HOUSTON — When you first step foot inside The Wormhole, the sound is unmistakable. The bells and chimes let you know you've wandered into a pinball arcade. Not just any arcade, either; this is the super-secret clubhouse for the Space City Pinball League.
"I think there are 24 machines at this one now and they rotate constantly," said Phil Grimaldi, one of the co-founders of the league, which organizes pinball tournaments and events around the Houston area. "This is a fairly unique place where there's 24 games in one place."
The day KHOU 11 drops by is the start of The Whopper, one of the biggest tournaments the league has hosted.
"You have to have lots of machines to play pinball tournaments, and they're heavy and expensive. And it's tough to actually make happen," Grimaldi said.
But he and some friends did when they started bringing pinball players together back in 2015.
"It’s grown from just being tournaments to being sort of a community of pinball players," shared Grimaldi.
The focus here is fun.
"Competition Pinball is a thing. We do try and have, you know, serious tournaments here and try and let the cream rise to the top, so to speak," Grimaldi said. "But, you know, our number one priority is everyone to have fun."
He said about 500 people of all ages and all skill levels compete in league events. Most of them are from the Houston area, but some come from out-of-town.
All you need to join the league is a passion for pinball.
"It's open to anybody, anybody who wants to play. You don't even need to be a pinball wizard or anything like that," smiled Grimaldi. "You can come and you can learn a lot from the people that are here and everybody's super friendly. And we'd love to have you."