Category: Events

Houston Arcade Expo Recap

Space City Pinball League, The Premier Pinball League of Texas
Space City Open: 1st Wesley Johnson, 2nd Preston Moncla, 3rd Mark Meserve, 4th Garrett Shahan
Interstellar Showdown: 1st Alice Young, 2nd Melody Zisman, 3rd Rachel Morris, 4th Kelli Raisler
Interstellar Showdown Semifinalists: Miette Dronet, Jessica Thaxton, Summer Ellington, Hope Love

Holy smokes, y’all! That was awesome! As a tournament director, I could not have asked for a better event. All the games arrived in excellent condition. There were so many volunteers willing to help with set up. Even when games went down, our techs, Jesse Bodell and Mike Flanagan, got them back up and operational in short order. The players were respectful and jovial. The rounds started and ended on time. There were very few malfunctions or complicated rulings. And the finals…my goodness the finals. I’ve been on the tournament scene for over 10 years. That was, without a doubt, the most fun and electric finals I’ve ever witnessed. Legendary!

While I would love to take credit, the reality is none of that could have happened without there being such an amazing pinball community here in H-town and Texas. The positive energy this past weekend was truly special. I could not be more proud of what this scene has matured into. We’ve really come a long way.

Big congratulations to Wesley Johnson for taking the crown — the first Space City pinball player to do so! That final shot on Fish Tales was so clutch! Congrats also to Alice Young for earning the rhinestone hat in the Interstellar Showdown after a tough battle on Tron. Well played!

Thanks to Keith and the Houston Arcade Expo for trusting me to run the tournament all these years. Shout out to my assistant TDs: David Pollock, Marc Gammons, David and Elizabeth Dronet, Leslie Speights, Lee Balusek, Matt Quantz. Thanks to Jim Mueller for bringing the spare parts. I think we used most of them! Thanks to Jamie Burchell, Erin Anthony and Wormhole for streaming the tournaments! Finally, thanks to everyone else who brought games and helped with set up and tear down.

-Phil and the Space City Team

Space City Open & Interstellar Showdown

The Space City Pinball League and the Belles of Space City will once again host tournaments at the Houston Arcade Expo on November 10-12, 2023. Mark your calendars to preregister for these events. The SCO registration will open on September 3 at 11am and the Women’s Interstellar Showdown will open on October 7 at noon. Click the images for details.

Week of WPPRS

Join Space City Pinball as we celebrate pinball in Houston with a tournament every day leading up to the Houston Arcade Expo! See the league calendar for details. Players who participate in all the events through Thursday night will be recognized with an “Ordered the Combo” prize!

Space Camp! Women’s Wormhole Weekend

BECAUSE SOMEDAY, YOU’RE GOIN’ UP!

The Belles of Space City invite women of all ages and skills to join us for a weekend of tournaments at the Wormhole, a private pinball club in Houston. At Space Camp, ladies will drill their skills to prepare for the ultimate pinball mission. Over Memorial Day weekend, May 26-28, 2023, the Belles will host four women’s tournaments, with the main matchplay event estimated to be worth 200%. Read all about it here.

Houston Arcade Expo Recap

Well, another legendary Week of WPPRS culminating with the Space City Open and Women’s Interstellar Showdown is officially on the books!

Congratulations to our open winners:
1. Colin MacAlpine, 2. Jim Mueller, 3. Tim Sexton, and 4. Mark Meserve

Belle’s Interstellar Showdown Champions:
1. Tracy Abrahams, 2. Lee Ann Scardina, 3. Elizabeth Savoie Dronet, 4. Emily Hoffman

It can’t be understated how much a team effort it is putting together a week of tournaments like this. It’s so awesome to see our community come together, help each other out, and put on a kick ass show! PREMIERE!
Long, but totally warranted list of thank you’s below!
Thanks to everyone who donated games to the tournament and SCPL booth, those who helped fix and repair games, and to everyone who stuck around to help set up and tear down the games, tournament room and booth. Thanks to Wormhole Pinball and Jamie Burchell for providing excellent streaming coverage of the finals! Thanks to Jim Mueller for donating flipper rebuild kits! Thanks to Quasar’s Arcade for the $500 prize pool donation! Thanks to Kalieda Fest Wear and 8 Bit Arcade for the fantastic women’s prizes! And lastly, thanks to Keith Christensen and the Arcade Expo for trusting us to run the tournaments.

Houston Arcade Expo Recap

Wow, what a weekend! 

Thanks to all the competitors for being so excellent all weekend. Being a tournament director isn’t easy, but having such a great group makes all the difference in the world.   

Thank you again to all the folks who brought games for the tournament room and Space City booth, as well as those who stepped up to assist with set up, tear down, and technical work. Tournaments like this are a community effort, and we are forever thankful. 

Thanks to Quasars Arcade and Pin Shades for donating money, shirts, and a set of PinShades to the B-division prize pool, and to the Back Box Pinball Podcast and Kalieda Festival Wear for donating prizes to the women’s tournament.

Congratulations to the winners!

Space City Open

A-division — 1. Colin MacAlpine 2. Robert Byers 3. Jim Mueller and 4. Lee

B-Division — 1. Jeff Mleynek 2. Tim Hood 3. Eric Heskett and 4. Stephen Thaxton 

A Division Finalists

Women’s Interstellar Showdown

1. Kelli Raisler 2. Maritza Chirichingno 3. Lisa Shore 4. Alana Johnson

Interstellar Showdown Finalists

If you didn’t see, there was a great writeup on the show and tournament in pinballnews.com

Hope to see you again next year! – The Space City Pinball team