There’s a subterranean pinball culture in Canberra where dozens of pinball wizards come out of the woodwork once a month to compete at makeshift arcades in suburban garages and local pubs.
More than 650 people follow ACT Pinball on Facebook, and each month up to 40 players compete in tournaments, carting expensive ($20,000+) 100kg pinball machines from their private collections to the Belconnen Bowling Club or The Baso.
The motor skills of these pinballers on the flippers should not be underestimated, with elite players able to calculate angles in a split second and predict where a ball will go as it hurtles up to 90km/h.
ACT Pinball co-director Paul Chamberlin, 59, is ranked in the world’s top 1000 and he has 11 pinball machines – some dating back to the 90s – in his garage. The former journalist and now lobbyist has travelled far to improve his world ranking, competing in international pinball championships in New Zealand and the United States.
“You just don’t see many machines, but it’s still being kept alive,” Paul said. “It never really went anywhere.”
Paul is in awe of the speed and dexterity of the world’s top players, even comparing them to some of the world’s greatest athletes.
“The former world number one – a 22-year-old kid from Colorado – watching him play is like watching [Rafael] Nadal or [Roger] Federer,” he said. “He’s just so far ahead of the rest of us.”
School teachers take note: pinball is a great way to gain math and physics knowledge. This is a game of skill, not luck.
“There is a formula; these young kids know the rule sets. I just don’t have enough brain space to understand the rule set of every machine ever made, nor do I have the skills. I mean, I’ve made the top 1000 in the world, but that’s about as far as I’ll ever get; these people are just next level, they know where the ball’s going to bounce.”
But just like life, the silver ball always gets you in the end.
“They’re going to lose three balls every game like everybody else … it’s a great equaliser. Everybody loses three balls in every game, but there’s so much more to making sure you don’t lose the ball.”
Paul’s longest pinball game lasted for an hour-and-a-half, played at home on his private collection (his favourite retro machines are Attack from Mars, Addams Family and the newer Iron Maiden).
Paul admits that “old white males are well represented” at local tournaments, but he said more and more women and young people were joining their monthly meet-ups.
“This is sort of almost a second family to me now, the pinball players in Canberra,” Paul said. “It’s fun, it’s a good time, everybody’s very open and friendly.”
The all-important question: how does one save their prized top score on a pinball machine when it has to be unplugged and relocated for a tournament? (aka George Costanza’s memorable Frogger dilemma in Seinfeld).
“As long as you replace the batteries every now and again, the high scores will stay,” Paul said. “I’ve got the grand champion scores on all of mine at home.”
Given Paul’s fierce competitive streak, I asked whether he’d been guilty of a “slam tilt” (when an over-zealous player lifts, drops, pounds or kicks the machine, a tilt switch is activated, ending the game).
“So, in the game it’s been known as a ‘rage tilter’ but you know, I tilt all the time,” Paul said. “In fact, it’s cost me a top eight place in a world championship and it also cost me a top eight in a big comp in Australia.”
A national pinball tournament using 50+ pinball machines is planned for Canberra in October 2026. ACT Pinball is on Facebook.
