Pinball is one of the classics of the arcade scene. You\u2019ll find pinball machines in bars and homes all over the world. But anyone that\u2019s tried their hand at pinball knows it can be a very unforgiving game, so many new players wonder if pinball machines are rigged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pinball machines are not rigged. While pinball machines were once banned as authorities thought it was a form of gambling, pinball is actually a game of skill. Pinball machines often have difficulty settings built into them, but this does not mean that pinball machines are rigged.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Below, we\u2019ll talk a bit more about why pinball machines have had a difficult history, and why some people think they\u2019re rigged. Then, we\u2019ll go into more detail about why pinball machines are not rigged, and why they\u2019re actually a game of skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pinball hasn\u2019t always been accepted by everyone. In fact, during the early 1940s, pinball was actually banned in several big cities across the USA<\/strong>. Cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and New York all banned the game. This was despite the fact that Chicago was the birthplace of the game, and still to this day is the epicenter of pinball machine production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reason pinball machines were banned comes down to the fact that authorities thought it was a form of gambling<\/strong>. They believed that pinball involved luck, not skill, and so was not an ethical game to play in arcades, bars and restaurants across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In its early days, pinball didn\u2019t have all the lights, bumpers and other components that most people associate with the modern game. For many years it didn\u2019t even involve flippers<\/strong>, which are now the key component that gives the player control of the ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The flipper arrived in 1947, but the game was still banned at this time. Without flippers, the only way to influence the ball was by moving the table. This is still employed today in the form of nudging<\/a>, but not nearly to the same extent as back in the early days<\/strong> of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, it\u2019s almost fair to see why authorities thought pinball was a game of luck. With little control over the ball, you could only employ a small amount of skill with your nudging and moving of the table. However, this didn\u2019t strictly mean the game was rigged<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While pinball machines accepted money, therefore earning their owners some cash from players, the authorities at the time might have said that the game was rigged to earn the owner money. This is much in the same fashion as people nowadays might insist casinos are rigged, given that the odds are usually always in favor of the house<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen Pinball Was Illegal<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Very Different Game<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
They Were Never Rigged<\/h3>\n\n\n\n