Fruit Machine Chat

I can think of two machines in Glasgow - both located in Wetherspoons pubs - that ALWAYS pay out £1 less than your actual winnings. Is this the landlord being a cnut, or do the rogue coins get trapped in the chute somewhere so an engineer can come round and emoty his wee stash?

Come to think of it there is one other Wetherspoons where myself and my team have never even won so much as £1, on any game. Is it possible to set the machine to 0%?

We undertook a machine crawl yesterday and by the last of 10 pubs we were £2 in profit. There's progress!

Hi Vidmar

I don't think many landlords would have the knowledge to do this or even the incentive to do so, particularly in a 'professional' organisation such as Wetherspoons. The underpaying is more likely to be due to the poor design of the payout mechanisms. On the large oval Gamesnets for example a few pound coins often get stuck on the 'lip' at the bottom of the payout tube so it's always worth checking there if you think you have been underpaid. I've seen a similar thing on ItBoxes as well, although to be fair it's not common to have a decent win on those things given the shabby nature of most of the games!

As for engineers, it is possible I suppose but again they'd have to want to risk potential dismissal if discovered, and would it be worth it for a few quid?

I'm pretty sure you can't set a machine to 0% but there are machines where I can rarely get anything, which I usually attribute to their not being played enough by general punters as opposed to someone emptying them (either a pro or a dodgy engineer!).

ages ago i was in a pub where (presumably some herbert) had bunged the payout tube with cardboard. that takes some chutzpah to come back just before the engineer visits and collect your winnings. on the flipside you sometimes get overpaid by a couple of quid if previous punters have their cash stolen. i find that money in fatboxes is particularly hookey.
invest 20p in a comb and take it whenever you play the machine, you can use it to forage for treasure.

unknownpseudonym wrote: invest 20p in a comb and take it whenever you play the machine, you can use it to forage for treasure.

Dextrous reconnaissance work with a dentist's mirror and penlight can halve the time it takes to locate and dislodge trapped cash with a comb.

Was that out of Viz top tips?
I noticed also that certain machines ALWAYS pay out at least £1 less than your full winnings (Baron of Beef in Cambridge for one.).

I've noticed on several occasions ITBoxes conveniently suffering from screen calibration problems over the 'Collect' button, normally meaning that you end up viewing the FatSpanner intro screen for Bullseye umpteen times whilst vainly trying to take your winnings.

I have never noticed this. Is it perhaps possible that you are a malcoordinated buffoon?

Ernest W. Quality wrote:I have never noticed this. Is it perhaps possible that you are a malcoordinated buffoon?

Not at all. I suspect that you haven't noticed this problem because you never have reason to press the collect button in the first place, Ernest.

vaginalbob wrote:Not at all. I suspect that you haven't noticed this problem because you never have reason to press the collect button in the first place, Ernest.

Ow, my ego. You need to remember the parallax error will be biggest at the very edges of the screen.

Ernest W. Quality wrote:

vaginalbob wrote:Not at all. I suspect that you haven't noticed this problem because you never have reason to press the collect button in the first place, Ernest.

Ow, my ego. You need to remember the parallax error will be biggest at the very edges of the screen.

'Sticks and stones...' is not a legitimate bantering riposte, hence I win.

I doubt it's parallax error. I think it's something far more sinister.

vaginalbob wrote:'Sticks and stones...' is not a legitimate bantering riposte, hence I win.

Git.

vaginalbob wrote:I doubt it's parallax error. I think it's something far more sinister.

Perpendiculax error?

I would just like to briefly concur with vidmar.
The amount of times an itbox has paid out £1 less is beyond belief though I would imagine he mainly focuses on Weatherspoons because they all have 2 machines and the need to buy drink is fairly minimal if that is of concern(oh except the crystal palace!).
Gamesnet will also pay short(though sometimes much much more-I will open this subject tonight) but thanks to the many helpful suggestions provided at least this money is retrievable.
Has anyone ever been overpaid on a (sh)itbox.Didn't think so!!
In other words, an absolute con.

I have definitely had this and am glad I wasn't imagining it! Theres one Gamesnet that Ive played near me in Notts and it paid out £1 less on every win - every time without fail. I almost got my hand stuck inside the machine looking for the missing quid lol. I couldnt complain too much cos it was quite a generous payer. This thread hasnt really answered my question tho of how they can get the machine to do this.

Me and a few mates have a specific 'machine route' through Glasgow we like to indulge in with a day off. £1 each in 10 pubs, all winnings collected and splurged on booze in the final pub. There is actually only 1 Wetherspoons on the route, and that is a new addition, although it has two machines both of which seem to pay correctly.

It was a mate's birthday on Monday so we did the route then and the machines were mostly generous, at least breaking even in all but the last pub. Perhaps Mondays are the best day due to the hoppers bursting from the cash of Saturday night pissheads.

vaginalbob wrote:I've noticed on several occasions ITBoxes conveniently suffering from screen calibration problems over the 'Collect' button, normally meaning that you end up viewing the FatSpanner intro screen for Bullseye umpteen times whilst vainly trying to take your winnings.

This definitely happens, whether intentionally or not - certain ItBox screen resolutions can mean the Collect button just will not register your touches. For a similar but slightly different problem, if anyone is in or around Cardiff try to play Millionaire 2006 on the ItBox at the Lloyds No. 1 pub opposite the main train station. Answering C or D is a stressful and hazardous occupation due to the poor screen calibration, and I'm sure we all know of other examples like this on touchcreen cabinets. Bring back the real buttons I say!