Unusual Craps Machine - Bonanza Million Dice

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Re: Unusual Craps Machine - Bonanza Million Dice

Postby Anglobritish » Wed Aug 24, 2016 10:48 am

Hi Bill,
You are spot on with the dates, 1980, when I first met Barney Shapiro, he was the biggest operator of slots outside of the casino market, (Small locations such as Convenience Stores, Bar's and such) he also had what was the biggest collection of slot machines, all in original condition and still with the original coins in them, not that he was a collector at that time, they were machines that he had pulled off of locations and rep'laced them with the modern Bally and I.G.T models. Barney's company was United Coin, Barney not only had a taste for beautiful slot machines, but also beautiful women, (Mainly Show Girls, one of which he married) I met both Barney and Sam Boyd with Mickey in 1979, at Roy Harrington's Auction, Barney later took me to his office and standing in a large room was a vast amount of uprights and slots still on their stands and with the jackpots full, just as they had been removing from locations, an amazing site, one that I have never seen since. United Coin is still in business, Barney is now in his 90's, they have large routes in Nevada, Barney is the last of old Nevada slot machine characters.

Freddy
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Re: Unusual Craps Machine - Bonanza Million Dice

Postby SLOT DYNASTY » Wed Aug 24, 2016 11:36 pm

Anglobritish wrote:Hi Bill,
You are spot on with the dates, 1980, when I first met Barney Shapiro, he was the biggest operator of slots outside of the casino market, (Small locations such as Convenience Stores, Bar's and such) he also had what was the biggest collection of slot machines, all in original condition and still with the original coins in them, not that he was a collector at that time, they were machines that he had pulled off of locations and rep'laced them with the modern Bally and I.G.T models. Barney's company was United Coin, Barney not only had a taste for beautiful slot machines, but also beautiful women, (Mainly Show Girls, one of which he married) I met both Barney and Sam Boyd with Mickey in 1979, at Roy Harrington's Auction, Barney later took me to his office and standing in a large room was a vast amount of uprights and slots still on their stands and with the jackpots full, just as they had been removing from locations, an amazing site, one that I have never seen since. United Coin is still in business, Barney is now in his 90's, they have large routes in Nevada, Barney is the last of old Nevada slot machine characters.

Freddy


Freddy:
You're right. It's not US Coin. Barney's company is United Coin, and I certainly know that, as I have collected Casino Dice for many years, and
have a pair of dice, with the United Coin logo & name on them, that I think he did in the late 70's. Indeed, Barney had one of the largest slot
collections known at the time. Especially the Victorian Uprights. He also had a large trade stimulator collection as well, which included several
that I didn't have as yet, or had ever seen.
Yes, He was always one of the big attractions at every Roy Arrington auction. Not just for his heavy bidding, but the Show Girls that were with
him at every event. Many times, he had a different Girl each day, and I also remember him having more than one in a single day. Meaning, at
separate times of the day, not together. :roll: Wow, in his 90's already. Where does all the time go?
Cheers, Bill
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Re: Unusual Craps Machine - Bonanza Million Dice

Postby Dave » Sat Aug 27, 2016 11:41 am

Here is another video of the Million Dice machine.

I used a better camera and this video also shows the dice head unit as well as how the machine automatically unjam itself when the dice are scooped up and are in a position that cannot be read by the readers.

https://youtu.be/oyYfMWKFV-U

I have also updated the earlier post with the YT video to use this video. I will delete the original video in the near future.

Dave
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Re: Unusual Craps Machine - Bonanza Million Dice

Postby tsparts4u » Sun Jun 21, 2020 7:20 am

Hi,
I have the dice machine shown earlier in these postings (the one that shows the ID tag as being made by IGT). Since I posted, I still have not been able to get the machine working. It worked fine until we moved, but right after, it started working erratically, then not at all. I know that this model came in a coin pay out version, and the one that I have, which is a credit version with no hopper.
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Re: Unusual Craps Machine - Bonanza Million Dice

Postby Chris-Socal » Wed Sep 15, 2021 1:33 pm

Great video Dave!
I just acquired one of these, I’m guessing Bonanza Enterprises from Japan, it has a hopper and Japanese text on the PS.
Lots of corrosion on the main board, I think I got most of that fixed. I got it to roll the dice but it won’t stop. I suspect the problem is in the EM portion of the dice box, the motors were seized from sitting for 10 years so the switches are also suspect.
Mine is built into a wood frame and stand. It almost looks factory built. Is that even possible?
Many thanks for all the history here, I would love to see the Roulette machine. Never mind the mess in my garage!

Chris
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