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New Pinball Dictionary

Pinball terms used by the pinball gaming community which may not be a part of the official pinball lexicon. Besides, some of these terms are just made-up… ^_^

If you have a suggestion for the New Pinball Dictionary, please post in the contact page, and thanks for your contribution.

The Inductees:

The Nominees: (Prospects that have not yet been given a posting in the NPD)

  • Bang Back

    The Bang Back is an illegal move in tournaments.

  • BelsitoTo wait until the very last minute to attempt a qualifying entry for a pinball playoff, and succeed in qualifying for the next level of competition.Players who have been pushed out of the playoffs because of this are considered to have been Belsitoed.Example: Players were attempting to Belsito their way into the final with only a few minutes remaining.[Coined for pinball player Jim Belsito]
  • California Style
  • Carrie Bradshaw
  • CheesingTo soft-plunge a ball repeatedly during Multiball so that the automatic plunger is unable to force the ball into play. This move provides an advantage because, since there is a ball in reserve, the player doesn’t have to worry about the ball ending due to a drain. This a move that is at least frowned upon and may be considered illegal in tournaments.
  • Click-click Drain / Ping-Pong DrainAn occurrence where the pinball bounces between the two slingshots only to have one of the slingshots loft the ball over to the opposite outlane. The question is, how makes clicks will it take before your ball ends?Example: If a game has wide outlanes, you must find a way to nudge the ball out of the slingshot area whenever it bounces between them. If not, then you will suffer a click-click drain.
  • Dead Flipper Bounce / Dead Flipper Pass

  • Drop Catch


    Drop Stop

  • ExpoGlare
  • House BallA ball that you have no opportunity to flip at; a very short ball; a “Worst Ball Ever.”Example: Tournament games set on hard settings with steep inclines can result in at least one house ball per qualification attempt, which is why scores are lower than normal.House EntryA tournament entry where all of your games consist of a majority of house balls. You know when you’ve had a house entry when you feel like you’ve just wasted your entry fee while learning nothing about any of the games you’ve played.[Suggested by Ed Zeltmann]House GameA game wherein all of your balls are house balls.
  • House Lane
  • Live Catch

  • Loop Pass


  • LymanTo play a game in the practice bank at a pinball event, and put up a score nobody thought possible, usually with many people watching.Example: He pulled a Lyman and got over 2 Billion points on The Addams Family with a crowd around him taking pictures.[Coined for pinball player and programmer Lyman Sheats]
  • MadisonThe act of needing only a single qualification attempt to qualify for a pinball playoffExample: Why can’t I do a Madison and just show up, play once, and be done with it?[Coined for pinball player Paul Madison]
  • Nerves of Steel =?= Chill Manuever
  • NewsomTo travel a long distance to compete in a pinball tournament. Also known as a “Pinball Pilgrim.”Example: Anyone traveling more than 100 miles will be declared to have “pulled a Newsom” and will receive 2 free mini-tournament entries.[Coined for pinball player Chris Newsom]
  • Outlane Train DrainTo hit the ball off of the train target in Addams Family (also known as the Jackpot target) weak enough so that the ball travels down the train lane and coasts over to the right outlane. To prevent the Outlane Train Drain, the player has to nudge in some way to alter the path of the ball down this predictable pathway.
  • Play PachinkoTo have a very poor game, usually involving one or more house balls.Example: He was Playing Pachinko on that game; the game lasted only a minute and he was only able to flip at the ball maybe once or twice.
  • Post Pass


  • Return Lane Transfer


  • Ring Trifecta
  • Sharpe; Sharpe-ing; Sharpe-outTo strategically time out a mode, especially a low scoring or potentially dangerous one, in favor of safer, better scoring opportunities later.Example: It may be wise to Sharpe-out the Supercharger mode on The Getaway if the inner loop and Supercharger shots are difficult for you to make and you want to go for “Red Line Mania.”Example: You should Sharpe-out the New York bulldozer mode on Road Show since the bulldozer targets can cause center drains; they aren’t worth very much during the mode, and you don’t get closer to multiball.Example: ”I HATE battle simulation and romulan. I avoid those until I have to collect the battle sim; I’ll try for the level 6 extra ball but if I don’t get the flow down I Sharpe it out.” — Scott Charles.[Coined for named for pinball players and tournament organizers Josh Sharpe and Zach Sharpe]ShatzTo exhibit outstanding ball control, especially when multiple balls are trapped on the same flipper[Coined for pinball player Neil Shatz]Also known as: Shatzing, Shatz-TapShatz*Bot

    To perform a Shatz-pot while playing Jack*Bot (See also: Super Shatz*Bot)

    Shatz-pot

    To have two balls trapped on the same flipper, tap ball x into the air, hit the jackpot with ball y and regain control of ball x.

    [Coined for pinball player Neil Shatz]

    See: “Shatz”

  • Straight Down the Middle / SDTMTo lose a ball via the center drain because the ball was travelling so fast and/or in such a perfect line, that there is no way the player could have saved it, not even with a miracle slap save.Example: I told you not to shoot the center clock target in Twilight Zone with the Powerball. It sends the ball SDTM.
  • Super Shatz*BotWhen playing Jack*bot, to have two balls trapped on the same flipper, tap ball x into the air, hit one eye for a Jack*bot with ball y and then shoot ball x into the other eye within 1.5 seconds.
  • Tommy Dollars