26 replies to this topic

[Bencrest]

Ok, I don't normally start off threads directed at a company in particular, but -

I recently went to a Quicksilver arcade, as I noticed they had a row of £5 JP AWPs in there. I had about £10 to lose [£5 in Tokens from RAL Leisure, £5 note], and actually made £2 in total. I still stand by the fact I am not addicted [as I have played about 3 times in the past 9 months], but thought it would be interesting to have a look around.

I noticed there was a large poster on the way in [I don't mind getting a photo if people are interested?] - which said something about 92% payouts on average.

What I don't get, is that all of the £5 JP machines DIDN'T have a visible percentage payout on them, rather where the percentage should be displayed there was either something totally incorrect [£5/10p Fruit U Sir said it was 20p play, and the percentage was illegible], or wasn't visible at all [i.e black tape or plastic on the inside of the percentage display].

Anyone know what is going on? It certainly isn't the best arcade gameswise in the whole of Peterborough [you may as well know which city it is in], but to claim 92% at the door and then not display percentages on machines?

All seems rather dodgy....

I assumed that the percentage payout for each particular machine had to be displayed on that machine :S

Oh, for those wondering, the £5 Tokens were obtained by taking a Quicksilver Loyalty Card, and they didn't think there was anything weird with the name Bencrest[@]Fruit-Emu.com

[ross]

YES ITS SOUNDS VERY DODGY INDEED opps sorry about the caps yes if you ask me i reckon hes put down the percenteges and hes about to close up or some thing in a arcade in crawley there was a fruity called simpson i think it was the second one to be made and wile the arcade was open it used to pay out at least a 25pound barcode (5 repetar) and a moes15 pound a day every day it did it god knows why but when the arcade was closeing down about a week before it didnt pay out at all so i think they played around with the percentege to make more money before they closed down thats my thoght

[frankie4fingers]

Sounds like 1 in Margate that i used to go to now and again. You can see part of the sticker but the actual percentage is just out of view. But by chucking in a few quid I have think I have worked the percentage out at around 10% :roll:

[chez]

arcades do not legally have to display any % at all on their machines, nor is there a legal minimum in arcades.

however to display a poster stating 92% is misleading if the payout is not what it claims to be. are you sure that the 92% was not just referring to their section 16 (the new £500 video) machines?

[Bencrest]

arcades do not legally have to display any % at all on their machines, nor is there a legal minimum in arcades.

I understand that Arcades have to conform to the minimum percentage as set out by the Gaming Board of Great Britain, which currently stands at 70%, but I am confident that all machines have to display the correct Stake, Prize and Percentage on that panel

however to display a poster stating 92% is misleading if the payout is not what it claims to be. are you sure that the 92% was not just referring to their section 16 (the new £500 video) machines?

I'll get a picture of the poster today. They don't actually have any section 16s in there, purely 4x £5 AWP, 3x £25 Hi-Tech AWP, a Huge roulette machine, a Party Time Deluxe 3 Player and a Bar X 3 Player - plus assorted Electrocoins, Astras, e.t.c.

Definately no Section 16s to be seen

Still, as I said, I'll get a picture of the poster, I just made a quick mental note of it, maybe it actually said 72%?

[impact]

the same arcade up the road from me and i complaned about it and lefted

chaz as i use to work in an arcade and now work for a large company
now it is illegal not show the avarage pay out on a machine fullstop

miss leading or force advert of a percentage on a gaming device is totally illegal

the arcade where i used to work got shut down due to a decal that was incorrect for the price of play the dti/custom and ex shut the shop down with all this tape over every machine which said DO NOT TOUCH blar blar blar

ben you are right 70% on awp

sec16 awps like reflex gaming machines run at 90%. 72% on clubs 80/90% on casinos fobt`s,sec16 or online betting machine fixed odd`s this is for the uk. I,O,Man 65% what a bummer

bazbeep would be another member who could say more on this to

[U.D]

lol... everyone moans about their arcades on here

come down to felixstowe, our arcades are fine.. good payout and hardly any stitchy machines in the whole town... no shifty arcade people either. their all great...

[chez]

i may well be wrong, but i'm sure there is no min % for arcades. there is a min in pubs, clubs etc as people go there for other reasons (ie, drinking) and so may not know that much about the bandits. in an arcade the same is not true. you are only there to gamble, and so it is reasonable in the eyes of the powers that be, that no min % is necessary.

even if arcades are supposed to display %, not all do. many i have been in have stickers over where the % would be saying "call attendant to witness all banks over £3" or similar. one arcade has a magic 7 that doesn't display a % at all.

the point about having no min % in arcades is sort of self policing. most machines will not work under 70%, many lo tecs, including chuzzy chip electrocoins i believe it is about 82-86%. also it would be pretty obvious if a machine was on like 30% as it would never do anything. i think though that some awps on ferries can be set to 55%. these special ferry chips are not common but are legal as soon as you are out of british waters, hence machines not being turned on for half an hour or so after you leave port.

anyone to add/differ?

[rarnold]

The reason the ferries don't turn the machines on until out of British waters is to avoid having to pay the machine license fee for each machine, which would add up to quite a bit if you total the number of machines the ferries have.

I don't agree with your statement about no minimum % payout in arcades either, the Gaming act lays down the various guidelines and in conjunction with the Gaming board and manufacturers, have set a minimum (which I thought was actually 72%). For example as to how this works in practise, it was agreed that the newer 50p play £1000-£2000 machines have a 'voluntary' minimum payout of 85%, the manufacturers agreed less formally than by a law that they would not produce machines which operated at a lower % than that.

[lynx2oo2]

lol... everyone moans about their arcades on here

come down to felixstowe, our arcades are fine.. good payout and hardly any stitchy machines in the whole town... no shifty arcade people either. their all great...

Unless you p**s off Charlie Mannings. :wink:

[U.D]

lol.. pah, the old man is never about. to far a walk from his mansion ;-)

as grubby as it looks its still a kick ass arcade

[skabaz]

the minimum % for arcades is 70% just like any other machine in a club or pub but the general rule for a busy arcade is no less that 84 for a lo tech machine and 78% for a hi tech.

bencrest said there was a huge roulette machine,this may be the section 16 machine which will be the 92% rated machine.

the section 16 machines that we have are set on 94% and we cant get them any lower!!!!

although between you and me the worst machines that i have come across are fairground arcades because i have worked on machines on different fairgrounds and never had a machine over 74%.

oh and yes as impact said legally the % setting should be displayed on the individual machine or at least a notice that says that all machines are on a certain %.

also in my whole engineering life i have never seen anybody officially going round checking %%.

baz
baz

[Bencrest]

You think 74% is bad? In New Horizon [both Peterborough and Spalding], no machine is set [that I have seen] above 70% - that includes multiplayer machines and Hi-tech AWPs

[pash]

its like that in glasgow only some of the llo techs are set above 70% and its strange on a partytime arena (4 player) players 1 3 and 4 are at 70% and number 2 is SUPPOSEDLY on 80% but if one of em is gonna suck you dry you can bloody guarantee it will be number 2 which is the supposedly on the higher %age :s

[Gablaholic]

The % setting display is only a voluntary code of practice that BACTA members are supposed to adhere to. Strangely, Quicksilver, despite being one of their biggest members, don't play along with this.

Again, the 70% minimum is purely voluntary on the part of the manufacturers. 70-80% will give you a bloody awful game and they're easy enough to spot and avoid.

Quicksilver low-techs (Electrocoins, Party Time etc) are usually on 92%, with the hi-techs on 84%. 10p play machines are around 78%. Used to be 88% for the hi-techs and 94% for low-techs, but they quietly lowered their percentages around 4 years ago, the same time that they stopped displaying percentages on the machines.

In the really good old days of tokens, they used to set their hi-techs on 92%. Ahhh... memories of Hyper Viper in Quicksilver Sheffield....

IMHO the Quicksilver chain has really gone to the dogs in the past five years - very little in the way of new games (apart from s.16 machines starting to pop up like the plague), cheapo decor. I remember when they were the best arcades in the country, but that was back in the token days. Nowadays chains like Shaw's offer a slightly better game. Nobles are not too bad, Shipleys are to be avoided at all costs for their dire percentages (e.g. 82% for a lo-tech Stars & Stripes in Solihull branch).

[Bencrest]

Have to agree with you, I mean they have no s16 or video machines, whereas New Horizon has a Magic Games, Videostar and a Party Time Slotto.

One thing it does have is something called 'Bar X Arcade', which has about 10 old Electrocoins in, ranging from about £6 to £15 JP. Seems like thats the most popular area!

Only thing I liked about Quicksilver was that the staff were genuinely friendly.... mind you, with machines as bad as they have, a free coffee and a bit of banter doesn't make up for the shi** machines and apalling decor

[impact]

sorry baz firing ur name up again but if you have seen the card verson s16 video fruit of ooh arr dracula i think the way that is done is poo i said to andy bullock @ barcrest @ the atei show i think the machine is bad play and should of been left as it was myself the % is like trying win 2k on a casino machine with 50p on one spin but this is on a 25p £25 jkp

[skabaz]

sorry baz firing ur name up again but if you have seen the card verson s16 video fruit of ooh arr dracula i think the way that is done is poo i said to andy bullock @ barcrest @ the atei show i think the machine is bad play and should of been left as it was myself the % is like trying win 2k on a casino machine with 50p on one spin but this is on a 25p £25 jkp

i've not seen this one yet.
the only sec 16 machines i have worked on are casino king and the party games slotto.

casino king has been with us for 2 weeks and we have had 3 500 quid payouts since then.
party slotto has had 1 500 quid payout but has had paid out a few wins of 200 or 300 quid.

baz

[gmanthedemon]

If they are advertising it as a certain percentage, then I think it might be a trading standards issue that they have to comply with that advert. I'm not sure though.

[22Barmypluto]

We have a local Quicksilver here in Banbury where i live. Just thought i should tell you that all £5.00, 10p play fruit machines are at 80%. that goes for all there arcades. I do know this to be true as i used to work for quicksilver until last year. Also Quicksilver has a policy that there should be a percentage visable on all there machines. I will look into this further to be sure. As i know the manager of my local quicksilver and is a personal friend of mine.