Calgary pinball wizards prepare for Silverball Rodeo tournament
CBC News | Posted: September 1, 2017 8:38 PM | Last Updated: September 1, 2017
Atlantic Trap and Gill playing host to 1st annual pinball tournament
A group of Calgary pinball wizards will be putting their crazy flipper fingers to the test at the first-annual Silverball Rodeo this Labour Day weekend.
The Atlantic Trap and Gill will play host to the tournament put on by the Stampede City Pinball League running taking place on Saturday and Sunday.
More than 20 pinball machines will be trucked in for the event, which is open to the public to try their luck against some pinball champs.
"There will be no waiting to play, it'll just be pinball all day," lifelong pinball fanatic Darren Krywolt, told the Calgary Eyeopener. "So someone like me just lives for this stuff."
Sure plays a mean pinball
Ever since he was a young boy, he's played the silver ball.
Krywolt's has had a love affair with pinball since he was 5-years-old when he was given a plastic pinball machine toy.
Fast forward to his adult years and he is now the proud owner of 14 machines, filling three rooms of his family home.
"Needless to say, I have a very understanding wife," Krywolt said. "And…my three kids absolutely love it. So we have no Nintendos, no PlayStations. No, we have pinball."
Become part of the machine
Krywolt said Stampede City Pinball has rankings, standings and trophies just like any recreational sports league.
Stampede City Pinball meet on Wednesday nights at the Atlantic Trap and Gill to share a love of all things pinball and breed some healthy competition between players.
"There is sort of a courtesy – a pinball courtesy – to sort of give [an] arm's length distance to the person playing," Krywolt said. "We don't get too much pushing and shoving, but there has been a bit of kicking."
Registration for the Silverball Rodeo is open from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Atlantic Trap and Gill. Qualifying round will run until 6:30 p.m. and tournament play wall start at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
The tournament costs $30 to enter and registration fees will be put into the prize pool.
The second season of the Stampede City Pinball League starts in October and runs until March. To become a full member of the league costs $100 per season.
Visit the Stampede City Pinball League's website for more information.
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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener