Sources

Contributors to this record: Flipcommons AI Descriptions (RewardType), Flipcommons Catalog.

description: A **payout machine** is a machine that dispenses a physical award to the player.^[1] Paying out in coins was common, but also there were things like candy and merchandise.^[2] The apparatus sat in plain sight on the cabinet. A pull knob on the front of *[[title:les-deux-as]]* drops a winning player's tokens into a cup below,^[3] and [[manufacturer:a-j-stephens-and-company]] set the same cup into the cabinet front of *[[title:stevo-jackpot]]*.^[4] ## One model, multiple payout types A single model could often be ordered with different types of payouts. [[manufacturer:stoner-manufacturing-company]]'s *[[title:zipper]]* came three ways — "Ticket, cash, or check models were available".^[5] *[[title:carom]]* was sold both as a coin-paying game and as a ticket vendor.^[6] ## How it differs from ticket payout Whereas a **payout machine** dispenses the actual prize, a [[reward-type:ticket-payout]] machine dispenses a ticket which is then redeemed for a prize. ## How it differs from merchant-paid Whereas a **payout machine** dispenses the prize itself, a [[reward-type:merchant-paid]] machine displays the fact that the player has won, and the storekeeper hands over the prize. ## Coins, and the law that followed them [[manufacturer:bally]] released the first pinball machine to pay out on its own, *[[title:rocket-3]]*, in 1933,^[7] and the coin-paying games that followed drew the regulation that shaped the rest of the century: the delivery of rewards "via cash payouts or prizes" was one of the two grounds on which pinball was classed as gambling.^[8] The coin-paying machines were eventually classed as gambling devices and banned in most states,^[9] and the trade answered by changing what came out of the chute rather than giving up the mechanism: tokens took the place of coins, and the machines accepted them back.^[10] The other answer was to make the award worthless away from the machine — the [[reward-type:replay]] — and that is the one the industry kept. Payout survived where the law allowed it. [[manufacturer:keeney]] was still building upright payout games for export in the 1960s,^[11] the decade American law narrowed its aim to payout machines specifically.^[12] Some late examples hedged, letting the operator decide whether a win paid cash or added credits.^[13]

Flipcommons AI Descriptions (RewardType)
reward_type_alias: Payout Machine
Flipcommons Catalog
display_order: 4
Flipcommons Catalog
name: Payout
Flipcommons Catalog
status: active
Flipcommons Catalog
slug: payout
Flipcommons Catalog

Citations

Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php Archive
These machines have the ability to dispense an award to players who achieved a goal.
Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php Archive
The awards have taken many forms (free games, tickets, candy, merchandise, etc.), but the most popular was probably coins.
Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #6211
delivers earned tokens to the payout cup
Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #2375
the payout cup on the left side of the cabinet front
Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #3581
Ticket, cash, or check models were available.
Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #458
made in two versions: a cash payout and a ticket vendor
Pacific Pinball Museum — https://www.pacificpinball.org/pinball-gambling
The first to release an automatic payout pinball machine, Rocket in 1933
Pacific Pinball Museum — https://www.pacificpinball.org/pinball-gambling
Two major sticking points kept pinball categorized as gambling machines: the delivery of rewards via cash payouts or prizes
Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php Archive
were eventually labeled gambling machines and outlawed in most states
Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php Archive
awarding and accepting tokens instead of coins in an attempt to circumvent the gambling laws
Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #7014
Keeney made upright payout games for export.
Pacific Pinball Museum — https://www.pacificpinball.org/pinball-gambling
Revisions to the Johnson Act in 1962 clarified its scope specifically to payout pinball machines.
Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) — Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) #6977
this upright offers operators the choice of awarding cash payout or awarding credits