Episode 281: Kevin Chau
One of the nicest people in pinball. If you don't know Kevin, have a listen to hear about one of the staples at Bluffs Pinball, and how you can play pinball trivia with Kevin.
Highlights
- Kevin Chau has been running weekly online trivia nights for Bluffs Pinball for six+ months during pandemic to keep the league connected
- Kevin is a piano tuner by trade, with the business being a family operation for 40 years in the greater Toronto area
- Kevin met Walt (Bluffs owner) through piano tuning work, which led to joining the Bluffs league
- Kevin's first pinball machine purchase was a Gottlieb Gold Wings in around 2015
- Kevin was introduced to pinball by his aunt who played pinball machines and let him play her extra balls
- IFPA 15 was held in 2018 at Adam Becker's Press Start Arcade with pre-events including at Bluffs and Durham League
- Kevin credits pinball with helping him through a rough patch in his life, describing it as having 'saved my life'
- Kevin uses Kahoot for the trivia platform, which later added YouTube video capability that he incorporated into questions
Notable quotes
“pinball is something that probably saved my life, as in, you know, I was at a certain point in my life before I started pinball, you know, I hit a rough patch and I just needed something to get me more driven”
“I would rather a machine that plays properly than if it looks spectacular. I just want to be able to play the game and enjoy it for what it is”
“What I miss most is that, you know, we're not able to gather together and just shoot the breeze or see your friends. The game is almost secondary now”
“You have to be comfortable doing it. And he just showed me that, you know, it can take a lot of beating and a wear and tear so you don't have to touch it so delicately”
“I think of some of my best friends in life now I've met through pinball over the last five, six, seven, eight years. And it's interesting that this one hobby has connected us together”
“I would have to go with an EM just because of the more randomness to me, I feel, that it's anybody's game”
“It takes a lot of work to try to think up new questions every week. Sometimes I stump myself and I'm like, well, you know, what can I do differently?”
Entities
- Gottlieb Gold Wings· game
- Joker Poker· game
- Adam Becker's Press Start Arcade· location
- Bluffs Pinball· location
- Sunshine Laundromat· location
- Path of Play· organization
- Chris Ben· person
- Doug Chappell· person
- Ed Robertson· person
- Jack Tadman· person
- Jeff Teolis· person
- Joe Chervino· person
- Kevin Chau· person
- Kevin Manny· person
- Maya Moroz· person
- Mike Primo· person
- Nick Lane· person
- Phil Birnbaum· person
- Scott Clark· person
- Scott McDowell· person
- Walt· person
- Kahoot· product
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