The Champion Pub

Bally, 1998 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open The Champion Pub in the Pinball Genie app →

The Champion Pub is a checklist game wearing a boxing game's clothes. Five jewels go on a championship belt, each worth 500,000, and collecting all five is the only route to the Ultimate Challenge. Everything else — the rope, the bag, the video modes, the multiballs — feeds one of those five. Play it as a fighting game and you will score badly.

The five jewels

• Training: six cumulative jump rope jumps, six cumulative speed bag hits, and roughly ten heavy bag hits that counted toward a life bar. The game forces you to rotate — once you satisfy one discipline it locks out until you have done the other two.
• Multiballs: play all three of Multi-Brawl, Fisticuffs and Raid. Each is earned a completely different way, and Raid only exists as a reward for winning your third fight.
• Knockout: land one K.O. during a fight.
• Jackpots: work all fifteen jackpot levels, from 100,000 up to 1.5 million.
• Pub Champion: win five fights. The fifth win starts Champion Multiball.

Fighting, properly

You start with three of twelve life bars already banked. Heavy bag hits fill the meter, the corner saucer usually adds half a bar, and during a fight the left ramp and the beer targets add one or two more. When the meter is full, the corner or either orbit starts the match. Body shots pay 100,000 and take one or two bars off your opponent; head shots up the green hook ramps pay 500,000 and take three to six. A Smart Punch on the launch button counts as a head shot. The red post between the flippers drops partway through, and after that an outlane or centre drain costs you the fight as well as the ball — a tilt is an automatic loss.

The knockout is a two-part shot

This is the jewel most players never collect. Run jab combos through the scoops on both sides — one each, so a jab on the left owes you one on the right — and a K.O. light comes on for about five seconds. Land a head shot inside that window and the fight is over, worth a million bonus on top of the purse. The first knockout of a game needs one combo per side; the second needs three, the third four. A Smart Punch will close it out for you if the ball is somewhere unhelpful.

Build the purse before you commit

The purse is what a fight actually pays, and it is the biggest scoring decision on the machine. The corner raises it, the left ramp and beer targets raise it mid-fight, ten consecutive jumps or speed bag hits double it, and a Pair in Poker Night doubles it too. The ceiling is 60 million, reachable in one hit only through an extremely rare Straight Flush. Walking into a fight with a starved purse wastes the match, and rematches get harder each time.

Multiballs, and stacking them

Multi-Brawl is the standard lock-three. The first one is cheap at three left orbits; every one after needs the beer targets completed to light each lock, and from the third onward each target needs two hits. Fisticuffs accumulates from heavy bag hits in the background. Raid comes free with your third fight win. This game deliberately lets them run together — a stack gives you four balls and a fresh ball saver, and there is roughly a one-second grace period to sneak the last one in when everything drains but a single ball. Champion Multiball folds all three together and pays a million per major shot.

What each win unlocks

• First win lights Spittin' Gallery, the catching video mode worth up to 10 million with an extra ball sometimes hidden in it.
• Second win lights the extra ball.
• Third win starts Raid Multiball on the spot — every switch climbs in 1,000-point steps toward a 50,000 ceiling.
• Fourth win starts Contender Challenge, a hurry-up over every major shot falling from a million toward 25,000 and resetting on each shot made.
• Fifth win makes you Pub Champion and starts the four-ball Champion Multiball.

Things the playfield does not tell you

Hold the launch button at the plunge to pick your skill shot rather than take what you are given; the Door Prize is the most valuable choice because it is the only route to several rules, including Second Wind. Second Wind is the closest thing this machine has to a kickback — there is no kickback at all otherwise — and it saves the ball, adds three life bars and starts a fight if you were ready. It is lit only by a Door Prize or a third shadow boxing completion. And after a heavy bag hit, listen: if you hear an insect buzzing, slap the launch button for 100,000 and a free Smart Punch.

The end of the road

With every jewel on the belt, fill your life bars one last time and the corner offers the Ultimate Challenge instead of Start Fight. Five remaining fighters, one life bar, and over 50 million for a clean run. It happens once. Win or lose, the rest of the game becomes Cash Fights — a genuine gamble where you stake points against a chosen opponent, capped at 240 million in either direction. Start small there, because losing can drop you back below the replay threshold you already earned.

Goals in The Champion Pub

Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.

• Choose Your Skill Shot skillshot · Easy

  Hold the launch button and the awards cycle; release on the one you want and it is yours when the ball comes around. Two of the awards alternate with each other, so wait for the one you actually need rather than grabbing the first thing you see.

  Reward: Anything from 10 points to all jackpots lit

• The Door Prize strategy · Medium

  The most valuable thing on the skill shot menu, because it is the only route to several rules. The ball is parked in the lock while the pub empties out and the game picks for you — you get no lock credit, just the award.

  Reward: One of eight awards, several unavailable elsewhere

• Earn The Belt progression · Hard

  The whole game is one checklist. Five jewels go on the championship belt, each worth 500,000, and collecting them all is what unlocks the Ultimate Challenge. Everything else you do is in service of one of these five.

  Reward: 500K per jewel and access to the wizard mode

• The Training Jewel progression · Medium

  Three training disciplines, and the game forces you to rotate through all of them. Once you have satisfied one, it is locked out until you have done the other two — no grinding a single easy one.

  Reward: 500K per completed set of three

• Jump Rope mode · Medium

  A magnet holds the ball and a stick flicks it up when you hit a flipper. The trick is timing: flip when the rope lines up with the crease in the right flap, not when it looks close.

  Reward: Double purse at 10, a Smart Punch at 20, initials at 30

• Speed Bag mode · Medium

  Five seconds, two flipper-controlled hands, one bag. Left button swings the left hand, right button the right. Alternate rather than mashing one side and you will land far more.

  Reward: Double purse at 10, a Smart Punch at 20, initials at 30

• Fill The Life Bars progression · Medium

  You cannot fight until your meter is full. Twelve life bars is a full meter, and you start the game with three of them already banked. Everything that hits the boxer or feeds the corner puts more on.

  Reward: Start Fight lights at the saucer and both orbits

• Win The Fight mode · Hard

  Hit the man in the middle. Body shots pay 100,000 and take one or two bars off him; head shots pay 500,000 and take three to six. He is hitting back the whole time, and it usually takes four to six good connections to put him down.

  Reward: The purse value, plus a bonus for winning by knockout

• What Each Win Pays progression · Medium

  Five wins, five different unlocks, and they are fixed. Knowing what the next win gives you tells you whether to rush the fight or spend a ball building the purse first.

  Reward: A different unlock for each of the five wins

• Land A Knockout combo · Hard

  A knockout is a two-part shot. Run jab combos through the scoops on both sides — one each, so if you jabbed on the left you owe one on the right — and a K.O. light comes on for about five seconds. Get his head inside that window.

  Reward: Instant win, a million bonus, and the knockout jewel

• Shadow Boxing Hurry-Up mode · Medium

  A pure speed test: hit the heavy bag before the number runs down. It opens at 200,000 the first time, 400,000 the second, 600,000 the third and keeps climbing, and each trip through a scoop while it runs adds 200,000 to the starting figure.

  Reward: A rising hurry-up, plus a fixed unlock for each completion

• Poker Night mode · Medium

  A one-shot video poker hand with fifteen seconds on the clock. Flippers move between cards, the launch button discards, and every hand maps to a fixed award — so play for the award you need, not for the best hand.

  Reward: Awards from 250K up to a maxed 60M purse

• Spittin' Gallery mode · Medium

  A catching video mode. Six men stand in a row and you slide along with the flippers to catch what comes down. Ten catches wins it, three misses ends it, and an extra ball sometimes drops in among them.

  Reward: Up to 10 million, plus a possible extra ball

• Multi-Brawl multiball · Medium

  The standard lock-three-balls multiball. The first one is cheap — three left orbits and you are in. Every one after that needs the beer targets completed to light each lock individually.

  Reward: Jackpots on the ramp, the boxer and the orbits

• Fisticuffs Multiball multiball · Medium

  A two-ball multiball earned purely by punching. Heavy bag hits spell out the phrase across the whole game — you never have to stop and set it up, it accumulates while you do everything else.

  Reward: 500K head shots, 100K body shots on two balls

• Raid Multiball multiball · Hard

  There is exactly one way to see this three-ball multiball: win your third fight. It is a switch-value frenzy rather than a jackpot mode, so the play is to keep all three balls moving and stop aiming.

  Reward: Every switch worth up to 50,000

• Champion Multiball multiball · Hard

  Win the fifth fight and you are Pub Champion. It pays a million for the title and starts a four-ball multiball that folds Raid, Fisticuffs and Multi-Brawl together, with everything on the playfield live at once.

  Reward: 1M per major shot, plus jackpots and switch values together

• Stack The Multiballs strategy · Hard

  This game deliberately lets its multiballs run on top of each other, and a four-ball stack with a fresh ball saver is where the big ordinary scores come from. There is even a grace period to sneak the last one in.

  Reward: Four balls, a fresh ball saver, and stacked scoring

• Climb All Fifteen Jackpots progression · Hard

  Fifteen named jackpot levels, starting at a very modest 100,000 and rising in 100,000 steps to 1.5 million. They are cumulative across the game, and working the whole ladder is one of the five belt requirements.

  Reward: 100K climbing to 1.5 million, and a belt jewel

• Build The Purse multiplier · Medium

  The purse is what a fight actually pays you, and it is displayed along the bottom of the screen during the match. Building it before you commit to a fight is the single biggest scoring decision in the game.

  Reward: The purse, up to a 60 million ceiling

• Ultimate Challenge wizard · Hard

  The grand finale, and it only happens once. With every jewel on the belt, fill your life bars one last time and the corner offers the Ultimate Challenge instead of Start Fight. Five remaining fighters, one life bar, one shot at it.

  Reward: Over 50 million for a clean run

• Cash Fights strategy · Hard

  If you have not got the belt together, the game offers a gamble instead: pick an opponent, wager points against him, and win or lose them outright. It is capped at 240 million either way regardless of how big your score already is.

  Reward: Up to 240 million won — or lost

• Second Wind secret · Medium

  The closest thing this machine has to a kickback, and it is not on the playfield anywhere obvious. When it is lit, an outlane drain gives you the ball back, three life bars, and a fight if you were ready for one.

  Reward: Ball saved, three life bars, and a fight started

• Swat The Bar Fly secret · Medium

  Hit the heavy bag and listen. If you hear an insect buzzing, you have a moment to slap the launch button and swat it — worth 100,000 and, more usefully, a free Smart Punch.

  Reward: 100K and a Smart Punch