38 replies to this topic

[Icarus]

Hi guys,

Seeing as you all seem quite knowledgeable on slot machines, I thought I'd drop by and ask you a question or two.

I live in Belgium, and over here, we have a lot of gambling places (strictly for people over 21, with only slot machines/electronic roulettes etc inside).

We have a lot of machines that could be classified as video slots, but that differ greatly from your normal ones as "skill" is involved (some skill is involved as you decide where to put your row of symbols, but of course the machine is programmed to only give out so many winning combinations etc...). You get rows of dice/symbols that you have to place in one of 3-4 cards and make combinations in order to get points. Your total of points per game determines how much you win per game, with some bonus points awarded for 9 alike in the same card, or other things. Stake per game goes up to 5-10 euros and you can win up to 500-2000 euros per game, more with some special features etc...

We generally call those machines 'slots', they used to be all over belgian pubs until they got banned because too addictive and accessible for youngsters, now they're only allowed in those gambling places, but re-designed (original ones used to have fruit symbols instead of dice).

Here's a couple models to give you an idea:




As you noticed, Bell Fruit games is the creator of those games and it's licensed in belgium through Eurautomat.

Check out their website Eurautomat | electronic games manufacturing for gameplay videos and a better understanding on how those machines work, it's in the "Class II" section in the menu on the left.


My questions are as follow:

- Is there anything similar anywhere else in the world?

- Does anyone have technical information on those machines..or any info for that matter? I can't find ANYTHING written about them on the internet, besides the websites of the manufacturers.

- What would you call such games? Just video slots?

- If anyone has heard of them, was a ROM ever extracted from them?


Thanks in advance for sharing any info you might have and I wish you all a great new year!

[cashbox1]

hiya icarus and welcome to Fruit-Emu we have tons of people who are very knowledgeable on this site.personally,ive not seen anything like these,but it would be good to know a little more about them,they look interesting

[voodoomau5]

lol I'm suprised bellfruit haven't invaded Belgium with deal or no deal yet. One things a sure fact, you won't see me in Belgium any time soon.

[DJDONKEY]

lol I'm suprised bellfruit haven't invaded Belgium with deal or no deal yet. One things a sure fact, you won't see me in Belgium any time soon.

Ah, you could be wrong there!

Follow the link above and there is indeed a deal or no deal machine (2 in fact)... LOL

[Deano]

These Belgian machines do look interesting. The first pic looks similar to a b3 over here called Random Spinner. The top wheel spin is achieved by getting matching symbols on the bottom video reels. Played some skill machines in Spain but they were difficult to get wins, especially when you've had a few beers lol;-)

[voodoomau5]

Ah, you could be wrong there!

Follow the link above and there is indeed a deal or no deal machine (2 in fact)... LOL

It's just like the Polish.

[Matty.N]

lol I'm suprised bellfruit haven't invaded Belgium with deal or no deal yet. One things a sure fact, you won't see me in Belgium any time soon.

Oh god no

i anywhere in this world safe from deal or no deal?

i cant escape it, it follows me everywhere :~(~

[hurricane]

That Dice Spinner looks very similar to our Random Spinner, well at least for the top feature bonus part of it anyway. Not sure about game play.

Heres a link to the bell fruit website so you can take a look at Random Spinner... if you want to, along with our other B3's.

Bell-Fruit Games - Products - Cat B3

[curlywill]

ARRRGGGHHH!!! DOND go away FFS!!!

[stevedude2]

Hi Icarus, welcome to the forum

These dice slot games are all the rage in Belgium. Players enjoy the 'perceived' skill element that the games offer. I'm not aware of them being popular or even available in any other country.

The Bell Fruit ones in the pictures are both on Scorpion technology I think.

The only other company I know that have done games like this is Astra Games.

[Icarus]

thanks for the answers guys

Indeed Steve, being a former gambling addict myself, I know all about those machines (I started playing them in pubs when they came out, I was 15 back then...) and they are extremely popular in Belgium. I've lost way over 5000 euros in one night on them in the past...they can be extremely moody, but at other times you'll pop 100 euros in and play on maximum stake all night or even win a few grand in a mater of minutes, go figure.

I just find it so strange that those machines are made by Bell Fruit Games, but ONLY for Belgium. I'm sure they would be hyper popular in other places.

It's a shame that there are no informations that I can find as far as technical details go...or any discussion about them anywhere on the internet for that matter.

And you are right, they run on Scorpion (Scorpion IV? is that possible?), I remember seeing that when they do re-initialise those machines for whatever reason.

[TTX]

I spotted these when I went to Oostende back in Oct '08. Risky Devil was in a bar and Royal Banker was one of many in a row at a funfair stand.

Attached Files

•  Belgian Fruits.zip   2.49MB   89 downloads

[Icarus]

royal banker, along with millions of those machines where you put money through little holes to make more coins drop, are very popular in fairs here but they don't pay money - unlike in the UK, you don't stick 10p coins or pennies in, but tokens, and you can exchange them for prizes (which of course turns out to be a total rip-off in the end)

as far as the other machine goes, I'm pretty certain it's for entertainment purposes only, as fruit machines per se are banned in Belgian pubs and arcades, we only have those slots I was talking about, and bingo machines in just about every pub you can find.

The only place to find 'real' fruit machines in Belgium is in Casinos, but even then, they're only video slots, or old fashioned one-armed bandits, or progressive jackpot mechanical reel ones etc, but no fun fruities with the trails and boards and features like you guys have in the UK

[voodoomau5]

thanks for the answers guys

Indeed Steve, being a former gambling addict myself, I know all about those machines (I started playing them in pubs when they came out, I was 15 back then...) and they are extremely popular in Belgium. I've lost way over 5000 euros in one night on them in the past...they can be extremely moody, but at other times you'll pop 100 euros in and play on maximum stake all night or even win a few grand in a mater of minutes, go figure.

I just find it so strange that those machines are made by Bell Fruit Games, but ONLY for Belgium. I'm sure they would be hyper popular in other places.

It's a shame that there are no informations that I can find as far as technical details go...or any discussion about them anywhere on the internet for that matter.

And you are right, they run on Scorpion (Scorpion IV? is that possible?), I remember seeing that when they do re-initialise those machines for whatever reason.

It's because no other bastard would want them If you let bellfruit in your country, be prepared to make way for Dond.

[superbank]

...but no fun fruities with the trails and boards and features like you guys have in the UK

We used to have machines which were fun Icarus, but now they are shite. Too expensive and very little entertainment.

They are known as AWP's (Amusements with prizes) but there is very little left in the way of amusement nowadays unfortunately

Thanks for the pics and info though, very interesting!!

[edwardb]

Hi Folks,

Here's your answers:

The original Slots games for Belgium were done by BFM and called "Payslots". They sold zillions of them. A very good game. BFM patented the idea too.

For UK players who have never seen them, you had 3 grids "reel windows" and were offered a vertical line of fruits, which you could place in the left, middle or right of the reel window. Wins were awarded for horizontal lines of fruits. You got 3 grids per credit, so 3 chances to win.

The reason you haven't seen DOND is that BFG have lost the licence for it, so I am told anyway.

[Icarus]

That's correct edwardb, those "payslots" were all over the place in Belgium in the late 90's, and the same principle is used for the new dice slots machines.

Superbank, having live in the UK from 2000 to 2004 I remember enjoying the AWPs a lot^^ I have been back to London for business trips recently and tried a few and still enjoyed them! Mainly the 50p/£35JP ones...elvis and other £1 videoslots were shit though :x

And we do have 2 versions of DOND in form of those dice slots, a 3-grid one and a 4-grid one. They're insanely hard to win on, generally they're considered as a huge pile of shite...maximum profit as you can play as high as 25 euros PER GAME, which is insanely high considering a game lasts about 5-10 seconds if you know how to play.

Here's a typical run through a DOND machine:

- Put a lot of money in, get nothing
- After wasting 1500-2000 euros in it, you are awarded the top box, which gives you "mystery games", a feature that make any winning game (even 100 points, that usually gives you twice your stake) pay out 500 euros...sounds good, no?
- You play your mystery games and GUESS WHAT? Impossible to even win a single one of them
- Repeat until dry
- Go home

I've had as much as 9 mystery games (that's the top prize for a 10 euros stake game) and didn't win a single one of them (didn't even make a bad choice, the games were just impossible to win).

I've seen a guy with 16 mysteries and winning 2...ok, fair enough, that's still 1000 euros..not so bad..WRONG. Each mystery still costs you the original stake, in this case 25 euros x 16, so he had to actually pay 400 euros just to play his mysteries.

And yep, losing my 9 mysteries actually cot me an extra 90 euros on top of the 1.5k+ I had lost already

Don't get me wrong, I have won a few mysteries on those before, but I've never seen anyone get anywhere near a decent ratio...even 3 or 4 out of 9 would have been good.

And this wraps us the beautiful story of DOND in Belgium, as you can see you guys are not the only ones stuck with awful DOND games

[stevedude2]

I've seen and played both of the DOND machines - one red, one blue - and as you say, they are very heavy, especially the one with 3 grids and the dice bonus on the end. The feeling I get from them is that the amount of points you are allowed to get is decided at the very start of the game, before you've even placed a strip of symbols.

[Gazeyre1966]

That's correct edwardb, those "payslots" were all over the place in Belgium in the late 90's, and the same principle is used for the new dice slots machines.

Superbank, having live in the UK from 2000 to 2004 I remember enjoying the AWPs a lot^^ I have been back to London for business trips recently and tried a few and still enjoyed them! Mainly the 50p/£35JP ones...elvis and other £1 videoslots were shit though :x

And we do have 2 versions of DOND in form of those dice slots, a 3-grid one and a 4-grid one. They're insanely hard to win on, generally they're considered as a huge pile of shite...maximum profit as you can play as high as 25 euros PER GAME, which is insanely high considering a game lasts about 5-10 seconds if you know how to play.

Here's a typical run through a DOND machine:

- Put a lot of money in, get nothing
- After wasting 1500-2000 euros in it, you are awarded the top box, which gives you "mystery games", a feature that make any winning game (even 100 points, that usually gives you twice your stake) pay out 500 euros...sounds good, no?
- You play your mystery games and GUESS WHAT? Impossible to even win a single one of them
- Repeat until dry
- Go home

I've had as much as 9 mystery games (that's the top prize for a 10 euros stake game) and didn't win a single one of them (didn't even make a bad choice, the games were just impossible to win).

I've seen a guy with 16 mysteries and winning 2...ok, fair enough, that's still 1000 euros..not so bad..WRONG. Each mystery still costs you the original stake, in this case 25 euros x 16, so he had to actually pay 400 euros just to play his mysteries.

And yep, losing my 9 mysteries actually cot me an extra 90 euros on top of the 1.5k+ I had lost already

Don't get me wrong, I have won a few mysteries on those before, but I've never seen anyone get anywhere near a decent ratio...even 3 or 4 out of 9 would have been good.

And this wraps us the beautiful story of DOND in Belgium, as you can see you guys are not the only ones stuck with awful DOND games

I've never so much as put 1p in these machines, never mind Euro's but it's nice to see our friend in Belgium thinks that Noel Edmonds is a bit of a twat as well as the rest of us. Just for fun Icarus...You should download Noel's House Party, play if for a while...and then when he says "GOTCHA" for the 50th time, put your fist through the monitor.