The "Big Shot" pinball machine, manufactured by Gottlieb in 1974, is an electro-mechanical game designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morison. The game features a billiards theme, challenging players with two sets of seven drop targets that represent the solids and stripes in pool, along with a critical eight ball target.
| Edition | Year | Production | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro Pool | 1973 | 800 | 346 |
| Big Shot | 1973 | 2,900 | 343 |
| Hot Shot | 1973 | 9,000 | 342 |
| Play Pool | 1972 | 2,339 | 345 |
The same machine, made under a different name by a different manufacturer: licensed copies, conversion kits, and re-releases.
| Name | Manufacturer | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Play Pool | LORI | Dec 1972 |
| Cleopatra | Mondialmatic | 1979 |
| Lucky Strike | Taito | 1978 |
Get all 15 pool balls, then UTAD, trying to get the 8-ball lane for 5,000 or as many other top lanes and bumper hits as possible.
Balanced
Very High
This is the 2-player version of Hot Shot. One of several pool-themed games where your goal is to collect all 15 pool balls. On this game, 14 of these are in two rows of seven standup targets on each side. The last is the eight ball, earned from either the top center lane [your Skill Shot] or the center saucer [risky shot]. The eight ball shot also opens the ball return gate on the lower right side. Bonus is 1000 per pool ball, 15k max; the bonus is doubled on the second-last ball (ball 4 in tournament play) and tripled on the last ball (ball 5). The game is therefore highly skewed towards the last two balls since bonus is a large part of your overall score. One drawback of this game is that once you’ve collected all of the pool balls, there’s not much to do - - the targets don’t reset in the replay version like they do in the add-a-ball one, and there’s no collect bonus feature. About all that’s left is are the lanes for 500 or 1000 each and the bumper for 1000 at that stage.
via Bob's Guide
Get all 15 pool balls, then UTAD, trying to get the 8-ball lane for 5,000 or as many other top lanes and bumper hits as possible.
Balanced
Very High
This is the single-player add-a-ball version of Hot Shot / Big Shot. One of several pool-themed games where your goal is to collect all 15 pool balls. On this game, 14 of these are in two rows of seven standup targets on each side. The last is the eight ball, earned from either the top center lane [your Skill Shot] or the center saucer [risky shot]. The eight ball shot also opens the ball return gate on the lower right side. Bonus is 1000 per pool ball, 15k max. Unlike Hot Shot and Big Shot, Pro Pool does not increase the bonus values on your last two balls. This makes the game more balanced; your last ball is not worth so much more than your first. One drawback of this game is that once you’ve collected all of the pool balls, there’s not much to do - - the targets don’t reset in the replay version like they do in the add-a-ball one, and there’s no collect bonus feature. About all that’s left is are the lanes for 500 or 1000 each and the bumper for 1000 at that stage.
via Bob's Guide
On the floor at 9 locations · 7 in our directory
Podcasts, videos, and articles from the community that mention Big Shot / Hot Shot / Pro Pool.
Cassie's interview with Jeff Teolis --- let me know if you guys dug this i'll do more i been diggin on this game lately...cheers
In this episode Dave interviews a father and son team from Rochester NY who are big fans of our podcast and Dr. Dave's Pinball Restorations YouTube channel. Scott and his 11 year old son Griffin discuss their current collection and how…
