Draw Ball

The Draw Ball pinball machine, manufactured by California Exhibit Company of Los Angeles in July 1936, is a novelty electro-mechanical (EM) game built around a poker theme. Players shot five balls into 28 numbered trap holes (plus 2 free-play holes) to form a poker hand, then used buttons on the cabinet front to select which balls to drop back through the playfield for a second shot at improving their hand.

This two-stage 'draw' mechanic gave players an unusual degree of strategic choice for a 1936 machine, letting them decide which parts of their hand to keep and which to risk replaying. The cabinet was advertised in the larger 'senior size,' measuring 46 1/2 inches long by 22 1/2 inches wide.

Little else is documented about Draw Ball's artwork or presentation, though its poker theme would have been expressed through simple period-appropriate graphics. As one of the more inventive skill/payout hybrids of its era, Draw Ball remains an interesting example of how manufacturers experimented with card-game themes and multi-stage play well before the flipper era began.