1934 to 1946 Pace / Evans "Paces Races"

Description: Paces Races, Pace / Evans, 1934 to 1946, the first console slot machine, both Evans and Baker had similar console slot machines. Text by Mike: The player bets on one or more of the seven horses. The player then pushes a button and the horses race. The odds wheel then spins (note after the horses start the race!). Upon completion of the race, the game pays out in a hidden drawer.

The first games by Pace in 1934 were completely pneumatically driven. There is one electric motor that drives the bellows and the rest is air pressure, from moving the horses, to spinning the odds wheel, to calculating the payout and actually making the payout. The horse movements are controlled by a paper roll similar to those found in a player piano.

In 1946 Evans took over the manufacturing and converted some of the functions like odds and payout to electronic functions. The horses were still driven by the player piano roll and the pneumatics. There is a tiny pinball in the bowels of the game. When the first horse passes the 3/4 mark, the game kicks the pinball up the table. It bounces around for a bit and as soon as it returns to the bottom, the horse in the lead at that time gets two kicks for every hole compared to the others single. The appearance is one horse suddenly pulling away and winning.

Restoration is complicated because it is much like having to repair or restore a nickelodeon or other player piano. The valve box is full of leather flaps and needs to be shimmed with precision. The bellows need to be recovered with a special glue. The tubing is a nightmare. The first release in 1934 was black, and the last released by Evans was in 1946. They also made a brown cabinet and the red arrow. The latter version is probably more collectable.

Very similar to Evans Pacer and Bally's Ray's Track and Evans Races.


This is a later style Paces Races, perhap made by Evans:


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