Some tournaments are about dominating. Others are about surviving, adapting, and refusing to quit. This one was definitely the second kind.
Twenty-nine players battled through six rounds of qualifying, with only the top eight advancing to the Amazing Race finals. My day started with a rough opening round, but instead of letting it snowball, I settled in and kept grinding.
Qualifying Results
Round 1 – Terminator 2 🥉 3rd Place (3 points)
Not the start I wanted, but there were still five rounds to play.
Round 2 – Tommy 🥇 1st Place (7 points)
A huge comeback round featuring a skill shot, Tommy Multiball, and Blind Multiball. Tommy definitely treated me well.
Round 3 – Ghostbusters 🥈 2nd Place (5 points)
Steady play kept the momentum going.
Round 4 – Black Knight: Sword of Rage 🥉 3rd Place (3 points)
This machine lived up to its reputation. I managed enough points to stay in the hunt.
Round 5 – Eight Ball Deluxe 🥈 2nd Place (5 points)
Classic Ballys always make you earn every point.
Round 6 – Jaws (Premium) 🥇 1st Place (7 points)
This was probably my best game of qualifying. Three skill shots, Night Swim, lots of ramps, and even some “shenanigans” couldn’t keep me from posting 85.9 million and taking first place over a very strong group.
Final qualifying score: 30 points, tied for the final qualifying spot.
Tiebreaker
Four players finished tied at 30 points for the last three finals spots.
Party Zone decided our fate.
I started slowly but caught fire on Ball 3, finishing with 11.98 million to earn first place in the tiebreaker and punch my ticket into the Amazing Race finals.
Amazing Race Finals
The format became a survival challenge. Beat the posted score and advance.
✅ Buck Rogers
✅ Twilight Zone (46.3 million)
✅ Harlem Globetrotters on Tour
✅ TRON: Legacy (13.1 million)
TRON was probably the game I felt best about all day. Three skill shots, started multiball, and built a much bigger score than I expected on a machine that’s usually pretty unforgiving.
My run finally ended on RoboCop, finishing 4th overall.
The Numbers
29 competitors
Qualified for the Amazing Race finals
Won the qualifying tiebreaker
Advanced through four Amazing Race rounds
Finished 4th overall
Took home one of the awesome Desert Dolls alien trophies! 👽🏆
One More Thing…
This whole tournament happened after getting only 2 hours and 39 minutes of sleep the night before.
Incidental Exercise Receipts
Was I tired? Absolutely.
Did I wish I had been better rested? Definitely.
But sometimes you simply play with what you’ve got, trust your experience, and keep fighting one ball at a time.
And yes… I finally got to say something that’s still pretty novel:
I even finished ahead of Hailey. 😄
Thanks to everyone at the Desert Dolls Pinball Collective for another fantastic tournament. Great competition, great people, and one very cool little green alien that now has a new home.
Until next month… keep those silverballs alive! 👽🎱
Still counts. Always.
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