Jacks Open
About This Machine
Jacks Open is a rare and highly sought-after electro-mechanical pinball machine from January 1977, designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morison for D. Gottlieb & Company. Its unique gameplay and challenging objectives make it a standout title among collectors and enthusiasts of Gottlieb's EM era.
One of the key features that sets Jacks Open apart is its complex scoring system, which rewards players for hitting specific targets on the playfield. The machine's progression ladder, featuring "Shoot For" inserts, guides the player through a series of increasingly difficult shots. In 5-ball play, the game opens with "2 Jacks" lit, and reaching Royal Flush not only resets all nine drop targets but trips a mechanism that immediately drops four black targets, leaving only the five red A-K-Q-J-10 targets to complete for an All Targets Down Special, a pattern that repeats for the rest of the game. This intricate system requires strategic thinking and skill to master, and the machine's open-elbow inlanes allow for innovative ball flow between inlane and outlane.
The playfield art on Jacks Open is a striking representation of the card game theme, with a wedge head design adding to the machine's nostalgic charm and a maximum displayed point score of 199,990 points. With 3,088 confirmed units produced, and add-a-ball and export variants released as Lucky Hand and Lucky Card, Jacks Open continues to captivate pinball enthusiasts with its unique blend of skill, strategy, and old-school charm.
Images (28)
Technical Details
- Theme:
- Cards/Gambling
- Model Number:
- 395
- Notable Features:
- Flippers (2), Pop bumpers (3), 9-bank drop targets (1) with trip arm. No slingshots. Open-elbow inlanes allow ball to pass from inlane to outlane and vice-versa. Wedge head. Maximum displayed point score is 199,990 points. The playfield shows a progression ladder of "Shoot For" inserts notifying the player which of the nine drop targets to hit to advance the ladder. In 5-ball play, the play opens with the "2 Jacks" lit on the progression ladder. Achieving each step on the ladder when lit resets all drop targets for the next step. However, when Royal Flush is lit, hitting the five red A-K-Q-J-10 drop targets for this not only resets all targets but a drop target trip coil mounted on the drop target chassis operates a trip arm having four trip arm wireforms to immediately drop the four black Q-J-K-Q targets, leaving only the five red A-K-Q-J-10 targets to complete for an All Targets Down Special. In 3-ball play, the two Jack drop targets are spotted by the game and thus play begins with shooting for the three Queen drop targets. After scoring the Full House when lit and the bank resets, the drop target trip coil immediately drops the four black Q-J-K-Q targets, leaving only the five red A-K-Q-J-10 targets to complete for the All Targets Down Special. Scoring the Special resets all nine drop targets and again trips the four black ones to leave only the five red ones up, to score another Special with them, and this pattern will repeat until the end of the game.
Credits
- Designer:
- Ed Krynski
- Artist:
- Gordon Morison