Banned pinball machines
Pinball machines

As innocent as pinball goes, its players once were considered to be law-breaking felons.

It is not surprising that an Internet bet on sports in America can result in a felony count, once we learn that a game of pinball was banned in several American states for few decades. As uncovered by casino gambling news, the state officials found the game to be more about chance than skill and banned it under the same category such as slot machines.

Many pinball players, and some of us who played the game, will certainly disagree. Although there are elements of chance, the skill is a major determinant in the successful outcome, which advanced players will easily testify to.

The puritan tradition in the Land of the Free, the mafia attention, and kids spending their lunch money on pinball, have resulted in regulatory outburst and de-legalization of the game. Even winning a free pinball game was considered gambling and, to comply, many machine makers decided to eliminate the free bonus rounds from the pinballs.

It eventually came to the Supreme Court ruling that de-legalization of these machines was illegal.

In 1970’s, however, the pinball games returned together with coin-operated arcade games and ended up in many establishments such as amusement parks, restaurants, pubs, pizzerias, and gas stations. Although these still do okay, the machines are being replaced by the modern online gaming technology which, among many, includes mobile arcade games the teenagers like to play.

Technology alone will not easily kill of tradition as Japanese Pachinko machines prove. These games slightly resemble pinball counterparts, but the idea in Pachinko is to catch as many balls as possible rather than bounce them back will flippers.

The trend, nevertheless, is proving the ascend of remote gambling at the expense of traditional forms. The BlackBerry gambling, or the iPhone and Android versions, continue to attract growing masses, especially younger ones who grew up with mobile phones.