Rob Wintler-Cox is one of a crowd of pinball enthusiasts practicing for this weekend's Fairfax competition. He will face off against some of the best pinball players in the nation at John's Place in Fairfax City.

The venue and rivals won't surprise Wintler-Cox. He's played at the Lee Highway bar every Monday for three years as part of the Free State Pinball Association, an organization that organizes pinball leagues in Northern Virginia and Maryland. He, along with many of the people he'll go up against Friday through Sunday, get together to practice their game, discuss strategy and rules, and show off their own custom machines.

Wintler-Cox spent about 19 months creating his own Terminator pinball machine. Made up of spare parts as well as trial and error, the Terminator is one of about 20 machines players can try their luck on this weekend.

The event starts at 3 p.m. on Friday and finishes late Sunday afternoon. Check Patch every day this week for more video interviews with the competitors and tournament coverage.

Click the thumbnail above to watch the video.