(Topic ID: 194594)

Williams Alien Poker Club " I win, you lose"

By BMHouze

6 years ago


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  • 330 posts
  • 61 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 42 days ago by idealjoker
  • Topic is favorited by 31 Pinsiders

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There are 330 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 7.
#1 6 years ago

I didn't see a club for this title.
I spent most of my teen years pinball playing on this title.
Recently added a project to my collection (the new dog of my rather small collection).
Looking to share and get some tips as I fix AP up to be one of my long term keepers.
Currently I have the mpu/cpu sent out for bulletproofing. Power and soumd boards go next.
I sealed up what's left of the backglass.
Only have one broken plastic (long one on rigjt side over the 2 outholes).
Cleaned up the inserts and replaced some dubious looking parts on the flipper assemblies..
The plan: LEDs, colour under inserts. Superbands, new plunger spring, black rubber, new ball.
Down the road: powdercoat legs, repo backglass (or an alternate).

Welcome everyone to the table,
Ante up...

20170723_082225 (resized).jpg20170723_082225 (resized).jpg

#2 6 years ago

This was my first pin, great game to get started with!

1 month later
#3 6 years ago

I got my board back today from being bulletproofed.
Game powers on and thats about it.
Going to be a long road.
40 pin had a spider nest under it.

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#4 6 years ago

Describe "game turns on" and maybe we can help. I also see that your game is missing the bar behind / between the right flippers. While some might consider it cheating or that it makes the game too easy, I've always kept that piece in place. See photo (snipped from ipdb.org). And if you expect to keep this game you can still get a new repro backglass from planetary pinball.

alien poker right flippers (resized).pngalien poker right flippers (resized).png

#5 6 years ago

Still a project. I will probably leave the rail off. Make it a little harder.
I was considering bg restos.

#6 6 years ago

Planetary's has the mirroring on it like the original. I have a bg resto in mine looks good but I think I want to get the PPS one for the mirroring. Mike

#7 6 years ago

I pulled the rail on mine. I think the game plays better that way. I did a pretty good restoration on mine. Made it from 3 others. Having no cupped inserts makes a world of difference.

#8 6 years ago

I worked at distributor when that machine came out, every one came with a deck of playing cards. Think I still have a unopened pack.

1 week later
#9 6 years ago

My AP is going to my techs house today. After it is fixed and playtested by his kids it will come home.
Anyone have an undamaged large right side plastic?
Mine came broke. Not a super huge deal but if you have 1 and the price is right....

Currently my AP powers up, I get the cool Williams sounds and the speech. Looks like the board is going to need a bit more work but will check the power supply 1st as the machine came with a spare installed.
Future: LEDs, Superbands.
Hopefully there will be a programming mod for 2 ball multiball similar to the one for flash, nitro ground shaker. I don't want to do the existing mod that replaces bonus X.

#10 6 years ago

Question for the club...

At the end of the game there is a random quote. Or there should be. Mine always says the same phrase: "when I deal I win" and never any other random quote.

I didn't find any setting to change this and make the quote random. Anyone who can help me?

Thx!

ps: I own like 20 different SS games from Bally and Williams, Alien Poker is definitely in my favorites top 3.

#11 6 years ago

he says something different when you score over a million.

#12 6 years ago

True: it says "million jackpot, I raise a million".

It says all things like expected during the game. So I assume the sound roms are good.

But at game over it should say a random phrase. There's 7 different phrases, but my game always says "When I deal I win" (which is the 7th phrase in the list, not sure if that is relevant). But it doesn't say any other random phrase from the list.

It does say "you win jackpot, you deal" though when special or when game over numbers match.

See page 2 of the manual: http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/48/Williams_1980_Alien_Poker_Manual.pdf

#13 6 years ago

Try reseating connectors to sound board. I had wierd sounds with a bad header connection.
Otherwise check voltages on sound board.

#14 6 years ago

Anyone ever play an AP multiball? I plan on doing the conversion on my AP project game but it's not currently on my near future projects list.

http://www.pinball4you.ch/okaegi/pro_alienmulti.html

#15 6 years ago

i was reading about the 2ball multiball when I was doing my restoration and opted out of it, because there was no benefit to multiball. With a game like this where you get negative points for hitting the wrong things, it would be more beneficial to just let the other ball drain. Now if it had double playfield scoring or something during multiball, then it would be worth it.

#16 6 years ago

Same here.
I actually own 2 AP's that will go into restoration one day (one is playing, one is in storage at present). My initial plan was to have one regular version, and one multiball version - I even bought a spare Firepower playfield to harvest its through mechanism.
But I abandoned that plan because of these same reasons: the great thing about AP is that half of the playfield is taken by a 5-drop target bank that you must avoid most of the time, and by the time you should be hitting it you'd better be precise. Multiball would totally destroy any strategy.

#17 6 years ago

I keep thinking of the extra small left flipper ala Laser Cue. Especially with the playfield I currently have.
I also look forward to a cpr playfield as the lack of features 'should' make a swap easier for a first swap.

image-4 (resized).jpgimage-4 (resized).jpg

#18 6 years ago

I have an AP Multiball machine. Its currently at piball life if you wanted to play it. It is true; though, there is no real benefits with points. Wish Multiball had a multiplier.

3 months later
#19 6 years ago

AP is still not back from board rebuild.
Looks like the blanking circuts are the current culprit.
Just bought some tix for Ann Arbor vfw show to play their AP.

Always wierd playing other machines that I own. I typically find mine are faster.
Always good to see if there are any mods that can be put into my own machine.

Anyone know a good online source for sys 6 repair/tips with lots of pics?

4 months later
#20 5 years ago

Welcomed home my new addition today, alien poker!

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1 week later
#21 5 years ago
Quoted from Phat_Jay:

Welcomed home my new addition today, alien poker!

Congrats!

I brought home one this past weekend but it's a project. Great BG, average PF (maybe below average), electronics generally seem to work but no coil power. BIG PROBLEM - the 5 drop target bank is missing . If anyone has an extra PLEASE let me know - initial searching (marketplace here and ebay) came up empty.

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or for my replacement LED display boards for model H & model S Skee Ball

#22 5 years ago

I just got one on the cheap, looking to multi ball it..
its been a few years since I troubleshot system6 at boot up i get 1501 20 and not much more (audits not working properly either)

I need to find my leon chips - but trying to remember is the 1501 20 telling me the 5101 /battery bad? quick power isnt hacking it out of this odd mode.. I do have full working speech and sound!

#23 5 years ago

Batteries are dead.
-Mike

#24 5 years ago

I considered multiball. But it screws with bonus X.
Works good on Nitro Ground Shaker....

#25 5 years ago
Quoted from BMHouze:

I considered multiball. But it screws with bonus X.
Works good on Nitro Ground Shaker....

oh yea? so is it worth the mod? it screw with it bad? it seems easily reversible

2 weeks later
#26 5 years ago
Quoted from rkahr:

BIG PROBLEM - the 5 drop target bank is missing . If anyone has an extra PLEASE let me know - initial searching (marketplace here and ebay) came up empty.

Look what just showed up on eBay: ebay.com link: itm . It's missing the target boards, but thanks to CookyJar I got a set of those at Pintastic. Before this showed up my plan was to modify a Flash drop target bank that I got from ForceFlow to do the job - also picked up at Pintastic. That certainly seemed doable except I didn't have any insight on what the extra "drop targets release" coil did or what that part of the mechanism looked like (except that it was hanging on the side of the drop target). I snatched up this eBay listing so I no longer need to create this part, but I'm going to follow up with some detailed photos of this unique bank so the info is out here for those who come along in the future.

All the wiring for the coils is neatly terminated with electrical tape under my playfield so this should be a straightforward install. What a great start to the the 4th of July!

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or for my replacement LED display boards for model H & model S Skee Ball

3 weeks later
#27 5 years ago
Quoted from rkahr:

I snatched up this eBay listing so I no longer need to create this part, but I'm going to follow up with some detailed photos of this unique bank so the info is out here for those who come along in the future.

Here's an update...

The eBay part was delivered and except for the drop target circuit boards was pretty much complete. Somewhat rusted but complete. I cleaned it up pretty good and the boards I got from @cookyjar fit fine. I found some wiring that closely matched the switch wiring colors and assembled the connector from a Molex 1625-9pr. Here are some pictures showing the metal drop target release both disengaged and engaged, followed by a picture of how it is hinged to what otherwise looks like a standard drop target assembly.

drop release engageddrop release engaged

drop release disengageddrop release disengaged

back view showing simple hinging on the mechanismback view showing simple hinging on the mechanism

I hope this helps somebody in the future.

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or for my replacement LED display boards for model H & model S Skee Ball

#28 5 years ago

Another update - tonight I installed the drop target assembly into the machine! All those coils mean a lot of soldering, but it all ended up being worth it because I turn the machine on, it boots, and I'm playing the game. No score displays but it's playing. After about 20 minutes of play the score displays start to fade in and shortly thereafter they are working too. Guessing I've got some power supply or grounding work to do to sort out the displays; for now I'm thrilled to be playing the game with everything but a couple bulbs working. The playfield is rough so I'm thinking about getting one of those protectors from the guys in Europe. They at least keep it from getting worse and they seem pretty good for correcting cupped inserts.

I found this game thanks to bluespin on the pinball project thread. What a find!

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my Pinball 2000 H+V video sync combiner kit

#29 5 years ago
Quoted from rkahr:

Another update - tonight I installed the drop target assembly into the machine! All those coils mean a lot of soldering, but it all ended up being worth it because I turn the machine on, it boots, and I'm playing the game. No score displays but it's playing. After about 20 minutes of play the score displays start to fade in and shortly thereafter they are working too. Guessing I've got some power supply or grounding work to do to sort out the displays; for now I'm thrilled to be playing the game with everything but a couple bulbs working. The playfield is rough so I'm thinking about getting one of those protectors from the guys in Europe. They at least keep it from getting worse and they seem pretty good for correcting cupped inserts.
I found this game thanks to bluespin on the pinball project thread. What a find!
-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my Pinball 2000 H+V video sync combiner kit

Congrats on getting the game working. AP was my first ever pin purchase some 18 years ago for a whopping $100. My wife thought we were crazy but its still in my game room to this day.

#30 5 years ago

Love my AP. Mine has a nos playfield but needs new plastics and the back glass has seen better days.

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#31 5 years ago
Quoted from Squeakman:

Love my AP. Mine has a nos playfield but needs new plastics and the back glass has seen better days.
[quoted image]

Looks great. Not an easy playfield to find. I have 2 but both need a bit of love and hope to some day get them restored and make this keep sake game perfect. Currently mine is down with I believe a locked on transistor as the far right pop bumper started smoking like a volcano. New coil installed and same result so I need to get my lazy butt in there and do some board work. Looks like your plastics look fine maybe just some drop down target decals to freshen her up.

#32 5 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

Looks great. Not an easy playfield to find. I have 2 but both need a bit of love and hope to some day get them restored and make this keep sake game perfect. Currently mine is down with I believe a locked on transistor as the far right pop bumper started smoking like a volcano. New coil installed and same result so I need to get my lazy butt in there and do some board work. Looks like your plastics look fine maybe just some drop down target decals to freshen her up.

A few of the plastics are cracked and broken. Maybe you can send your Alien Poker to HEP? lol Ill bet he would love that.! Loved your TZ restoration thread!

#33 5 years ago
Quoted from Squeakman:

A few of the plastics are cracked and broken. Maybe you can send your Alien Poker to HEP? lol Ill bet he would love that.! Loved your TZ restoration thread!

lol your like a mind reader. I was Hoping he would consider doing it. I know everyone would see it as a crazy thing to do for such a low cost title but to me its my start into pinball and worth the investment. Plus its a dam fun game! FYI, CPR has AP plastic sets in stock and there are a few original and repro sets on Ebay if your looking to go new.

#34 5 years ago
Quoted from Squeakman:

Love my AP. Mine has a nos playfield but needs new plastics and the back glass has seen better days.

That is very nice indeed! Playfields may become more available - there is an old "want" list with the guys in Europe (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/alien-poker-repro-playfields-list-oppening), HardTop may be an option in the future, and CPR's new printing/milling capabilities may be able to deliver "made to order" playfields in the not too distant future. The tradeoff for me is "protect what remains" with one of the thin clear sheets plan on a PF swap in the future and not worry about whatever additional wear i put on the current PF.

My BG is really nice. I need to get triple thick on it.

Here's a pic of my worn PF:

worn playfieldworn playfield

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or for my replacement LED display boards for model H & model S Skee Ball

#35 5 years ago
Quoted from rkahr:

The tradeoff for me is "protect what remains" with one of the thin clear sheets plan on a PF swap in the future and not worry about whatever additional wear i put on the current PF

Ugh - they don't make the protectors for Alien Poker: https://www.playfield-protectors.com/22/Playfield%20Protectors?page=1

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or for my replacement LED display boards for model H & model S Skee Ball

#36 5 years ago

I was lucky enough to be the only bidder on a CPR ebay auction for a set of their repo plastics.
Still waiting on my board. Went to the alt cpu and have to reconfigure a few components.

#37 5 years ago

Seems like the AP multiball thing is a waste. Even without multipliers, it would be cool if it gave you 5X spinner value or something along those lines.

#38 5 years ago

Sadly the spinner light is tied in with the 3x light so you can't even just blink that in code or anything

#39 5 years ago

Thought this group might like to know...

Alien Poker semi-populated playfield just came up for sale in the Pittsburgh PA for only $50. I'd buy it just as a piece of art, but don't have the room for it...

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/215708619287703

1 month later
#40 5 years ago

Has anyone found or had plastic protectors made for this game? I want to install fresh plastics, but want them to stay nice and they won't without them. Also I am curious if anyone has noticed the differences in color between new and old plastics? I am curious if that blue was really that blue from factory? I am seeing on the Alien poker games in the top games list many different colors that match and some that are way off from each other. I realize that these are probably mostly faded far from original, but damn they are all over the place.

#41 5 years ago

I ordered a set of plastics from cpr and they were a dead on match for my old ones, of course the question is are those accurate?

#42 5 years ago
Quoted from Phat_Jay:

I ordered a set of plastics from cpr and they were a dead on match for my old ones, of course the question is are those accurate?

I think its just fade. The repros are so colorful and look fantastic, but my blues are like a blue green nasty color. Most of the other colors seem pretty close if not right on. Mine are also missing ink because the sat on metal guides, switch backings and just rubbed on other stuff. Thats why I want to find some plastic protectors. You can see mine in the picture above.

#43 5 years ago

You obviously have not seen the CPR PP Hockey plastics next to the originals.
Bobby Orrs' hair colour is wrong.

I say as long as you don't have a wear line to the wood under the target bank you are gold.

1 week later
#44 5 years ago
Quoted from rkahr:

Ugh - they don't make the protectors for Alien Poker: https://www.playfield-protectors.com/22/Playfield%20Protectors?page=1
-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or for my replacement LED display boards for model H & model S Skee Ball

I completed my DIY playfield protector for my Alien Poker. Anyone who wants details on my effort can check it out here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/i-made-a-playfield-protector-self-evaulation#post-4623128

-Rob
-Visit http://www.kahr.us to get my Daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my Pinball 2000 H+V video sync combiner kit

#45 5 years ago

Do you have/sell a sys6 test jig?

#46 5 years ago

Does anyone have playfield scans of this game? In particular I am looking for two sections. The grey/black section between the P in Poker insert and the joker target, and the red/orange planet in the upper left pops area.

2 weeks later
#47 5 years ago

Joined the club over the weekend. Looking forward to getting this game up and going!

#48 5 years ago
Quoted from Xenon75:

Joined the club over the weekend. Looking forward to getting this game up and going!

Nice - I'm really liking mine. Post some pics when you get a chance.

-Rob
-Visit http://www.kahr.us to get my Daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my Williams system 3-7 sound board potentiometer solutions

1 week later
#49 5 years ago

Will do! Aside from needing a new playfield, I was wondering if anyone had made decals for the apron?

1 month later
#50 5 years ago

Just completed inkochnito’s bridge board upgrade! I admit I held my breath when I powered on, but all is well. Good bye big cap and old rectifiers! Also replaced the aa’s With a lithium button cell.

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