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  • I'm in Hull, a small seaside town near Boston in the northeast United States.

  • I grew up visiting the British equivalent of towns like this, and sure,

  • it's the middle of winter,

  • it is so bitterly cold here that the ocean foam has frozen.

  • There aren't any tourists, nearly everything's closed for the season,

  • but this town still feels a little like home to me.

  • There is one place on the seafront here that's open specially today though.

  • And it's the last play-for-cash Fascination Parlor in the world.

  • - A lot of these did exist back in the day.

  • I'm not exactly sure how many, all I do know is: this is the longest standing.

  • A hundred years old last year.

  • It was transported up here sometime over the past century from Coney Island

  • and now sits here on Nantasket Beach.

  • There are 64 machines here,

  • so on a busy night here we'll have 64 players.

  • The game begins with your bill on the glass,

  • we'll range anywhere from a quarter

  • to a dollar and maybe two dollars at a point in time.

  • We have the entertainment and gaming licence

  • for anyone to come in and play, as long as you're over 18 years old.

  • It is a game of skill.

  • Like everything in life, there is some luck that goes into it,

  • but certainly there are some skilled players that I have witnessed over the past year.

  • - So here are the rules: roll the balls into the holes.

  • Each time you sink a ball,

  • the corresponding light on the board switches on.

  • First to get a line of five, horizontal, vertical or diagonal, wins,

  • or in some cases, first to light up the whole board.

  • And here, you win cash.

  • There are other Fascination parlors

  • but this is the only one where you're not playing

  • for tokens you can redeem, you're not playing

  • against the house, you are playing against everyone else.

  • And if win, you're taking their money.

  • With the house taking a cut, of course.

  • But it is winter, it's the off-season, there are no tourists,

  • so today I am just playing against Chas, the owner.

  • Do you have three balls there?

  • - I do, I'm ready to go, how 'bout yourself?

  • - Alright, so it's a dollar?

  • - Dollar on the glass.

  • Where's my dollar bill?

  • Think I might be out, but let me double check.

  • - Do you need to borrow a dollar(?) - I think I do.

  • [laughs]

  • Thank you sir.

  • - Alright dollar on the glass. - Dollar on the glass.

  • - Alright, good luck Tom. - Alright.

  • - Three, two, one, roll 'em.

  • [balls rattling]

  • - So, we're playing to cover here.

  • - Playing to cover. - Okay.

  • - [CHAS] "It is winter right now,

  • "so the plan for the next few months is to reestablish the arcade,

  • "shake it up a little bit in there,

  • "meaning we're looking to make it easy

  • "for everyone to join, understand the rules,

  • "and get in here and be a part of the fun."

  • - How do you aim?

  • - [CHAS] "Every so often, these games will peter out because of their age,

  • "and there's a local gentleman

  • "who comes in on a weekend, fixes them for us,

  • "so we get right back at it the next week.

  • ""It is still running on century-old technology,

  • "just a few different components are changed in and out, of course.

  • "They are all tied together into one circuit and work amongst themselves."

  • - Am I in the lead? I think I'm in the lead, just.

  • - Oh yeah, it's by three or four there! I gotta catch up.

  • [CHAS] "I think there's a place for it to expand and grow

  • "and be in a lot of different places throughout the world

  • "but the reason it isn't everywhere is, I think,

  • "we are a part of the technological era,

  • "and with different ways that you can stay busy nowadays,

  • "cell phones and gaming consoles, televisions,

  • "there are other things that pull away from old-fashioned fun, if you will."

  • - It's just not... yes, okay, three! I've got three, you've got four.

  • [CHAS] - "We're going to continue to build off of the history that Fascination,

  • "here on Nantasket Beach, has had for decades.

  • "I've heard numerous stories of the folks

  • "that used to run this over the past five or six decades,

  • "even more, and I wish these walls could talk

  • "because there would be a lot to talk about."

  • - Oh, come on, I've got one.

  • [TOM] "What I love about this is that these are

  • "century-old machines, built with the same relays

  • "that powered old telephone exchanges, and they're all interlocked together,

  • "in one really complicated circuit.

  • "No microelectronics, no wifi, just a lot of things that go clunk and buzz."

  • [CHAS] - "So when someone lights up the board,

  • "everyone on the sidewalk, everybody in here

  • "can hear it and they know about it.

  • "There's usually cheering, all the lights on the board go off

  • "and the gentleman calling the game, or the woman calling the game,

  • "will make the announcement that the winner is at, for example, 'table 13!'"

  • This has got to be it, come on.

  • - I've hit the one next to the one I need

  • six times now. - Game over, Tom!

  • [bell ringing] Winner, winner!

  • Good game sir, I'll take that and I'll take that.

  • - Yep, so close.

  • [bell ringing, then stops]

  • That was genuinely fun. - That was, isn't it?

  • The cool thing is, you get these folks

  • who have never played before, they sit down,

  • have just as much fun as we just had

  • and whether they've played it once or twice before,

  • next thing you know they're here

  • for three hours long, and as you can see,

  • it seems easier than it actually is.

  • - Yeah, cause the first one's like, oh, I'm lighting everything up,

  • and then, you cannot nail the one.

  • - Yeah, you cannot, you look and you try

  • probably twelve times. - Yeah. [laughs]

  • Thank you. - Yes sir, thank you Tom.

  • - Thank you to Chas and all the team here at the Paragon Boardwalk.

  • You can pull down the description

  • for more about them and about the Fascination Parlor.

I'm in Hull, a small seaside town near Boston in the northeast United States.

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