Pinball Legal in Oakland Ca.

The City of Oakland is poised to reverse a decades-old law that prohibits pinball when the City Council's public safety committee meets later this week.

The law was originally put into place in the 1930s, when pinball machines didn't yet have the flippers that transformed the machines into their current form. The absence of the flippers made pinball a game of chance, and as such, was considered gambling –– players could receive cash payouts from the bar or store if they won.