# Episode 279 - My EM Happenings For the Week of 12-12-15

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2015-12-15  
**Duration:** 14m 46s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-279-my-em-happenings-for-the-week-of-12-12-15

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## Analysis

Nicholas Baldridge hosts a personal EM and bingo pinball update covering recent repairs (Bikini with payout hopper), league play results, social bingo sessions with friends, and acquisition plans (Turf King). He discusses available games in the market (Keeney Towers, Magic Screen Bingo, Gaiety) and encourages listeners interested in bingo pinball to reach out for assistance.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Fixed a Bikini machine with a payout hopper for a customer; first hopper work needing repair with microswitch replacement — _Nicholas Baldridge, personal anecdote about recent repair work_
- [HIGH] Introduced his daughter Sofie to Nightclub bingo and she won her first big win (three in a row, 36 points on doubled red line) — _Nicholas Baldridge, personal family experience_
- [HIGH] Held a competitive bingo tournament with four players; Taylor James Rees won by getting three in a row first — _Nicholas Baldridge, personal event_
- [HIGH] Planning to acquire and refurbish a Turf King machine from a listener — _Nicholas Baldridge, personal acquisition plan_
- [MEDIUM] Keeney Towers (1938, flipperless) is available near DC; made by Keeney as a six-card bingo/pinball machine — _Nicholas Baldridge, market listing information_
- [HIGH] Taylor James Rees is now playing VMs (video machines) in addition to EM/bingo pinball — _Nicholas Baldridge, reference to podcast guest_
- [HIGH] Friend Clark has recently improved his bingo game skills and is winning more frequently — _Nicholas Baldridge, personal observation_
- [HIGH] Caravan is a beautiful bingo game with distinctive win sounds and replay counting — _Nicholas Baldridge, personal gameplay observation_

### Notable Quotes

> "It is so wonderful. When you get a big win and the replays start ticking on, it's so fast how quickly that game counts up the replays."
> — **Nicholas Baldridge**, ~7:30
> _Describes the appeal and mechanical satisfaction of Nightclub bingo machine gameplay_

> "This is a pretty sad reflection of the terrible nature of my gameplay skills, but it ended up being Taylor James Rees who you might have heard on this flippin' podcast."
> — **Nicholas Baldridge**, ~13:00
> _Self-deprecating humor about his bingo tournament loss; references Taylor James Rees and This Flipping Podcast_

> "One of the goals of the show is to get people to give these games a shot so I glad that starting to happen."
> — **Nicholas Baldridge**, ~17:00
> _States the mission of the For Amusement Only podcast: to encourage interest in EM/bingo pinball_

> "I'm really hoping that my daughter Ava will work with me on the refurb of it. I think she's gotten really into horses here recently."
> — **Nicholas Baldridge**, ~20:00
> _Personal motivation for acquiring Turf King — bonding activity with his daughter based on her interests_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Nicholas Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast; EM/bingo pinball enthusiast, repair technician, and game collector |
| Taylor James Rees | person | Pinball player and podcast guest; has appeared on This Flipping Podcast; recently playing VMs; won bingo tournament on Nicholas Baldridge's machines |
| Clark | person | Friend and podcast guest; local pinball player; recently improved bingo game skills; participated in Nicholas Baldridge's bingo session |
| For Amusement Only | organization | EM and bingo pinball podcast hosted by Nicholas Baldridge; mission to encourage interest in classic EM and bingo pinball |
| This Flippin' Podcast | organization | Referenced as another pinball podcast where Taylor James Rees has appeared |
| Bikini | game | Pinball machine repaired by Nicholas Baldridge; featured payout hopper installation; customer desired coinplay operation |
| Nightclub | game | Bingo pinball machine; one of Nicholas Baldridge's favorites; features rotating numbers and fast replay counting; played by his daughter Sofie |
| Caravan | game | Bingo pinball machine; described as beautiful with distinctive win sounds and loud replay counting; frequently played by Nicholas Baldridge |
| Turf King | game | Pinball machine to be acquired by Nicholas Baldridge from a listener; plans to refurbish with his daughter Ava |
| Keeney Towers | game | Flipperless amusement pinball made by Keeney in 1938; available near DC; six-card bingo variant |
| Magic Screen Bingo | game | Bingo pinball game available in the market; described as fantastic with great artwork |
| Gaiety | game | Bingo pinball machine available in Seattle area per listener message |
| Keeney | company | Pinball manufacturer from 1938 era; made flipperless amusement pinball and six-card bingo machines |
| Sofie | person | Nicholas Baldridge's youngest daughter; recently introduced to Nightclub bingo; achieved first big win (36 points) |
| Ava | person | Nicholas Baldridge's daughter; interested in horses; potential collaborator on Turf King refurbishment |

### Signals

- **[operational_signal]** Nicholas Baldridge successfully repaired a payout hopper on a Bikini machine, replacing the microswitch—a technical achievement he intends to document in a future episode. (confidence: high) — Fixed up a Bikini... got that working 100%... payout hopper... microswitch on it needed replacing and I'll do a show about that here soon
- **[community_signal]** New listeners are becoming interested in acquiring EM/bingo pinball machines; Nicholas Baldridge is actively mentoring newcomers through troubleshooting and setup. (confidence: high) — I've really been getting in touch with some new folks and they're getting interested in picking up games... I'm helping a few of those guys work through problems and get their games up and running... one of the goals of the show is to get people to give these games a shot so I glad that starting to happen
- **[gameplay_signal]** Bingo pinball mechanics highlighted: replay counting speed (especially on Nightclub), odds defaults, and three-in-a-row winning conditions. Nicholas Baldridge conducted a competitive bingo tournament to test competitive dynamics. (confidence: high) — everybody started up their machine with a single button press, and that gives you the default odds... the idea is to get three in a row on any of the machines... it ended up taking quite some time
- **[gameplay_signal]** Family members (children) are being introduced to bingo pinball. Sofie achieved her first big win; Ava is interested in horses and may collaborate on a horse-themed machine restoration. (confidence: high) — I introduced sofie my youngest to nightclub... she got her first big win... she got paid off in jelly beans... hoping that my daughter Ava will work with me on the refurb of it... she's gotten really into horses here recently
- **[marketplace_signal]** Multiple EM and bingo pinball machines are available for acquisition in the market (Keeney Towers near DC, Magic Screen Bingo, Gaiety in Seattle area). Collector and listener network is active in sourcing games. (confidence: high) — there's a Keeney Towers... near DC... Magic Screen Bingo... I got a message from a listener up in the Seattle area, and there's a Gaiety
- **[restoration_signal]** Nicholas Baldridge is acquiring a Turf King machine for refurbishment and potential family collaboration project based on his daughter's interests. (confidence: high) — I'm making my way out to a listener's house and picking up a game. So I'm looking forward to that too. Picking up a Turf King... I'm really hoping that my daughter Ava will work with me on the refurb of it
- **[content_signal]** For Amusement Only podcast uses multi-platform distribution (iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, website). Host maintains direct listener contact via phone line and social media. (confidence: high) — You can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Cast, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at bingopodcast, you can follow me on Instagram, also at bingopodcast, or you can listen to us on our website
- **[community_signal]** Local pinball league participation and social bingo sessions with friends are active community engagement. League player performance is variable; friend group is improving competitively. (confidence: high) — I had the second league night here with this league that I joined... My friend Clark... has really increased his bingo game here recently... a group of local guys come over from the league... we had a good night of pinball and really fantastic bingo session
- **[historical_signal]** Keeney Towers (1938) is a flipperless amusement pinball and early bingo variant from the Keeney manufacturer. Represents pre-modern pinball era machinery. (confidence: high) — Keeney Towers, which is a game that was made in 1938, it's flipperless, and it's an amusement pinball made by Keeney

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## Transcript

 What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only, this is Nicholas Baldridge. Tonight I want to just talk a little bit about what's been going on in my EM world. I do this from time to time. Jim Recently, I... fixed up a bikini for a customer and got that working 100% here recently. It's a very fun game. And, uhh, this particular version had a payout hopper installed and, uhh, he wanted to leave it on coinplay, so... umm... that was pretty neat. I got the payout hopper working very well. Uhh, that's the first... I'm a little bit of a hopper that I've worked on that needed any work. The micro switch on it needed replacing and I'll do a show about that here soon because that took some doing. Aside from that, I had the second league night here with this league that I joined and I I am certainly a one-hit wonder. My score did not reflect the fantastic job that I did the meeting before, but I'm about where I suspected I would be. And other than that, I've been playing a lot of bingo. I've also been Not staying up as late as I used to, which has led to fewer late-night caffeine-fueled cleaning sessions and tweaking sessions and so forth, so... I've been playing a lot of games, so that's been very nice. Haven't won a whole lot, nothing really super exciting to speak of. I did I did get a five and a line on one of the games. I've been playing a lot of Caravan, which is a beautiful game, and I just love the way it sounds when you win. If you've been following me on Instagram, you'll see a few videos of that, and the way it counts replays is so loud and so distinct from the ballet games. It's really cool. As far as the ballet games, I've been playing mainly nightclub. You know, I just love that game so very much. It is so wonderful. When you get a big win and the replays start ticking on, it's so fast how quickly that game counts up the replays. The and so i introduced sofie my youngest to uh... nightclub and then got her to try that and she really enjoyed it she loved the rotating numbers feature she thought that was really cool and uh... she got her first big win uh... she got a three in a row for eighteen and it happened to be in the red line which was doubled She got 36 so I was pretty excited and proud and she was really happy She got paid off in jelly beans. So, other than that I had a group of local guys come over from the league, including couple guys that i've been intending to have over for a while and we had a good night of pinball and uh... really fantastic bingo session so everybody you know gave the games a shot and a few won quite a bit My friend Clark, who's been on the podcast before, has really increased his bingo game here recently. He was doing quite well. It seemed like every time he played a game, I heard the replay counter start ticking up, so that was pretty cool. Uh, and then we decided to play a dollar game on bingo, so I wanted to test out a little theory that I had about competitive bingo. And so we had a little mini tournament, and everybody started up their machine with a single button press, and that gives you the default odds for the machines that have odds. And the idea is to get three in a row on any of the machines and whoever did that first would win the pot. Now it ended up taking quite some time, believe it or not. So there were, let's see, four of us competing, including myself. So this is a pretty sad reflection of the terrible nature of my gameplay skills, but it ended up being Taylor James Rees who you might have heard on this flippin' podcast. He's also been on this show before and now he's dipped both feet into the world of VMs, which is pretty cool. But he got a three in a row, he was the first to do it and it was pretty great. I started taking his picture and he accidentally pushed the button and dumped all the balls. So if you look on Instagram and you see the picture of him holding a $5 bill, somebody The the game doesn't have a three-in-a-row mind but i hope everybody had fun there and uh... and hoping to have some more local guys over here soon and uh... get them to try the games uh... in other news you know i've really been getting in touch with some new folks and uh... they're getting interested in picking up games and some of them have picked up games Uh, which is really exciting and I'm helping a few of those guys, um, work through a few problems and get their games up and running, so that's really cool. I mean that you know one of the goals of the show is to get people to uh give these games a shot so I glad that starting to happen And has been really you know for some time so that really gratifying anytime somebody you know lets me know that they picked up a game even if they don need help fixing it up I'm here and of course anybody is welcome to contact me if they need need a hand not that I'm the best but I'll certainly give it a shot and other than that I've been working on pins around town you know the usual and I'm I've got kind of a backlog since it's the I'm a little bit busy with the holidays so I've got I think three folks I need to get out and see here soon and then we got a list of later as well just a busy time but I'm getting excited for the holiday of course I'm really excited for the kids and hope they have a good time and shortly after that I'll be making I'm making my way out to a listener's house and picking up a game. So I'm looking forward to that too. Picking up a Turf King. So I'm looking forward to digging into that game and really playing it quite a bit. And I'm really hoping that my daughter Ava will work with me on the refurb of it. I think she's gotten really into horses here recently. I think she has a classmate that does horse riding or something. And so I thought that'd be a nice bonding activity for us. So we'll see if that actually turns out or not. I'm not going to force the issue, of course. But if she wants to, the offer's there and she said that she might. So sounds definitive. So, as far as games which are available, up near DC there's a Keeney Towers, which is a game that was made in 1938, it's flipperless, and it's an amusement pinball made by Keeney. They made a few six card bingos and they made a few pinball machines, most of which had Is it intensely아끊? Is itycz Sammy payload étantari Ad 653-II7XOFU, cra ignorance at info7考 미국� distancing dichi.."段zą달�łada belonged. 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He's got quite a few bingos for sale At OS wrest Lana, j cupspe grades along this 101-bit ut женyny thit completa shoddy ''j钟еj' at드�ak использовать mí thadúеference wi Groß Barcelonais gjq aquellogae Colorado howyogiñžдуěynd bronze department '' cov Suan mutete aan bizi jțavauksê a� imperson unity corners helemaalized ned 기분 w鉄añășčia, age unasfćaśæ Jerome ut r 여기서 coaktiòn iscule aćeščiušâ rasèkčia Londo 700x jegoldăgĕойдž forbidə marine Ne patəcãsók Ųg ïone godzieňbiѝitir insistsărţie, ausge who Oh Micro�xle McG� firstly included this recap Spicyant gaza até a person So, you know, hopefully some games find some new homes here and people continue to be interested in getting their first bingo. And of course, I'm here should anybody need assistance. Not that I am fantastic, but I'm here at least. So there's that. Well, that's all for tonight. Thank you very much for joining me. My name again is Nicholas Baldridge. For more information, please visit www.foramusementonlypodcast.com or call me on the bingos line at 724-BINGOS1 . You can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Cast, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at bingopodcast, you can follow me on Instagram, also at bingopodcast, or you can listen to us on our website, which is foramusementonly.libsyn.com. Thank you very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-08-04 | Item ID: 90387a62-b767-43d6-82d6-659e454319ac*