the likes of Cayle George, Raymond Davidson, Steven Bowden, Preston Currie, and countless other master flippers in every group.
Dicing their way through playoffs, the final four emerged for an absolutely stacked grand finals, including Escher Lefkoff, Jack Slovacek, Jason Zahler, and Zach “Zmac” McCarthy. That's the top three players (per IFPA ranking) in the world, plus Jack at 13th world-ranked, all duking it out in three heated matches. Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure (Williams, 1993) was the first arena in the finals, where Escher kept his energy from Classics, reaching the wizard mode on ball 2. While Jason played multiball well enough to put on some pressure, Escher nabbed first place, while Jason slid into second and Zmac into third. In game two, Class of 1812, Escher struggled, but Jason, Jack, and Zmac grinded out million-point left ramps for major scores. Ultimately, Jason took first place with a stunning 68 million, while Zmac picked up second with 23 million and Jack third with 22 million.
As game three on F-14 Tomcat (Williams, 1987) began, Jack was the only player out of the running for the championship win, with Jason sitting in the lead, and both Escher and Zach within chomping distance. Zmac tore away on ball 1 with some incredibly good multiball play, picking up multiple fighter jackpots and scoring over 7.5 million as everyone else struggled to hit 100,000. This persisted for the entire game, and Zmac handily took first place, with Jack picking up second and Jason third.
Tied at 7 overall points each, the championship all came down to a tiebreaker match of The Mandalorian between Jason and Zmac. Across three balls, they battled back and forth, with Zmac holding the lead into ball 2 at 277 million points. However, Jason fired back in a big way, scoring over 900 million points on his second ball, putting the pressure back on Zmac. With the championship on the line, Zmac fumbled while going for a playfield multiplier, ending his game at just over 300 million. After a challenging final series, Jason Zahler picked up yet another Stern Pro Circuit victory, just one of many so far in his impressive 2025 season.
August may have been slow, but the coming months are absolutely packed with big events to watch and compete in. Coming up in just a few days, on September 4 – 7, is the PAPA 22 World Pinball Championships in Schaumburg, IL, one of the five IFPA Majors of 2025. If you're in the mood for a convention paired with another Stern Pro Circuit competition, the Cleveland Pinball and Arcade Show celebrates its 10th anniversary in Cleveland, OH, from September 11 to 14. After a week's break, we jump across the pond for the UK Pinball Open in Croydon, England, taking place September 26 – 28.
Of course, you don't have to travel across the country to get in on some competitive pinball. The start of September marks the start of the Fall season for countless IFPA pinball leagues, which are a great place to start if you're new to the tournament scene. Now that we're well past the halfway point of the 2025 season, the WPPR point farming is at an all-time high as everyone makes their run at the 2025-26 IFPA State Championships, which will be held on January 17, 2026, regardless of your state or province. If you want to get in on the action, you'll find a surplus of tournaments from now until the end of the year, so check out the IFPA tournament calendar for more information. No matter what, get out there and play some pinball, and you too could find yourself featured in The Score Card with a bit of practice and determination.
Matt Owen is a lifelong gamer and overall media fiend. He can often be found playing endless hours of games or watching an absurd amount of movies and television: action, horror, mystery, and sci-fi in particular. When he's not bingeing entertainment media, Matt enjoys reading and writing fiction, playing pinball, broadcasting, and attempting to cook.
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