Cooldown

After the huge weekend that was Pin Diemen's Land, Cooldown was meant to be a gentle return to the flippers. Nobody told the players that. Replay Bar was packed out on Thursday night for a round of group match play, with regulars enjoying the casual format and a great crop of new players joining in, and we couldn't be more thrilled!

The turnout pushed us right up against our capacity, which is a great problem to have. A big thank you to everyone for your patience while queuing for machines. It made for a busy night, but a fun and friendly one, and it's fantastic to see the community growing like this.

Moments of the Night

The boldest play of the evening belonged to Royal Murray on Metallica. After a massive ball 2 put him on roughly half a billion points, Royal decided that was plenty and walked away from the machine, despite still having players left to play behind him. Confident? Absolutely. Justified? Also yes. Nobody was able to catch him, and the gamble paid off.

Royal didn't have it all his own way, though. In a separate game on Deadpool, Patrick Hewitt drained his last ball while still sitting behind Royal's score, which looked like the end of it. Then the end-of-ball bonus started counting up, and up, and just crept past Royal for the win. Pinball can be cruel, and it can be wonderful, and that was both at once.

The Results

When the final round wrapped up, Brett Cooke and Royal Murray were deadlocked on points for first place, so it came down to a tiebreaker on Iron Maiden. Brett came out on top to take the win, with Royal finishing a very respectable second. Patrick Hewitt rounded out the podium in third, with Wes Keys close behind in fourth. Brett and Wes both picked up tickets to our upcoming movie night as their prizes, so we'll see them on the big screen side of things in November (more on that below).

Door Prizes

This round's door prizes were Pin Diemen's Land cap and beer cozy duos. Lily McShane won the first draw, but already had a beer cozy, so she took the cap and we re-drew the cozy, which went to Brett. John O won the second draw and took home the full cap and cozy set. Congratulations to all three! (Sorry, we forgot to grab photos).

Thank You

A big thanks to Replay Bar for hosting us once again. To everyone who came along for the first time, thank you so much for joining us. We hope you had a great night, and we'd love to see you at a future event.

Next Up: Venue Change!

Our next event is Frenzied Strikes 2 on Thursday 22 October. Because it falls on the Hobart Show Day public holiday, we're not at Replay Bar. Instead, we're heading to a private location in New Town. Since it's a private venue, RSVP is required for everyone, even if you've been there before, so we know who's coming and can plan numbers. RSVP via contact@tapp.net.au and we'll send you the address.

Being a public holiday, we're starting early: doors open at 4pm for a 5pm start, and $20 entry covers pizza for dinner. It's Flip Frenzy qualifying into strikes finals, so expect plenty of games and some tense eliminations. See you there!

Movie Night Tickets Are On Sale!

We also had something special on the table on Thursday: freshly printed physical tickets for Movie Night Take 2! on Thursday 19 November. We'll be screening Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, the true story of Roger Sharpe and the fight to overturn New York City's pinball ban, at the State Cinema in North Hobart. Before the film, we'll meet next door at The Winston from 6pm for dinner, drinks and social pinball, with a few silly prize challenges like split-flipper, blind play and single-hand, before heading in for the 8:30pm screening.

Seats are limited to just 20, and our first movie night sold out, so it's no surprise that nearly half the tickets went on the night. If you'd like one, reserve yours by emailing contact@tapp.net.au ($25 general admission, $20 concession) before they're gone!