Bally Slots & Online Casinos

Bally Technologies Incorporated is one of the premier developers of various gaming technologies and is best known for creating slot machines. The company develops, designs, manufactures, sells and also runs casino gaming machines, digital monitoring devices and systems that track players.

Apart from selling such devices, Bally Technologies also allows its clients to obtain gaming devices under a variety of lease and purchase options.

The current President and CEO of the company is Richard Haddrill and although it is a global company, the headquarters are located in the casino gaming capital of the world – Las Vegas, Nevada. It has employees in many countries around the world and is known for the number of innovations that it has introduced to the casino gaming world. It now generates revenues in excess of $900 million and counts leading Las Vegas casinos as its clients.

How Bally Tech Began

Bally Technologies may now be the number one gaming technology company in the world but this rise to the top was a long time in the making. It is the oldest slot machine manufacturer worldwide and was founded in the year 1932 by Raymond T. Maloney. Mr. Maloney founded the original parent company known as Bally Manufacturing Corporation, whose manufacturing division was known as Bally Manufacturing. This manufacturing division was created to develop a pinball game named “Ballyhoo”, which turned out to extremely successful and profitable for the company. Originally, the Bally Manufacturing division was famous for developing and distributing coin-based amusement machines and later moved on to developing slot machines for casinos.

The present company – Bally Technologies, has a long and complicated history that involves another gaming technology company known as Advanced Patent Technology. Advanced Patent Technology was incorporated on 30th September, 1968 and was later renamed as Alliance gaming. Bally Technologies, as we know it today, began in earnest when Alliance Gaming acquired Bally Gaming International Incorporated in 1996. Bally Gaming International Inc. (BGII) used to be a division of Bally Manufacturing.

More About Bally Tech : History / Background / Founders

The Bally Manufacturing Corporation, when founded in 1932, was part of the parent company called Lion Manufacturing Corporation and was based in Chicago. In a short span of time, the company managed to capture the market with its innovative and attractive amusement games. Raymond Maloney decided to start producing gambling machines in the later part of the 1930s and discovered great success with his machines as the gaming industry was just starting out. The company started specializing in pinball and slot machines after tasting success during the World War II, by building airplanes and ammunition.

The Bally Manufacturing Corporation experienced some troubles after the death of Maloney in 1958 but bounced back and by the 1960s had captured over 90% of the slot machine market. Its innovations in the slot machine industry led to it going public in the 60s and soon after, acquiring many companies. In 1975, it was the first gaming company to be traded at the New York Stock Exchange.

The company went through some turbulent times in the 70s. After the state of New Jersey legalized gambling in Atlantic city, the company started building casinos for its advanced gambling machines. Several allegations of organized criminal activities on an international scale forced the then company head – William T. O’Donnell to resign. These ties to Mafia activities did little to hamper the growth of the company and the company moved into the home computer gaming industry with its Bally Professional Arcade. The failure of this device coupled with the sudden expansion in the 1980s forced the company to sell off many if its divisions.

History of Alliance Gaming

Alliance Gaming was known as Advanced Patent Technology and was a leading manufacturer of electronic devices. It catered to medical, optical and computer industries and had more than 80 patents to its name. In 1969, the company went public. Ten years later, they entered the gambling industry by buying United Coin Machine Company. It faced problems similar to that of Bally when it was accused of illegal financial practices and was investigated by the SEC and the Nevada Gaming Commission.

It was able to obtain casino licenses only after chairman and co-founder – Jack Solomon, resigned. The company was embroiled in legal issues and saw fluctuating finances till the late 70s. The new president – C. Richard Lannone managed to turn the company’s fortunes by 1983 and renamed the company as Gaming and Technology Inc.

The company was later acquired by Omega Enterprises and was renamed as United Gaming Inc. It slowly expanded into different states of the US by opening numerous casinos. In the 1990s, it collaborated with Kirkland-Fort Worth Investment Partners. The following years brought turmoil to the company. Several acquisitions, lawsuits, investigations and scandals later, the company changed its name to Alliance Gaming Corporation in 1994. It decided to use the Bally trademark after it acquired BGII in 1996 and changed its name to Bally Technologies on 6th March, 2006. It is now traded in the NYSE as BYI.

Bally Innovations Throughout the Years

Both the founding companies were highly innovative. Bally created the first slot machine based on electromechanical principles, known as “Money Honey”, way back in 1964. The first slot data system was invented by the company in the year 1976. Bally Technologies mainly develops cutting-edge software and hardware platforms for land-based, Native American and riverboat casinos. Its applications are used in security to management operations in casinos.

The first reel-spinning slot machine that was completely electronic was developed by Bally Technologies. It also developed the first fully electronic slot management system known as SDS. In recent years, the iView Display Manager has garnered a lot of attention and critical acclaim for the company. This is a marketing tool that allows the company to maintain excellent relationships with customers and can handle numerous cross promotions.

The newly developed Cash Spin device designed by the company has a trademarked gesture-control technology known as U-Spin. This device won the “Best Slot Product” in 2010 at a competition hosted by the Casino Journal magazine. Another impressive trademarked device launched by the company that offers a wide variety of game titles is known as GameMaker HD. Bally Technologies continues to produce advanced gaming technologies, devices and systems.

As is the story with most gaming expositions every year – at the Global Gaming Expo in 2012 – the company unleashed many new game system innovations, which included over 140 new and unique game titles. The most buzz-worthy games were the NASCAR Video Slots and Pawn Stars. The company now produces games for internet and mobile platforms and just launched the Bally Mobile Platform – an interactive game suite. The fact the company has won over 40 innovation awards in the last three years speaks of its drive to develop cutting-edge technology.