MISSOULA — “When I'm playing pinball, everything else leaves and I get to like be in that moment,” said Stacy Houge, state representative for the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA).
The IFPA Women’s State Pinball Championship was held at OddPitch Brewing on Sunday, bringing the top 16 players from across the state. Players came from Billings, Helena and Missoula.
“It's really fun, lots of good people and work gets out and there's a whole different demographics, different genders, different ages,” said Kendra Bell, tapper and manager at Oddpitch Brewing.
Competitors play in groups of four, getting as many points as they can within the group to then advance on.
And you can feel that the stakes run high.
But while there may be fierce competition, there is also a great sense of community between the competitors.
“You think you're not good at pinball or whatever, but the community is really uplifting and supportive and very like lots of camaraderie involved in it,” Bell told MTN.
“The community around pinball is phenomenal," Houge said. "So like my husband plays pinball as well. So when we travel anywhere, we go to different pinball apps, find the places that have pinball. We'll play. We'll find the dive bar and like some pinball machines. And we always made a cool community."
Oddpitch Brewing hosts open pinball tournaments every Sunday, so if you’re interested in starting your professional pinball career — Oddpitch is a great starting point.
