Newbie looking for advice

Lostboy444 · Post by **Lostboy444** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 5:58 pm

Alright guys, Whilst I have played the quiz machine a few times, I have never tried to make a living from it and was more just for fun. However I recently lost my job and was looking for possible routes to go down, and i recently saw people were able to make a living from Quiz machines. I think I would be pretty good at doing this as a job as for pretty much all my exams at school/college/uni and also the driving theory I used the method of memorizing the answers, and this is apparently the way to win at quiz machines as well.

Could anyone help me out in the possibility of getting started with a career as a pub quiz master. What do I need to do?, and what do I need to know?

How many varieties of machine are there, and which are the most popular/ones I should look out for?

Basically what do I need to know, before I can start heading out and doing it for real?

All help would be much appreciated, thank you

paragoon · Post by **paragoon** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 9:14 pm

My advice is buy a time machine. Go back ten years and you could be rolling in it. Otherwise forget it.

Nil Satis · Post by **Nil Satis** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:08 pm

Play them as much as you can and be organised and disciplined about it, but the more sensible advice is, as paragoon says, to forget it - the tiny number of players still left who make a full or part time living from quiz machines have in most cases been playing seriously for 20-30 years. You would also be faced with the overriding issue that in most locations the numbers of machines left to play is down anywhere between 20-80% on even a few years ago. The business is dying.

Topical2009 · Post by **Topical2009** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:53 pm

Can't disagree with any of that. If you want to do it, don't let anyone stop you, but (and it's such a big but that Sir Mixalot could have written a song about it) you might want to spend an evening reading through the archives here, see what people have said over the last few years, and get a feel for the business. Decide for yourself if it's just the written record of a load of old farts saying that things aren't as good as they used to be (which has always been the case), a handy guide to which games are worth pursuing, where to go etc., or a warning that it's not worth it.

Short version: if you really want to give it a shot, treat it as a job (these days a job which often doesn't pay all that well). And the only real way to get better is to play, play, play.

Lostboy444 · Post by **Lostboy444** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 5:58 pm

Thanks for the replies, after reading these and some of the forum it looks like I am too late to make any money from this, with machines disappearing and not paying out. It is a shame as i think i might have been pretty good at it, looks like I will have to try something else.

Full respect for anyone who was able to make money from it though!

SoccerHQ · Post by **SoccerHQ** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 10:50 pm

GamesNet and Games warehouse are still the most likely consoles to be found so start trialing some games on there and see which ones you're good at.

If you say general knowledge then Pub Quiz or Pints make Prizes are worth a try. If you know a bit about football, then try Footy Quiz on the GamesNet or I quiz.

Do you live near any big cities? Again town centre will have plenty of pubs which may or may not have quiz machines. Even a little out in the suburbs there will be Hungry Horses, Flaming Grills etc that again may or may not have machines. Amusingly Hollywood Bowls have come on my radar very recently which has been a welcome surprise....

You don't have to drive to get to these places, just use a day travelcard in London or the train if there's plenty of towns close to each other like in the Northwest.

Sloach · Post by **Sloach** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:30 am

Nil Satis wrote:You would also be faced with the overriding issue that in most locations the numbers of machines left to play is down anywhere between 20-80% on even a few years ago. The business is dying.

20% at best in some areas sadly. I can think of towns or streets which used to have half a dozen locations but now don't have a single one.

Sloach · Post by **Sloach** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 10:27 pm

Lostboy444 wrote:Alright guys, Whilst I have played the quiz machine a few times, I have never tried to make a living from it and was more just for fun. However I recently lost my job and was looking for possible routes to go down, and i recently saw people were able to make a living from Quiz machines. I think I would be pretty good at doing this as a job as for pretty much all my exams at school/college/uni and also the driving theory I used the method of memorizing the answers, and this is apparently the way to win at quiz machines as well.

Could anyone help me out in the possibility of getting started with a career as a pub quiz master. What do I need to do?, and what do I need to know?

How many varieties of machine are there, and which are the most popular/ones I should look out for?

Basically what do I need to know, before I can start heading out and doing it for real?

All help would be much appreciated, thank you

SWPs are dead. Move on.

JG · Post by JG » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:04 pm

Which of these killed the quiz machine?

A) Smartphones
B) Consumer trends
C) Poor game design
D) The decline in the pub trade
E) Poor machine maintenance
F) Pro Players
G) The 2010 SWP regulations

wires74 · Post by **wires74** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:29 pm

Personally i think a combination of B and D alas

muddle · Post by **muddle** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 12:48 am

All of the above.And I think you could also include G) The 2010 SWP regulations.Of the 6 above,I actually think that F is the least significant,and if more people are of Sloach's mind,it's about to get even less significant.

JG edit: good point, I'd forgotten about those, option now added

paragoon · Post by **paragoon** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 9:25 am

B and D for me.
The new Gamesnet menu is a case in point -
NEW! Brainteser! - shit game that's really OLD AND NOT NEW AT ALL and impossible
NEW! The Crystal Maze! - OLD game. Enjoyable to spend 50p but impossible to win
NEW! ...can't remember what else they're claiming as NEW! but is actually OLD!
What a joke lol

muddle · Post by **muddle** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 11:43 am

JG wrote:Which of these killed the quiz machine?

A) Smartphones
B) Consumer trends
C) Poor game design
D) The decline in the pub trade
E) Poor machine maintenance
F) Pro Players

Just wondering JG - some if not all of those factors you list affect the fruit machine too - has the situation with the bandits stayed roughly the same or have things changed there too?

SoccerHQ · Post by **SoccerHQ** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 8:38 pm

paragoon wrote:B and D for me.
The new Gamesnet menu is a case in point -
NEW! Brainteser! - shit game that's really OLD AND NOT NEW AT ALL and impossible
NEW! The Crystal Maze! - OLD game. Enjoyable to spend 50p but impossible to win
NEW! ...can't remember what else they're claiming as NEW! but is actually OLD!
What a joke lol

It's probably been answered before on here but has anyone ever won, or known of anyone, who's won the 50 quid Jackpot on The Crystal Maze. I've got the 10 quid one a couple of times before 50 quid is impossible although I recall on here someone saying all jackpots on the games had to be possible to achieve.

Sloach · Post by **Sloach** » Sun Apr 26, 2015 10:14 am

Yeah I would agree with most of the above. Pubs have changed and pub goers have changed. I don't think there was much the gaming companies could have done about it.