Pinfest Bounty Strikes Lock-In Tournament Supported by MAYA Pinball

Pinfest’s Bounty Strikes lock-in ran through the small hours of Sunday morning. A light hearted format that MAYA Pinball was proud to support by providing the chips, which could be taken away afterwards as souvenirs.

The event was a new side-competition at Pinfest 2026, kicking off at 10pm on Saturday 30th of August with check-in from 9:30, and it kept going for the best part of four hours, as the length of the stream below will attest!

The format

Bounty Strikes runs on a poker-chip strikes system rather than a straightforward points ladder. Every player started with two chips. Chips get transferred between players based on how they finish each game, with the exact transfer pattern depending on group size (three-player, or four-player groups all have slightly different rules for who gains and who loses a chip). Lose 2 strikes and you are out, irrespective of how many chips you may have gained through the evening. At the end of the night, any chip still in a player’s hand cashes out at £5, so the chips themselves are literally the prize pool moving around the room in real time.

The tournament ended up attracting 42 players and was IFPA registered, with an estimated TGP around 60%. I crashed out in the first two rounds, losing both my strikes my strikes (and my chips) early, which meant an enjoyable night watching everyone else fight it out rather than doing much fighting myself.

Standings and stream

The final winner was East Anglian Pinball Association member, Paul Woollard. Full standings are up on Matchplay.

The full lock-in was streamed live on Twitch courtesy of Preston Pinball and is available in its full, glorious, and unedited form below.

Thanks to David Bowery for organising, Preston Pinball for the stream, commentators, and everyone who stuck it out into the small hours. Looking forward to the next one.

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