CALIFORNIA, Md. — With wafts of hot, buttered popcorn and the swish of an arcade basketball nearby, 17 pinball enthusiasts vied to win first place and a shared cash prize. “That was a hell of a ball,” remarked player Ron LaScala to another competitor after hitting a high score on the X-Men machine.
The Southern Maryland Pinball members meet Wednesday nights at the R/C Lexington Exchange Movies 12, when the theater is quietest, according to Laura Campbell, the theater’s manager. The location boasts a bar, food options like White Castle sliders and Dippin’ Dots ice cream, a child-friendly environment and eight pinball machines, including the recently released Dungeons & Dragons game. The game room also features driving games, hoops, shooting games, air hockey, crane machines and a coin pusher.
“Having the movie theater as a location is great,” said Rocky McCumbee, co-founder of Southern Maryland Pinball. “Pinball was locked in bars for so long. I can’t take my kids into a bar to play. This space works.”
Registration for the strikes tournament opens at 6 p.m., with the first round starting at 6:30 p.m. Each tournament requires a $10 buy-in, and games cost about a dollar. The prize pool is split with 60% going to first place, 30% to second and 10% to third. Every player is guaranteed at least three rounds, with finalists typically playing about nine rounds, lasting around two and a half hours, McCumbee said.
“There’s a tremendous amount of skill to it,” McCumbee said. “We have people here that can play one ball for 15 minutes. If I don’t set the games up hard enough, they can play all night on $2.”
SoMD Pinball was founded in 2018 by McCumbee and a friend. McCumbee, an ’80s kid and new dad, grew up frequenting Aladdin’s Castle. He is now an electrical engineer with three machines of his own that he has traded for and tinkered with. The founders aimed to create an inclusive space for all: young and old, first-time players and old-school pinheads.
McCumbee has succeeded in his mission with a diverse pool of players. The group now has 308 members on Facebook. About 18 frequent the theater tournaments, which has a capacity of 32. The group has met there for two years.
For some, it’s date night, while for others, it’s a fun family outing.
“It’s a nice family thing to do,” said Annette Abell, who competes with her husband Johnny and their two children. “Our son is 14. This is a nice way to get out where he’s not stuck with his head in the phone or on the PlayStation.”
Grady Abell, 14, said he hoped to win that round.
The youngest regular is 11. On his birthday, McCumbee said he placed third and won $20.
“He was on a heater. He hadn’t taken a strike all night,” McCumbee said. “He got himself into the top three. In that match, he put up a really good score. One of our other guys was able to come back and knock him out in third place by a very small amount. Part of us were all like ‘oh no,’ but that kid was so excited to finish third place… It could have been $2,000 for him.”
McCumbee finds watching players banter and befriend one another rewarding.
“It’s been really great to watch a kid like him come out of his shell,” he said of a shy regular. “He’s chatting with everyone now. It’s really helped him grow as a person.”
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Pinball Wizards! Love this…