Grandstand

Grandstand, manufactured by Bally in July 1938, is a single-player electro-mechanical horse-racing game from the golden age of one-ball payout machines. Available in both payout and ticket models, it belongs to the gambling side of the pre-war coin-op business, where a single plunged ball landing in the right hole could return real winnings.

The playfield is dominated by 31 trap holes, the destinations that determine each play's outcome. The game supported multiple-coin operation, letting a player increase the stakes on a single ball, and it was housed in a console-style cabinet typical of the payout machines of its day.

Grandstand also carries a quirk that has confused collectors for decades: the game's name does not appear on the backglass at all — it is found only at the top of the playfield — while the backglass prominently displays the word "Sweepstakes" twice, which can easily lead to misidentification. For collectors of pre-war Bally payout games, it is a characterful piece of the horserace-game era.