Quick overview of the gameplay and rules:
Your overall goal: to plunge and nudge your ball in such a way that it lands in one of the holes corresponding to the lit numbers on the backglass.
There are a total of five player-controlled buttons on the footrail.
1) Play All: This is automatically played with the first coin of a new game. Otherwise, it will not have any visible effect unless you have replays on the register.
2) Star: This will play for a chance at increasing your odds. It will also potentially grant you 'Purse scores win odds' or 'Show scores win odds'. These are extremely powerful features, and can both light at the same time.
Your odds are stacked as follows: Purse (top of playfield) scores the fewest amount of replays (from 3 - 64).
Show (next section down) scores more (3-96).
Place (next section) scores even more (5-128).
Win (final section) scores the most (8-160).
There are a total of 10 odds steps on the machine. Some of the numbers are repeated (the first two steps score 3 on purse, for example, and the last two steps score 160 for win). We'll dive into strategy shortly, but I'm sure you've made a few assumptions. There is the equivalent of an 'extra step' relay that will kick the odds up multiple notches in one coin. I've had it jump up 6 steps on a single coin before.
3) Horseshoe: Selections. This is the heart of the game. There are 7 horses total, and each horse can be awarded individually, or with multiple. The selection button will also randomly award the jockey cap feature, which will alternate (by coin) between red and yellow (right and left) playfield holes, down below the winner section. The jockey cap can be removed if you play for the selections again.
The selection button will also randomly step the 'Wild Stepper', which, when all the way at top, will trip the fan relay, lighting all seven selections!
It's worth noting that each number has a 'HOLD' underneath it. This gives the appearance that each number can be held individually, meaning that the number will always be selected for this game. In reality, unless the fan relay is tripped (holding all selections), only three numbers can be held: 3, 4, and 5.
4) Clover: This will give a chance at doubling your win in Purse or Show. If awarded, this advantage can be removed if you play for the Star or odds increase. I assume this is correct operation, but I haven't verified on the schematic yet. It seems like the machine would need to re-portion if you get an odds increase. In practice, only one at a time can be lit. I believe both can be lit, but I've never seen it happen.
Finally, 5) The Pennant: This will light the Feature pennant on the backglass, which has its own separate portion control. Our game is set to award 160 replays if lit and you land in the hole (bottom center of the playfield). It can be adjusted to 320 replays. It is a REAL feat to get it to go in that hole.
There are two carry over features:
1) Jockey caps: if you hit the lit one, it will step the wild selection stepper to the top, tripping the fan relay. This gives you a guaranteed all selections for the next game! Every ball is a winner, unless you are unlucky enough to land in the caps again or the feature hole.
2) A-B-C-D bumpers. There are four passive bumpers on the playfield. You have to hit each one, sequentially (across any number of games). When you light A, then B, C, then D, it will have stepped the ABCD stepper to the top, which will double your next win (whatever that may be). If you land in the minimum odds winner in purse for 3 replays, you'll get 6 instead. Pretty cool! Doing this disables the clover button as there is no 4x mechanism in the game.
Strategy:
Your first coin will reset the game to default odds and pick a random selection. Everything on the backglass will flash, but I've never had the clover features award, nor the feature flag from the initial coin.
You must understand, as the player, what's happening to get the best advantage. My bingo background helps a bit here: the machine will 'tighten' as it awards various features or odds jumps, making future feature or odds jumps less likely.
So, my second coin is almost always played to get better odds. If I'm lucky, I'll get that 'extra step' jump of one or more steps on the odds stepper.
My third coin will either be in the odds, or to try to light better selections. I am not confident enough to play with a single selection lit, I generally prefer to light two or more. If I am able to light #4, I will typically stop playing for selections, as I tend to hit that number the most. It is in the center of every section.
From here, if my odds are ok, and if my selection is ok, I will put a coin in for clover or for feature. I typically don't play a ton in either feature, as it normally isn't worth the money. But I'll sacrifice 5c.
It's important to know when to stop coining, as you could have five selections lit, then your next coin brings it down to one selection.
This game has guaranteed advancing odds, which means that your odds will not reset or move to a random position with each coin. They will never decrease, which is a great comfort to a player, and something that is not guaranteed with the selections (as you can see above).
If feature lights (a RARE event), I will try to steer the ball all the way down the playfield. If one of the clover advantages lights, I will attempt to get a winner in purse or show. If I have the odds advantage of purse or show scores win, I will definitely try to get in those holes.
If the jockey cap is lit, I will attempt to get a winner first (it's dangerous to go for the holes all the way at the bottom of the playfield), I'll try to hit that. If you hit the lit jockey cap hole, it will step the wild selection stepper all the way to the top, tripping the fan relay, and lighting all 7 selections for the next game.
I am not a good enough player to consistently hit the place or win sections, but I do very much enjoy the challenge of this game.
I hope this motivates those of you with these games to get them going - an 8-year-old child was able to bring this game back to life! I am extremely proud of Ava - I'm really surprised that she kept with it all the way to the end. She really understands the game, too. I need to film her giving one of her patented tutorials.