On insertion of a thre'penny bit (or disc) you pull the one-armed bandit handle on the
right, which sets the fifteen symbols flashing from about three seconds up to around
eight seconds. At the end of each play, three symbols remain lit - hopefully three of a
kind in a full line across. Thanks to the variable timer, there is no set sequence to this
machine; each play is random, with no consecutive play the same. Pretty simple really.
An interesting point is that some other Bar One machines that I have seen do not have
a handle to pull, the lights simply start flashing on insertion of a coin. I do prefer the
machines with the pull handle.
Talking about percentages now, my machine is pretty mean! On various
occasions it has gone well over twenty plays without a winner coming up. The three
jackpot Bars do come up but very rarely. I can say that they only come up once in over
one hundred plays. I suppose it is understandable though, as fi ve shillings was a good
win back in the 1960s.
We' ve uploaded a little video on Youtube for you all to see. Just search Bar One
3d bit machine and you can see what I am writing about.
Robert Rowland
Inside the machine, showing the 3d coin tube and separate chute for discs.
Page 20