I believe the simulator is using algorithms to simulate pinball that inadvertently favor a large percentage of loss balls. Lost balls on the table in general favor dumb algorithms as any intelligence programmed in will be partially countered by the inability to get shots off at all. A third issue is the balancing of gravity and bounce in the table. Bumpers and other obstacles seemed to bounce the ball more than on a normal table. Also gravity simulations often pulled the ball down faster than it would normally approach the flippers.
Most pinball tables are at a very small incline angle.
I believe the pinball simulator exaggerated this angle a bit much. Johnson points out that experts play even better than this by rolling the ball across flippers and making high level plans to intentionally hit high scoring targets. I believe several adjustments could be made to this algorithm to simulate human experts. There is a period of time after the ball leaves the flipper area where planning can take place. I believe humans plan for their next shot, or their next goal during the times the ball is far away from the flipper where they are safe to not worry about keeping the ball in play.