If you peered into the window of a Longmont arcade within the past decade, you may have spied a young man perfecting his pinball skills. Longmont native Escher Lefkoff touched his first pinball world championship at thirteen years old. Lefkoff is now nineteen and has added a second world championship title to his lengthy list of accomplishments.
The two-time world champion has glued his focus on pinball since he was a toddler. At two years old, Lefkoff began playing on a collection of pinball machines that his father collected. On the weekends, Lefkoff and his father took a trip down the road to an arcade and played together, encouraging healthy competition.
At four years old, Lefkoff went to his first out-of-state pinball tournament in Chicago and although he didn’t win the competition, the experience deepened Lefkoff’s passion for the game.
“I was very bad but I loved the adrenaline. I had a blast and that’s really when I started caring more about it, even as a four-year-old,” Lefkoff said.
Tournament after tournament, Lefkoff began climbing the ranks. His fourth place turned into third and his third turned into first. With every win, he also gained a supportive pinball-loving community and an unbreakable bond with his father.
“By far, my biggest support my entire life has been my dad. We share this passion and it’s great to be able to share something so wonderful with my dad,” Lefkoff said.
Pinball chats and friendly competitions connect the father and son duo. They attend many tournaments together including the Open International Flipper Pinball Association World Championship that took place in January where Lefkoff took home his second world championship.
“It was a truly wonderful moment. I was just surprised with myself because I didn’t think I had it. I knew I was running out of steam,” Lefkoff explained.
The pinball player has a stacked schedule full of tournaments in Germany and Australia for the next few months. Although he attends multiple tournaments a year, Lefkoff doesn’t practice his skills often unless a new game is released.
“I don’t really practice much anymore. I’ve put my 10,000 or 20,000 hours in,” Lefkoff noted.
For new pinball players, the world champion recommends building muscle memory of movements and making quick decisions.
“Decision-making is the crutch of pinball,” Lefkoff explained. “Like many other things, if you don’t have that passion to actually just enjoy playing in your free time, it’s hard to put in the hours.”
