Pamco Ballot

The Pamco Ballot, manufactured by Pacific Amusement Manufacturing Company (PAMCO) of Chicago in June 1936, is an electro-mechanical payout machine from the flipperless one-ball era, when many coin-op games blurred the line between amusement and gambling.

Its gameplay mechanism is simple yet effective. Players insert one nickel per play, earning the chance to launch a single ball onto the 50-inch by 24-inch playfield. The machine's notable light strip lights up holes in the lower playfield alternately, back and forth, creating an intriguing challenge as players attempt to time their shot so the ball falls into a hole while it is lit - the condition for winning a payout.

PAMCO produced the game in two variations: a Payout model that dispensed coins directly, and a Ticket model that issued tickets instead. Little is known about the machine's designer or theme, which adds to its enigmatic allure among enthusiasts of pre-flipper coin-op history.