Fruit Machine Chat

Is it just my imagination or are Itboxes becoming more reliable in actually paying out the right amount of cash?

Just over a year ago I can remember just about every Itbox I played on would underpay my measly £3 wins!! I'd hear the noise but not see the money. Now it seems that most of them do actually pay out.

Although - there is that annoying design of the chute which allows the occasional pound to get stuck on its way out. That's when long fingers come in handy.

On the whole though I feel more confident when playing Paragon or Gamesnet machines, in that they will pay out more reliably than Itboxes.

Although - I was once playing a Paragon and went to collect my £9 win...and the little blighter printed a message on the screen "Hopper empty - I owe you £6". Damn cheek!

I think ItBoxes with a right-side payout chute are nearly 100 per cent reliable. The central chutes are inclined to under-pay but a combination of long fingers and a sharp shove of the machine can usually be relied upon to get it all back, I find. The main problem I've had with IBs is they are fussy about which pound coins they want to take - in particular I don't think they like three or four quid being put in them in very quick succession (i.e. at the start of a session).

Paragons are very reliable, I think, but I haven't been playing them so much lately. GamesNets seem pretty good at the moment. Ind:es occasionally under-pay by a quid or so but again long fingers will usually do the trick.

All the above assumes though, that they've actually got the cash to give you. If they haven't, then your Paragon experience will come into play. Not much to do about that except take the money as you win it and stop playing if it stops paying.

Have to say I have the same experience as Grecian. The right hand side ones are fine - the ones where the money cascades down into the tray. The ones with the central payout are terrible. I have ceased bothering with fingers and just resport to a quick shake these days. The money nearly always drops out with the slightest encouragement.

Gamesnets are terrible. I am always getting shorted on these and have to use fingers bent at an angle.

INDE's are not as bad as Gamesnets, but sticking fingers up is oft required.

Paragons seem fine. Never have any trouble with these. To be honest, the most trouble I have with Paragons is actually putting money in. They are the worst for taking coins in my view.

QuizMaster wrote:
Gamesnets are terrible. I am always getting shorted on these and have to use fingers bent at an angle.

Is the trick to collect pretty slowly i.e. only collect another £2 when the last £2 has appeared? I do it that way and rarely have problems (but I play GamesNets comparatively rarely). Also, it does take a while if large sums are involved.

The old trick (I think credit due to QM) of rapidly piling down a load of 2ps has worked for me quite a few times.

Always gets a few raised eyebrows though from less regular playing drinking buddies

grecian wrote:Is the trick to collect pretty slowly i.e. only collect another £2 when the last £2 has appeared? I do it that way and rarely have problems (but I play GamesNets comparatively rarely). Also, it does take a while if large sums are involved.

On the previous version of the large oval Gamesnets it was good practice to collect your winnings in £2 units as trying to collect in one go often led to the machine erroring. The current version only allows you to collect in £2 units so that problem has now gone away - I haven't seen the 'Red Screen of Death' for a year or so now.

QuizMaster wrote:Paragons seem fine. Never have any trouble with these. To be honest, the most trouble I have with Paragons is actually putting money in. They are the worst for taking coins in my view.

Switching them off and on usually solves this, though doing so is not always a good idea of course.

Northern Monkey wrote:The old trick (I think credit due to QM) of rapidly piling down a load of 2ps has worked for me quite a few times.

Always gets a few raised eyebrows though from less regular playing drinking buddies

I carry two 'old' 50p pieces, same theory- more weight!

A good shake and/or fingers up the chute have always resolved the issue. I am miles in front with extra money that has come out doing this so they could leave them unreliable for me.

xyz

Yes - The side chute is definitely more reliable. The coins seem to be ejected at higher velocity from the side chute than the centre chute. Sometimes the force at which the coins come out of the centre chute is pathetically laughable!

My fingers aren't too long so I can't rely on this method to recover the pounds. I usually carry around with me something handy like a pen or a girlfriend with long fingers :P

The pen method is not too elegant but occasionally gets the job done. I tried the raft of 2ps method that was mentioned on this thread and was pleased to successfully recover 2 quid.

with gamesnets 20p's or coppers often come out instead of pounds.

On Gamesnets I'm with Quizard's method on ItBox - Shake 'em!!