Testing reel readers without having a 50 volt source. Split the cards by removing the 2 screws and lay the small card off to the side. I sent him an email asking if this might be easily converted to test the 5101 RAM chip used in the Bally E Series slot machines and a large number of Bally Pinball machines. As it turned out he did not.

Bally Manufacturing, later renamed Bally Entertainment, was an American company that began as a pinball and slot machine manufacturer, and later expanded into casinos, video games, health clubs, and theme parks. It was acquired by Hilton Hotels in 1996. Its brand name is still used by several businesses with some trademark rights, most notably Bally Technologies and Bally's Corporation.

History[edit]

The Bally Manufacturing Corporation was founded by Raymond Moloney on January 10, 1932, when Bally's original parent, Lion Manufacturing, established the company to make pinball games. The company took its name from its first game, Ballyhoo. The company, based in Chicago, quickly became a leading maker of the games. In the late 1930s, Moloney began making gambling equipment, and had great success developing and improving the mechanical slot machines that were the core of the nascent gaming industry. After manufacturing munitions and airplane parts during World War II, Bally Manufacturing Corporation continued to produce innovations in flipperless pinball machines, bingo machines, payout machines and console slot machines through the late 1950s. They also designed and manufactured vending machines and established a coffee vending service. The company made a brief venture into the music business with their own record label, Bally Records.^[1]

Moloney died in 1958, and the company floundered briefly. With the financial failure of its parent company, Bally was bought out by a group of investors in 1963. Throughout the 1960s, Bally continued to dominate the slot machine industry, cornering over 90% of the worldwide market by the end of the decade. In 1964, Bally introduced the first electromechanical slot machine in 1963, called the 'Money Honey.', Bally became a publicly traded company and made several acquisitions, including German company Guenter Wulff-Apparatebau (renamed Bally Wulff) and Midway Manufacturing, an amusement game company from Schiller Park, Illinois.

The 1970s[edit]

In the late 1970s, Bally entered the casino business when New Jersey legalized gambling in Atlantic City. This effort moved forward even though the company was temporarily unable to attain a permanent license for the completed casino. During this period, company head William T. O'Donnell was forced to resign because of alleged links to organized crime. Prior to this, O'Donnell strenuously denied any such links.^[2] For example, when questioned at the Moffitt Royal Commission (the NSW Clubs Royal Commission) - an investigation held New South Wales, Australia - on alleged criminal activities with US and Australian criminals, he admitted that Genovese Mafia boss, Jerry Catena (Gerardo Catena), once owned shares in the business, 'but I bought him out.'^[2] He also denied knowing Chicago mobster, Joseph Dan Testa, even though Australian Police described Testa 'as a representative of Bally who visited Australia.'^[2]

The company opened the Park Place Casino & Hotel on December 29, 1979.^[3][4] Also in the late 1970s, Bally made an entry into the growing market for home computer games. The Bally Professional Arcade, as the machine was called, had advanced features for the time. These included a palette of 256 colors and the ability to play 4-voice music. The machine also shipped with a cartridge that allowed users to do a limited amount of programming on the machine themselves (using the BASIC language), and record their creations on cassette tape. The machine's price point was above the Atari 2600 (its major competitor), and it had a much more limited set of available games. Despite a loyal following, it failed to compete successfully. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Midway became a primary source of income for Bally as it became an early arcade video game maker and obtained the licenses for three of the most popular video games of all time: Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.^[3]

The 1980s[edit]

By the mid-1980s, the company again had a strong balance sheet and began buying other businesses including the Six Flags amusement park chain in 1983, and the Health and Tennis Corporation of America. The health club division, under 'Bally Total Fitness', grew during the 1980s and 1990s. The company also purchased several casinos, including the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip (which was subsequently re-branded as Bally's Las Vegas), The MGM Grand Reno (Reno, Nevada) and the Golden Nugget Atlantic City which was branded Bally's Grand and then later 'The Grand-A Bally's Casino Resort'. This expansion quickly took its toll on the company's finances, and Bally was soon forced to sell off several divisions, including Six Flags and Bally-Midway. The pinball division, along with Midway, was acquired by Williams Electronics in 1988.

The 1990s[edit]

In 1990, Bally came under new management as its largest shareholder, Arthur Goldberg, was appointed chairman and began a restructuring process.^[5] By 1993, the company had sold off several divisions and used the proceeds to pay down debts, including the slot machine division (which became Bally Gaming International, an independent company); Scientific Games, a maker of lottery equipment; Bally's Reno; and exercise equipment maker Life Fitness.^[6] The Aladdin's Castle chain of video arcades was sold that year to Namco, and was renamed as Namco Cybertainment.

The company opened Bally's Saloon & Gambling Hall, a riverboat casino in Mhoon Landing, Mississippi in December 1993.^[7][8] It was moved to Robinsonville in 1995 and became part of a joint venture with Lady Luck Gaming.^[9]

In 1994, the company changed its name to Bally Entertainment, to reflect its focus on the casino business and the fact that it no longer had any manufacturing operations.^[10][11] It also announced that the health club business would be spun off to shareholders, to further narrow Bally's focus on casinos.^[11] The spin-off was completed in January 1996, with Bally Total Fitness becoming a separate company.^[12][13]

In May 1995, Bally Entertainment announced plans to develop Paris Las Vegas, a new casino hotel next to Bally's Las Vegas. The project would eventually begin construction in 1997 and open in 1999 at an estimated cost of $760 million.

In June 1996, Bally agreed to be acquired by Hilton Hotels Corporation.^[14] The sale was completed on December 18, 1996, with Hilton paying $3 billion ($2 billion in stock plus $1 billion in assumed debt).^[15] Later, Hilton's casino division, including the former Bally properties, was spun off as Park Place Entertainment (later Caesars Entertainment, Inc.), which was acquired in 2005 by Harrah's Entertainment (later Caesars Entertainment Corp.).

The name[edit]

Many casinos and businesses worldwide took on the Bally name and logo in the maze of ownership, division spin-offs and licensing agreements.

Midway, and—after buying Midway—Williams, continued to use the Bally name for its pinball games, until WMS Industries (the parent company of Williams) ceased pinball production in 1999. On March 31, 2005, WMS Industries struck a deal with Australian company The Pinball Factory to give them a license for the intellectual properties and the rights to re-manufacture former Bally/Williams games in the field of mechanical pinball. In addition, The Pinball Factory also has bought the right to manufacture new games using the company's new hardware system under the Bally brand.

Alliance Gaming, which had bought Bally Gaming International in 1995, changed its name to Bally Technologies. Bally Total Fitness, gambling distributor Bally France, and arcade distributor Bally Pond still use the same 'Bally' logo though any formal business relationships, as of June 2007, are coincidental. The rights to use the name for casinos were sold by Caesars in 2020 to Twin River Worldwide Holdings, which then changed its own name to Bally's Corporation and said that it would rename most of its properties under the Bally's brand.^[16]

The name is was mentioned in the song, 'Pinball Wizard' in the rock operaTommy and its soundtrack.

Pinball machines using the Bally brand[edit]

Select machines developed by Bally or Bally-Midway[edit]

• Amigo (1974)
• Ballyhoo (flipperless) (1932)
• Bally Baby (slot machine) (1932)
• Ballyhoo (flippers) (1947)
• Baby Pac-Man (1982)
• Blackwater 100 (1988)
• BMX (1982)
• Boomerang (1974)
• Bow and Arrow (1974)
• Capersville (1967)
• Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy (1976)
• Centaur (1981) & Centaur II (1983)
• Cybernaut (1985)
• Dixieland (1968)
• Dogies (1968)
• Dungeons & Dragons (1987)
• Eight Ball (1977)
• Eight Ball Deluxe (1981)
• Embryon (1981)
• Evel Knievel (1977)
• Fathom (1981)
• Flash Gordon (1981)
• Fireball (1972)
• Fireball II (1981)
• Freedom (1976)
• Four Million B.C. (1971)
• Frontier (1980)
• Future Spa (1979)
• Gator (1969)
• Hi-Lo Ace (1973)
• Hokus Pokus (1975)
• KISS (1979)
• Lady Luck (1986)
• Lost World (1978)
• Mata Hari (1977)
• Monte Carlo (1973)
• Night Rider' (1977)
• Nip-It (1972)
• Nitro Ground Shaker (1978)
• Odds and Evens (1973)
• On Beam (1968)
• Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man (1982)
• Paragon (1979)
• Playboy (1978)
• Power Play (1977)
• Shoot-A-Line (1962)
• Sky Divers (1964)
• Strange Science (1986)
• Strikes and Spares (1978)
• The Six Million Dollar Man (1978)
• Vector (1982)
• Wizard! (1975)
• Xenon (1980)

Developed by Midway[edit]

• The Addams Family (1992)
• Attack from Mars (1995)
• Black Rose (1992)
• Cactus Canyon (1998)
• The Champion Pub (1998)
• Cirqus Voltaire (1997)
• Corvette (1994)
• Creature from the Black Lagoon (1992)
• Doctor Who (1992)
• Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray (1990)
• Eight Ball Champ (1985)
• Gilligans Island (1991)
• Harley-Davidson (1991)
• Indianapolis 500 (1995)
• Judge Dredd (1993)
• NBA Fastbreak (1997)
• The Party Zone (1991)
• Popeye Saves the Earth (1994)
• Radical! (1990)
• Revenge from Mars (1999)
• Safe Cracker (1996)
• Scared Stiff (1996)
• The Shadow (1994)
• Theatre of Magic (1995)
• Twilight Zone (1993)
• Who Dunnit (1995)
• World Cup Soccer (1994)

Developed by The Pinball Factory[edit]

The Crocodile Hunter Outback Adventure based on the wildlife documentary television series The Crocodile Hunter was in development by Australian pinball manufacturer The Pinball Factory under license from Bally. It was abandoned at the end of 2007 due to the death of the main character of the game, Steve Irwin, and never went into production.^[17]

Slot machines[edit]

• Money Honey (1964)
• Big Top (1982)
• Jackpot Riot (1993)
• Blazing 7s (1993)

Casinos[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Bally Records'.
2. ^ ^abc'Bally chief denies links with mafia'. The Age. 18 September 1973. Retrieved 8 October 2018 – via Google News.
3. ^ ^abChristian Marfels; 2007, Bally: The World's Game Maker, 2nd ed., Bally Technologies Inc., Las Vegas ISBN978-1-4243-3207-6
4. ^'Bally Manufacturing Corp'. Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved 21 June 2007.
5. ^P.J. Bednarski (November 13, 1990). 'Top exec quits as Bally revamps'. Chicago Sun-Times – via NewsBank.
6. ^Debra Dowling (December 19, 1993). 'Goldberg whips Bally Gaming into shape'. The Star-Ledger. Newark, NJ – via NewsBank.
7. ^Laurel Campbell (December 7, 1993). 'Adjacent casinos open in Tunica'. The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN – via NewsBank.
8. ^'Bally's licensed to open in Tunica'. The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. AP. December 4, 1993 – via NewsBank.
9. ^Michelle Hillier (December 22, 1995). 'Bally's rolls upriver, reopens casino closer to Memphis crowds'. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Little Rock, AR – via NewsBank.
10. ^Scott Ritter (March 18, 1994). 'Options help CEO's earnings'. The Star-Ledger. Newark, NJ – via NewsBank.
11. ^ ^abDavid Dishneau (May 18, 1994). 'Bally gambling its games will outperform its gyms'. Akron Beacon Journal. AP – via NewsBank.
12. ^'Bally spin-off final'. Chicago Sun-Times. January 10, 1996 – via NewsBank.
13. ^Debra Dowling (September 19, 1995). 'Bally Entertainment pushing out its network of push-up centers'. The Star-Ledger. Newark, NJ – via NewsBank.
14. ^Barry Meier (June 7, 1996). 'Hilton Hotels to buy Bally Entertainment for more than $2 billion'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
15. ^Joe Weinert (December 19, 1996). 'Hilton and Bally close deal'. The Press of Atlantic City – via NewsBank.
16. ^'Twin River Worldwide Holdings to become Bally's Corporation'. Delaware Business Times. October 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
17. ^'Internet Pinball Machine Database: The Pinball Factory 'The Crocodile Hunter Outback Adventure''. www.ipdb.org.

• Galecki, Irek (2006), Slot Machines History, Online Casino Press, archived from the original on September 17, 2012, retrieved 2007-06-25
• Wilson, Mark R. (2005), 'Bally Manufacturing Corp.', Encyclopedia of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Historical Society, retrieved 2007-06-27
• Lawlor, Pat (1992), 'The Addams Family', Pinball Hall of Fame, Internet Pinball Database, retrieved 2007-06-25

INFORMATION FOR VIEWING AND DOWNLOADING

To download, right-click on link and 'Save Target As...'

Bally Bingo Green Book -- Parts List and Exploded Diagrams of components.

Introduction to Bally Flipper Games.

Bally Broadway Bingo Pinball Operating Instructions. A schematic is available but must be commercially reproduced.

Pace Slot Machine Award Cards, Hi-Res Scan.

Autobell Circus Schematic.

Bally Sportsman Flasher Slot Machine operating instructions, pay tables, etc. A schematic of the machine is available on request.

For Amusement Only sign furnished with Bally bingo pinball machines. Print on cardstock and put one on your machine.

Mills Bell Machine Parts and Service Manual HiTop 7-7-7 Model.

PAR sheet for Fourth of July.

Example of a Bally Bally SMI Sheet (PAR Sheet) in PDF format.

PAR Sheet possibly for a Double Bucks machine in PDF format.

Coin Mechanisms, Inc. See National Slug Rejectors and Coinco below.

Bally V-1088 and V-1090 Operator Instructions Manual.

Bally V-1297 Instructions and Bally V1297 Parts.

Bally Double Progrressive Operator Instructions using version 6 for use with Series 1000, E-2000, V-2000, S-5000 and V-5000.

Bally Deluxe Draw Bell Instructions and Award Cards. The award cards provided different values for the Special and Super Special for both Replay and Automatic Payout operation. Operators could tailor the payouts to the location. These cards are scanned at 300 dpi for quality reproduction. For other similar Bally machines, these cards can provide a guideline. Edit them with a photoshop-type program.

Two Mills catalogs from the early 1900's: The Mills Commercial trade stimulator and Mills Amusement, Skill & Vending Machines.

Keeney's Super Bell Operators Manual in PDF format. 1941 document.

Keeney's Bonus Super Bell Instruction Manual. This is a copy of a manuscript and is not the final manual, however it may assist you to understand the operation of the machine.

Mills Vest Pocket Slot Machine Operators Manual, 16 pages in PDF format.

Bally's Slot Machine 831 How To Remove Reels Combo

Evans Consoles This is the 1941 Instructions and Parts Catalog for Galloping Dominos, Pacer, Bang Tails and Lucky Star. Much of this information can be applied to machines into the late 40's. The wiring diagram shows how it is laced together. This document is in PDF format. Adobe's free Acrobat Reader may be obtained Here.

Evans Winterbook Parts Manual in PDF format.

An Introduction to Bally Slot Machines, Manual 6000 1979. This is a good primer for Bally electro-mechanical slot machines. Page 22 corrects the myth of how the slot machine got its name--it certainly wasn't what I thought. This manual, in PDF format, is 45 pages in length and it is broken down into five parts for easier downloading. Adobe's free Acrobat Reader may be obtained Here.

National Slug Rejector and Coinco Service Manuals in .PDF format for some older equipment. Coin acceptors normally operate transparently, but they can surely be a nuisance when needing service or adjustment.

Mills Story and Catalog, Late '40s, an issue of Spinning Reels, has a brief history of Mills Novelty Co. with descriptions and depictions of then current Mills products. Ancillary equipment is described such as jack-in-the-box safes, regular safes, coin changers, coin counters and a bell machine tool set. In its day, the tool set cost about as much as a bell machine.

Jennings Chief Parts and Service Manual in PDF format. The scanned doucment was a poor copy so this is possibly just better than no manual at all.

Bally Slot Consoles parts list and description including Triple Bell and Deluxe Draw Bell. This includes pictorials of the reel assembly. A schematic for the Triple Bell is available from Internet Direct.

Bally Reflex Unit With Snap Switches used in Champion games through Serial No. 9053. They were not used in the companion game, Kentucky.

Buckley Track Odds 1938 Machine description, troubleshooting, partsand diagrams. About 80 pages. The file number = page number.

Buckley Track Odds Circuit Tracing Guide for machines 12,000-12,500.

***Some electrical drawings are available for the Buckley Track Odds machines on request. They must be commercially reproduced.

Buckley Track Odds Remote Control installation instructions.

Bally Electro-Mechanical Slot Machine Manual. Covers Money Honey up to the 'computers' took over. The file numbers = page numbers in the manual.

Need more than a manual? Bally Electro-lMechanical Video Guide is available at nominal costs.Bally Electro-Mechanical Troubleshooting Reference. File 0000 is the index.

Limited Bally Coil Reference in a zip file for quick download.

The Last of the Bingo Kings -- Not exactly the Sopranos.

Bally Victory Special Setup Instructions showing some adjustments available to the operator.

Be sure to check the Links page for additional resources.

Pace Slotmachine Manual. Print sheets 1 to 10, turn paper over and print sheets 11 to 20. Fold to make booklet.

Bally Citation and Lexington One Balls A schematic is also available, but too large to scan. Documents for Bally Trophy, Jockey Club, Turf King, Grandstand and Futurity are available on request.

Directions for Operating Mills Operator's Bell COK and FOK Mint Vender.

Bally Triple Draw Bell adjustments. Schematic and Relay/Switch chartsare available from Internet Direct Also available from Internet Direct are documents forBally Triple Bell, Bally Spot Bell, Bally Turf King and Kentucky.

Williams: An Introduction To Coin Operated Amusement Games This document is long --66 pages in .PDF format. Amusement machine components are discussed however many aspects apply to gambling machines. Schematics are explained. There is a lexicon of coin machine terms. Adobe's free Acrobat Reader may be obtained Here.

Metal Forms Products Company I have not seen this company referenced anywhere on the WWW, however they manufacture hard to find mechanical slot parts for Mills, Jennings, Caille, Watling, etc. Their inventory includes vendors, springs, reel tins, discs, disc plugs, cash boxes, back doors, decals and back door paper for restoration. If you have been looking for a hard-to-find part to get your project working, you may find it here. The file number = catalog page.

Mike Munves catalogstill missing 4 pages. Here is a look back in history to 1956 and the machines available. All these games were before video games. The pricing is interesting. Keep in mind that a very good job in 1956 paid $500 monthly. There are 6 files in PDF format to facilitate downloading. Adobe's free Acrobat Reader may be obtained Here.

This is a 16-page Mike Munves 1940 Catalog. The catalog was scanned from a b/w xerox copy of original (or perhaps another copy) and does not have very good detail. It does give a feel for what was then available. This file is in PDF format.

This Ray Oakes & Sons Amusement Trade Catalog from 1960 is of interest to our outdoor amusement friends. I do not believe that they are in business any longer.

Bally's Slot Machine 831 How To Remove Reels Without

Keeney Big Tent Manual. This is a flasher slot. I have the schematics but they are too large for my scanner. I can have them reproduced on request.

K. C. CARD CO CATALOG, 1960. This catalog is a textbook all its own in controlled gambling equipment. An 8-page supplement added near the middle of the catalog offered devices manufactured by H C Evans Co or their successors. The original H C Evans Co was liquidated in 1956 following the death of its owner. PDF format. Adobe's free Acrobat Reader may be obtained Here.

Tax Matters.The operators were not without their hassles. From my experience with bingos, it is hard to believe the payoff percentages of the machines discussed. This document is in PDF format. Adobe's free Acrobat Reader may be obtained Here.

H C Evans Co Catalog. For those who have never seen a copy, this catalog is a tell-all of controlled gambling and carnival equipment. If you ever thought that you were fleeced at a gambling game, you may find the answer here.

Evans Club, Park and Carnival Equipment with 1961 price list. This catalog was issued by the Evans Park & Carnival Device Corporation, successors to H. C. Evans & Co. I do not believe any catalogs of Evans equipment were published after this one. I do not know how long the company remained in business after 1961.

More for our outdoor amusement friends -- A collection of Wurlitzer Band Organ Music.

Games, Inc WILDCAT Service Instructions and Parts Catalog in a 10-page .PDF format document. Adobe's free Acrobat Reader may be obtained Here.

H C Evans 1909-1910 Catalog. This Evans catalog includes pages advertising sporting goods such as baseball gloves, firearms (a shotgun for $5) and fishing rods, reels and tackle.

Bally Series E Link Progressive System Operators Manual.

Bally's Slot Machine 831 How To Remove Reels For Sale

Mills Automatic Money Makers, a catalog of early Mills machines.

Caille Brothers Catalog of early slot machines and trade stimulators.

Mills Trade Stimulators catalog, early 20th century.

PEPLUS video poker machine info.

Program Summary Reports examples for some S Plus machines.

Bally's Slot Machine 831 How To Remove Reels Saltwater

IGT Program Index.

Williams Upright Video Slot information.

Pot Of Gold manual.