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Antique Bally Slot Machines

Antique Bally Slot MachineBally’s long history of quality and innovation in the slot machine industry has made antique Bally slot machines a prized commodity among slot machine collectors. As of 2005 in California, antique slot machines, including Bally antique slot machines are currently legal for home use, provided they are at least 25 years old.
 
Bally Technologies has been in business since 1932 when it was founded by Ray Moloney as the Bally Manufacturing Company. They initially manufactured pinball machines before they entered the slot machine industry. Today, the Bally slot machine is ubiquitous worldwide, with more than 350,000 slot machines in over 600 locations.
 
The first slot machine manufactured by Bally in 1936 was the “Bally Baby”, a tiny slot machine that measured only 5 by 7 inches and weighed all of 8 pounds. Bally continued to manufacture bigger and better slot machines in the years following a hiatus in production due to World War II. Their technological innovations included a revolutionary electromechanical system that made its debut in the 1963 Bally slot machine “Money Honey”, which would set standards for the slot machine industry for the next 30 years. They also popularized the use of flippers in pinball machines and even started a coffee vending division.
 
Ray Moloney died in 1958, which nearly also spelled the end for Bally as well, due to financial difficulties. Fortunately, the company was bailed out in 1963 when it was purchased by a group of investors, including one of Moloney’s former business associates. The company was soon revitalized under the new leadership. By 1968, a reported 94% of slot machines in Nevada casinos were Bally slot machines.
 
Bally continued to expand its business ventures in the years to come, with the advent of the Slot Data Systems division in 1976, providing computerized slot machine data collection and analysis. Over the next two decades and to the present day, Bally slot machines were also bringing new innovations to the table, including the first Bally slot machine to feature video slots in 1982. They also introduced the System 5000 series of slot machines using “stepper-motor” technology in the 1980s.
 
In 1994, Bally brought out the world’s first touch-screen video slot machine, dubbed “The Game Maker”. This was a novel invention that allowed up to 10 different games to be played on the machine simply by touching the screen.
 
1998 saw yet another unique Bally slot machine debut called the “Thrillion”, a progressive jackpot system that consisted of a network of machines in a casino, allowing multiple slot machine players to compete for the same jackpot.
 
In 2004, the entire Bally slot machine line-up was redesigned using a brand-new operating system called ALPHA OS. This not only improved their performance but allowed the introduction of a new progressive jackpot slot machine system called “Hot Shot Progressives”, as well as a number of other new Bally slot machine systems. Bally’s ownership has changed hands many times over the years, but their commitment to quality and innovation has remained steadfast.





Slot machines include a currency detector that validates the coin or money inserted to play. The machine pays off based on patterns of symbols visible on the front of the machine when it stops. Modern computer technology has resulted in many variations on the slot machine concept. Slot machines are the most popular gambling method in casinos and constitute about 70 percent of the average casinos income. It is estimated that thirty percent or more of the profits from gambling machines come from problem gamblers.