MY Road Story.....

Wow this brings back memories

Smorgass Bored said:
I wish that you would dig out the newspaper article and post it up ( I ask for so very little ).
I liked this machine: http://bingo.cdyn.com/techno/silver_sails/
but the Laguna Beach machine was my favorite.
Doug
(did you ever prop up the front feet, so the ball would roll slower ? Machines that leaned to one side or the other were 'feeding troughs'... LOL :-)


Edited to include: If you go to the machine on the enclosed link and click on ANY feature shown, it will put up a colorized view of the THAT feature on the board.... way cool... imo



.
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Hey Smorg...Thanks for posting the picture...I used to play this machine too...also Laguna Beach....we called them the "OK" machines....they were nickel machines, but you could feed as many nickels into them as you wanted to increase the payoffs and features....Joey, I think this is what your friend may have meant by "dollar" machines, since you could play these machines for however many dollars you wanted....When I was at Hawaiian Brian's some years back, I saw some addicts putting in (dime machines I think) at least 20 dollars a game......I thought it was crazy, because once it tilts, you've lost your 20 bucks in just a couple minutes.....
 
In the summers as a kid, we spent time on a lake in WI and a small general store was about a mile walk along the shore. On our way we would find bottles, take them to the store and play the Gottleib pinballs. Our favorite had monkeys on a tree and once you got them to the top all the red special free games light targets came on, this was way before the flat rubber band over size flippers. The earlier rubbers on these small flippers gave you allot of control and power in your shots. We got so good at that time as kids we could play with one nickle most all day long. We used to say the only goal now was to play till we burnt out a bulb or got the machines upper bumpers to start spazzing out. For some reason, when you started lighting up those red "free game" lights it made your day. We also had a small unthetherd gumball machine (1cent) that had these small chrome lighters somewhere amongst the gum balls, we would man handle and try to shake down the lighters so we could get em, it was tough but fun trying.
 
Good stories guys!

It reminds me of my obsession with HyperOlympics about 20 years ago. I owned that game. Had every event record on all five machines in the city. Didn't make any money out if it though. :(

Got tired of it once I got to the point of just accumulating free lives.

Colin
 
wahcheck said:
Hey SmorgWhen I was at Hawaiian Brian's some years back, I saw some addicts putting in (dime machines I think) at least 20 dollars a game......I thought it was crazy, because once it tilts, you've lost your 20 bucks in just a couple minutes.....
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wahcheck, one of the primary rules of engagement with the pinball machines was that it had to give you decent odds for reasonable money. They could set the machines to be tight, not so tight, loose or very loose. You didn't want to look at a machine after it paid off 600 games or more because that seemed to tighten up the odds too and BTW, when I put the "bingo" pinball machines on my toes, it was just on top of my cheap over-size shoes. Those machines were heavy as hell and would break your toes.
JoeyA
 
Pin Ballaholics

Island Drive said:
In the summers as a kid, we spent time on a lake in WI and a small general store was about a mile walk along the shore. On our way we would find bottles, take them to the store and play the Gottleib pinballs. Our favorite had monkeys on a tree and once you got them to the top all the red special free games light targets came on, this was way before the flat rubber band over size flippers. The earlier rubbers on these small flippers gave you allot of control and power in your shots. We got so good at that time as kids we could play with one nickle most all day long. We used to say the only goal now was to play till we burnt out a bulb or got the machines upper bumpers to start spazzing out. For some reason, when you started lighting up those red "free game" lights it made your day. We also had a small unthetherd gumball machine (1cent) that had these small chrome lighters somewhere amongst the gum balls, we would man handle and try to shake down the lighters so we could get em, it was tough but fun trying.
Click to expand...


Good God, you guys are making me laugh. I didn't know there were other people as degenerate about pinball as I was/am. The gumball machine scene made me bust a gut.
Thanks,
JoeyA
 
Colin Colenso said:
Good stories guys!

It reminds me of my obsession with HyperOlympics about 20 years ago. I owned that game. Had every event record on all five machines in the city. Didn't make any money out if it though. :(

Got tired of it once I got to the point of just accumulating free lives.

Colin
Click to expand...

So Colin,
I know you have to have some war stories, if not about gambling, certainly about pool. How about some of those volatile interpersonal relationships in Shanghai while playing pool? I would have to consider Shanghai overnight since you are from Australia. Come ON man, give it up. OK then, you "gots" to have one or two from down under.....
JoeyA
 
wahcheck said:
Hey SmorgWhen I was at Hawaiian Brian's some years back, I saw some addicts putting in (dime machines I think) at least 20 dollars a game......I thought it was crazy, because once it tilts, you've lost your 20 bucks in just a couple minutes.....
Click to expand...

ID, one of the primary rules of engagement with the pinball machines was that it had to give you decent odds for reasonable money. They could set the machines to be tight, not so tight, loose or very loose. You didn't want to look at a machine after it paid off 600 games or more because that seemed to tighten up the odds too and BTW, when I put the "bingo" pinball machines on my toes, it was just on top of my cheap over-size shoes. Those machines were heavy as hell and would break your toes.
JoeyA
 
I'm Waiting With Bait On My Breath

Joey A. sez:
One day I will dig out the old Jackson newspaper article about me playing pinball (flipper kind).


How's the newspaper search coming along ?
Doug
 
Smorgass Bored said:
Joey A. sez:
One day I will dig out the old Jackson newspaper article about me playing pinball (flipper kind).


How's the newspaper search coming along ?
Doug
Click to expand...

That avatar is the nuts.

The newspaper search has not begun. The fishing lodge is in the process of being resurrected. Paul Laplace and I have built a heavy duty porch all the way around the front of the camp without columns. The house is 10 feet in the air and even you could do the bouncing baby routine on it.

How am I going to scan a large newspaper article? I have no scanner. Need answers. Should be able to find the newspapers in about 30-60minutes. They have to be around here somewhere. Katrina didn't take everything.
JoeyA
 
I've Been Sitting Here Patiently Waiting For 24 HOURS

JoeyA said:
That avatar is the nuts.

The newspaper search has not begun. How am I going to scan a large newspaper article? I have no scanner. Need answers. Should be able to find the newspapers in about 30-60minutes. They have to be around here somewhere. Katrina didn't take everything.
JoeyA
Click to expand...


I don't know how to scan it, but I'm sure that someone knows how to do it.....
Doug
( I'm gonna take a little nap while you figure it out )
 
JoeyA said:
So Colin,
I know you have to have some war stories, if not about gambling, certainly about pool. How about some of those volatile interpersonal relationships in Shanghai while playing pool? I would have to consider Shanghai overnight since you are from Australia. Come ON man, give it up. OK then, you "gots" to have one or two from down under.....
JoeyA
Click to expand...
Sorry to inform that I've no stories that are really worth recounting from Shanghai.

I'm not much into seeking out action and usually discourage anyone who eggs me on. There are easier and more pleasant ways to make a few bucks I've found.

Back in Australia we used to seek out action a bit, but usually I'd be the backer. My mates, like many players, are just itching to match up. I'd rather watch them sweat with some money on the likely winner.

I much prefered tournaments, and that is where I'd usually play my best. I travelled to tournies quite a bit with a mate and between our tourney results, some nightly knockouts and a few money games we almost always came back with more than we had when we arrived. Rarely more than couple of k though. But enough to pay for a good weekend and to ensure our addiction to the game.

Colin
 
Yea, that avatar is the best, Smorg. I can't believe that I have been reading Joey and Smorg for years here and rsp and didn't even realize that they were silver ball wizards. When I was a kid I was alone and went to a slum type gas station that sold everything. I mean everything. Porn, beer,sexual aids and devices, ammo, cigs and lighters etc etc. I knew the guy just well enough so that If I had the price of something, I could buy it. Well they happen to have a machine very similar to that one in the avatar except there was no purple gate section and it had a little feature that said two in the blue, which was the little three number blue section, score the same as five in a line in the green odds. You guessed it. The previous player had slept that winner. He had all the letters and press after fifth ball. He had hit the red rollover and totally slept it. I moved the screen to the left all the way over and there sat two lit up in the blue. I hit that rack button and could not believe it. The green was over to I think 32 or whatever gave me 200 games total. Ten dollars free without putting in a nickel. You can't imagine how much that was for me at 13. The most I had ever found was a dime in the phone booth. I worked hard all day washing cars for one dollar.. 7am til 7pm.
 
nice

JimmyB500 said:
Yea, that avatar is the best, Smorg. I can't believe that I have been reading Joey and Smorg for years here and rsp and didn't even realize that they were silver ball wizards. When I was a kid I was alone and went to a slum type gas station that sold everything. I mean everything. Porn, beer,sexual aids and devices, ammo, cigs and lighters etc etc. I knew the guy just well enough so that If I had the price of something, I could buy it. Well they happen to have a machine very similar to that one in the avatar except there was no purple gate section and it had a little feature that said two in the blue, which was the little three number blue section, score the same as five in a line in the green odds. You guessed it. The previous player had slept that winner. He had all the letters and press after fifth ball. He had hit the red rollover and totally slept it. I moved the screen to the left all the way over and there sat two lit up in the blue. I hit that rack button and could not believe it. The green was over to I think 32 or whatever gave me 200 games total. Ten dollars free without putting in a nickel. You can't imagine how much that was for me at 13. The most I had ever found was a dime in the phone booth. I worked hard all day washing cars for one dollar.. 7am til 7pm.
Click to expand...

Nice story...that 2 in blue sure brings back more memories....hard to believe whoever hit that missed it unless he just didn't know what he was doing....ain't luck wonnerful?
 
I also grew up playing the machines. Nashville had a ton of them. No telling how much lunch money went into those machines. Jim Blaylock of JOB'S had a very successful vending company at the time. He had machines all over the city.

It was actually illegal to pay off on them, but the police didn't enforce it at all. I'm pretty sure JOB still has some in his poolroom, or he did a couple yrs ago anyway.

I had a couple friends that would cash their paycheck and head straight to the machines. Sometimes not leaving till their whole check was gone.

Then a few years later the poker machines appeared. Every little corner store had them, Sit down models, that they would line together. I knew a couple machine mechanics that could wear them out. After awhile they got smart, they would wear coats, take them off and place them on the stool they were sitting on. Obstructing the view of the lower 1/2 of the machine. (cash box) Then they'd pop open the lock, open the cashbox. Take the cash out, put it BACK into the machine building credits...over and over again. Waiting till a sizeable amount was registered on the counter, then close it up. EMPTY........

Next step was to call the attendant, and CASH out.

Not only where they taking the original cash from the machine, they were getting paid twice. It was risky business to be in down south. Most if not all establishments had a gun somewhere behind the counter in those days.

Rick S.
 
Rick S. said:
Most if not all establishments had a gun somewhere behind the counter in those days.

Rick S.
Click to expand...

not much has changed in these days

Hu
 
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That Blue Section Was TOUGH

JimmyB500 wrote:
Well they happen to have a machine very similar to that one in the avatar except there was no purple gate section and it had a little feature that said two in the blue, which was the little three number blue section, score the same as five in a line in the green odds.


I've been dreaming about these machines since this thread started... LOL
Doug
 
Smorgass Bored said:
JimmyB500 wrote:
Well they happen to have a machine very similar to that one in the avatar except there was no purple gate section and it had a little feature that said two in the blue, which was the little three number blue section, score the same as five in a line in the green odds.


I've been dreaming about these machines since this thread started... LOL
Doug
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I have too, Doug. I thought and still do think the casinos are missing a golden opportunity to make a lot more profit by reinstalling these machines. I have spoken to two different higher ups in the decision making process why they don’t have these machines in the casinos and was given the same answer by both. They told me the old pinball machines were simply too slow for them to make money.

I asked about their 5 lowest and slowest money making machines, what ever they might be. I was told that they thought the slowest machines they had would still make more money than the pinball machines.

I don’t believe this. I believe there are tons of folks, like me, who refuse to go to the casinos because they don’t have a machine that I believe I have a chance of beating. I suggested installing just one 6 card and one OK pinball machine for testing purposes. I was told they would consider it. Well, as far as I know, there are still no pinball machines in casinos so I assume I was just given the brush off.

Like I told JoeyA, there are 6 card machines back in Jackson now. They look and play exactly like the old ones. The difference is the internals. Where the old ones were mechanical the new ones are digital. All the new ones here are dime machines. They are getting a ton of play too. It’s like the old days again here. If the casinos won’t accommodate us pinballers the bars and pool rooms will.
 
The casions make the money, not the players. There is a chance the casinos could take a beating with the pinballs. They do not take chances, the customer loses. The card and craps tables are exceptions for the players but the casino rakes. It is business, not a gamble for the owners.
 
hemicudas said:
I have too, Doug. I thought and still do think the casinos are missing a golden opportunity to make a lot more profit by reinstalling these machines. I have spoken to two different higher ups in the decision making process why they don’t have these machines in the casinos and was given the same answer by both. They told me the old pinball machines were simply too slow for them to make money.

I asked about their 5 lowest and slowest money making machines, what ever they might be. I was told that they thought the slowest machines they had would still make more money than the pinball machines.

I don’t believe this. I believe there are tons of folks, like me, who refuse to go to the casinos because they don’t have a machine that I believe I have a chance of beating. I suggested installing just one 6 card and one OK pinball machine for testing purposes. I was told they would consider it. Well, as far as I know, there are still no pinball machines in casinos so I assume I was just given the brush off.

Like I told JoeyA, there are 6 card machines back in Jackson now. They look and play exactly like the old ones. The difference is the internals. Where the old ones were mechanical the new ones are digital. All the new ones here are dime machines. They are getting a ton of play too. It’s like the old days again here. If the casinos won’t accommodate us pinballers the bars and pool rooms will.
Click to expand...

Does anyone beat them overall?
JoeyA
 
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