Episode 245 - 1947 Gottlieb New Daily-Races

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·23m 21s·analyzed·Nov 11, 2015

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.024

TL;DR

Nick Baldridge analyzes Gottlieb's rare 1947 New Daily Races payout horse race pinball machine.

Summary

Nick Baldridge discusses Gottlieb's 1947 New Daily Races, a rare horse race–themed payout pinball machine and the only such game Gottlieb produced after WWII. He examines a recently sold example from Ohio, detailing its unique mechanical design, adjustable ball configurations, artwork by Roy Parker, and complex gameplay featuring horse racing outcomes tied to coin multipliers. He notes Gottlieb's subsequent aversion to gambling pinball and mentions his own ongoing work on a homebrew horse race game called Multiple.

Key Claims

New Daily Races is the only horse race theme payout pinball machine Gottlieb made after World War II
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, stating it as a historical fact about Gottlieb's production
Approximately 2,000–2,500 units of New Daily Races were produced
medium confidence · Nick Baldridge estimates 'two thousand or so' based on serial numbers observed
A machine was recently sold in Ohio for six hundred dollars with some missing components
high confidence · Nick Baldridge reports finding a sale listing; he obtained photos from the buyer
The game is adjustable from one ball to five ball play, with four balls trapped and one freed
high confidence · Nick Baldridge cites manual and schematic documentation showing this adjustment feature
The manual shows both payout and replay versions were produced
high confidence · Nick Baldridge references the manual found with the recently sold machine
The control unit design resembles Bally's bingo machine design
medium confidence · Nick Baldridge observes similarity based on examining schematics and mechanism photos
Roy Parker created the backglass artwork and is described as a 'famous Scott Leib artist'
high confidence · Nick Baldridge attributes artwork to Roy Parker; context suggests this is documentary information
After New Daily Races, Gottlieb did not produce payout pinball machines
medium confidence · Nick Baldridge states Gottlieb was 'staunchly opposed to gambling pinball' after this game

Notable Quotes

“New Daily Races is kind of unique in a historical perspective because as far as I know, it's the only horse race theme payout pinball machine that Gottlieb made after World War II.”
Nick Baldridge @ opening remarks — Establishes the historical rarity and significance of the machine being discussed
“I would love to know what that was. The game is photographed with schematic and manual. The manual shows that it's the payout version.”
Nick Baldridge @ early-mid segment — Indicates the existence of archival documentation (manual and schematic) and variant versions
“It looks almost exactly like Bally's design. It's pretty fascinating actually because they have a stepper drive volume, reel driven, tied to a motor.”
Nick Baldridge @ mechanism discussion — Identifies Bally's influence on Gottlieb's design and highlights novel mechanical components
“The odds are multiplied by the number of coins played up to four. So if you put in four coins it will put the odds at max every time.”
Nick Baldridge @ gameplay rules section — Clarifies the core scoring mechanic tied to multi-coin play in payout horse racing
“If you hit them all, then you can put in another coin to get all of the special selections. Those are the features on this game.”
Nick Baldridge @ bumper sequence discussion — Describes a complex feature where hitting bumpers A–D in sequence unlocks maximum payout selection
“Gottlieb was so staunchly opposed to gambling pinball apparently after this one was produced. And that's not to say that they didn't experiment with things which are similar in concept.”
Nick Baldridge @ closing analysis — Reflects on Gottlieb's strategic pivot away from payout machines after this game
“In the last few days, I have been working on a new game called Multiple, which is a one-ball horse race game.”
Nick Baldridge @ closing remarks — Transition to his own homebrew project; signals future podcast content on this topic

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonGottliebcompanyNew Daily RacesgameRoy ParkerpersonBallycompany MultiplegameFor Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball PodcastorganizationOhio (seller location)eventIPDB

Signals

?
historical_signal: Gottlieb's production of New Daily Races in 1947 represents a rare strategic experiment with payout horse race pinball—a direct response to Bally's success in that category. After this game, Gottlieb deliberately ceased producing payout machines, marking a documented pivot in manufacturing philosophy.
high · Nick Baldridge states: 'Gottlieb was so staunchly opposed to gambling pinball apparently after this one was produced' and notes the game was 'a competition thing and attempting to kind of cash in on some of that' referencing Bally's horse race success.
?
restoration_signal: A New Daily Races specimen recently surfaced in Ohio with intact schematic and manual documentation, though missing some components. The machine exhibited a non-standard serial number stamping pattern across the playfield, suggesting unique operator-applied regulations or problem-solving.
high · Nick Baldridge reports: 'I recently found one sold, gentleman in Ohio six hundred dollars. He mentioned that there were a couple things missing' and notes 'someone has taken actually a stamp and stamped it all over the playfield' suggesting local regulatory compliance.
?
design_innovation: New Daily Races features swing-out wooden panels with integrated mechanisms for serviceability—a design choice that differs from Bally's sliding interior panel approach but reduces footprint while maintaining accessibility.
high · Nick Baldridge states: 'Gottlieb included several swing out wooden panels with the mechanisms on them. It doesn't have the interior panel that slides out like on the Bally's, but these panels will actually flip sideways and allow you to work on them without fear of messing everything up.'
?
gameplay_signal: New Daily Races implements complex multi-coin payout mechanics where odds scale from 2 to 40 (1 to 1 ratio) based on coin input (up to 4 coins max). Gameplay features sequence-based bumper hitting (A–D) for special selection, name completion for 4–1 to 40–1 odds, and horse race position outcomes (win/place/show/purse).

Topics

Pinball machine history and rarityprimaryPayout/gambling pinball games and regulationprimaryMechanical design and engineering in EM pinballprimaryHorse race themed pinball machinesprimaryGottlieb manufacturing and design philosophyprimaryBackglass and playfield artworksecondaryHomebrew pinball game developmentsecondaryMachine restoration and preservationsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.75)— Nick Baldridge expresses appreciation and fascination for the New Daily Races machine, its design, artwork, and historical significance. He admires the mechanical innovation and artwork quality. Tone is scholarly and appreciative, with curiosity about unresolved technical details. No negative sentiment toward the machine itself, though some frustration with incomplete understanding of certain mechanics.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.070

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 wanted to talk about a rarity, and that is Gottlieb's 1947 New Daily Races. Now, New DailyRaces is kind of unique in a historical perspective because as far as I know, it's the only horse race theme payout pinball machine that Godlieb made after World War II. It came out again in 1947 in January of that year. And it was Seventylais, Quint America ovens wake, six half a thousand so to bares plus special heat that isANON foi ver한테 I guess I'm in the of thousand mag理sember varois that I'm going to say New Gerigāda I'm going to say 2015 a thousand years old of them and a car for sale in my car Completed many ultra s birọ vi rọ att Write s one down Closed-up, gentleman in Ohio six hundred dollars he mentioned that there were a couple things missing and uh... hi sent him question as to what those were and he sent me back uh... quite a few photos and uh... i've gotta say that's the photos that he sent were very illuminating I'm going to post a couple to the Facebook slash Instagram feed and hopefully you all get to share a bit in what I've seen here. A few interesting things to note, the first being that the serial number, someone has taken actually a stamp and stamped it all over the playfield. I should clean up very easily. I'm not quite certain why someone did that because the serial number should be stamped into the playfield itself, not just on it. And it's printed all over the place. So there must have been some interesting local regulation that caused that to happen or problem that the operator ran into. And I'd love to know what that was. The game is photographed with schematic and manual. The manual shows that it's the payout version. That means that they also produced a version of this game that paid off in replays instead of in payout. The interesting thing about a payout game is that you get immediate gratification. Seth In I The millet minutes easy out to nicholls espe gesund immediately so it's pretty interesting in different the other thing that's interesting about this use is that there are multiple adjustments and the mechanisms are truly fascinating at the end of this game. So for example, one of the adjustments is you can convert it from one ball to five ball. Four of them would be trapped, leaving the fifth one to go down the playfield. Now let's talk a bit about the mechanisms inside. You have a couple of steppers in the back of the head along with several smaller stepper units. Units, and then in the body down below in the back there are multiple relays and on the bottom you have the control unit. Now this control unit looks awfully familiar to anybody who's looked inside a bingo. In fact it looks almost exactly like Bally's design. It's pretty fascinating actually because they have a search greedy volume, Rainbourne, tie to a motor. Now let's talk about gameplay. On IPDB, the score and Instruction Card happens to be there's a scan of it or an image of it up there and it talks about how to win. Now the horse race games, the idea is they're multi coin machines and you put in Pinball reversible runs games 1 through 5 are more difficult if gameplay literacy is slightly less than 350 it requires high style and to Later games with gobble holes that can be lit Apparently some of the trap holes in this game could be lit and In the game code, you will automatically receive win, place, show or purse awards indicated. The odds are multiplied by the number of coins played up to four. So if you put in four coins it will put the odds at max every time. Beyond that, there's a sequence. There are four passive bumpers on the playfield labeled A, B, C, and D. And if you hit them all, then you can put in another coin to get all of the special selections. Those are the features on this game. Now you have to do that before you raise your next ball because apparently that resets the sequence. So, my thought is that either it resets that sequence at every ball lift or it resets the sequence every time that the sequence is completed. Either way, that's a pretty powerful feature. Obviously, it's more easy to do if it only resets after the sequence has been completed, but my guess is that's tied mechanically and not electrically. So, I'm thinking that it does it on every ball lift. Now, there's a name feature and the scorecard describes this as putting a ball in paddock 1 or paddock 2 at the bottom of the playfield when that feature is lit, lights the next letter of the name and awards 4 to 1 odds for each coin played and upon completion of name awards 40 to 1 odds for each coin played. That's pretty powerful. Four to one is nothing to sneeze at necessarily, but if you play the max of four coins with 40 to one odds, that's 40 times four. That's quite a bit. Now, there's also what they call the special feature and that is when lit if you hit special you'll receive 40 to 1 odds for each coin played. So there's quite a few interesting payout things going on on this game. So let's talk about artwork. is a really interesting wood rail horse race game with the full size cabinet. It does look a bit smaller from the pictures than Bally's horse race games. It's hard to tell if it is the same size or not, but what I can tell you is that it has a similar design with an arched cutout and the stencil Linings and geometric shapes similar to wood rail cabinets of the era. The front door is wooden with this awesome looking coin acceptor. I really like the coin Acceptors on early payout games and I really like the coinacceptors on horse race games in particular and the coinacceptor on this Gottlieb new daily races is super The It's big it sticks out and it looks like you can throw a bunch of money in there real quick Now the mechanism inside is pretty interesting How it keeps the money and pays it back out, but I don't quite understand it from the pictures, so I'm not going to comment on that Let's keep talking about the cabinet here. You've got a dark stained Trim on this cabinet all around the front on the sides for the rails and on the head But on the sides of the cabinet and the the front door of the cabinet it is that stenciled wood it's a Pretty attractive and different. It's distinct looking I guess is what I would say. I think it looks pretty cool It certainly looks unlike any other horse race game that I've seen now The Backglass. The artwork on this game was done by Roy Parker, the famous Scott Leib artist. And this artwork is pretty great. It's not done in his usual cartoonish style that he came into in the 50s and 60s, really, in the late 40s. This is done in a different style The title is a bit different style I seen an example of his artwork that kind of similar to this that was a baseball theme but I struggling to remember the title right now At any rate it shows Gottlieb new at the top and underneath in arched 3D lettering daily races sticks out It doesn actually physically stick out it just gives the appearance because those letters fade in perspective Anyone who's drawn on their notebook probably understands what I'm talking about. But I guess the best thing would be to look at a photo of this back glass because it's cool. There are white sections that kind of resemble wings which go on the left and right side underneath daily races. And then right in the center you have multiple, one, two, three, or four odds. And then you have win, play, show, and purse with the odds listed right underneath of them. Now, there's something about this gameplay that I don't get and I'm not sure how these odds interact because when I read the scorecard, I said that you have your coin multiple and I figured that that had a direct correlation in the number of coins you put in. That can't be right because your basic odds The scorecard is trying to tell you that you've already put in a coin before you read the scorecard, which is unlikely, or I don't understand something about the way the odds interact, which is much more likely. So the odds go from a max of 40 to a minimum of 2 and win, place, show and purse has to do with the position that the horse makes it to in the race. So either their first, second, third or other. Now, the playfield on this, let's find a good picture here, yeah, the playfield has purse up near the top with A and B bumpers along with pins and the neat bingo spring bumpers and some of the earlier thirties style bumpers which are just unfurled springs that are only attached on one side. Now there are seven different holes in each section so you have purse with seven holes, one for each horse, show with seven holes, one for each horse, and in the show section in the center there is another passive bumper. Now this bumper has several different inserts underneath of it Two of them are marked Next ABCD. Remember the goal is to hit ABCD in sequence all on a single ball. It has paddock number one and paddock number two and it has special. Now one of these is going to be lit at any given time and if you hit that passive bumper you're going to get that award. So that's pretty cool, but it's in the very center of the playfield and you're likely to drop straight off of that into number four place, which is directly underneath of it almost. Now in the show section, you have two horses with jockeys on either side of the playfield and I do like the artwork surrounding each of the holes. It's actually different for each section. I think it's fairly attractive. The next section is place as I mentioned and you have the gate where the horse goes through down near the bottom and it's drawn in more of a typical Parker style. And then near the bottom of the playfield you have Wynn. Now Wynn has yet another style of 30 spring bumper surrounding each of the holes. So you have one through seven and they have horseshoes. Traditional traditional symbol of a horse race winner. And you have D. Gottlieb's signature right up above the wins section. Now everything has kind of a wood panel look I suppose you would say. There's kind of that motif in both the back glass and the playfield artwork. and again, I think it's pretty attractive. Now, one thing I didn't mention is bumpers C and D are in the place section on the left and right, respectively. And there are a few posts around and some pins and it looks like it would be pretty challenging to get it down to the win section period, much less into the specific hole that you'd want it to go into. I would love to put a lot of time on a game like this and really figure out what I doing because the game is going to as I mentioned randomly award you a horse to start with You would think that that would be pretty boring because you have one shot and you have to make it into a specific number But what I tell you is this game looks incredibly difficult You have the numbers 19 Буд Burger, o'clock näɐ' conecting Growing pasandoith Però 커랄ל 연락inander 튀͕ inspir�� 붉 BREE, and the game would be pretty darn fun, I think. I think figuring out what it takes to win on this game would be pretty darn fun. I mentioned earlier in the show that there was a unique mechanism and what I was talking about was really a serviceability thing. Gottlieb included several swing out wooden panels with the mechanisms on them. It doesn't have the interior panel that slides out like on the Bally's, but these panels Loots will actually flip sideways and allow you to work on them without fear of messing everything up. I think that is pretty neat. I do like Bally's system better but this obviously has less of a footprint and so there's an advantage there. But for those of you who may be listening in Ohio or the region... This gentleman has one for and the certainly don't come up very often. It is in pretty darn good shape from what I can see and I hope somebody goes in and talks to him and hopefully he gets a game. If you do, I would love to hear about it. And if he was in Virginia, it would already be in my house, I think. But Um, this game holds a very unique place in history, uh, because Scott Lieb was so staunchly opposed to gambling pinball apparently after this one was produced. And that's not to say that they didn't experiment with things which are, uh, similar in concept. It's just that they didn't actually pay out after this game. And, um, I think the horse race theme, I think is really interesting because obviously it was very successful for Bally. So I'm wondering how much of this was a competition thing and attempting to kind of cash in on some of that. The game is an attractive game and looks like it's a lot of fun. I say this without ever having played a one ball, but it sure looks like it would be challenging. Once you've figured out whatever the skills were that were necessary to play one of these fairly consistently, I think it would be pretty great. Now, one thing that's a little interesting is I mentioned earlier that it's adjustable from one to five ball. I am not certain if there's a way to disable that skill lane and allow for all five balls to be played. My guess is no, because then it would have to keep track of multiple payouts. And I'm not certain if If this has the ability to do that, perhaps it does. I would love to know that as well. Well, that's all for tonight. That's enough of my musing about something I don't really know anything about. As I say, I'll post some pictures up on Facebook and Instagram and I hope you all get a chance to take a look. This is certainly an intriguing In the last few days, I have been working on a new game called Pinball, which is a one-ball horse race game. There are many, so I will be talking about more of those in the future, but for now, this is Gottlieb's new daily races made in 1947. Thank you very much for joining me. My name again is Nicholas Baldridge. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com, or you can call me on the bingoes line. That's 724-BINGOES-1, 724-246-4671. You can listen to us on iTunes, stitcher, pocketcasts, via RSS, on facebook, on twitter, at bingopodcast, you can follow me on instagram at nbaldridge, 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.