Play Meter

PAPA stages tournament in The Big Apple The Professional Amateur Pinball Association (PAPA) held its first major tournament on Feb. 2 in New York City, an event that drew 50 PAPA-sanctioned players . They competed for $1 ,500 in prize money and a free trip to the Pinball Expo, which takes place Oct. 25-27 in Chicago. The Broadway Arcade , owned by PAPA president/founder Steve Epstein, served as the site for the tournament's first round eliminations . Eight different pinballs were used to eliminate all but 16 of the best players in the Northeast. The final rounds were played at The Lone Star Roadhouse, a popular Western nightclub in New York City . Among the 16 finalists were four students from Rutgers University (there were a total of nine students from Rutgers in the tournament) . TheY. ,were brought to the event by Frank "The Crank" Seninsky of AlphaOmega Amusements. The finalists competed on Williams' FunHouse, Bally's Harley Davidson, Premier' s Car Hop, and Data East's The Simpsons . Here are the top six players, in order of finish: Joseph Cartagena, Sam Fields, Harris Pankin, Shimon Iskowitz, Joel Grant, and Ken Karamichael. ''This tournament represents just the beginning for sanctioned league and tour- Tournament winner Joseph Cartagena kneels beside his trophy. Also pictured, (l·r): Shimon lskowitz (4th place), Harris Pankin (3rd), Sam Fields (2nd), Steve Epstein, Ken Karamichael (6th), Joel Grant (5th), and Frank Seninsky. nament play ,'' Epstein said. ''With the AMOA-International Flipper Pinball Association's championships talcing place March 1-3 in Chicago, the idea of pinball being a competitive sport will receive a big push forward. " PAPA ' s spring league schedule will begin soon . New league locations are about to kick off in New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, California, and Canada. For more information on how to participate, contact PAPA, 81 Carrar Drive, Watchung, NJ 07060; or call Epstein at (212) 247-3725 . Pete Demas of MTV News interviews Joseph Cartagena. Pioneer Entertainment recalls laser video jukebox Pioneer Laser Entertainment has recalled its LJ-V56 laser video jukebox, according to the company's Paul Scribner. He says the jukebox did not meet the necessary market needs to provide an adequate ROI for operators. '' Because our company policy dictates that in the event of a recall we will accept all financial responsibility, our customers will not suffer any losses on this product,'' Scribner said. " We ' ve had a positive response from our distributors, who had expressed their concerns over the product. We know that we could've fixed it, but it would have been like a shotgun blast, not a clear rifle shot. It is our goal to offer our customers the best product, not something patched up." The fact that Pioneer is a stable company factored into the decision to bear this significant financial loss , Scribner says . ''Ifwe were a company on the ropes , so to speak, I'm sure our in-house discussions would've taken a different tum ,'' he said. "But since we' re a highly stable company, our internal decisions are based solely on our customers' needs. ' ' This recall won ' t have an effect on Pioneer's other product, namely , its CD jukeboxes. " We are proud of our CD line of jukeboxes," Scribner said. " They have shown a good profit. " For more information, contact your local distributor or Pioneer at (213) 746-6337. March 1991 /PLAYMETER 13