No longer a Game Maker lurker

[kcirrick]

I’ve been a member for a long time, but I haven't posted much.  My game room includes a slant top and an upright 7217 Game Makers.  I’ve had the battles with bill acceptors, printers, clearing and configuring and had the old CRT go out on one of them, but I always got it figured out.  Occasionally, I lurked here to see if I could find solutions.  (Unfortunately, I rarely did.  I guess I should have posted those past issues.)  Once I even made the major mistake of selecting a locked jurisdiction.  Since those jurisdiction chips are obsolete and not made anymore, I had a heck of a time finding a replacement.  When I did, I bought half a dozen of them even though I know better now.  Accidents happen.

I’ve purchased parts from good vendors and bad.  I had one scream at me and cancel my order (via email) because I politely asked for an order status after over a week of no communication.  He had the gall to tell me I wouldn’t be able to find the part I needed –  an LCD touch screen.  (He clearly didn’t have it in stock although his web page indicated otherwise.)  That same day I went online and ordered it elsewhere and had it in less than a week.  On the other hand, I’ve made multiple purchases from a particular vendor and when I asked if they knew where I could get a small part they sent the part to me for free.  I had a heck of a time getting updated printers.  Twice I ordered RS232 and was sent Netplex.  Once I ordered one with the removable chip so it could easily be updated.  That guy sent me one that had to be flashed.  I finally got printers in both machines working, but the gears were having issues so I ordered a couple more again.  The new (old) printers I received were mechanically fine, but they blew it burning the chips and they wouldn’t work in my machines.  I ended up pulling the chips out of my old printers and then they worked fine.  I told the vendor, but got no response.  It’s weird.  I’m just your average game room guy learning as he goes, but I seem to know more about the machines than the parts vendors I buy from.

Only one of my machines had a bell, but once I found out one of my games, Draw ‘Till You Win, set the bell off fairly often I had to buy and install one on the other machine.  Why does that bell make it more fun?

I just got around to tokenizing my machines.  Occasionally, the planets align and I'd have a great night on a machine, but just like in Vegas they usually suck me dry.  Most nights I end up pumping thousands of dollars into the machines.  That’s gambling.  Tokenizing changed that with $100 equaling $100,000.

I’ve done some fun things with the machines like replace the old incandescent bulbs with colored LED bulbs.  The slant top accepted narrow 555 bulbs.  The upright took those little bulbs you find in arcade buttons.  I used various colors in the different buttons.

The slant top only had a small head on top filled with electronics for card readers and a keypad.  Ugly.  I tossed out the guts and made a Bally Game Maker glass for the opening and lit it with an LED strip.  It’s not professional, but it doesn’t look bad.

Working on these machines for so many years I’ve learned quite a bit.  I don’t consider myself an expert, but I think I have picked up enough knowledge that I might be able to help others out with some of their issues.  (No offense, but I've seen a lot of questions go unanswered.)  So, look for me to be checking in.

Here’s a list of games I currently have installed.  (I have a few more not installed and am purchasing some more.)

Big House Poker
Let It Ride Poker
Wizard of Odds (both machines)
Deuces Wild Poker
Bonus Pick ‘em 5 Play Poker
2nd Chance Poker
Black Jack (both machines)
Full House Frenzy Poker
Draw ‘Till You Win Poker (both machines)
Double Double Bonus Poker (both machines)
Way Keno    3-3 spots
Pattern Keno
Top/Bottom Keno
Bonus Blackjack
Triple Chance Poker
Triple Trouble Keno

Draw ‘Til You Win and Big House Poker are my favorites.  I have a handful of other game chips and am on the hunt for an MPU to populate so I can just swap boards to enjoy more games.

I was puzzled that I was allowed to double my winnings without end on the slant top, but the upright was limited to four doubles.  I realized they have different mains so I’m ordering a set of mains for the upright.

So, here I am.  I know my own machines pretty well so hopefully I can lend a hand when someone has an issue.

I was going to post an ad for a Ceronix 15 inch touch screen meant for a 7200 upright, but I'm not a contributing subscriber so I can't. (I would contribute, but I don't use PayPal since they nearly cost me $5,000.)  I purchased the monitor some time ago, but didn’t get around to installing it for over a month and then realized that it was too small and then it was too late to return it.  Other than sticking it in my machine for about 30 minutes, (It worked fine.), it’s brand new.  It comes with a bezel and is in it’s original box.  It's just sitting around in it's box gathering dust and I have no use for it.  So, if someone does let me know and maybe we can work something out.

[shortrackskater]

Thanks for posting. 
Great story, and you're more than welcome to chime in and help other members with the Game Maker. There aren't quite as many people posting issues regarding those machines, but we certainly could use the help when they do.
I had THREE, believe it or not! One of each size - all uprights. I had a slant top but threw it away basically. 
When I got my Game King, I sold the last upright. Now I wish I'd kept it, just to remember how to perform configurations, etc. So - I'm on the lookout again. I'm sure one will pop up on Craigslist.
 

[kcirrick]

Thanks for the welcome.

If I were to start fresh today there would be a good chance I would go for the Game King because of the volume of games on a single machine.  But, I do love my Game Makers.  My small game room has two pinball machines – F-14 Tomcat and Revenge from Mars, a mame arcade, a Terminator pachislo (one of the few cool pachislo machines) and the two Game Makers.  I play the Game Makers pretty much day and night.  It’s good to be retired.

I’ll definitely chime in if I think I can be of some help.