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description

A **flasher-type gambling console**, also called an "electronic upright" or simply an "upright", is not a pinball machine; it is a gambling device styled to look or operate similarly to mechanical arcade games.^[1][2] ## Why they exist These machines were built to bypass anti-slot-machine gambling laws. Manufacturers replaced the slot machine's traditional physical spinning reels — a feature by which laws often identified a slot machine — with electronic flashers that lit up symbols behind a silk-screened glass, and dressed that difference in the language of skill.^[3][4][5] [[manufacturer:pace]] sold *[[title:king-pin-5]]* (1938) as a "pin table", "an attempt to get their slot machine console games into pinball-only territory",^[6] and [[manufacturer:bally]] offered *[[title:lincoln-fields]]* (1937) with an optional captive-ball "Skill Feature", "something to add an element of skill to the game usually done to circumvent gambling ordinances".^[7] After the war the line moved again: coin payout were made illegal in the US so American manufacturers exported them to the UK.^[8] ## Connection to pinball These machines came off the same factory floors as pinball, and share its relays, wiring and backglass art.^[9] "Bally had a foot in both sides of the coin operated industry",^[10] and so did [[manufacturer:keeney]], [[manufacturer:games-inc]] and [[manufacturer:mills-novelty-company]]. Collectors and restorers in the pinball community meet them regularly and find them thinly documented; one owner of a 1959 *[[title:wild-cat]]* wrote that he had "an extremely hard time finding any real resources for these machines".^[19] ## How a flasher-type machine works - **The credit counter.** Coins increment a credit meter, and on the post-war uprights that meter is also the prize. Of Games Inc's *Wild Cat* (1958): "It does not payout cash. The credit meter increments instead, allowing for continued play without insertion of additional coins."^[11] - **The spin.** A handle or button starts a motor-driven wiper. On a flasher "the wipers for the flashers not only control the lights but the timer wiper as well",^[12] so the same mechanism that runs the light show decides the result. - **The flashers.** Symbols printed on the glass light in sequence.^[5] Mills' *[[title:flasher-bell-fruit]]* (1937) "has a glass playfield with no moving parts but has slot machine symbols that are lit from behind after the player pulls the side handle".^[13] - **The outcome.** When the cycle stops, the symbols left lit are read against the award schedule on the glass. A pre-war console paid in coin, the Mills machine "into a spring-loaded metal cup located on the front underside of the machine";^[14] a post-war upright paid in credits, and only the export models paid cash.^[11][8][15] ## Two generations The pre-war consoles of 1937 to 1947, such as Bally's *[[title:ballys-club-house]]*, "an upright 7-coin console slot machine",^[16] Mills' Flasher and Keeney's *[[title:gold-nugget]]*, paid out in coin.^[17] The electronic uprights of 1955 to 1964 from Games Inc, Keeney, Bally and [[manufacturer:auto-bell-novelty-company]], such as Keeney's *[[title:big-tent]]* and Games Inc's Wild Cat, paid in credits, with cash-payout versions such as *[[title:barracuda]]* built for the UK.^[18][2][8]

1.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php (Electronic Upright entry) Archive

Also called an "upright" or a "flasher type" slot machine, this is not a pinball machine.

2.

Retro Refurbs — https://www.retrorefurbs.com/michigan-pinball-show-2025/ (1958 Keeney Deluxe Big Tent entry)

in reality the Keeney Big Tent was a gambling device

3.

YouTube — YouTube #tLuZl2oDquM

these things were effectively made to bypass certain gambling laws

4.

PennyMachines.co.uk — https://pennymachines.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=11237 (post by treefrog quoting Operator Bell)

the Act specifically said a slot machine had reels and these [...] they had switches

5.

PennyMachines.co.uk — https://pennymachines.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=11237 (post by treefrog quoting Operator Bell)

The earlier flashers had symbols on the front glass that lit up from behind.

6.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #6175

an attempt to get their slot machine console games into pinball-only territory

7.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #6940

something to add an element of skill to the game usually done to circumvent gambling ordinances

8.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #7013

Upright machines built for coin payout were not legal in the United States so American manufacturers exported them to the UK.

9.

Pinside — https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-know-anything-about-flasher-slots (post by AndyGarber)

I got a hot tip on everything being similar to bingo pinball machines.

10.

Pacific Pinball Museum — https://www.pacificpinball.org/pinball-gambling (in the A Game Of Skill section)

Bally had a foot in both sides of the coin operated industry

11.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #6966

It does not payout cash. The credit meter increments instead, allowing for continued play without insertion of additional coins.

12.

Pinside — https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-know-anything-about-flasher-slots (post by AndyGarber)

the wipers for the flashers not only control the lights but the timer wiper as well

13.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #3101

has a glass playfield with no moving parts but has slot machine symbols that are lit from behind after the player pulls the side handle

14.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #3101

into a spring-loaded metal cup located on the front underside of the machine

15.

YouTube — YouTube #tLuZl2oDquM

converted from an actual slot machine to an amusement only machine

16.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #3025

an upright 7-coin console slot machine

17.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #4387

It is a console slot machine.

18.

PennyMachines.co.uk — https://pennymachines.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=11237 (post by treefrog quoting Operator Bell)

They were extremely popular for six or seven years and used by Keeney (of course), Bally (which secretly owned Keeney) and Clarence Schuyler

19.

Pinside — https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-know-anything-about-flasher-slots (post by phurst)

an extremely hard time finding any real resources for these machines

description

A **flasher-type gambling console**, also called an "electronic upright" or simply an "upright", is not a pinball machine; it is a gambling device styled to look or operate similarly to mechanical arcade games.^[1][2] ## Why they exist These machines were built to bypass anti-slot-machine gambling laws. Manufacturers replaced the slot machine's traditional physical spinning reels — a feature by which laws often identified a slot machine — with electronic flashers that lit up symbols behind a silk-screened glass, and dressed that difference in the language of skill.^[3][4][5] [[manufacturer:pace]] sold *[[title:king-pin-5]]* (1938) as a "pin table", "an attempt to get their slot machine console games into pinball-only territory",^[6] and [[manufacturer:bally]] offered *[[title:lincoln-fields]]* (1937) with an optional captive-ball "Skill Feature", "something to add an element of skill to the game usually done to circumvent gambling ordinances".^[7] After the war the line moved again: "Upright machines built for coin payout were notmade legalillegal in the UnitedUS States so American manufacturers exported them to the UK."^[8] ## Connection to pinball These machines came off the same factory floors as pinball, and share its relays, wiring and backglass art.^[9] "Bally had a foot in both sides of the coin operated industry",^[10] and so did [[manufacturer:keeney]], [[manufacturer:games-inc]] and [[manufacturer:mills-novelty-company]]. Collectors and restorers in the pinball community meet them regularly and find them thinly documented; one owner of a 1959 *[[title:wild-cat]]* wrote that he had "an extremely hard time finding any real resources for these machines".^[11] ## How a flasher-type machine works - **The credit counter.** Coins increment a credit meter, and on the post-war uprights that meter is also the prize. Of Games Inc's *Wild Cat* (1958): "It does not payout cash. The credit meter increments instead, allowing for continued play without insertion of additional coins."^[12] - **The spin.** A handle or button starts a motor-driven wiper. On a flasher "the wipers for the flashers not only control the lights but the timer wiper as well",^[13] so the same mechanism that runs the light show decides the result. - **The flashers.** Symbols printed on the glass light in sequence.^[5] Mills' *[[title:flasher-bell-fruit]]* (1937) "has a glass playfield with no moving parts but has slot machine symbols that are lit from behind after the player pulls the side handle".^[14] - **The outcome.** When the cycle stops, the symbols left lit are read against the award schedule on the glass. A pre-war console paid in coin, the Mills machine "into a spring-loaded metal cup located on the front underside of the machine";^[15] a post-war upright paid in credits, and only the export models paid cash.^[12][8][16] ## Two generations The pre-war consoles of 1937 to 1947, such as Bally's *[[title:ballys-club-house]]*, "an upright 7-coin console slot machine",^[17] Mills' Flasher and Keeney's *[[title:gold-nugget]]*, paid out in coin.^[18] The electronic uprights of 1955 to 1964 from Games Inc, Keeney, Bally and [[manufacturer:auto-bell-novelty-company]], such as Keeney's *[[title:big-tent]]* and Games Inc's Wild Cat, paid in credits, with cash-payout versions such as *[[title:barracuda]]* built for the UK.^[19][2][8]

1.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php (Electronic Upright entry) Archive

Also called an "upright" or a "flasher type" slot machine, this is not a pinball machine.

2.

Retro Refurbs — https://www.retrorefurbs.com/michigan-pinball-show-2025/ (1958 Keeney Deluxe Big Tent entry)

in reality the Keeney Big Tent was a gambling device

3.

YouTube — YouTube #tLuZl2oDquM

these things were effectively made to bypass certain gambling laws

4.

PennyMachines.co.uk — https://pennymachines.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=11237 (post by treefrog quoting Operator Bell)

the Act specifically said a slot machine had reels and these [...] they had switches

5.

PennyMachines.co.uk — https://pennymachines.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=11237 (post by treefrog quoting Operator Bell)

The earlier flashers had symbols on the front glass that lit up from behind.

6.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #6175

an attempt to get their slot machine console games into pinball-only territory

7.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #6940

something to add an element of skill to the game usually done to circumvent gambling ordinances

8.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #7013

Upright machines built for coin payout were not legal in the United States so American manufacturers exported them to the UK.

9.

Pinside — https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-know-anything-about-flasher-slots (post by AndyGarber)

I got a hot tip on everything being similar to bingo pinball machines.

10.

Pacific Pinball Museum — https://www.pacificpinball.org/pinball-gambling (in the A Game Of Skill section)

Bally had a foot in both sides of the coin operated industry

11.

Pinside — https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-know-anything-about-flasher-slots (post by phurst)

an extremely hard time finding any real resources for these machines

12.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #6966

It does not payout cash. The credit meter increments instead, allowing for continued play without insertion of additional coins.

13.

Pinside — https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-know-anything-about-flasher-slots (post by AndyGarber)

the wipers for the flashers not only control the lights but the timer wiper as well

14.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #3101

has a glass playfield with no moving parts but has slot machine symbols that are lit from behind after the player pulls the side handle

15.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #3101

into a spring-loaded metal cup located on the front underside of the machine

16.

YouTube — YouTube #tLuZl2oDquM

converted from an actual slot machine to an amusement only machine

17.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #3025

an upright 7-coin console slot machine

18.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #4387

It is a console slot machine.

19.

PennyMachines.co.uk — https://pennymachines.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=11237 (post by treefrog quoting Operator Bell)

They were extremely popular for six or seven years and used by Keeney (of course), Bally (which secretly owned Keeney) and Clarence Schuyler

description

PinballA and**flasher-type thegambling slotconsole**, machinealso grewcalled upan as"electronic siblingsupright" inor thesimply coin-operatedan trade"upright", andis fornot decadesa thepinball linemachine; betweenit themis wasa blurry.gambling Beforedevice styled to look or operate similarly to mechanical arcade games.[1][gameplay-feature:flippers2]] ## arrivedWhy inthey 1947exist These machines were built to rewardbypass skill,anti-slot-machine manygambling laws. Manufacturers replaced the slot machine's traditional physical spinning reels — a "pinfeature game"by waswhich reallylaws often identified a gamblingslot devicemachine — with electronic flashers that paidlit outup insymbols coinsbehind a silk-screened glass, and thedressed makersthat moveddifference freelyin between the twolanguage businessesof skill.^[3][4][5] [[manufacturer:pace]] Thesold machines*[[title:king-pin-5]]* gathered(1938) hereas area the"pin table", "an attempt to get their slot sidemachine ofconsole thatgames familyinto pinball-only territory",^[6] and [[manufacturer:bally]] offered *[[title:lincoln-fields]]* (1937) with an optional captive-ball "Skill Feature", "something to add an element of skill to the uprightgame consolesusually anddone to circumvent gambling ordinances"flasher.^[7] typeAfter the war the line moved again: "Upright machines built for coin payout gameswere thatnot catalogslegal likein IPDBthe sweptUnited upStates alongsideso pinballAmerican becausemanufacturers theyexported them to the UK."^[8] ## Connection to pinball These machines came off the same factory floors as pinball, and share its relays, wiring and backglass art. [9] "Bally had a foot in both sides of the coin operated industry",[10] and so did [[manufacturer:keeney]], [[manufacturer:games-inc]] and [[manufacturer:ballymills-novelty-company]]. builtCollectors theseand one-coinrestorers gamblesin by the thousandspinball throughcommunity themeet 1930s,them '40sregularly and '50s,find whilethem thinly documented; one owner of a 1959 *[[manufacturertitle:millswild-novelty-companycat]]* wrote that he had "an extremely hard time finding any real resources for these machines".^[11] ## How a flasher-type machine works - **The credit counter.** Coins increment a credit meter, and on the housepost-war uprights that perfectedmeter is also the spinningprize. Of Games Inc's *Wild Cat* (1958): "It does not payout cash. The credit meter increments instead, allowing for continued play without insertion of additional coins."^[12] -reel bandit**The spin.** A handle or button starts a motor-driven turnedwiper. outOn "a flasher "the gameswipers likefor the flashers not only control the lights but the timer wiper as well",^[13] so the same mechanism that runs the light show decides the result. - **The flashers.** Symbols printed on the glass light in sequence.[5] Mills' *[[title:flasher-bell-fruit]]* (1937) "has a glass playfield with no moving parts but has slot machine symbols that are lit from behind after the player pulls the side handle".^[14] - **The outcome.** When the cycle stops, the symbols left lit are read against the award schedule on the glass. A pre-war console paid in coin, the Mills machine "into a winningspring-loaded combinationmetal insteadcup located on the front underside of spinningthe machine";^[15] a reel.post-war Theyupright arepaid notin pinballcredits, butand theyonly arethe pinballexport models paid cash.^[12][8][16] ## Two generations The pre-war consoles of 1937 to 1947, such as Bally's shadow*[[title:ballys-club-house]]*, the"an chanceupright 7-drivencoin amusementsconsole theslot industrymachine",^[17] spentMills' decadesFlasher tryingand Keeney's *[[title:gold-nugget]]*, paid out in coin.^[18] The electronic uprights of 1955 to live1964 downfrom beforeGames skillInc, flippersKeeney, Bally and respectability[[manufacturer:auto-bell-novelty-company]], finallysuch wonas outKeeney's *[[title:big-tent]]* and Games Inc's Wild Cat, paid in credits, with cash-payout versions such as *[[title:barracuda]]* built for the UK.^[19][2][8]

1.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php (Electronic Upright entry) Archive

Also called an "upright" or a "flasher type" slot machine, this is not a pinball machine.

2.

Retro Refurbs — https://www.retrorefurbs.com/michigan-pinball-show-2025/ (1958 Keeney Deluxe Big Tent entry)

in reality the Keeney Big Tent was a gambling device

3.

YouTube — YouTube #tLuZl2oDquM

these things were effectively made to bypass certain gambling laws

4.

PennyMachines.co.uk — https://pennymachines.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=11237 (post by treefrog quoting Operator Bell)

the Act specifically said a slot machine had reels and these [...] they had switches

5.

PennyMachines.co.uk — https://pennymachines.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=11237 (post by treefrog quoting Operator Bell)

The earlier flashers had symbols on the front glass that lit up from behind.

6.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #6175

an attempt to get their slot machine console games into pinball-only territory

7.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #6940

something to add an element of skill to the game usually done to circumvent gambling ordinances

8.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #7013

Upright machines built for coin payout were not legal in the United States so American manufacturers exported them to the UK.

9.

Pinside — https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-know-anything-about-flasher-slots (post by AndyGarber)

I got a hot tip on everything being similar to bingo pinball machines.

10.

Pacific Pinball Museum — https://www.pacificpinball.org/pinball-gambling (in the A Game Of Skill section)

Bally had a foot in both sides of the coin operated industry

11.

Pinside — https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-know-anything-about-flasher-slots (post by phurst)

an extremely hard time finding any real resources for these machines

12.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #6966

It does not payout cash. The credit meter increments instead, allowing for continued play without insertion of additional coins.

13.

Pinside — https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-know-anything-about-flasher-slots (post by AndyGarber)

the wipers for the flashers not only control the lights but the timer wiper as well

14.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #3101

has a glass playfield with no moving parts but has slot machine symbols that are lit from behind after the player pulls the side handle

15.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #3101

into a spring-loaded metal cup located on the front underside of the machine

16.

YouTube — YouTube #tLuZl2oDquM

converted from an actual slot machine to an amusement only machine

17.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #3025

an upright 7-coin console slot machine

18.

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #4387

It is a console slot machine.

19.

PennyMachines.co.uk — https://pennymachines.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=11237 (post by treefrog quoting Operator Bell)

They were extremely popular for six or seven years and used by Keeney (of course), Bally (which secretly owned Keeney) and Clarence Schuyler

Renamed from Slot Machine. Every machine here is a flasher-type console or electronic upright, which lights its symbols instead of spinning reels and was built precisely so as not to be a slot machine in law; the new name says what the mechanism is and keeps "gambling" in plain sight.

name

Slot Machine → Flasher-Type Gambling Console

slug

slot-machine → flasher-type-gambling-console

description

Pinball and the slot machine grew up as siblings in the coin-operated trade, and for decades the line between them was blurry. Before [[gameplay-feature:flippers]] arrived in 1947 to reward skill, many a "pin game" was really a gambling device that paid out in coins, and the makers moved freely between the two businesses. The machines gathered here are the slot side of that family - the upright consoles and "flasher type" payout games that catalogs like IPDB swept up alongside pinball because they came off the same factory floors. [[manufacturer:keeney]], [[manufacturer:games-inc]] and [[manufacturer:bally]] built these one-coin gambles by the thousands through the 1930s, '40s and '50s, while [[manufacturer:mills-novelty-company]] - the house that perfected the spinning-reel bandit - turned out "flasher" games like *[[title:flasher-bell-fruit]]* that lit a winning combination instead of spinning a reel. They are not pinball, but they are pinball's shadow: the chance-driven amusements the industry spent decades trying to live down before skill, flippers and respectability finally won out.

display_order

5

name

Slot Machine

slug

slot-machine

description

reverted by The Flip Museum · Jun 11

Pinball and the slot machine grew up as siblings in the coin-operated trade, and for decades the line between them was blurry. Before [[gameplay-feature:flippers]] arrived in 1947 to reward skill, many a "pin game" was really a gambling device that paid out in coins, and the makers moved freely between the two businesses. The machines gathered here are the slot side of that family - the upright consoles and "flasher type" payout games that catalogs like IPDB swept up alongside pinball because they came off the same factory floors. [[manufacturer:keeney]], [[manufacturer:games-inc]] and [[manufacturer:bally]] built these one-coin gambles by the thousands through the 1930s, '40s and '50s, while [[manufacturer:mills-novelty-company]] - the house that perfected the spinning-reel bandit - turned out "flasher" games like *[[title:flasher-bell-fruit]]* that lit a winning combination instead of spinning a reel. They are not pinball, but they are pinball's shadow: the chance-driven amusements the industry spent decades trying to live down before skill, flippers and respectability finally won out.

display_order

reverted by The Flip Museum · Jun 11

5

name

reverted by The Flip Museum · Jun 11

Slot Machine

slug

reverted by The Flip Museum · Jun 11

slot-machine

status

reverted by The Flip Museum · Jun 11

active