Episode 285: Laura Fraley
Lots to cover including creating the world's biggest selfie league, TD'ing, playing in Germany, trick shots, cats, stools and more. Enjoy one of Virginia's finest.
Highlights
- Quarantopia attracted 2,700 selfies and became MatchPlay's largest high score tournament in the platform's history
- Laura did not drop catch in competitive play until this interview discussion
- Richmond Pinball Collective operates with very limited COVID capacity: one volunteer and six members per two-hour shift
- Jeff Teolis asked Laura to be on Pinball Profile over a year prior, and she declined at Pimburg
- Quarantopia expanded to 15 different countries during the pandemic league
- Laura learned tap passing on Wizard (an EM game) before other games
- Josh Sharp's ICR (Insider Connected Ratings) was influenced by or inspired by Quarantopia
- Laura is currently ranked 15th in the ICR competition
Notable quotes
“I love playing God. I do it for my day job. I mean, obviously, I mean that in the most humble sense possible, which I guess there really isn't a humble sense of playing God.”
“Most pinball players in Virginia know who I am... We have a very, really great culture here. I don't experience sexism regularly or any time that I can.”
“It was the largest ever high score tournament on MatchPlay in MatchPlay's history.”
“There are a bunch of videos of me in competitions. You'll never see a drop catch ever by me in competition.”
“Christian Line told me you would never ask twice.”
“If you watch the video we did for Expo, you'll see that we gladly promote all other pinball podcasts and streamers and media content providers.”
“If I'm going to do drop catches in competitions, you've got to start doing tap passes.”
“I love analyzing and making rulings, and I love that there is a little bit of gray area in there where you can use common sense.”
Entities
- ICR· event
- Pimburg· event
- Pinberg· event
- Quarantopia· event
- Bells and Chimes· organization
- Pinball Profile· organization
- Richmond Pinball Collective· organization
- Stern Army· organization
- Christian Line· person
- Clark· person
- Jack Danger· person
- Jeff Teolis· person
- Jen Rupert· person
- Josh Sharp· person
- Keith Elwin· person
- Kevin Stone· person
- Laura Fraley· person
- Lauren Gray· person
- Tobias· person
- MatchPlay· product
More from Pinball Profile
→ All content from Pinball Profile
Episode 439: Emily Reilhan
Talk about a banner year…and it’s only June! Emily has won everything under the sun so far in 2026 as you’ll hear, including the Women’s World Championship, the WNACS, the first ever Women’s...
Episode 438: David Morris of Phantom Amusement
If you’re ever in Manitoba, Canada, check out their growing pinball scene. David talks about the birth of the creating a pinball environment with the Manitoba Pinball League, the MPC, his arcade...
Episode 437: The Pinball Capital’s Francis Wisniewski
Good luck this weekend with the Grand Opening, including a Roger Sharpe appearance, a signed Bank Shot machine giveaway and more! Find out about this huge arcade in Stone Park, Illinois, and hear how...