Electric Bat Tuesday Night Pinball League — Season 22-1, Week 3: When the Machines Said “Not Tonight” 😂🕹️

Tuesday night at Electric Bat Arcade was one of those pinball nights where I simultaneously had a pretty decent night… and spent a lot of it wondering what the hell the machines were doing. 😂

There were 100 players tonight, five rounds, and a whole lot of structured voluntary chaos.

And apparently the theme of the evening was:
Christy knows these games. The games just weren’t particularly interested in cooperating.

Still, I walked away with three top-three finishes in five rounds, got some excellent revenge practice after league, and proved a couple of things to myself along the way.

So let’s break it down.

—

Round 1 — Andromeda

Starting the night on Andromeda was not exactly my idea of a good time.

I have a history with this machine. Andromeda has knocked me out of tournaments before, and generally speaking, it is NOT a game I look forward to seeing on my scorecard.

But apparently tonight Andromeda decided to be civil.

Ball 1
P1 — 10.6K
Christy — 53K
P3 — 25.5K
P4 — 37.6K

I was getting a bunch of the top lanes and generally felt like I was getting something going.

Ball 2
P1 — 150.3K
Christy — 88.1K
P3 — 117.2K
P4 — 144.9K

I finished the top lanes and got out.

Ball 3
P1 — 832.8K
Christy — 223.1K
P3 — 136.8K
P4 — 185.9K

Lots of drops and some center bonus helped me get to 364,240 for the game.

And somehow…
🥈 SECOND PLACE!

On Andromeda.
The game that normally wants me dead.
I’ll take it. 😂

—

Round 2 — Metallica Remastered

Now THIS was the one that hurt.

Metallica is a game I actually like and know how to play. Getting 100–200 million on Metallica is normally pretty straightforward for me.

Tonight?

Metallica apparently woke up and chose violence.

Ball 1
P1 — 2.8M
P2 — 1.1M
P3 — 19.6M
Christy — 3.2M

I got the skill shot, worked on the coffin locks, hit the coffin a bunch, got a right ramp, hit Sparky once and Snake once…
…and then I was done.

Ball 2

P1 — 107.8M
P2 — 17.3M
P3 — 36.7M
Christy — 3.9M

Skill shot and two Sparky hits.
Not exactly the Metallica performance I had in mind.

Ball 3
P1 — 110.8M
P2 — 32.5M
P3 — 42.7M
Christy — 16.1M

I finally got Sparky Multiball, but it was still nowhere near what I normally expect from myself on this machine.

Final: approximately 16.1 million.
And that put me in…
4th place.

This one was frustrating because I KNOW I can do better on Metallica. This wasn’t a case of the game being something I don’t understand.

It just wasn’t happening.

Sizzle.
Sizzle.
Fizzle.
Fizzle.
Plop.
😂

—

Round 3 — Eight Ball

Then came Eight Ball, another game I really enjoy.

And, once again, the machine and I had a complicated relationship.

This was a five-ball game, and I was hoping Eight Ball would let me show up and do what I normally do.

Ball 1
P1 — 37K
Christy — 13.7K
P3 — 9.1K
P4 — 15.4K

Three top lanes and a good spinner rip.

Ball 2
P1 — 48.1K
Christy — 30.3K
P3 — 34.3K
P4 — 27.2K

Ball 3
P1 — 118K
Christy — 47.7K
P3 — 43.8K
P4 — 41.6K

The right outlane was feeling particularly hungry.

Ball 4
P1 — 140.2K
Christy — 73.5K
P3 — 62.9K
P4 — 55.2K

I finished the top lanes, hit a post and then… out.

Ball 5
P1 — 286.5K
Christy — 96.9K
P3 — 78.6K
P4 — 71.5K

Skill shot, spinner rip, and then out.
Final score: 96,900
And that was good enough for…
🥈 SECOND PLACE!

Which I was absolutely happy to take.

But I also knew I hadn’t really played Eight Ball to its potential. I haven’t been giving that machine much love lately, and apparently it noticed. 😂

—

Round 4 — James Bond 007

Then we arrived at James Bond 007 Premium.
And… yeah.
No.
😂

This was probably the most ridiculous game of the night.

I couldn’t get the skill shots. I couldn’t really control the ball. I wasn’t getting modes. I wasn’t getting multiballs.

It was just…
Yuck.

Ball 1
Christy — 461K
P2 — 1M
P3 — 2.8M
P4 — 32.2M

No skill shot. I made a cool loop, dodged a near-miss with a ramp, and just could not get hold of the game.

Ball 2
Christy — 2M
P2 — 9.1M
P3 — 24.5M
P4 — 75M

No skill shot again. Left loop, center loop, drop target, left scoop, two top lanes, some general shenanigans…
…and out.

Ball 3
Christy — 3M
P2 — 17M
P3 — 73M
P4 — walked off with it

Let’s just say Bond and I were not having a productive conversation.

I actually did a toddler stomp after this one. 😂

My friend Diane was watching and basically told me, “You’re so much better than that at that game.”

And she’s right.
I know I’m better than that at Bond.
But sometimes the machine simply says:
Nope.

And you move on.

—

Round 5 — Firepower

And then we finished the league night with Firepower.

There were four of us:
Christy Kohtz
Mark Pearson
Erica Manheimer
Geoff Bennett

And Firepower decided to take the concept of “making things difficult” to an entirely new level.

Ball 1
4.6K.
Because I got a HOUSE BALL.
😂

The others:
Mark — 352.5K
Geoff — 67.1K
Erica — 12.1K

Okay.
Fine.
Let’s try again.

Ball 2
13.3K.

Because apparently Firepower had another house ball waiting for me.

Mark — 368.6K
Geoff — 79.6K
Erica — 44.8K

At this point I was basically negotiating with the machine.

PLEASE LET ME PLAY.

Ball 3

Finally.
An actual ball.
I completed the top lanes, got lots of drop targets, and then eventually went out.

Final score:
54,096
And somehow…
🥉 THIRD PLACE!

Final standings:
🥇 Mark Pearson — 383,500
🥈 Geoff Bennett — 287,590
🥉 Christy Kohtz — 54,096
4️⃣ Erica Manheimer — 45,820

So after two house balls, I still managed to climb into third.
I’ll take it. 😂

—

And Then… I Didn’t Actually Go Home

Because apparently five rounds of league pinball wasn’t enough.

After the league games were finished, I decided I needed to go practice.

You know.
For science.
😂

First up was Firepower, because obviously I needed revenge.

I played it again and got somewhere in the 140K–180K range. Not some earth-shattering score, but the important thing was:

I ACTUALLY GOT TO PLAY THE GAME.

Which was nice.

Then I played Charlie’s Angels for a little while and had a good game on it.

After that I went looking for Nitro Ground Shaker.

Because Sunday and I did not have a particularly pleasant relationship with Nitro Ground Shaker.

So naturally, I decided I needed to prove to myself that I could actually play the damn thing.

And I DID.

In fact, I put up a score in practice that would have won the league game.

So…
There.
REDEMPTION.

Sunday’s Nitro Ground Shaker game does not get to live rent-free in my head anymore. 😂

—

Then came Joker Poker ❤️

I went over to Joker Poker, which is one of my favorite classic pinball machines.

And I had a couple of really good games on it.

There’s just something about playing a good classic that makes me happy.

No giant rulebook.

No 47 different modes.

Just:
Hit stuff. Don’t drain. Make numbers go up.
😂

—

And Then I Had to Settle Something With Eight Ball

Because Eight Ball had annoyed me earlier.

So obviously I had to go back.

And here’s the funny part:
I played worse in practice than I did during the actual league game.

So apparently that 96,900 second-place finish wasn’t quite as terrible as I thought it was.

Maybe Eight Ball and I were actually doing okay.

Maybe I was just being dramatic.

Probably both. 😂

—

And Then I Ran Out of Quarters

Which is how every great pinball night eventually ends.

Not with dignity.
Not with a dramatic victory.
Not with a final triumphant score.

With:
“Well, shit. I’m out of quarters.”
😂

So I came out to the car, sat down, and started chilling while I waited for Andrew to finish up with whatever he was doing.

And honestly?

After five league rounds, a bunch of practice games, Jazzercise earlier in the day, Walk 2 of 5, and approximately 900 miles of emotional travel through pinball land…

Sitting in the car sounded pretty damn good.

—

Final Thoughts

Was this my strongest league night?
No.

Did I have some games I know I can play much better?
Absolutely.

Metallica: I know I can score WAY more than 16 million.

Eight Ball: I know I can play it better than 96.9K.

Bond: That game was just… nope.

Firepower: TWO HOUSE BALLS. Enough said.

But here’s what I really like about tonight:
I didn’t just walk away frustrated.
I went back and practiced the games that bothered me.
I got a better Firepower game.
I played well on Charlie’s Angels.
I got my Nitro Ground Shaker redemption.
I had some great Joker Poker games.
And I went back to Eight Ball and discovered that, hey, maybe that second-place league finish wasn’t so bad after all.

So the official record for tonight is:
🕹️ 5 rounds
👥 100 players
🥈 2nd on Andromeda
4️⃣ 4th on Metallica
🥈 2nd on Eight Ball
4️⃣ 4th on Bond
🥉 3rd on Firepower
🪙 Eventually ran out of quarters
😂 Zero regrets

Pinball is weird.

Sometimes you play the games you love and they completely betray you.

Sometimes a game you hate gives you second place.

Sometimes you get two house balls and still claw your way into third.

And sometimes you just need to go back after league, put some quarters in the machine, and remind yourself:
Yep. I can play this damn thing.

That’s Tuesday night pinball.

Structured voluntary chaos.