British roulette Town Broker

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pennymachines
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Re: British roulette Town Broker

Post by pennymachines »

Thanks for that Bob. I also knew (and traded machines with) Graham Brierley and recall he joined this Forum years ago. I asked about the case because I have one to restore. It appears the cabinet should be taller to accommodate a cash door and there are mouldings above this (silhouetted in the old advert).


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I bought a very distressed Town Broker for £40 a few years ago. Although the cabinet was reasonably intact (apart from the rotted base and moulding above the cash door), the mech looked too daunting to tackle without another to copy.


TownBroker.jpg


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I only had pictures of JP's machine to go on...


Broker01.jpg


TownB02.jpg

In 2013 another Town Broker appeared in the Coventry auction but Treefrog paid a little more for it than I was prepared to. Mechanically it was excellent but it had been rehoused in a new case and a (tasteful) Formica had been applied to the front.


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Then I spotted this allwin in a strange cabinet at the Elephant House.


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I recognized it as the Town Broker cabinet but unfortunately was outbid again. I kick myself for not striking a deal with the buyer who then chopped it about to fit a different allwin front. !UPSET! At the time I was hoping Treefrog might lose interest in his Town Broker and part with it one day. To my surprise he put it in last year's Coventry auction and I was able to buy it.

I'd assumed the game was essentially the same as an Essex Corn Exchange with the added twist of an ineffectual skill stop knob. These usually served the purpose of confusing the gambling issue while giving no significant control to the player. The disc spins so fast there's no chance of gauging where you're stopping it. But... on the Town Broker you set the disc in motion by turning the centre knob and then bring it to a halt by turning it further. Because there's no separate timing mechanism to stop the disc, there's nothing to prevent the player waiting until it has lost momentum before halting it. I only noticed this while playing it today. You can wait until it slows almost to a halt before trying to catch a win line. It doesn't guarantee success but significantly ups your odds. Currently it takes about 10 seconds for the disc to stop, so this doesn't make the game inordinately slow. If you win, you turn the handle on the left, a consequence of there being no clock to sequence the payout.
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