45 replies to this topic

[Monopoly60v8]

Does it annoy you when you see staff members in the arcade playing the fruit machines?
I was told that anyone sniping a machine will be banned, but that is exactly what the staff are doing. This guy who works handing out change and cleaning, he is always watching the machines. Then he grabs £10-£20 in pound coins and fires it in a machine. HE ALWAYS HITS THE JACKPOT . Of course he does coz hes been watching the machine for so many hours, surely this must be illegal?
The worst is with the poker machines, I put over £100 into one, (Highest win being £10), Then standing with no money waiting on my friend I see that dick heading on to my machine. He stuck in £10 and played max bet of 30p a go, and of course, he gets a Straight Flush with 2 gambles, total winnig of £120 At the time I was too upset about losing my money to care that he won. But now I am so pissed off
Also before playing them he sometimes cleans the machine, he usaly opens up the back while cleaning, im guessing he can see if the machine is ready to pay out by opening the back door? Anyway, Please tell me this is illegal :wink:

[Sandoran]

Having lived in Blackpool most of my life i've been in a fair few arcades and indeed a friend of mine is management in one. Staff are not actually allowed to play the machines in these big arcades, and if caught doing so can get warned/fined/fired whatever seems necessary.

However there are plenty of places where staff can play, pubs is one - I often see bar staff doing well having stood watching from behind the bar. I'm afraid it's the way it goes.

If staff are allowed to play and they don't diss work for watching a machine then well done to them for getting in there...wouldn't you - but having said that i'm positive i'd be mightily annoyed if it happened to me.

[raverpat]

Staff are allowed to play the machines in one of the arcades in Ipswich and that is why I never use to go there and neither did my mates. The other arcades owned by Showboat are much fairer because they ban all staff from spinning. The local snooker hall also bans it's staff from playing and I have known night staff to get caught and they always get sacked.

I also know quite a lot of landlord's that punt their own bandits and they can play after they have shut the pub. I remember being in the local club one afternoon and watched a bloke do his nuts in Club Tutti Frutti (great bandit, shame it's not emulated). Anyway, he left it dropping when they closed in the afternoon. My mate and I went back at opening time in the evening and it took £35 to drop. We suspect it was the landlady as she was on at dinnertime and in the evening. We still potted the bandit though.

[Liverpool2008]

Some staff may have to put money in the machine to do a test i think

But some places i used to go to have been closed down due to staff playing machine and it was the owner of the machine place that was playing them

But Now all places here, have banned staff from playing them unless its a test......

[Bencrest]

I've been banned from playing machines in pubs before on SEVERAL occasions, with the old 'the second that Mondeo rolls up, turn the machine off!' routine.

Guess what? In all of these, the people behind the bar were either directly playing the machines and accusing me of getting cheats off the internet, 'spoiling' it for everyone playing legitimatly, or the people behind the bar were involved in 'Syndicates' - they gave a slot jockey friend say £20 a night, the jockey added their £20 and shared profits. However, their jockey was a ************ [if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all!]

Basically she lost their £40, on TOT, I went up, £5 in Nudge Code for £25, followed by RED Reels of Fortune, followed by RED TOT [only gave £25 though]....gits.

I also go to one pub where the bloke behind the bar noce lost a fair bit on Count Yer Cash only for me to get 2xIM and £25 from filling the Nudge Stack. Bought him and the others in there [it's a damn empty pub!] a pint, and it was never mentioned again!

BarcrestBenito.

[kevkev]

the huge nobles amusements in my town,,,the staff r barred from playing machines...infact my sis inlaw used to work there and she aint even allowed in now...i reckon its illegal

[martinmeu]

i hate that aswell staff playing machines after work or out of work isn't that bad. but nobles near me they all play when at work bet the bosses don't no.

[mikey95]

In most pubs, staff are allowed to play the machines OUT OF HOURS. In arcades however this is generally not allowed by the proprietor especially in large companies such as nobles where the staff can be fired.
I work for Leisurelink and no employee of leisurelink is allowed to play the machines for gain whilst they are working. I play them when i am off and this is frowned upon because some customers in pubs/arcades etc believe that i have an unfair advantage. However i believe that staff should not be allowed to play the machines when working and i HATE hawkers i.e people who stand over/ near to you and watch whilst you are playing.

[Zoltar]

Quite a lot of pubs and clubs have their own machines. Rather than the brewery owning them, the club or pub itself owns the machine or they lease direct from a local supplier. Although you'd expect a fair establishment to keep their staff away from machines, they can basically do what they like.

My mum used to tell me stories from the 1980's when she worked in Hull City Transports social club. How she'd watch bus drivers stick hundreds into the bandits, then other members of staff would play and empty them.

It is a con but who or how can anyone regulate such actions if it was illegal.

Compost

[Liverpool2008]

Yup But Like Night Clubs around town, The Bounsers Play them which i think its greedy,

Do you think they get enough out of us already? Cos some Night clubs you have to pay in at the door

[TheMaxPower]

I was brought up in Scarborough and spent most of my spare time in arcades from 10 - 16. I never once saw a staff member play the FMs. However, I have seen many Bar staff play them - and win! Then again, they would also stand at the end of the bar and smoke...

I think times are changing and there are a lot less staff playing the machines, especially in city arcades.....

i HATE hawkers i.e people who stand over/ near to you and watch whilst you are playing

I agree mikey, there is nothing more annoying!!!

[impact]

under the gaming act no person is allow to play a machine in a place of work i.e arcade as the member of staff could have watch that machine once the play has left the shop then the player comes back as he or she may have gone just to get more money from the bank and your playing it

[cliffc]

Also before playing them he sometimes cleans the machine, he usaly opens up the back while cleaning, im guessing he can see if the machine is ready to pay out by opening the back door? Anyway, Please tell me this is illegal.

Well i used to work in a bingo hall and allthough technicly we were not allowed to play the machines we would often have a play after we locked up and as we had the keys to the club and the machines were out of site in the main body of the club (no CCTV) we could not get caught.
I can tell you that opening the back would not tell him if a machine was ready to pay as we had the keys to the ones in the club the only thing he could tell was if the machine was full but even this would not make a win certian.

The staff in some of our local nobles do play the machines during working hours and proberly after hours too although most of now have CCTV installed so may be not, in te bingo hall we could not play bingo in our own hall but we could go and play in our sister hall in another local town, however we were not ment to play in a Link game if our own club was involved in the link.

ClifFc

[martinmeu]

under the gaming act no person is allow to play a machine in a place of work i.e arcade as the member of staff could have watch that machine once the play has left the shop then the player comes back as he or she may have gone just to get more money from the bank and your playing it

like to no were it says that on a gaming certificate.

[Gablaholic]

The manager of Shipley's Amusements in Solihull is known to play the machines after closing time.

If someone loses heavily on a machine and leaves it full, he will play it, win and then refill the hopper for the next morning so it seems as though no-one has touched it.

So between all the young, baseball-capped sharks that hang around, the skimming manager, and the shit percentages that the machines are on, you've bugger all chance of winning.

84% for a bar-x seven on 30p play, I ask you.
82% bar-x ten on 30p, disgusting.

(I took my percentage key in and had a little play when no-one was looking!)

[Bencrest]

....and those are BAD percentages?

'84% for a bar-x seven on 30p play, I ask you.
82% bar-x ten on 30p, disgusting. '

I've not seen a machine above 80% ever, so either ones are arcades are generally set higher or you are just ungrateful :D

BarcrestBenito

[raverpat]

I certainly would not complain about 84% or 82%. Go into a pub and you will be on 70% mate. Most club bandits are normally on 72% max. I have seen higher than 84%. I know that Showboat have had their Bar-x's and Big-7'S set higher and in general all their machines are set at quite high percentages. Most hi-tech's are on 84% or 86%.

[impact]

martinmeu .-= i am and i have worked in the leisure business for more years repairing and serviceing machine then u have been playing them DO YOU OWN THE BACTA BIG YELLOW BOOK no never mind fine your infomation out before telling me what i know yer!! under no hour of opening is a member of staff who works in the place were he or she runs or owns the gaming machine allowed to play the gaming device in hours of public opening. apply for a form once u fill the app form out and pay the sum of £3800 even then it may get decined u will under stand the gaming act a little better trust me i work them every day=-. i am not having a dig but just letting u know

[Gablaholic]

....and those are BAD percentages?

'84% for a bar-x seven on 30p play, I ask you.
82% bar-x ten on 30p, disgusting. '

I've not seen a machine above 80% ever, so either ones are arcades are generally set higher or you are just ungrateful

BarcrestBenito

Yes I think they are bad. Many arcades set their machines to 90%+, nothing unusual.

E.g. my local arcade :

Magic 7 96%

Red Bar 96%

Bar X Seven 94%

Bar X Ten 96%

Magic Ten 94%

Big Seven 94%

Sit Down Bar-X 7 90%

Sit Down Magic 7 92%

Sit Down Big 7 94%

Sit Down Bar X Ten 88%

Temple Of Treasure 88%

Two Towers 90%

Even on these percentages, the machines still manage to take thousands down the back every week, because the play is so fast, and they are played constantly because people know they are going to get a fair game.

An Electrocoin on under 88% is just going to suck and suck to the back, and is quite capable of taking you for £400+ in a very short space of time. That 10% difference makes a VAST difference to the game, believe me.

If you are playing in pubs and places like Shipleys, then you are going to always come across very low percentages and the machines are always going to be crippled and semi-dead, unless you are very lucky. I pick my play locations very carefully, and almost totally on the basis of percentage (good old key!).

I'm an ex-Quicksilver customer, until they decided to lower their percentages to 84%, then I went elsewhere as it ruined the game.

There is no need to settle for rip-off percentages.

[dangerousdave]

I work for Crown Leisure and in our company handbook/terms of contract it states that we are not allowed to play machines for financial gain.

There will be ways around this but I can't be arsed finding them. I enjoy just watching people lose (lets face it, no one wins nowadays) and learning how the machine plays.