Pinball league meets Thursdays at Murphy’s 21 in South County

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A pinball league that meets Thursday nights at Murphy’s 21 in South County has 67 players.

“We’ve grown into Missouri’s biggest pinball league with 67 players,” Steve Murphy, the bar’s owner, said.

League night

Players of all ages compete in the league for points or bragging rights.

Brian, a league player, said people are often surprised to learn pinball leagues exist.

“One of the very common responses we get is, ‘There’s pinball leagues?’” Brian said. “St. Louis has a lot of really good leagues going on. We’ve got a really good community.”

Rich Drant said pinball is “80% skill and 20% luck.”

Brian said the social side is part of the appeal.

“I’ll see people I know. I get to play with them, chat while I’m playing. Just hanging out with the people is always the best part of it for me,” Brian said.

How the machines got there

Drant played his first pinball game on the Admiral when he was 8 years old.

“Sixty-two years later, I’m still playing pinball here at Murphy’s 21,” Drant said.

Drant said he told the bar to get a pinball machine.

“I’d always tell them, you need to get a pinball machine in here. That was in about 2016. And now here we are 10 years later, look what we got,” Drant said.

Murphy is also a pinball player.

“I’m a kid of the ’80s. This is right up my wheelhouse,” Murphy said. “I figured if I like pinball, there’s got to be other people out there that love it too, and we kind of found our tribe here.”

Where to play

Murphy’s 21 is on Tesson Ferry in the same plaza as the South County Antique Mall.

The location has more than 20 pinball machines from every era, including Jaws, Dungeons & Dragons, Godzilla, Harry Potter and The Avengers.