ABSTRACT
When Nate Robin and Al Rest broke their exclusivity agreement with David Gottlieb to sell Bingo in late 1931 and thus set in motion the series of events that led Gottlieb to release Baffle Ball, they did so at the behest of a Chicago tool and die maker named Leo Berman. At the time, pinball remained a Midwestern phenomenon, but Berman harbored ambitions to take the game nationwide. Doing so required cracking the competitive New York City market with its thriving Sportland arcades, and doing that required a man with solid connections throughout the five boroughs. Berman turned to an acquaintance named Irving Bromberg. 1
