The rat-a-tat of pinball machine flippers and balls ricocheting between bumpers, and the ring of accumulating points filled an Oceanside garage Saturday as Stephen and Lisa Oswald hosted the first Long Island Pinball Rumble, drawing nearly 20 of players from across the region for a day of competition, nostalgia and community.
The event, sanctioned by the International Flipper Pinball Association, featured 19 players competing in eight rounds of group match play on nine machines set up in the Oswalds’ home on Cypress Avenue.
The $25 entry fee covered not only the sanctioning costs but pizza and drinks as well, with the remaining money split into cash prizes for the top four finishers.
Stephen Oswald, 48, said the idea of hosting a tournament at his home had been in the works for years. A collector who has owned pinball machines for about two decades, Oswald said he only recently began playing competitively. On the tournament scene, he met fellow enthusiasts Linda and Dennis Cole, who had hosted events in their home in Oakdale and helped organize the Oceanside tournament.
“We had talked about it for a couple of years,” Oswald said. “I have a decent amount of machines, and Linda knows how to run the tournaments. We figured April would be a good time, because the weather would be nicer and we could keep most of the games in the garage.”
Linda Cole, 47 served as tournament director, organizing the matchups and scoring with the help of an online tournament platform. Players competed in four-person groups, earning 7 points for first place, 5 for second, 3 for third, and 1 for fourth in each round.
Cole said she enjoys directing tournaments even more than playing in them. “My husband is really the pinball collector,” she said. “He buys, fixes, sells and restores games. There’s a wonderful pinball community — we’ve met many of our best friends through the pinball community.”
Cole said she learned how to run tournaments from another pinball friend, and has since organized several, including Flip Frenzy events. The Oceanside tournament, she said, offered both experienced players and newcomers a chance to compete.
“It’s always great when new people come and join the community,” Cole said.
The tournament was part of a larger competitive pinball network on Long Island that has grown rapidly in recent years. Players who participate in IFPA-sanctioned tournaments earn ranking points that contribute to international standings. More than 14,000 IFPA tournaments were held in 2025, with nearly 320,000 participants worldwide.
The ranking system, Oswald said, is one reason pinball has evolved from a casual pastime into a serious competitive hobby.
“It’s like any other sport where you can get ranked,” he said. “The more tournaments you play in and the better you do, the higher your ranking goes.”
Still, he said, pinball remains appealing mostly because of the non-digital experience it offers in an increasingly digital world. “There’s something satisfying about it,” he said. “You can feel the ball moving through the machine. You feel the flippers, you feel the vibration. It’s not just staring at a screen.”
The machines featured at the tournament ranged from early-1990s models to more modern ones released in the past year. Maintaining them, Oswald said, can be a challenge.
“You have to keep them clean and waxed, and there’s always something mechanical or electrical that needs fixing,” he said. “The older machines, especially, can be difficult, because you’re dealing with computer boards that are 30 years old.”
Oswald bought his first machine around 2005 using spare change he had collected in a barrel over several years. He found a 1963 machine for sale in East Meadow and, with the help of his father, brought it home and learned how to repair it himself.
That first purchase sparked a hobby that has become a major part of his life.
As a child growing up in Oceanside, Oswald spent time at the old Nunley’s amusement park, on the Baldwin-Freeport border, where he fell in love with the pinball machines in the arcade.
Pinball nearly disappeared, he said, during the 1990s, as arcades closed and manufacturers went out of business, but it has experienced a resurgence over the past 15 years.
Oswald said he hoped events like the Long Island Pinball Rumble would introduce new people to the pastime. “We want more people involved, because we don’t want to see it disappear again,” he said. “It’s a fun hobby, it’s social, and it brings people together.”
Among those in attendance was Harry Reimer, of Baldwin, who said the Long Island pinball community is close-knit.
“We all get together every couple of weeks at each other’s homes and play each other’s machines,” Reimer said. “Steve’s always a good time,” he added of Oswald.
Reimer, who owns 14 machines of his own, said he has been collecting since the 1980s. “In those days, arcades would retire them and practically throw them away,” he explained. “Now the same game can be worth $15,000.”
After the success of the first Long Island Pinball Rumble, Oswald said he hopes to make the event a regular occurrence during the warmer months.
