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Pinball Wizards Flip for WaHi Tournament

By DNAinfo Staff on December 4, 2011 10:55pm

By Paul Lomax

Special to DNAinfo

WAHI — Tommy would be proud.

Pinball powerhouses from all over North America rolled into Washington Heights this past weekend to try to bump off the competition in the inaugural Pinball Open.

New neighborhood restaurant Le Chéile opened its doors to over 200 people for the first of what organizers hope to be an annual, or even biannual event.

"I've been playing pinball for 40 years and I'm so happy that we could organize this event in Washington Heights," said tournament co-director Steve Marsh, 50.

"We really didn't expect this many people to show up, so it's been great. Most of us know each other really well and even travel to pinball events around the country, so for many of us this is like a family reunion."

Fingers were on the flippers at the first Washington Heights Pinball competition on Dec. 4th, 2011.
Fingers were on the flippers at the first Washington Heights Pinball competition on Dec. 4th, 2011.
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DNAinfo/Paul Lomax

Marsh — who owns three classic pinball machines in a collection valued at over $6,000 — teamed up with fellow pinball enthusiast Dave Hollander, 47, the co-owner of the Le Chéile and pal and Brooklyn pinball champion Francesco LaRocca to launch the event.

"This is chance to make Washington Heights a permanent and featured stop on the national pinball circuit," added LaRocca.

The event served as a fundraiser for Dolphin Park, a community playground on West 180th Street and Cabrini Boulevard.

As the prizes were handed out at around 5 p.m. Sunday, Marsh and Hollander announced that the tournament had helped to raise over $600 to help keep the local toddler park open.

"The money from today will help keep the kiddies' park open for a while longer in the Heights. Six-hundred dollars doesn't sound a lot, but I can tell you that this is going to be a great help to them just when they need it."

Frank Romero, of New York, pulled in the top prize of more than $400 after racking up 67 million points on a 2006 "Texas Hole 'Em" pinball machine.

"I want to thank everyone for coming this weekend! It's been great. It was a tough and fun final against [pinball champ] Ed Zeltmann, but I'm real happy that this has gone to help this community."

Marsh said that games at the professional level "have lasted over 15 minutes, which shows the amount of skill needed to play pinball at tourney levels."

But first-time players and amateurs alike were invited to join in the action and try to qualify for the tournament — endorsed by the International Flipper Pinball Association. If contestants' scores ranked among the top four by the end of the day on Saturday, they automatically qualified for Sunday's elimination rounds to determine the champion.

The Pinball Open was Le Chéile’s first sporting event to be held in its new art space, which is attached to the two-story restaurant at 839 W. 181st St.