Date: 9th & 10th November, 2019 Location: IJsselhallen Zwolle, Rieteweg 4, 8011AB Zwolle, Netherlands After several years occupying the De Vene Voorst in Drunen, for 2019 the annual Dutch Pinball Open Expo (DPO Expo) moved to a new location in the north-east of the country. The venue was IJsselhallen, a large exhibition and conference complex in the city of Zwolle. IJsselhallen Zwolle The original intention of the Dutch Pinball Association (Nederlandse Flipper Vereniging) was to move the DPO around the country so that most areas would have it hosted somewhere close to them every few years. However, apart from the anniversary show in Eindhoven in 2017, the DPO (or latterly the DPO Expo) has stayed in Drunen since the show was held there in 2013. The IJsselhallen complex is far larger than the DPO Expo could fill, so the show only occupied the western end of the building, taking over two halls and the entrance lobby. The rest of the IJsselhallen Zwolle building There was plenty of parking on-site, although there was a €6 charge per in/out session. Limited catering facilities were available inside, but there was a Jumbo supermarket a short walk away, while the city centre and a variety of restaurants, shops and bars was around 15 minutes away on foot. Inside the IJsselhallen entrance hall were two screens giving information about the show schedule in Dutch and English, and a guide to the venue’s layout. Information screens in the lobby There were two game halls packed full of machines and vendors. The nearest one to the entrance was called the Suyderseezaal so let’s start our tour of the show in there. The Suycerseezaal We got to the venue late on Friday afternoon (due to flight delays) while games and stands were still being set up. Setting up machines in the first hall There was a lot of work done setting everything up in time for the opening on Saturday morning Meanwhile more hard work was taking place in the second hall – Hanzezaal. The Hanzezaal Machines waiting to be set up Lots of pinballs in this second hall Those who volunteered to help set up games were rewarded with dinner in the venue’s canteen on Friday evening. A hot dinner for the workers Enjoying their well-earned dinner It wasn’t too long before the machines were all on their legs and the show really began to take shape. The first hall The second hall Some of the DPO tournament machines in the second hall More DPO tournament machines Some of the Classic Tournament machines The entry desks were positioned in the lobby to the left of the information screens. Pre-purchased entry packages could be collected at one table while on-the-day entry was purchased at the other. These were still being set up on Friday evening too. The two entry desks To the right of the entry desk were three additional areas. One was for game repairs where non-working pinballs could be taken to be worked on in peace away from the show floor. Outside that room was a desk staffed by medical staff in case of any human emergencies, while next to that was the seminar area where talks would be given on Saturday. The seminars area We left for the night, returning early on Saturday morning before the doors opened to the public at 10am. There was still a little work to do before visitors could enter, but the large team of volunteers was working hard to make it all ready in time. The final few machines arrived on Saturday morning A little glass-cleaning and the show is ready to open The cost to enter the DPO Expo was €15 ($16.55/£12.88) per day, although advance packs could be purchased giving entry for both days, a special T-shirt and a poster for €50. Guests received a different-coloured wristband each day Additional entry fees applied if you wanted to participate in the various tournaments. They were €20 for the DPO, €10 for the Ladies Tournament, and €3 per entry for the Classic Tournament (with multiple entries allowed). The Kids Tournament was free to enter, while Sunday’s Swiss Tournament for those not involved in the DPO play-offs cost €5 to enter. Some of the first visitors are welcomed by NFV members Once past the entry desk, visitors could buy posters, reprinted flyers or back copies of the Dutch Pinball Association (NFV) members’ magazine, Spinner. Spinner magazine, flyers, posters and more Additional posters were displayed on a line in the corridor beyond. Game flyer posters were displayed and available to buy for €5 Some of the flyer posters, with a discount if you bought five Also in the corridor was the stand for Jonathan Joosten’s Pinball Magazine. The Pinball Magazine stand in the corridor He was selling copies of the current and previous issues along with the book Pinball and photographic posters. He was also giving away free flyers for recent titles from Stern Pinball, American Pinball and Chicago Gaming, and brought along his Total Nuclear Annihilation machine for visitors to play. Some of the Pinball Magazine posters available to buy As soon as the show opened, the newest titles were predictably the most popular, with lines quickly forming to play them. The Elvira’s House of Horrors Limited Edition was right next to the entrance to the first hall and – with it being the first chance for many to play the game – it soon became the most popular game in the room. Some of the newest titles Elvira’s House of Horrors was especially popular Not all the machines were the latest release though, as there were plenty of classics There were several vendors in the first hall. Christophe Lienard of Pinball Pleasure had his stand selling new Jersey Jack machines as well as custom glass covers, T-shirts, cabinet artwork and other accessories. Christophe Lienard of Pinball Pleasure Glass covers to keep the dust of your JJP game In the left-corner of the room were four video pinballs. Building your own video pinball would be discussed at length in three of the four seminars held in the lobby later on Saturday. Two full-size video pinballs Two mini video pinballs with DPO Expo branding The vendor with the largest stand was Pinball Universe who also brought along a large number of machines for free play or to be used in the tournaments. They also had two of the new Atari Pong sit-down arcade games. Atari Pong games on the Pinball Universe stand Pinball Universe had a big selection of parts on their stand from their parts division PU-parts which included many reductions and special show prices. If we’d had more luggage space on our flight home we would have happily bought a lot more of these than we did. Some of the parts packs from PU-parts Along with pinball basics such as balls and posts, PU-parts had lots of game mods A stack of game manuals you could buy at the Pinball Universe stand Some of the machines brought by Pinball Universe Two more vendors occupied the back corner of the hall. Karin Kolbe’s The Pinwitch had a varied selection of pinball parts, while Chrome Pinball offered a plating service for metal pinball parts. Karin’s The Pinwitch stand Chrome Pinball had some sample pieces on display at their stand Opposite those two stands was Nicolas Manaud who was running his PinSound stand. As well as selling PinSound boards, speaker kits and shaker motors, Nicolas had six machines with the PinSound system installed so visitors could experience the sonic improvements for themselves. Nicolas Manaud at his PinSound stand Three of the six PinSound-equipped machines at the DPO Expo The final vendor in the first hall was Eric Boes who had a range of posters, flyers, manuals and assorted paperwork for sale on his stand. Eric Boes’ stand in the first hall Here are the 96 machines in the first game hall, the Suyderseezaal, with an asterisk indicating the game was not playable for one reason or another. SUYDERSEEZAALAC/DCAddams Family, TheAddams Family, TheAlienAlien PokerAttack from MarsBack to the FutureBatman (Data East)Batman 66Batman: The Dark KnightBaywatchBig GunsBlack KnightBlack Knight 2000Black Knight: Sword of RageBlack RoseCactus JackCapt. Fantastic & the Brown Dirt CowboyClass of 1812CorvetteDolly PartonElvira & the Party MonstersElvira’s House of HorrorsFire!FireballFireball IIFlashGetaway, The: High Speed 2GladiatorsGorgarGuardians of the GalaxyHaunted HouseHobbit, TheHobbit, TheHot ShotsHoudiniIndiana Jones (Williams)Indiana Jones (Williams)Iron ManJohnny MnemonicJudge Dredd*JunkyardJurassic Park (Data East)Jurassic Park (Stern)Jurassic Park (Stern)Kiss (Bally)Laser WarLord of the Rings, TheLord of the Rings, TheMatrix, TheMedieval MadnessMedusaMunsters, TheMustangNBA FastbreakNo FearOktoberfestOktoberfestParagonParty AnimalPirates of the Caribbean (Stern)Pirates of the Caribbean (Stern)Pirates of the Caribbean (Stern)Police ForcePower Play, Bobby Orr*Radical!Ready, Aim, Fire!Revenge from MarsRollercoaster TycoonRollergamesScared StiffShaq AttaqSilver SluggerSopranos, TheSpace ShuttleSpider-ManSpider-ManSpring BreakStar Trek (Bally)StargateTales from the CryptTales of the Arabian NightsTarget AlphaTerminator 2Terminator 3Theatre of MagicTheatre of MagicTime MachineTitle FightTorpedo AlleyTotal Nuclear AnnihilationTwilight ZoneTwilight ZoneWilly Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryWilly Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryWorld Poker Tour The long row of machines along the front wall of the first hall Several machines featured toppers – both official and unofficial An Alien LE was here too A mix of machines from the newest Willy Wonka to Bally’s Star Trek and Medusa Between the two halls was the bar where coffee, tea, soft drinks, beer, wine and various snack dishes could be purchased. The bar area Prices were not excessive, although the choice was quite limited. There were other drinks in the under-counter fridges but the bar staff were not permitted to sell them. Moving along to the second hall and there were 49 free play machines available, along with the 63 tournament machines. The free play machines were: HANZEZAALApolloBack to the FutureBally HooBlack Knight 2000Bone BustersBuck RogersCar HopCharlie’s AngelsCheckpointCometCue Ball WizardDispy DoodleDolly PartonDoodle BugDr. DudeDracula, Bram Stoker’sEarthshaker!ElektraGhostbustersGrand LizardHigh SpeedHot ShotsIndiana Jones (Williams)Judge DreddJungle LordJurassic Park (Data East)Jurassic Park: Lost WorldOperation ThunderParty Zone, ThePinbotPolice ForcePool SharksRobocopRocky & Bullwinkle & FriendsSecret ServiceShadow, TheShaq AttaqStar Trek (Data East)Star Wars (Data East)StargateSurf N’ SafariTales from the CryptTaxiTaxiTerminator 2Time FantasyTime MachineTommy, The Who’sWaterworldWorld Cup Soccer Players enjoying the free-play machines More free-play games More free-play games The Black Knight finds a new challenger There are always new details to spot The machines were busy all weekend but you could usually find one to play easily enough There were also two vendors in the Hanzezaal. LED4PIN had a stand next to the entrance where they were selling replacement LEDs as well as flipper and playfield rubbers. The LED4PIN stand in the second hall Flipper and playfield rubber replacements Next to LED4PIN was Mirco Steffen with his Mirco Playfields stand selling numerous game-specific pinball parts and artwork, along with a very impressive display of new playfields. The Mirco Playfields stand The new Willy Wonka Limited Edition playfield alongside the Cosmic Carnival playfield from the ill-fated Suncoast Pinball The glitter layer under the clearcoat on the Willy Wonka Limited Edition’s playfield Artwork for Willy Wonka’s back panel which was changed before the panels could be cut Checking a new Scared Stiff playfield You can take a look around the whole DPO Expo for yourself in our exclusive Sixteen Minute Tour video, exploring the two game halls, all the vendor stands, the tournament area and even a sneek peek inside the game repair room. Our Sixteen Minute Tour of the Dutch Pinball Open Expo 2019 Don’t forget, you can watch this and any of our other 300 videos on the Pinball News YouTube channel. The Hanzezaal contained all the tournament pinballs, from the Dutch Pinball Open and the Classic Tournament to the Women’s, the Kids’ and Sunday’s Swiss-style tournaments. Trophies for the tournaments The DPO used twenty-four pinballs, with a spare World Cup Soccer in case of a machine failure which couldn’t be fixed quickly. These were arranged along the right-hand wall of the hall. Qualifying on these began on Saturday morning and continued until near the close on Saturday evening. Players could choose any eight machines on which to put up qualifying scores. The scores were ranked and ranking points awarded, with 100 points for the top score. The qualifying round of the Dutch Pinball Open Players also had a joker which they could use to try to improve their ranking on one of the eight machines they already played, or put up a score on a ninth if they preferred, with the best eight games counting towards qualification. Victor Stulemeijer and Koen Martens headed up the DPO team Each machine had a column on a peg board with a machine card at the top. When a player wanted to play a machine they put their badge in the next free position under the machine name. When a player was next to play a game they took the machine card along with their badge to an official who scanned both to register their game. Players put their player badge on the peg board against the machine they wished to play When their badge rose to the top they were next to play the machine When the game was over and the score recorded, the player returned to machine card to the peg board so the next player in line could take it. The machines used were: DUTCH PINBALL OPENFish TalesGetaway, The: High Speed 2Indianapolis 500Doctor WhoWhirlwindCreature from the Black LagoonAvatarSpider-ManDirty HarryCongoDracula, Bram Stoker’sDemolition ManF-14 TomcatTerminator 2MetallicaCometSpace StationIron ManJurassic Park (Stern)JackbotBlack Knight: Sword of RageStar Wars (Stern)The MunstersIron Maiden: Legacy of the BeastWorld Cup Soccer (standby) Scores were recorded on tablets using a pair of QR codes – one on the player’s badge and one on the machine’s apron – to ensure scores were recorded against the correct player and machine. One of the QR codes on the DPO machines Standings could be checked online Qualification continued until thirty minutes before the show closed on Saturday evening at 11pm, with the top 56 players out of the 157 entrants making it into Sunday’s play-off rounds. The qualification rankings were as follows (* indicates a joker was used): PosNameScorePlayed1Korben Van Wonterghem70082Taco Wouters6509 *3Franck Bul Bona6479 *4Thomas van Clapdorp6209 *5Roy Wils6089 *6Paul Jongma59087Michel van den Elzen57788Bart Volman5689 *9Andreas Hedstrom5649 *10Albert Nomden5629 *11Rob Overdijk5289 *12Kirk Sadler5149 *13Stefan Wittenberg5069 *14François A de Wrangel5029 *15Jilles Eijking5019 *16Sylvain Grevin4859 *17Wilbert der Kinderen4849 *18Klaas Oenema4829 *19Ivan Geentjens4809 *20Jim Lindsay472821de cock dominique4699 *22Edwin Nijs468823Julian Legind4649 *24Maximilian Bösel4639 *25Sebastian Poetschke460826Dennis Slagboom4599 *27Frank van Woesik4579 *28John van der Wulp4519 *29Martijn van Amsterdam4499 *30Jan Hop4439 *31Norman Heikamp4399 *32Paul Englert4389 *33Sylvain CARRE4379 *34Bas Vis4369 *35Helen de Haan-Verbeek4279 *36Norbert Broman4269 *37Bas van Doorn4249 *38Dirk Klaver4219 *39Martijn van Aken4199 *40Marcel Diks4189 *41Bob Reijs4159 *42Vincent Slaat4129 *43Lars Mr Mattsson4129 *44Patrick Van Hout4099 *45Jürgen Schmitz4089 *46Ralph Beckers4079 *47Michel van Elk4039 *48Mart Oenema3979 *49Joachim Reniers3979 *50Peter Zeeman395851renders olivier3949 *52Lefman Kan3949 *53Ronald Oenema3949 *54Lutz Hammer3899 *55Jan Houtteman3899 *56Steven De Maer3869 *57Louis Leurs3829 *58Eric Houtteman3809 *59victor-francois ZOB machart3729 *60Daniel Kruzinski3719 *61Frank Linden3669 *62Mark van der Gugten3649 *63Marc Steinmeier3629 *64Kevin Roelants3609 *65Robin Koning3559 *66Peter Muis3559 *67Jeroen Boiten3549 *68Barry Hoeben3489 *69Florian Thomas3449 *70Stefan Hänsch3389 *71Joris Van Neijenhof3359 *72Mads Stentoft3329 *73Dirk Elzholz3319 *74Jesse Walker3319 *75Joris de Wilde3309 *76Fabian Kretschmer3299 *77Nate Shivers3299 *78David CARLIER3299 *79Coen Dunnink3229 *80Pascal Van Wonterghem3199 *81Thomas Doepelheuer3199 *82Arthur de Jong3189 *83Theo De Reuver3189 *84Jeremy Dorling3169 *85Michael Trozzo3139 *86Joel WOZNIAK3089 *87Hans Bijsterveld3089 *88freddy Van den Bosch3069 *89Guido Christiansen3059 *90Dirk De Groote3029 *91Evelyne desot3009 *92Gabi Schmeichel2999 *93Mario KER Kertels2929 *94Rakesh Kanhai2909 *95Bjorn Brand2899 *96Pelle Wållberg2889 *97Koen Simoens2829 *98Didier Dujardin2769 *99Denise Clemens2729 *100Pieter van Leijen2719 *101Christian Hammer2719 *102Olivier Eggermont2717103Nils de Kleine2699 *104Stefan PL2659 *105Gerard Paapen2659 *106Bernd Gottwald2639 *107Sebastian Zehe2619 *108E4 _ _2618 *109Tom Peeters2609 *110Nico Baak2589 *111Jan-Christian Kiwus2549 *112Dave van den Akker2539 *113Peter van Kan2489 *114Daniela Thomas2479 *115Rahiel Karamali2459 *116Jaap Valent2409 *117Stefan Granberg2369 *118Thomas Arentsen2369 *119Carsten Wieske2359 *120Carlo Vijn2319 *121jim jansen2319 *122Jan PL2309 *123Drolf Hollestelle2289 *124Jan Krijnen2169 *125Kevin Sultana2159 *126Jessica De Mercurio2129 *127Marcel van den Boogert2089 *128Marcel van der Zouwen2009 *129Tiny De bie1859 *130Willem van der Meij1859 *131Rolf Geissberger1747132Antoine van der Klaauw1729 *133Fabrice Paquet1709 *134Daan Kloosterboer1679 *135Pelle Gerritsen1639 *136Joran van Kan1639 *137Pat Struwer1627 *138Olivier Lebeau1608 *139Ritchie Cicilia1598 *140Mark Heneka1579 *141Patrick Kamp1549 *142Ralf Behr1539 *143Fabio Villanueva1489 *144Lilly Hänsch1319 *145Maik Wiltfang1249 *146Annette Klooster1159 *147E50 _ _1159 *148Christian Hagemann989 *149Stephen van Elk989 *150Edo PL919 *151Tom Vandenpanhuyzen909 *152Vanessa Neufeld899 *153Maarten Berkers759 *154Tony Jansen659 *155Norbert PL609 *156Richard Van der Zee549 *157Katharina Hagemann399 * A similar number of machines were used for the Ladies Tournament which was held on Saturday and for Sunday’s Swiss-style tournament, both of which utilised two rows of machines adjacent to the DPO area. The Ladies Tournament took place on Saturday Players could sign up at the tournament desk The Ladies Tournament split the nineteen entrants into two groups of nine and ten. The players in each group then played a single game against everyone else in their group (eight or nine games). The Ladies Tournament qualifying matches The four players with the most wins in each group progressed into three head-to-head rounds to reduce the field from eight to four, and then a final two. These were the machines they played: LADIES/SWISS TOURNAMENTSStar Trek: The Next GenerationWhitewaterPinball MagicRoadshowSpider-Man Vault EditionCreature from the Black LagoonFrankenstein, Mary Shelley’sFlintstones, TheHigh SpeedVegasMonopolyJackbotHoopsRescue 911Star Trek (Data East)Surf ‘N SafariJunkyardScared StiffLethal WeaponEarthshaker!Batman ForeverTime MachineAttack from MarsTwisterMonster BashSecret Service Sadly, when the final rounds were taking place we were busy at the opposite end of the building hosting a seminar, but we’ll bring you the results of the Ladies Tournament as soon as we have them. The back of the hall was home for the Classics Tournament which took place on Saturday and the Kids Tournaments held on Sunday, although the machines were changed to newer models for the Kids Tournaments. Qualifying in the Classic Tournament Here are the Classics Tournament machines: CLASSICS TOURNAMENTEight Ball ChampVikingNine BallFathomMata HariFlash GordonXenonEight BallNitro GroundshakerDolly PartonCentaurHarlem Globetrotters The Classic Tournament used an unlimited buy-in qualification method, with each €3 entry consisting of one game on any three Classic machines. The scores on each machine were ranked and the total ranking points for the three games made up the score for that entry. Qualification ran through Saturday until 7pm when the play-offs began, with the top sixteen players qualifying. Those sixteen were: 1Dirk Elzholz2Albert Nomden3Bart Volman4John van der Wulp5Ralf Beckers6Taco Wouters7Frank Linden8Roy Wils9Arthur de Jong10Mark van der Gugten11Stefan Hänsch12Paul Jongma13Paul Englert14Helen de Haan-Verbeek15Florian Thomas16Franck Bona These sixteen then paired up to play best-of-three single-elimination rounds until a final two remained. Classic Tournament play-offs The Classic Tournament semi-finals between (L-R) Bart Volman, Mark van der Gugten, Paul Englert and Dirk Elzholz The final was a best-of-five match between top qualifier Dirk Elzholz and third-placed qualifier Bart Volman. The first machine to be played was Harlem Globetrotters and Dirk had a good first ball, scoring 175K to Bart’s 17K. Bart chases Dirk’s good first ball score That was actually enough to win the game, as Bart only got up to 128K with his three balls. So, play moved on to Centaur and it was a similar story as Dirk scored 977K on his first ball to Bart’s 32K. Dirk has another good first ball to establish a strong lead Bart pulled it back somewhat with his second ball total of 519K, while Dirk only added a little to make 1.065M. Dirk had a quick third ball to end on 1.085K giving Bart an opportunity if he could get another ball like his second. Bart needs a good final ball to save game two Sadly though it wasn’t to be, and he ended on 732K making it 2-0 to Dirk in the best-of-five final. Flash Gordon was next with Bart starting. Bart begins game three It was a quick first ball though, racking-up just 45K. Dirk did better, establishing that familiar first ball lead with his 331K score. Dirk on Flash Gordon Bart’s next two balls were similar to his first, ending his game with 108K, giving Dirk a 3-0 victory in the final. In the play-off for third place, Paul Englert beat Mark van der Gugten 2-1 in the best-of-three match. Third place in the DPO Classic Tournament, Paul Englert Second place, Bart Volman Winner of the Classic Tournament, Dirk Elzholz The top three in the Classic Tournament Before we wrap up Saturday’s action though, we should mention that there were four talks taking place in the seminars area at the far end of the entrance lobby. One of the digital pinball talks The main theme of the first three talks was digital pinball, with Erik and Mark Klootwijk demonstrating the Digital Midi Pinball Machine, Gert Jan de Haan showing how Zen Pinball allows you to play against an opponent over the internet, and Richard Weijts recounting how he built his own V-Pinball game. Richard Weijts talking about internet digital pinball resources The final session was presented by podcast co-hosts Pinball Magazine’s Jonathan Joosten and Pinball News’s Martin Ayub who held another edition of their popular So You Think You Know Pinball? prize quiz. Martin Ayub and Jonathan Joosten hold their quiz(picture: Winfred de Ruijter) The format was the familiar question followed by two possible answers. Those who chose the first answer stood on one side of the room and the others on the opposite side. When the correct answer was revealed, those who got it right continued while those with the wrong answer sat down to await the next round. The questions continued until only a few players remained, at which point they all won prizes from the prize table. Prizes were generously donated by Jersey Jack Pinball, American Pinball, SS Billiards, Stern Pinball, Gameroom Magazine, ColorDMD, Chicago Street Pinball, Pinball Magazine and Pinball News. With the Classic Tournament decided we called it a day and prepared for Sunday’s busy schedule of tournament. The DPO Expo opened to the public at 9am on Sunday and although there was a steady stream of visitors through the entrance, the halls took some time to fill up, with games available to play most of the day. Sunday morning in the second hall It took a little while but the first hall got busy by lunchtime The newest titles were always popular though Elvira had a steady stream of admirers In the tournaments area, three events were taking place. The fifty-four players who qualified for the DPO play-offs gathered to find out the format and who they would be playing. DPO qualifiers await the start of the play-offs The play-offs consisted of a seven-strike system, where players were split into groups of four and played a single game on a nominated machine. The winner of the game received zero strikes, second place got one strike, third place two strikes, and last place got three strikes. Checking the groupings for the first round of play-offs in the DPO Players await the start of the play-off games The players and machines were then mixed up again, and another round played with the same format. The machines and groupings were shown on a monitor or could be checked online. Once everyone was ready, the games could begin The DPO play-offs are underway This continued until a player had seven strikes or more against them, at which point they were eliminated from the tournament. When there were just twelve players remaining that phase of the play-offs ended and a new format was used. While the DPO play-offs were starting, registrations were taking place for the Swiss Tournament. Players who wanted to play in the Swiss Tournament signed up and paid their €5 entry fee All players played a single random pairing game after which the winner had one point and the loser zero. The players were then ranked by points and were paired to play another game against someone on the same score. This kept going through several rounds, with those who kept winning and moving to the top of the rankings playing against similarly successful opponents, while those who lost many games played others in a similar situation. Play in the Swiss Tournament Play in the Swiss Tournament continued until 1:30pm when the eight highest-ranked players played in best-of-three head-to-head pairs to reduce the number to four and then a final two who contested the final. Because the Swiss Tournament ran alongside the DPO play-offs, those still in the DPO couldn’t take part in the Swiss Tournament. We’ll bring you the final results of the Swiss Tournament shortly, just as soon as we have them. The third tournament event was the Kids Tournament which was split into two divisions – Under 12s and 12-15s. In each division the contestants played games against each other to determine who would make it to the quarter- and semi-finals, and then into the finals. Trophies for the Kids Tournament In the Under 12s division there were three finalists – Lisa Breijer, Pascal Schellen and Lars Vreuls. They contested the final with a single game on World Cup Soccer. Lisa started the final on World Cup Soccer Pascal was player two Lisa scored a creditable 190M with her three balls, but was narrowly overtaken by Pascal who racked-up 195M. Lars plays the last ball of the final Lars then played. His ball drained with his score almost tied with Pascal’s, but his bonus of 20M made all the difference as he ended in first place on 205M. The final scores in the Under-12s division Trophies were then awarded to all three finalists. Third place, Lisa Breijer Second place, Pascal Schellen Winner of the Under-12s division, Lars Vreuls The final of the 12-15s then took place. This involved four players – Simon Piloo, Daan Rosvelds, Niek van der Vorden and Kim vann Geest. They played a single game on a Stern Star Wars. Kim played first in the 12-15s final As in the previous final, the scores were all very close, with Kim finishing on 56.7M and Daan in the player two position ending with 84.1M. Daan plays next as player two Niek pushes the bar higher still with a nice 95M total after his three balls, leaving Simon with the challenge beating that to win the final. He didn’t quite make it, but his consolation was just edging ahead of Daan’s score of 84.1M with his 84.2M total to take second place. The end-of-game scores in the 12-15s division So, Niek was first, Simon second, Daan third and Kim fourth. Third place, Daan Rosvelds Second place, Simon Piloo The winner of the 12-15s division, Niek van der Vorden The top three in the 12-15s division Returning to the main DPO tournament, the last twelve players were split into three groups of four. Each group then played three pre-determined machines with nine points for the winner, five points for second place, two points for third and no points for coming fourth. After the three games, the top two from each group went into the semi-finals. The final twelve play for a place in the semi-finals Paul Jongma, Andreas Headström, Marcel Diks, Bart Volman, Roy Wils and Martijn van Amsterdam were the six who contested the semi-finals which were again three games on pre-selected machines. The first player to win two games went through to the final. The semi-finals Andreas beat Paul, Bart beat Marcel and Roy beat Martijn to give us our three finalsts for the DPO 2019. The final was also played on three pre-selected games, but with 4-2-1 scoring. These were chosen as Fish Tales, F-14 Tomcat and Iron Maiden, and those machines were brought into the centre of the DPO area so that the remaining machines could be played by show visitors. As with many other matches throughout the weekend, South Side Pinball were streaming and commentating on the final games on their Twitch channel using their camera rig which was moved from machine to machine as the final progressed. The camera rig used to stream the tournament games F-14 was the first game to be played with Andreas starting first. None of the three had a good first ball, but Roy really got going on his second ball to take his score up to 3.4M, compared to 57K for Andreas and 130K for Bart. Andreas was player one on F-14 Tomcat Roy had a decent second ball It was always going to be a challenge for either of the other two to match Roy’s score and in reality neither got close. Bart tries on his last ball to catch Roy’s score Bart took second place with 630K to Andreas’s 159K, giving Roy 4 points, Bart 2 points and Andreas 1 point. Game two was Fish Tales where Bart played first. Bart begins game two – Fish Tales It was a familiar story, with Roy establishing a solid ball one lead with his 52M versus 1M each for Bart and Andreas. Andreas was player three on Fish Tales The situation didn’t improve after ball two where Roy got a couple of super jackpots to build his score up to 390M. Bart had an even worse second ball for a 1.6M total while Andreas did only slightly better with his 4.2M total. Bart finally got a decent ball with his third, but his game-end total of 58M was still way short of Roy who actually had a bad third ball and only added one million to his total to end on 391M. Bart gets multiball, but it isn’t enough Andreas also had a bad third ball and came third with his 4.9M score. So, Roy was in first place with eight points and couldn’t be caught with just one game left to play. Bart had four points and Andreas had two points. The last game of the final would only decide who got second and third. Roy, having already won the final, starts on Iron Maiden Despite not needing to win, Roy still played a great game with a three-ball total of 278M. Going into their third balls Andreas and Bart had 6M and 20M respectively. Neither Andreas nor Bart could catch Roy’s score Neither of them could catch Roy, so Bart took second place in the game and overall, while Andreas was third. Third place, Andreas Hedström Second place, Bart Volman Winner of the Dutch Pinball Open 2019, Roy Wils Roy, Bart and Andreas with DPO organiser Victor Stulemeijer The end of the DPO also marked the end of the DPO Expo, right on time at 6pm. All the machines were depowered and the packing-up began. Time to pack the machines away and start clearing the hall Show’s over, folks! We quickly grabbed our belongings and headed for the station to get the train to Amsterdam and a flight back home. This was almost like a ‘back-to-basics’ DPO Expo with the concentration very much on the two game halls and the tournaments. There were no special guests and only limited seminars. However, that meant extra effort could be put into the 209 machines, getting valuable support from the vendors, and running the numerous tournaments. The move to a new venue will always cause a certain amount of disruption, but the detailed planning by the team of volunteers in the year prior meant everything fitted nicely into the space available, the machines were kept running very efficiently, and the tournaments all appeared to run smoothly and to schedule. The plan is to move the DPO Expo to somewhere in the west of the country next year, with work underway now to locate a suitable venue. We’ll put the details in the Pinball News Diary just as soon as we have them, and we plan to be there once again to bring you all the news and action from the DPO Expo 2020.