Yup players commonly misinterpret this rule. I’ve had a player threaten to report me for it at almost every Pinburgh. (I always encourage them to.)
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I’ve gone with the “I’m gonna run to the bathroom real quick. You’re welcome to follow me to ensure I don’t talk to anyone about the game I’m currently playing.” 
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I’m not a TD, but unless it was your turn, nothing wrong here IMO. Other player is free to talk to you about the game all they want, and it would also be totally fine for them to say “I’ll be happy to show you a few things, but after we play.”
Now if our intrepid 3rd player is trying to intimidate people into not talking to try and preserve some sort of knowledge advantage, that would be the toxic behavior we’re looking for.
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- Coaching
Coaching of any player while he or she is at a machine is not allowed and may lead to sanctions, such as removing the coach from the area, voiding the player’s game in progress, or issuing a yellow or red card. Spectators and other players must refrain from commenting on play in a way that affects the current game. - Reference Materials
No player may use reference materials of any kind, whether printed or electronic, while playing his or her ball. Reference materials may be used at any other time, however, even during a session or final round.
And who the f— is following Josh to the bathroom!!!
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Probably Jeff Teolis…
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Wouldn’t the ‘spectators’ line preclude telling other players about how to play the game since it would affect the current game, regardless of where the telling takes place?
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Pinball is inherently random. Having or not having an understanding of the rules before playing a ball may or may not affect the outcome of the game. But a player who is currently playing the game and has achieved a certain state in the game must make that decision of what to shoot for themselves. If they are trapped up and someones says “shoot the scoop” that is coaching.
For arguments sake, let’s say they finish ball two, walk away from the game and someone says “you should have shot the scoop”. On ball three there is no guarantee that they will get the ball under control and be able to shoot the scoop.
IMHO there is also a huge difference between being told a rule, and knowing the rules well enough to be able to make split second decisions about where and when to shoot the ball(s).
I will usually be happy to tell an opponent anything about the game before the game starts (they still have to execute). I’m less likely to offer detailed game info after the game begins.
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Yes, please. I think their is a good conversation to have about this.
For me I fall into the:
- League - Coach away, just not while the player is actively playing as it slows things down way to much.
- Tournament - Once the first ball is plunged, I actually don’t feel that coaching should be allowed, especially by any players in the group. Pinball is a game of skill but it is also very much a game of knowledge and strategy. You can get the basics from a lot of sources but some strategy is learned. If a player doesn’t know the best way to take that strategy and get the best score from it that is part of their “skill” of the game and I don’t feel it is fair for the other players to tell them, “hey, be sure to stack that mode in with this MB or you will miss out on a bunch of points” type of things.
I’m all for coaching up until the point of the game starting as you will mainly be sharing game knowledge but when we get into situational knowledge is where I think that line gets fuzzy. In tournaments now, their is real money on the table as well as qualifying points for things like the Stern Tour, which to me, changes the situation a little bit.
Underrated comment, especially in today’s production environment. If you don’t know how to effectively exploit playfield/shot multipliers or stack multiballs, or build up risk/reward shots, etc., you have almost no chance against top players on a modern game no matter how well you are shooting.
There are exceptions of course (TNA is a very simple game but difficult to master) but for just about anything manufactured in the past 5 years or so, you had better come into it with at least a basic strategy or you’re toast.
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I got scolded by a player at a Cbar event in December for telling my wife — who participates maybe five tournaments a year — between balls how to get the mini-deadpool multiball in deadpool, all while head-to-head competitors were talking about their strategies on two or three games. He happened to be close to losing and they were replaying a game after a major malfunction caused them to restart one he had been blowing up, and he really made me feel like I could be DQ’ed from the whole tournament for saying anything.
I mention this in this thread because this is the first I’ve heard of this misinterpretation (I’d assumed no coaching at any point) and the opponent — who used to play more frequently than now — really went to town on me for this. It reminds me that even regulars may need an occasional reminder that, hey, if you have an issue, check with a TD first before trying to enforce the rules yourself.
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Or maybe it was the person believing that the players were being loud and talking to the point where it would have been influencing or being heard by the player who was playing?
Some people carry conversations ‘off game’ that are so loud they are within clear ear-shot of the player. This is distracting and maybe someone was construing this to potentially be advantageous to the player on the game.
Talking about what the player is doing or not too within ear shot is rude too IMO
Either way… we know the coaching rules
Only if they were telling the player who was currently playing their ball.
The intention is to make it clear that its not just the immediate players that are bound by this limitation on coaching the live player - not to change the scope of who is allowed to be coached or not.
It’s really easy… only the person who has engaged the machine and currently playing their ball is limited from being coached.
Escher Lefkoff playing while Adam and I watch him . . .
ILLEGAL → Adam yells to Escher “You have it in Bonus. Don’t tilt!”
LEGAL → Adam tells me very loudly “Escher has this in Bonus. Hopefully he knows not to tilt.”
YMMV on who your pinball legal council happens to be 
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Definitely some gray area here with broadcast booths that are near the players. I can ignore all sorts of surrounding noise and chatter, but when I can hear live commentary on my game it shifts my focus.
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well it’s the reason we try to move the booths AWAY from the immediate play Of course now we are seeing live commentary on the PA… so its shifting to players needing their own isolation if they care for it.
But I think the comment stands for all avenues of play
Save it for when you are busting the balls of the player and they are your friend 
Not always. As a veteran player in league, if I’m blowing up a game, I don’t mind comments from the peanut gallery. They can be both amusing and motivating. ‘You gonna collect that super JP some time tonight?’
Where it becomes a problem is with newer players. I had a player tell me he would never come back to league because another player was talking to him while he was playing. I think many of us forget just how intimidated we were when we started competing or first joined a league. Give the noobs attaboys after a good ball, but leave them alone when they’re playing.
Is yelling to another player when they walk away from a machine that they have a ball save “coaching”?
I have always wondered about that.
Definitely not allowed at places like pinburgh (pretty sure). But it’s pretty commonplace at the NKY and cincy tournaments to do that. We’re more casual on that front. No ones really complained, so we just left it as is. No repercussions.
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Technically that is coaching but most places often have exceptions for that though I’ve seen some people mad about someone saying that at Pinburgh before…
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I broke the habit of calling out a ball save. I will stop someone from playing out of turn though.
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