Houston Arcade Expo & Week of WPPRs Recap

WOW! What a week! Space City Pinball hosted 12 tournaments in 8 days with 265 unique players from Texas and beyond! We played pinball under the stars, sampled a menu of jello shots, and took to the stage for karaoke. Congratulations our champions:

  • Space City Open – Nick Mueller
  • Women’s Interstellar Showdown – Hope Love
  • Junior Space Cadet Best Game – Brandon Chapman
  • Go/NoGo Launch Readiness – Jonathon Morales
  • WOW Matchplay at EinStein’s Pub – Nick Mueller
  • 10 on Wen Won’t Win at EinStein’s Richmond – Kevin Sturhan
  • 3 Strike Tuesday at The Game Preserve North – Jonathan Henson 
  • 3 Strike Tuesday at The Game Preserve NASA – Erich Stinson
  • 3X & Whiskey at Poison Girl – Mario Garza
  • EinStein’s Drainiacs 4X – Wesley Johnson
  • Star Wars Fall of the Empire Best Game – Wesley Johnson
  • WOW Kickoff at Eureka Heights – Jonathan Henson

It takes a premier team to pull off such a fun week, and we’d like to thank all those who contributed to our success. This year our members provided 18 games for the tournament room and 24 games for the Space City booth. We had 15 tournament directors, 4 techs, and 30 booth volunteers sharing the love of competitive pinball in Houston. This community rocks!

A huge thank you also goes out to Carpool Pinball for streaming and our amazing sponsors for the support and prizes: PinHouse, Marco, Titan, Pinball Life, Trust Guss Accident Attorney, Hot Dog Shop, Ellington Law, EinSteins Pub, Jim Muller, Joshua Mitchell and Matt Quantz.

Space City Open 2025

The Space City Pinball League is proud to present the 2025 Space City Open at the Houston Arcade and Pinball Expo! Eventbrite registration will open on August 30 at 11am. More detailed information can be found on the Houston Arcade and Pinball Expo website. The women’s Interstellar Showdown registration will open the same day at 11:30am on Matchplay.events. This year, SCPL will also host a fun kids tournament in our booth with walk-up registration.

Here’s a little history. The Space City Pinball Open first began in 2016 with 14 players participating. It was hosted by Phil Grimaldi and Matt Quantz, but Matt actually had to attend his brother’s wedding that day. David Pollock recalls, “That was my first tournament. I didn’t know anyone there, but found out about it through Brian Foytik. Everyone asked if I knew Matt like he was this cool dude everyone knew.” The game list included Whirlwind, Firepower, Tales From The Crypt, Ironman, Diner, Dracula, Judge Dredd, Simpsons Pinball Party and Dr. Dude.

Super Saturday Showdown Series

Explore pinball around Space City on the first Saturday of the month! Space City Pinball will host all-ages, WPPRtunity tournaments at various venues around town with space for large groups. Each event will consist of 8 rounds of group matchplay that will be used to accumulate series points. Finals formats may vary depending upon the location.

Those who play in the Super Saturday Showdown Series will be eligible for an award given out by SCPL at the end of the year. While each tournament will be submitted to the IFPA separately, the final showdown will include recognition and awards.

Our first series will begin in June 2025 with six opportunities to play. Check the SCPL calendar for specific details:

  • June 7 – The Game Preserve NASA
  • July 5 – Eureka Heights
  • August 2 – Gandalf’s Arcade, a private collection
  • September 6 – Eureka Heights
  • October 4 – The Game Preserve NASA
  • December 6 – UpKick Pinball, a private collection

Mega Matchplay Women’s Weekend

The Belles of Space City invite women from near and far to explore the world of pinball with the Houston crew. Join us May 23 & 24, 2025 as we venture to The LOWer Level Arcade on Friday evening and then travel to UpKick the following morning for some Mega Matchplay estimated to be worth 200%! RSVP on the Matchplay events so these private collectors can plan for your arrival Friday and Saturday.

Texas Pinball Festival!

Our Space Cadets explored the Texas Pinball Festival last weekend in Frisco. We enjoyed playing the newly released games, competing in the tournaments, and hanging out at the Wormhole booth. Congratulations to Jack Revnew for placing 2nd in the Texas Wizards Tournament!

State Championship

Congratulations to our SCPL members who qualified for the IFPA State Championships during the 2024 season!

Open Qualifiers: Fred Revnew, Jack Revnew, Jim Mueller, Jonathan Henson, Lee Balusek, Nicholas Gustafson, Phil Grimaldi, Travis Hanna and Wesley Johnson.

Women’s Qualifiers: Elizabeth Dronet, Erin Anthony, Evelyn Carroll, Gina Low, Jessica DeNardo, Jessica Murillo, Miette Dronet, Summer Ellington, and Tracy Abrahams.

We are especially proud of the following players:
Miette- Tennessee Women’s Champion
Jessica D- Texas Women’s Runner-Up
Summer- Louisiana Women’s Runner-Up
Jack – 3rd place in the Texas Open Championship