Hit me on nineteen — Williams’ Club House is an electromechanical single-player wrapped in a cards-and-gambling theme built around blackjack, designed by the pioneering Harry Williams and Sam Stern with art by George Molentin. With light-based scoring, it’s a woodrail-era artifact from two genuine giants of the early industry, celebrating the tension of the card table.
The layout is elegantly focused in the classic early-EM tradition: two flippers, three pop bumpers, three kick-out holes, and a gobble hole. That gobble hole is a hallmark of the era’s bold design philosophy — the daring, high-risk feature that swallows the ball for an award — while the three kick-out holes offer captured-ball awards to chase and the three pop bumpers keep the ball lively up top. It’s a clean, focused design in the classic mold, rewarding a player willing to brave the gobble hole for its prize while keeping the ball alive, all in service of the high-stakes blackjack theme.
Club House is a lovely piece of history for the collector who cherishes the deepest roots of the hobby and the legendary figures who planted them. Harry Williams was a founding visionary of the modern flipper game, and Sam Stern was a towering industry figure whose name would echo through decades of pinball history, so a machine crediting both carries a genuinely notable pedigree. The blackjack theme was a perennial favorite, all luck and high stakes. For anyone who loves the golden age of EM pinball and its founding figures, it’s a worthy find. Brave that gobble hole, ride the bumpers, and try to beat the dealer. Some machines carry a distinguished pedigree, and this Williams-and-Stern card classic is one of them. Place your bet and drop a coin.