John Breen was a lifelong pinball player, a resident of Waynesboro, a member of Dominion Pinball League and regular at Decades Arcade. He found out in January 2021 that he had terminal cancer. In his last few months, John contacted Arcade Manager Lindsey and Dominion Pinball League Director Dan, asking us to keep his name alive with a charity pinball tournament. We were honored to do so.

The Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville provides affordable housing, community resources & meals for families of children undergoing treatment at the University of Virginia Health System. With stays ranging from one night to multiple months, their always-open facility offers a home-away-from-home with 19 rooms, 4 kitchens, laundry facilities and a recreational area.

Decades Arcade will place a pinball machine in the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville in John's memory for the benefit of the patients staying there. John loved kids and talked about how they were much braver than him - he said had been blessed to live a full life, and his wish was to help them face hard diagnoses and treatments via his love of pinball. The pinball machine will go into the RMHC's new isolation unit for immunocompromised children, and will be maintained by Decades & DPL technicians.

Decades will host this tournament yearly to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville, with $10 from each entry donated directly to the RMHC!

THE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

1:30pm: DOORS OPEN

2 - 3:30pm: THE EXHIBITION GAMES

Our amazing University of Virginia athletes are going to take you on in a game of pinball! They may be able to beat you on the field, but you might take home the win in a game of pinball. In an effort to raise more awareness and donations for the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville, these athletes have donated their afternoon to this event to play pinball with you and regale their recent experiences as NCAA athletes.

4 - 9pm: THE IFPA TOURNAMENT

Tournament @4pm sharp. You may participate in the Exhibition Games if you like, or just practice between 1:30-4.
Format is MatchPlay Progressive 9-Strike Tournament: Assigned games are played with assigned groups of three or four players. Winner gets zero strikes, 2nd place gets one strike, 3rd place gets two strikes, and 4th place gets three strikes. 9 strikes and you're out.
No extra balls can be played, standard IPFA rules & procedures apply for any problems. All EM games are set to 5-ball and all SS games are set to 3-ball (except Joker Poker and Stars). On single player games, Tilt ends game.
PRIZES: 1st: $50 Cash Prize + 2 Entries to Decades. 2nd: 2 Entries to Decades Arcade.

ENTRY DETAILS:

$20 Entry Fee, $10 of which goes directly to the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville! The other $10 covers tournament costs. T-Shirts for the first 75 players.