30 replies to this topic

[aaamusements]

SWP machines make very little money when compared to fruit machines.
The actual issue continues to be FOBTs, which are not supposed to be played by children at all...
http://www.theguardi...-child-gamblers

It's too easy to simply blame the Gambling Commission for all the problems in the industry but the fact is they are bound by legislation enshrined in acts of parliament, and are powerless to do anything about most of the issues that are raised.

[vectra666]

Burger star best by far my arse USA chicken barcrest
Anyways back to topic these Swp machines shouldn't be allowed in takeaways or arcades (skillball bingo) where they either target the teens or pisshead at night-time, I know one Kebab shop even has a boxing punch bag machine in it. What next a roulette wheel in the corner. Also said shop had a fruity in corner but switched offe I bet a tenner it would've been switched on a 2am on a Saturday morning for Mr legless to Shove his taxi money Home in it set on 60% payout no doubt.

[aaamusements]

Makes no difference if the fruit machine is switched on or not, just it's presence there is illegal.
I assume that like the good citizen you are, you made sure to report it to the authorities?

[vectra666]

Nah not my problem. The authorities will catch up with em one day probably environmental health going by the state of the place

[aaamusements]

http://www.euroslot-...so_trivial.html

The above backs up much of what I know from real experience of SWP machines, albeit ones sited in pubs and not in takeaways or similar non-licensed premises.

[aaamusements]

perhaps not illegal, if the canteen has a secretary and a chairman then it could be classed as a club?

No, because the provision of a license for consumption of alcohol on the premises is key.

Otherwise I could set up a club in my shed, invite all my friends round, (it wouldn't be crowded), and they could legitimately play on my club machines.

If this loophole existed then it would have been jumped on by now...

[Bencrest]

True, but Ben undoubtedly has a point. My local burger shop, Burger Star, the best by far, regularly has things like Noughts and Crosses in it, which targets the youngsters with a game you learn from an early age that you can never lose. Maybe it is time the 2005 Act has a rewrite and I could give a few suggestions to any consultation exercise.
bj

These are what I am on about. The issue is that SWP traditionally meant 'trivia' (even if that wasn't a legal definition) and back in the day these normally had sensible stakes compared to the jackpots, and a longer time per play.

I've owned a TOTP by Bell Fruit, this was £1 play for a £10 jackpot. For each £1 play you got 6 rounds, a good few minutes of play, and while it was still set on a horrible 30%, the £10 jackpot was paid out frequently. As with all SWPs it was compensator based (not random) and skill / knowledge would only get you so far, but the value for money was there and the length of game meant that you would have to be crazy (like me!) to try and punt it out.

These modern SWPs give the appearance of an incredibly simple game, yet the low payout percentage, high jackpots, high stakes, high speed of play, and 'simple' nature of the game are designed purely to mislead.

I posted years ago about a Skill Ball Bingo that I ran on a slowed down PC as a case in point. The article posted by AAA above suggests that players with skill can 'beat' the SWPs. The Skill Ball Bingo that I ran, with over a minute left and only having a couple of balls left (any one of which would have given a cash prize - none of which we're awarded, they just uselessly bounced around the screen) proves my point about compensators and abuse of players. I 'cheated' and yet couldn't win, the machine just wouldn't award a ball and looked stupid.

Now, we are all adults and I'm pretty cynical, so when I see a machine like that I expect it to be fixed. But what about the licensing objectives of protecting 'vulnerable' people? Does the machine say anywhere that it is fixed, or does it just state 'this is a game of skill' despite the fact no amount of skill could produce a win given my testing?

Edited by Bencrest, 08 June 2014 - 11:24 PM.

[aaamusements]

I see what you mean, but I can only comment on machines that I am familiar with.
Two that I used to site that were not based on the quiz model were called Pocket Money/Play Pool (by Nova Systems), and Zillionaires Challenge (an MPU4 based rebuild I think). I know both of these skill based machines could be JP'd because rather annoyingly I watched people do it... More than once. The fact that most people could not do it was neither here nor there. It was possible.

Perhaps the regs should ideally insist that any SWP needs to be predominantly trivia/question based?

I still think that any TV gameshow should be required to have questions in it. On that basis DOND would be impossible in it's present format, which is fine by me...

[Bencrest]

I see what you mean, but I can only comment on machines that I am familiar with.
Two that I used to site that were not based on the quiz model were called Pocket Money/Play Pool (by Nova Systems), and Zillionaires Challenge (an MPU4 based rebuild I think). I know both of these skill based machines could be JP'd because rather annoyingly I watched people do it... More than once. The fact that most people could not do it was neither here nor there. It was possible.
Perhaps the regs should ideally insist that any SWP needs to be predominantly trivia/question based?
I still think that any TV gameshow should be required to have questions in it. On that basis DOND would be impossible in it's present format, which is fine by me...

Older ones could be. Zillionaires Challenge is emulated :)

It's modern ones with (for example) a single 'skill button', which supposedly make a trail move the harder / faster you press that I take a fair bit of issue with. Pretty sure some horrible Space Invaders themed SWP we had in the arcade had one of those buttons. IIRC it was a normal button but instead of a microswitch it had an opto sensor (same ones as on reels) underneath and pushing the button broke the path of the sensor.

That and, as said above, the unwinnable skill games. Games like Skill Ball Bingo should be lumped in with Cat C or Cat D and treated as compensated AWPs, which is what they are. Could probably do with having any reference to 'skill' removed too.

Edited by Bencrest, 09 June 2014 - 09:25 AM.