Bally Slot History As is the case with most companies that have been around for as long as the casino industry in the United States has existed, the years have come with a whole host of changes. If you want to truly trace Bally’s history back to the very beginning, you will have to go back to the pre-World War II days, more specifically, 1932. Name Manufacturer Year Type Genre Images; 1081: Bally Manufacturing Co. Slot Machine / Bell: 1090: Bally Manufacturing Co. 1975: Slot Machine / Bell: 1889: Bally Manufacturing Co.

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

Bally manufacturing not only made some of the best pinball machines but also owned many different companies. The history behind bally manufacturing and what later became starts back with Raymond Moloney.

Bally had went from Bally Manufacturing to Bally entertainment with the change of owners and focus.

History of Bally Pinball

Bally Slot Machines Prices

Raymond Moloney was a salesman for Gottlieb & CO. for many years prior to getting into the pinball game himself.

He was a great salesman that got tired of waiting for new machines to be released. This when he decided to come up with his own game. The machine became the Ballyhoo, introduced in 1932.

This game was a major success, producing around 50,000 of these games. Due to the success, Raymond named the company after their hit and called it Bally. This was the beginning of Bally manufacturing which was before named Lion manufacturing.

But Bally did not focus solely on pinball machines, instead they would go on to improve slot machines also. At the time pinball games, casino games, and other household games were very popular as it offered new entertainment. But when war hit America, Bally would holt in their tracks of making any type of machine. Due to war and gambling these two factors played into making pinball illegal, forcing them to stop production.

They still ran their company and actually made airplane parts and munitions (ammo, gun parts, equipment for war). This had helped keep them afloat since the pinball industry had been seized through legal means.

And after war they went back to building some of the best machines we know today.

1950s-1970s

Throughout the 1950s they focused on making bingo machines, pay out machines and slot machines. They didn’t make too many pinball machines during this time period until after Moloney died in 1958.

Five years after his death the company was bought out by a group of investors. One year later in 1964 the company made a big leap in the slot machine industry making the first (EM). Except this was an Electro-Mechanical slot machine that soon transformed Las Vegas casinos.

At this time they bought a German company called Guenter Wulff-Apparatebau which became known as Bally Wulff. This company was focused in Germany focusing on home-based games and pushed toward casino games. They also ran a sector for Italy and Spain though most of their target was Germany.

Bally then bought Midway Manufacturing which would be their pinball section. They would focus on pinball machines and eventually arcade games. The company had also become a publicly tradable during this time. During the 1960s though they dominated the slot machine market especially, covering 90% of it.

1970s-Mid 1980s

The 70s came and they made massive steps, attempting to get into the Casino business in Atlantic City. They failed due to the head of the company, William. T O’Donnell being forced to resign.

O’Donnell had been involved with organized crime leading to his resigning. Although he denied these allegation there were many statements leading to prove this was true.

They ended up finally getting permits and licenses to open Park Place Casino in 1979. With Midway they had also entered the home computer game industry with their ‘Bally Professional Arcade’ game. This would compete with the Atari 2600 though it’s price range was higher.

From late 70s-early 80s midway was their main income mainly due to pinball. Plus entering into the arcade game development acquiring licenses for Pac-Man, Ms.Pac-Man and Space Invaders.

Some of their pinball machines at the time had been:

• Fireball 1 and 2 – 1972, 1982
• Boomerang – 1974
• Bow and Arrow – 1974
• Hokus Pokus – 1975
• Wizard! – 1975 which would transform licensing titles for pinball machines
• Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy – 1976
• Playboy – 1976
• Centaur 1 and 2 – 1979, 1981
• Mata Harri – 1979
• KISS – 1979
• Xenon – 1980

Then by the mid 80’s they really started expanding, most likely thanks to their pinball successes.

They bought the Six Flags chain in 1983, Health and Tennis Corporation of America, and opened up their own Health and Fitness Gyms. Then Bought MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Mgm Grand Reno and Golden Nugget in Atlantic City. All of these hotels had become rebranded under the Bally name after purchasing.

They definitely diversified their portfolio in the matter of twenty some years.

End of the 1980s – Today

But by the end of the 80’s in 1988 they had to sell their Six Flags chain and gave up their pinball sector.

Buy Bally Slot Machines

Midway was sold to Williams although they still continued to use the name of Bally for their Midway productions. This was most likely due to the success the name had created with their previous machines.

This where you see many legendarytitles come out of under the Bally name such as:

• Harley-Davidson – 1991
• The Addams Family – 1992
• Black Rose – 1992
• Creature From The Black Lagoon – 1992
• Doctor Who – 1992
• Twilight Zone – 1993
• Judge Dredd – 1993
• World Cup Soccer – 1994
• Theatre Of Magic – 1995
• Attack From Mars – 1995
• Indianapolis 500 – 1995
• Cirquis Voltaire – 1997
• NBA Fastbreak – 1997 allowed two machines to connect together to play head-to-head.
• The Champion Pub – 1998
• Cactus Canyon – 1998
• Revenge From Mars- 1999 introduced pinball 2000 with new technology.

But Williams did not have much more life in the pinball industries toward the end of the 1990s. Despite the classic titles produced, the pinball industry was dyeing out and so was Bally.

List Of Bally Slot Machines

In 1995 Alliance Gaming bought Bally Gaming International and changed the name to Bally Technologies.

The end was approaching as they attempted to bring more people in with their Pinball 2000 concept on Revenge from Mars. It had been the most advanced with a screen display backglass and holographic targets. It had sold 6,500 machines, but their next Pinball 2000 machine Star Wars had flopped.

And by 1999 WMS industries which was the parent company of Williams had cut their pinball production.

In 2005 though WMS had made a deal with The Play Factory to sell the rights and licenses. This allowed the Australian company to re-manufacture Bally Pinball machines. It also granted them the right to use new hardware systems under the Bally Brand.

Bally Slot Machine Company

Today the Bally Technologies is run by Scientific Gaming producing casino style machines.