For Amusement Only Em And Bingo Pinball Podcast

Troubleshooting a game of your own creation can be very difficult; especially when you are marrying the worlds of electro-mechanical and solid state! Join me as I track down a misadjusted switch and a bug in my lifter logic. Also, I discuss several of the games gracing the multi, along with today's featured game, Bally's Hole-In-One. Only one unit is known to exist, but no paperwork is available, and the owner does not know the rules of gameplay.  Therefore, I got to try my hand at creating a bingo ruleset on a one-off oddity.

Getting ready for the York Show in just a few weeks!  I'm still working hard on the Multi-Bingo.  As of this recording, I have 24 games complete.  This year should be a lot of fun! York is always fantastic - I did many episodes last year detailing some of the great games I've seen there in previous years, but just know that York is more than bingos, it's more than solid state, it's more than EM - it's a great blend of all pinball and other games and decor. This year, the York show is on Sept. 30th and Oct. 1st.  Come out and meet me, play the multi, and learn how to play a bingo! If you are able to make a four or five in a line (subject to availability), I will give you a free Bingo Row t-shirt illustrated by Ryan Claytor!  I'm really excited about this design, and seeing folks wearing this shirt around the show. Last years' giveaway was very successful.  I'm looking forward to seeing friends old and new at York, and playing some new games. See you there! If you'd like to purchase a t-shirt (if you're not abl

Steve Young is the owner of the Pinball Resource, and he is a wealth of knowledge. We discuss his start in the hobby, some of his best-loved games, thoughts on specific games, the business of pinball, and much more! Visit  to see some of the parts that are available.  Steve is constantly working to bring us new parts, and you can see some of his work at .   Contact Steve for parts orders at 845-473-7114. You can also email Jimmy at   Pinball Resource is a fantastic, well... resource!   Thank you, Steve!

The Multi-Bingo is working very well!  I am having a lot of fun losing on a variety of games in a single cabinet. Right now I have (mostly) working: Bright Lights (100%) Broadway '51 (100%) Coney Island Spot-Lite Palm Beach Leader Zingo Circus Stars Atlantic City Barrel 'O Fun Barrel O' Fun 61 Fun Way Lotta Fun Stock Market Ticker Tape I have lots of bugfixing to do, and some cosmetic work to do before York. Dan from Tiltcycle has a United Manhattan for sale near the Pittsburgh area.  A beautiful flipperless woodrail with fantastic artwork and challenging gameplay.  Increasing your bonus, earning the double bonus and collecting it looks very fun - contact Dan for more information!   I am working on artwork and portioning for additional games.  I'm excited to show it off in just a matter of a few weeks!

The Multi-Bingo is alive!!! I've been playtesting and enjoying the gameplay of Bright Lights and Broadway '51. All 13 games currently implemented have changes that were required once the actual hardware was plugged in. I'm working on a new game!   For tonight's featured game, I learned about 1952's Bally Miss California this week:   Miss California is a re-themed Atlantic City without the Extra Ball feature.  It was apparently produced for the West Coast.

The game is just about ready to test!  I have a switch issue, and a couple of computer issues that I have resolved, then I should be playing a ton of new bingos. :-D   There's a solid state magic screen game called Palm Beach Turbo for sale by the operator near Baltimore, MD.  Please contact me if you are interested in an inexpensive solid state bingo! http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=5495   Today's featured game is 1960's Bally Ball Park - the first and only game that Bally produced with a running man unit.  I really wonder why that might have happened.  A fairly straightforward two player pitch and bat, Bally Park has a moving red target that will score four runs when hit! http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2890

The game's schematic is complete and now I am beginning to wire it up! So exciting to see the game move from conceptual phases to physical reality.   Much, much more work left to do, but things are coming along nicely! Today's game is 1967's Bally Boot-a-Ball.  This is a head-to-head EM soccer game.  Each player has three sets of flippers to attempt to get the ball into their opponent's goal.  http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=356

The game is starting to become a physical reality now! I went on a road trip over the weekend to pick up hardware from Dennis Dodel.  Had a great time, and Ava and I got to meet Dennis and his friend Jon. Now, I'm working on the hardware and wiring, and I am more excited than ever! Today's game is 1962's Williams 3 Coins.  3 Coins is the replay version of Jolly Jokers.  The layout is unique and interesting to play, as well as a lot of fun. http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2535

My multi-bingo has come along well - up to 8 completed games, and another two in progress.  Many thanks to Dennis Dodel, Chris Dade and Bingo Butch and his son Mike!   Next episode I should have the first hardware episode.   This episode's game is 1965's Bally 50/50.  Bally has made an interesting, low-production 2 player game here - 1/2 of the playfield is essentially not useful for scoring or progression at any given time. http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=842&picno=9964

Game progress: my game is coming along very well!  I have Coney Island, Bright Lights, Broadway '51, and United Zingo reasonably finished. Now, I am working on United's Leader and Bally's Spot-Lite. My code, to this point, has been released at  I'll be keeping this updated as I add each new game. Today's game is 1964's Bally 2-in-1.  Very fun looking game where you have to get a hand to 21, then hold.  The trouble comes in that next ball, you will get a hit unless you hit a particular rebound switch off the skill shot.   View the machine at http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2698

Sal Mazzeo is a slot machine collector and restorer, and joins me for this episode of For Amusement Only.  He has a fantastic collection that has really sparked my new-found interest in slot machines! He has multiple articles in Gameroom Magazine, as well as the COCA magazine. Sal has made the generous offer for anyone looking for help with slots to shoot him an email at mazzeosa@fuse.net   As an interview episode, I did not wish to add in the development update this time, but the development of my multi-bingo is going very well indeed! You can follow along here: 

I'm working on the artwork and integration of the artwork with the code for Coney Island.  Special thanks to Chris Dade and Ryan Claytor for all the help! This episode is all about the 1950 Bally Turf King.  I picked up this game back in January, and decided to have my eldest daughter do all the renovation/restoration on the game.  Ava did a fantastic job, and unbelievably, she was interested every step of the way! The game is complete, and the only thing that really needs to be done one day is to polish the shooter rod housing and coin acceptor slot.  Otherwise, it looks beautiful, and plays great! Ava discusses some of the things that she learned during this odyssey, and she and I discuss gameplay and the difference between her and my gameplay styles. Lastly, I discuss a deal on bingos in Baltimore, MD.   Contact me at  if you're interested in one of the bingos, or for more information.

In this episode, I talk about what is done and in progress for my Coney Island simulator/emulator, 1962's Williams Valiant 2-player EM, the 8 Ball ball trough from Pinball Life, a fun repair on a search disc, and some corrections, thank yous, and more!   Links of interest: Phil Hooper's awesome bingo site:   1962 Williams Valiant: Pinball Life's 8 Ball ball trough: Elephant Eater Comics (Ryan Claytor's awesome artwork):   And my new (small) podcast, Virtually Human, a show all about the Nintendo Virtual Boy:  

Happy Birthday For Amusement Only!  In this episode, I discuss how to try bingo pinball on your own computer. A big thank you to my wife for illustrating the Episode 365 artwork! A fellow named Joop in the Netherlands has been developing bingo emulators, and releasing on the web for Windows and Mac OS X.  His simulations are fantastic!  Go check them out and try them for yourself.  If you have any questions about how to play, feel free to ask me at  and I'll be happy to explain. Download here:  A person on the Bally Bingos in Britain forums has been using Joop's emulator and putting it into a physical cabinet - pretty cool!   Lastly, I've been working on a bingo emulator, fully programmed to change between Bally bingos. I will be using a lower cabinet from a real bingo.  This will include the lifter hardware, shutter hardware, trough, tilt, etc.  I will use an empty backbox, fit an LCD monitor in the back, and use a computer to both drive and keep track of the game state, and drive the monitor.  Playfields w

Pro Basketball is a cool mannikin arcade game. The basic premise is that it is a one-on-one basketball shootout - you play as the offense, and the defense will automatically move left and right, raising and lowering their arms. You have to watch the score board in the back to determine when you should shoot for maximum effectiveness. Gameplay video: https://youtu.be/0DyIAot5VX0

Duet is a very beautiful and interesting machine.  There are three ways to win, and the player must select before playing, or put in another nickel to load the full ruleset of the game. Completing the sequence of 1-10 will award 20 replays, with the possibility of earning a 'reserve' set of replays - up to 200!   http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=3065&picno=64416&zoom=1

I missed one machine from the bicentennial - Liberty Bell is almost a carbon copy of Williams' own Grand Prix. Earning a special requires advancing the starts four times, then dropping all four drop targets.  Tough! The spinners have rockets screened on them, to represent "the rockets' red glare". Gameplay Video: https://youtu.be/zWsUZ-bxfjo  

I'm not big on after-factory modifications with few exceptions, but these are very interesting.  Also, I saw LEDs used in a way behind a very faded backglass that appeared to work well! Bingo Chime Units: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Old-Stock-Bally-Bingo-Game-Sound-Chime-Kit-with-Add-on-Factory-Kit-/231849933979?hash=item35fb553c9b:g:IoUAAOSwDuJWxg4W   Chris Howard's "Golden Gates" - truly masterful! http://www.ballybingo.co.uk/Golden%20Gates.html

Gottlieb invented a new mechanism for launching balls in 1950 - the turret shooter.  This launcher allowed designers more space on the playfield to add targets, and gave players the ability to choose their entry angle onto the playfield. A pretty nifty idea that was used by other manufacturers over the years.

Derby Day is a neat take on a flipper game with a horse race theme.  The upper playfield contains a single gobble hole and four passive bumpers that can advance one of four horses, whose position is displayed via inserts in the center of the playfield.  The bottom portion contains a single pop bumper, which can pop the ball back up to the flippers (in the center portion).  You main goal is to advance all four horses to the Win position, then roll over the center button to earn a replay.  You can earn many multiple replays by lining up your horses in Show, Place or Win, then shooting into the gobble hole. http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=664