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Author Topic: repurpose that cabinet...  (Read 3816 times)

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lilshawn

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repurpose that cabinet...
« on: November 21, 2014, 03:39:21 pm »
We got a few of these dud texas holdem type poker cabinets that haven't so much as made us our money back from purchasing them. I decided to take one of them and convert it to a multi-in-1 cabinet.

For those that don't know, these are "Pokertek" branded "Heads up poker" game. there is 2 small LCD's on either side that show your cards and a large 20 something inch monitor in the middle that displays the pot of chips and the river/turn/flop cards dealt out. great idea...but problem is, nobody played it. we purchased an update that also added bocce to the cabinet, to try and drum up plays. nothing.

machine was making ~$4 a month

so here they sit. a real marvel of engineering they are... 3 video screens (all DVI)... USB trackballs.... nobody playing it.

1st problem.... The main monitor only accepts DVI. The multi-in-1 only outputs 15k RGB or VGA.  :'(

i can do this. start pricing out monitors that will fit in the cabinet.  settle on 1 or 2 that might work. then, I notice the video interface board of the original monitor has a spot for a VGA connector, it's just not populated. Couldn't be that easy could it? Solder one on there...yes. yes it is.

so I gut the machine and pull the 2 small monitors, gut the control panels and install joysticks little too long. nothing a hacksaw can't fix.

add additional buttons. peel off the poker artwork. looks good. paint everything up...

plays good... think people will enjoy it better than the poker game.  :cheers:






yotsuya

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #1 on: November 21, 2014, 03:41:33 pm »
Sweet. How much for the small monitors shipped to 85015?  >:D
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Louis Tully

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2014, 03:48:20 pm »
.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2015, 06:14:34 pm by Louis Tully »

Generic Eric

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2014, 03:58:47 pm »
Yes, this looks neat.

Curious about the monitors too.  I didn't see a picture.  How do they connect?

Also, that machine looks like a webber grill.

lilshawn

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2014, 04:05:19 pm »
Sweet. How much for the small monitors shipped to 85015?  >:D

I have one with a dead backlight inverter and the other....well... lol, i can find out if you really want.

i played around with the working one at home last weekend after i pulled it. It's a 4:3 aspect 5.5" with a native resolution of somewhere around 320x240. the board will take 640x480 no problem, but it's a little ugly though. i didn't try any higher resolution. It accepts 12volts input and was able to power it easily with a 2.5 amp power supply.

i set my computer to output 320x240 (which i figure is the panels native resolution) as a 3rd monitor...looks great at native resolution. didn't see any wired pixel doubling so i THINK that is it's native resolution. 

displayed some widgets that show my cpu load, fan speeds and core temps.

think I may cut a custom piece of plastic and take over 2 of my computers drive bays with it. Flashy as all hell with my water cooling system.  ;D

i have yet to plop a spectrum analyzer or other visualizer on the screen so see how it looks. perhaps this weekend.  :cheers:

lilshawn

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2014, 04:09:12 pm »
Yes, this looks neat.

Curious about the monitors too.  I didn't see a picture.  How do they connect?

Also, that machine looks like a webber grill.

the 2 small monitors each used a custom made cable that connects to a header on the main board.

at it's root, it's DVI.

the main monitor connected to a videocard (for the 3d graphics acceleration for the animations) and uses a standard DVI cable.

the panel driver boards on the 2 small monitors and the large monitor are nearly identical so i'm able to take the "standard" DVI cable to replace the custom deal they used.

these driver boards were also able to be modified to plug into straight VGA as well and accept an analog signal.

I'll post some pics in a bit

Generic Eric

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2014, 04:11:51 pm »

I'll post some pics in a bit


I think people would like to see some pics for sure. 

yotsuya

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #7 on: November 21, 2014, 04:17:43 pm »
Sweet. How much for the small monitors shipped to 85015?  >:D

I have one with a dead backlight inverter and the other....well... lol, i can find out if you really want.


Naw, just messing with you. But post photos if you do anything with it!  :cheers:
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lilshawn

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2014, 04:34:07 pm »
i got kinda sidetracked with my train of thought...

what i meant was because i had modded the main monitor to accept VGA, i didn't need the DVI cable.

so the custom cable used for the little monitors...(since the board is the same) was not needed...

i just used the big monitors DVI cable on the little monitor.  :cheers:

which is also slightly moot, since they can easily be modded to accept VGA :P

anyways. here is some more pics... i'm holding up the little monitor...



also the video connector of the monitor (both where it attaches to the monitor and where it attaches to the board are identical) it attaches just south of the VGA.



a shot of the monitors on the original game. you press the center button above the monitor to "flip" the edge of the cards over and see what you were dealt. (trackball is to adjust your bet up or down. kind of a waste of a USB trackball if you ask me)



and an interior shot of the original game. the monitors connect where the L-MB and R-MB connectors can be seen. the main LCD connects to the videocard to the right via the DVI cable


yotsuya

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2014, 04:35:41 pm »
Interesting. Would love to see video of it in action. Where was it on location?
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lilshawn

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #10 on: November 21, 2014, 04:43:19 pm »
typical pub. we have IIRC 4 of these machines. none of them make any money.

cellphones killed the games in bars and lounges. people would rather sit on their phone and play a game for free than spend a buck and pay to play something.

I'll record a video and upload it to youtube after work for you.  :cheers: i just happen to have this machine in to have it's motherboard recapped. not sure if it's going back.

(the conversion machine was sitting in the shop for the last 6 months.)

yotsuya

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #11 on: November 21, 2014, 04:47:29 pm »
typical pub. we have IIRC 4 of these machines. none of them make any money.

cellphones killed the games in bars and lounges. people would rather sit on their phone and play a game for free than spend a buck and pay to play something.

I'll record a video and upload it to youtube after work for you.  :cheers: i just happen to have this machine in to have it's motherboard recapped. not sure if it's going back.

(the conversion machine was sitting in the shop for the last 6 months.)

Yeah, I could see that. I wonder how it would do in a casino or Nevada truck stop?
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

lilshawn

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #12 on: November 21, 2014, 05:29:48 pm »
typical pub. we have IIRC 4 of these machines. none of them make any money.

cellphones killed the games in bars and lounges. people would rather sit on their phone and play a game for free than spend a buck and pay to play something.

I'll record a video and upload it to youtube after work for you.  :cheers: i just happen to have this machine in to have it's motherboard recapped. not sure if it's going back.

(the conversion machine was sitting in the shop for the last 6 months.)

Yeah, I could see that. I wonder how it would do in a casino or Nevada truck stop?

not sure. nevada is about 2000km (1200 miles) away.  ;D

the government in canada has a strangle hold on casinos and all forms of gambling. While not technically a gambling machine, (you pay to play a game and no money is returned) these pokertek machines were outlawed here for a time. we were sitting on a few of them when they first came out because the alberta liquor and gaming commission forced us to remove them. after a bunch of vendors complained and explained the machine we were allowed to place them.

apparently the pokertek company made machines FOR casinos (like HUGE 10/12 player machines) and had them in casinos and cruise ships.


http://www.multimediagames.com/pokerpro

october of this year the company sold itself off to "Multimedia Games" in texas and i'm sure the founders made off like bandits. These small 2 player machines were likely a test for them. I'm not sure how the big machines work for them or what the logistics of the game are. (play for fake or real money)

lilshawn

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #13 on: November 22, 2014, 12:48:07 pm »


quick and dirty video.

also...i'm not a poker player...i have no idea WTF i'm doing.

jennifer

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #14 on: November 22, 2014, 03:36:02 pm »
     Jennifer, (being all suspicious like I am), would not trust some Dbag  pit boss messing with the odds on a machine like that as your playing it, they already "monitor" slots and took all the fun out of that for me... That cab you have there is awesome, too bad its not doing so good, but it would almost be criminal not to repurpose such an elegant design. 

jmike

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #15 on: November 23, 2014, 09:43:35 pm »
Maybe it's just me but I actually played and enjoyed playing hold'em in that machine. They had one at the Dave and Busters in NY Times Square. Definitely dropped more than $4 on it.

Just curious how much would one of those cost?

lilshawn

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #16 on: November 24, 2014, 10:20:55 am »
i think they were about 7000 new. check out auctions where they are selling machines, you can probably get them for next to nothing. nobody wants them anymore.

like i said, this machine still hasn't made back the money it cost to buy the machine. (the life meter on the working one i have here has 2600 bucks on it.)

pbj

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #17 on: November 24, 2014, 10:44:50 am »
That's a pretty nifty retrofit.  I am so freaking glad that the Texas Hold Em fad is finally over. 

lilshawn

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #18 on: November 24, 2014, 07:05:30 pm »
That's a pretty nifty retrofit.  I am so freaking glad that the Texas Hold Em fad is finally over. 

texas hold'em is soOOOooo 2005.5


pbj

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #19 on: November 24, 2014, 09:02:10 pm »
That's a pretty nifty retrofit.  I am so freaking glad that the Texas Hold Em fad is finally over. 

texas hold'em is soOOOooo 2005.5

It's a game of SKILL, man!  You just don't get it!!!   

 ::)

Of course, you can't influence the cards.... but it's skill!

And to think a damned pinball machine came out themed on it.  Pinball machines for decades let you build your hand... until World Poker Tour.

Was funny to see all the dorks in mirrored sunglasses and baseball hats in the casinos, though.

All that being said, do something better with this cabinet.  I'm thinking this thing is screaming for Rampart personally.



lilshawn

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #20 on: November 25, 2014, 08:31:20 pm »
All that being said, do something better with this cabinet.  I'm thinking this thing is screaming for Rampart personally.

I doos what da boss sez. I would have mame'd the crap out of it but meh, what can you do? So I just do the best I can with what i'm presented with.

maybe the next one...

keilmillerjr

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #21 on: November 27, 2014, 12:47:09 pm »
Showed my father this. He loves poker. Those units are so cool. It's a shame they are getting hacked up. ;(

Maybe they are not making money because they are in the wrong type of setting.

compute

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Re: repurpose that cabinet...
« Reply #22 on: December 18, 2014, 01:33:04 pm »
I'm surprised I don't see anything like that around here, as long as it knocks off credits anyway.  It's too bad you lost money on those, but they look slick as multicades.  Could probably get like $800 for one of those around here.  Now when is the next auction..