Winter Bash 2026 - Stern Pro Circuit Pinball Tournament

The ninth annual Winter Bash takes place at the Atomic Pinball Arcade on Dec 12th/13th, which once again caps off the 2026 Stern Pro Circuit WINTER BASH 2026 - Year End Pinball Tournament @ Atomic Pinball Arcade :: 102 Whitelaw Ave Wood River, IL *Apart of the 2026 Stern Pro Circuit* Saturday, December 12th – Qualifying Sunday, December 13th - Finals Certified IFPA Sanctioned and played for world, state, and pro circuit ranking points. Will be IFPA Certifed+ if reaching 128 rated players or more. Entry Fee: $100- to be paid upon arrival to the Atomic Pinball Arcade Limited to 148 entrants. Streamed Live on Twitch thanks to Fox Cities Pinball!! All games in the Atomic Arcade are on FREE PLAY. No coin drop required. To register, please secure ticket via Eventbrite (https://tinyurl.com/winterbash2026). Walk-ins will be allowed, however walk-ins are not guaranteed a spot if we reach the player cap. Registration is allowed beginning on Saturday October 17th beginning at 11am CST - 8 spots have been reserved for players assisting in the running of the tournament, making for 140 registration spots available. Please direct any pertinent questions to Tyler Becker via email ([email protected]). The $100 entry fee is broken down per-player as :: $50 for full weekend admission to the Atomic Pinball Arcade, $35 to A-Division Prize Pool, and $15 to other related tournament expenses (IFPA Fee, SPC Fee, Trophies, B/C Division Prize Pools) - the weekend admission to Atomic will also help cover any remaining direct and indirect expenses associated with the weekend. Entry fee must be paid upon arrival via Cash or Card(all card payments will incur a 3.5% processing fee). The entry fee also includes FREE entry to the Arcade on Thursday and Friday Night for those arriving early for practice/pre-tournaments. Must pay the full $100 admission upon arrival to include those days with your entry. Cash payouts to the Top 16 players in Winter Bash (5-8 and 9-16 get equal payouts respectively, while 1-4 get increased payout by finishing order). A-Division Payouts (Percentage of A-Division Prize Pool) 1st: 20% + Trophy 2nd: 14% + Trophy 3rd: 10% + Trophy 4th: 8% + Trophy 5th-8th: 6% 9th-16th: 3% B-Division Payouts (Fixed Amount) 1st: $105 + Trophy 2nd: $65 + Trophy 3rd: $45 + Trophy 4th: $25 + Trophy :FORMAT: Qualifying: Group Matchplay :: 7 Rounds of 3-Game Banks(21 Games Total). Tiered Swiss Pairings. IFPA (7,5,3,1 Scoring). At conclusion of 7 Rounds, the top 40 players advance to Finals on Sunday. Insignificant Ties to be settled by strength-of-schedule tiebreaker. Tiebreakers for final playoff spot and cutoff spots that receive a Bye to be settled by a chosen classic game. Finals: 40 Player Finals Bracket. PAPA Style Group Matchplay (Groups of 4 players - 3 Games - PAPA(4,2,1,0) Scoring - 2 Advance from each group). The Top 16 players from qualifying receive a BYE to the round of 28. The Top 4 Players from qualifying receive two BYEs into the round of 16. When reaching the Final Four, it is the final group as positions 1-4 are determined based on that group's results. Player's finishing results(if eliminated in same round) will be compared across groups, and be based on points acquired in that round. The top seed in the given group will have choice of game bank from the finals bank section, no repeat choices of bank made be made by the same player throughout bracket. -Schedule- :Saturday December 13th: 9:30am: Doors Open/Check-in Begins 11:00am: Roll Call/Introductions 11:05am: Winter Bash Round 1 Begins 5:00pm(approx): One hour dinner break begins after round 4 6:00pm(approx): Return from Dinner Break, Round 5 begins 10:30pm(approx): End of last qualifying round (round 7). Tiebreakers then take place on chosen classic game. 10:35(approx): After-party lasts til 11 or later. :Sunday December 14th: 8:15am: Doors Open (practice allowed on non-finals games, no practice allowed on finals games) 9:10am: Roll Call for seeds 17-40 in Finals Bracket 9:15am: Round 1 of Finals Bracket Begins 10:30am: Roll Call for seeds 5-16 in Finals Bracket 12:00pm: Roll Call for seeds 1-4 in Finals Bracket 5:45pm(approx): End of Winter Bash Finals Bracket 6:00pm(approx): Trophy Presentation / Doors Close - There will also be a B division Finals for the Top 16 Players from Qualifying who don’t make main finals. (B Division is capped to players ranked below 500 in most current (as of Dec 11th) IFPA World Rankings. More Info Incoming. All players regardless of skill level are welcome to compete at this pro circuit event!! Join us at the Atomic Pinball Arcade for the annual Winter Bash!!! :: Past Winter Bash Grand Champions 2018: Chuck Sanderson 2019: Brian Bannon 2020: Rick Knopik 2021: Steve Rolsing 2022: Travis Murie 2023: Carlos Delaserda 2024: Zach McCarthy 2025: Eric Stone