Belles and Chimes Phoenix August Monthly Tournament Recap

August’s Belles & Chimes monthly tournament at The Outpost Arcade was one of those pinball days that managed to be equal parts thrilling, frustrating, hilarious, and rewarding.

And honestly? That’s pretty much exactly what I signed up for. 😂

Match Play: Welcome to the Crapshoot
I love pinball.

I also fully recognize that sometimes pinball loves me back, and sometimes it apparently has me confused with somebody it doesn’t like very much.

This tournament definitely had some of that going on.

My match-play results were:
Cirqus Voltaire — 1st

Volcano — 1st

The Walking Dead Pro — 2nd

The Mandalorian LE — 3rd

Spanish Eyes — 4th

Genesis — 4th

So let’s talk about Spanish Eyes for a minute.

Spanish Eyes

Spanish Eyes is a five-ball, one-player-at-a-time classic game, which meant we had plenty of time to watch everyone else play before it was my turn.

Maya was clearly suffering through the five-ball format—she’s much more of a fast-machine player than a classics player.

Krisha, on the other hand, is really good at classics, which made her the person I was watching most closely.

Zoey had only played Spanish Eyes a couple of times and was asking for tips.

Basically, anybody’s game.

And then I finished fourth.

My score was 30,870, behind Krisha’s 54,300, Maya’s 48,120, and Zoey’s 31,710.

Ouch.

But this was also one of those games where I had already decided I wasn’t going to judge myself for the result. It’s a quirky old game, and sometimes you just get what you get.

And that’s important because…
Genesis happened.
Oh, Genesis.

My three balls were:
Ball 1: 76K
Ball 2: 141.3K
Ball 3: 223K
Final score: 223,000.
Fourth place.

Not exactly the Genesis performance I was hoping for.

So naturally, after the tournament…
I played Genesis again.
And promptly put up: 917,600
😂😂😂
REVENGE GAME.

That felt much better.

The Mandalorian: The Pain Cave
The Mandalorian was another roller coaster.

I started with a house ball, got a ball save, then another house ball and ended Ball 1 at only 86.5K while Hailey was already at 133 million.

Yeah.
That was… not ideal. But I kept going.

My scores climbed, not:
Ball 1: 86.5K
Ball 2: 363K
Ball 3: 2.3M

Meanwhile, Hailey finished around 150.9M.

I ended up 3rd.

And that was actually a good reminder that sometimes you don’t need to have the monster score to salvage the round. You just keep playing and take whatever points the game gives you.

The Final Match-Play Standings

After six rounds of match play, I finished:
15th place — 24 points

The breakdown:
7 + 7 + 5 + 1 + 3 + 1 = 24

The two 1-point rounds hurt, but the other four rounds included two wins, a second, and a third.

The finals cutoff ended up being 30 points, with a tiebreaker needed between Mahina Hayashi and Dena Brooks for the final spot.

So I missed finals, but I wasn’t miles away from the action.

That’s pinball.

And Then Mollie Stoltenberg won the Belles & Chimes Phoenix August Monthly Tournament!

Absolutely fantastic.
Congratulations, Mollie! 🏆💜

There were also several prize winners throughout the field, including Tracy Lindberg, Harley Rogers, Madison Barnes, Michelle Pack…and me! 😁

So I did not leave empty-handed.
And I Got a New Pinball Shirt

Which may actually be one of my favorite parts of the entire day.

My new shirt says:

FLIPPING THE BIRD
SINCE 2011

And naturally, I had to wear it with my F-14 Tomcat connection because there’s a Thunderbird Pinball Repair Company card on my F-14.

Appropriate?
Absolutely.

The Other Side of Tournament Day

One thing I noticed during this tournament was how much I missed having somewhere to move around and decompress at The Outpost.

I love the arcade. Truly.

But when I’m stressed, walking around helps me regulate. At The Outpost, there isn’t really a loop to walk, and in August in Phoenix, going outside for a few laps isn’t exactly an appealing option.

So there were definitely moments where the tournament stress felt more intense simply because I didn’t have my usual physical outlet.

That’s something I’m going to keep in mind going forward.

Because tournament performance isn’t just about what happens between the flippers.

It’s also about taking care of the person standing behind them.

The Big Takeaway

Was 15th place exactly where I wanted to finish?
Nope.

Did I make finals?
Nope.

Am I disappointed about the two 1-point rounds?
Sure.

But am I going to call this a bad tournament?
Absolutely not.
I won two match-play rounds.
I took second and third in two others.
I collected a prize.
I got a fantastic new pinball shirt.
I got a little revenge on Genesis with a 917,600.

Ate some amazing potluck goodies! Thank you everyone for the amazing spread!

And I got to spend the day playing pinball with a bunch of women who love this ridiculous game as much as I do.

Sometimes the tournament gives you the result you wanted.

Sometimes it gives you a story.

Incidental Exercise Receipts