Idaho State Pinball Championship: Did you know this was a thing?

One thing you gotta love about Boise is the never-ending, just totally random things going on that are certainly entertaining and worth checking out. If you catch yourself in downtown Boise this weekend, check out the Idaho State Pinball Championship going down at Woodland Empire Ale Craft. I can’t believe this is a real thing, but I’m loving it.

Remember pinball? I remember playing pinball as a little kid, so when I first heard about this event, I genuinely thought it was something nostalgic they were just trying to revive and bring back. Turns out, pinball never really left – it’s still alive and doing well! The machines are more advanced, and the players all over the world are more serious about it than ever before. I must have been living under a rock. I had no idea.

The International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA) … yes, that’s a thing … is spearheading this championship event in Boise. Their website claims, “The objective of the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA) is to serve as the governing body for pinball as a competitive sport, through the sanctioning and organizing of events at the Local, State, National and International levels.”

And according to their Facebook, they are “the home of the World Pinball Rankings."

Competing in this event are the top 16 ranked IFPA 2021 players in Idaho – should be an absolute blast!