Monthly Pinball Tournaments At Tivoli Bowl

(Updated 6/12/26!)

Our Staff here at Tivoli Bowl is passionate about Pinball.  (Ask Larry, Scot or Stephen...really.)

To that end, we wanted to get in on the fun and excitement of tournament play that we see at other venues.  So, beginning this summer, we will be offering two tournaments per month here at Tivoli Bowl!  As you may or may not know, we run Trivia at the Tivoli every other Monday in the game room. On the other two Mondays per month, we will first have an Open Tournament, open to all players of all skill levels, sanctioned and recorded by the Punk Rock Pinball Association (PRPA), and on the latter other Monday of each month, we will host a Women's Open Tournament (also PRPA ranked and sanctioned). Rules for both tournaments are listed below!

(Courtesy of the Punk Rock Pinball Association and the particpating bands, (and as best we can) Tournament entry also provides free entry to concerts during and after our tournaments.  Live music rules, and we can't think of a better pairing than great music and pinball!)

JUNE BUMPER BADDIES TOURNEY PARTICIPANTS WILL GAIN FREE ENTRY TO THE VIOLET GARDEN, SENIOR YEAR, CATTLE EYES AND SOFT STEP CONCERT HAPPENING DURING THE TOURNAMENT!

Info on the Punk Rock Pinball Association and how their sanctioned tournaments run, how standings work and their policies are here!

Statement from Larry Eisner, General Manager of Tivoli Bowl regarding our choice to remain non-sanctioned by the IFPA at this time: "We recognize that the IFPA is the current leading organization for Pinball tournaments, and while we will have official records kept and encourage anyone who wants to submit their scores to IFPA, as an organization, we are currently boycotting the IFPA until their Trans Rights are clearly and fairly stated (step completed with their late 2025 rules change) and leadership changes (still unresolved) to add value to a diversity of voices, in response of rights violations at some past IFPA sanctioned tournaments. Until this is resolved, we will not be seeking IFPA sanctioning for our tournaments. Tivoli Bowl is and always will be a fun, safe and friendly place for ALL our guests, regardless of their gender, sexual preference, age, or creed. We want to be an inclusive community space, and until the IFPA formally does the same, we will remain unofficial in their eyes, and we are ok with that. That said, we DO hope this is resolved satisfactorily, because generally, we love what the IFPA does for Pinball and its players in terms of organizing, promoting the sport, etc. We simply want to see a level playfield for ALL players and refuse to participate with, and therefore implicitly support an organization that isn't fully committed to respecting all of its players."

Official Rules for both of our monthly tournaments are listed here: 

UPDATES TO RULES:

(As of 6/12/2026) Our June Women's Tournament "Bumper Baddies" will be a Knockout or "Three Strikes" tournament format -  Based on the number of players, we will have 2, 3 or 4-player games (more people registered, more people playing at a time on a machine), and 3rd and 4th place (or just 3rd place in the case of 3 players, or 2nd place in the case of 2 players, etc) will receive a STRIKE.  Just like in baseball, three strikes and you're out.  This has a couple benefits: 1) You're guaranteed at least 3 games of pinball in the tournament.  2) You don't have to finish in first place! Just staying alive keeps you going in the tournament.  3) Finally, being able to play 4 player games allows us to get up to 16 players playing simultaneously, which keeps things moving along.

Due to feedback from the previous tournament, we will also implement the following change: If we have more than 15 players, we will have 4 paying placements, (1st - 4th), not just 1st through 3rd.  Only 1st though 3rd will recieve the oft-coveted "Pinball Medals" however.

All this said, we hope this brings healthier competition, that the $10 entry fee makes things much more affordable and accessible, and that folks have less downtime between games and we can end the tournament in a faster timeframe than our previous incarnation.  We welcome any and all feedback!  If you have information you'd like to give, please email the Tournament Director, Larry Eisner, at leisner@classiccinemas.com!

(As of 4/18/26) For tournaments with entry fees of more than $10, entrants (once paid and registered), will receive a freeplay card to allow for free practice time throughout the remainder of the tournament day.  Games during the tournament will be played with these same cards, so the entry fee includes all playtime during, before and after the tournament, that day.  If tournaments have a fee of less than $10 to enter, those tournaments do NOT include freeplay time, but the tournament games themselves will be free to play.

Please ensure you check this page before registering for any tournament, as we are new to this, and may adjust these rules after finding out what works and what doesn't for our community! If you have any questions about an upcoming tournament, please email us at tivbowl@classiccinemas.com and we will answer any question we can!  We also welcome feedback on tournaments as we love the sport of Pinball and want to see it grow not only at Tivoli Bowl, but everywhere as an accessible, age-neutral sport that includes folks from all walks!

We recomend supporting the PRPA! Check them out here: Punk Rock Pinball Association