Posted 16 October 2005 - 09:43 PM
Looks like it took several mighty punches, not just the one. I've been playing for many years now and the cabinet build quality is higher today than say twenty years ago when machines had the build quality of a cheap MFI cupboard. A thin sheet of perspex and some cheap wood. Now they're a bit sturdier with Genesis five point locking systems and triplex glass. One independent supplier even makes 'plus glass', an inch thick, at £1K a pop. You see lots of vandalised machines in the services, never actually seen one in a pub, but that'd be the most obvious place due to the combination of alcohol and gambling.
I was playing in Leicester Forest East services one night when a group of yobs decided to lose about a tenner in Cash Bang Wallop and then tip it over and jump on the front glass. They seemed to come to their senses somewhat and swiftly leave.
Result beaded top glass, bottom glass unscathed. It looks like this is what happened on that Ant 'n Dec. Someone had a bit too much to drink, lost a quid with no credits, straw that broke the camels back, tipped machine over and jumped up and down on it. That's my guess anyway. It could have been Tyson's brother, whacked the glass a few times, but usually what happens is someone gives the glass a bang and goes 'ow' as they realise their knuckles have come off worse.
Yes some fat lard ass drunkard yobbo could probably put the coin mech through and bead/shatter the glass with ease.
I've seen £5 jackpot machines get batterred more than anything else as they're the ones who generally attract the customers who can't afford to lose.
Services machines get done over a lot. Usually it's a case of angry punter goes to his car boot to get something heavy in the middle of the night. There have been a few break ins recently, the old Genesis 3 five point locking system and the Elegance cab cash door seem to be a bit more resilient than the Eclipse cabs.
I've noticed the photo seems to have a white outline, like it's taken outside. Was it taken as the supplier was removing said machine for repair?
Incidentally I've never smashed a machine, worst I've done is swear quietly under my breath when I was £350 down on an 8 Liner.
I have whacked a person once though, he just didn't understand the words 'no I haven't got a quid to give you'! That was in my younger days. Now I'm more caring, so I try to give them full counselling and direct them to their nearest walk in/community drug centre so they can recieve appropriate therapy/treatment under the new NHS contract.
At the end of the day a machine doesn't have a brain, no point in whacking it really, only reason I can see for doing so is to get back at the operator.
I often feel appalled when I hear of Road Rage incidents. How angry people get on the road. You hear of people going crazy, smashing people's windows, throttling them, whacking them with all sorts of weapons, just beacuse they were driving too fast, too slow, the wrong colour car.
Maybe we should be sympathetic. Perhaps that guy got his willy stuck in the paper shredder at work, had to be rushed to casualty, discharged. Down the pub, few drinks to numb the pain, a little gamble to take his mind of the every nagging pain. Big Gamble ---£25, £20, £2, £20, £15....LOSE, six times in a row. Someone had just stolen £20 off it from an already dead machine. It's taken £10 to roll in feature and offer £1 or £2. It needs to recoup the last punter's flukey steal. 2 higher 1, 2 higher 1, 2 higher 1.LOSE LOSE LOSE. No superfeature. Suddenly he's down to his last quid, in it pops. t's well and truly stuck. No amount of shaking and banging will release it. Aarrarararararraggggh THE RED MIST - HE FLIPS......TIPPLE TOPPLE BANG!! SMASH!! KERPOOW!!! BOOOOM!M SHATTER!!! ! WHACK!!! DOOOSCH!!! BOOOSCH!!!! SMASSSH!!
or maybe he was just a yobbo, thug arsehole.
Either way, we all need to be a little less angry. Deep breaths. Calm down. Listen to your Mum - "if you can't afford to lose don't gamble". It's the paradigm (did I just make that word up?) of gambling. "Only gamble what you can afford to lose."
Come on Ant and Dec's is hardly the worst machine ever made. It's flat, boring and cyclic, but still, if full superfeature is normally not far away and it can offer a quick £8+
I'd hardly rate it as in my top ten on machines to be smashed. It should never hurt you.
Top Ten of machines to be smashed.
1) 8 Liner
2) Nope, I can't think of any more.
@_!!
RESULT! 
