10 replies to this topic

[subby]

Hello all, this isnt a post looking for cheats etc so dont worry!

I was in one of my local arcades today playing the original version of High Spirits, 5p £8jp. Great fun and all that.. pretty much nobody else in the entire arcade. Three members of staff sitting in the cash box then the phone rings.. Next thing their all up, one grabs a trolley the other two go into a "casino room" . Within record time 3 machines are unplugged and taken to a back room.. they were.. random spinner, pink panther and cash and mouse.. all still £500jps. Think to myself ok strange.. i play on and a few minutes later i look round and there is police woman, a man in a suit and a woman with a clip board getting a guided tour of the arcade.

Now, would i be right in thinking if all was "legal" there would be no need to hide machines? For what other reasons would they do this?

It makes me angry to think ( after the many pounds spent ) that the arcade may not be legit in every way it should be.

Would be interested to hear other views on this.

Thanks for reading,
alex

[skabaz]

sounds dodgy to me mate.

sounds like they aren't paying a license for an adult gaming centre and maybe paying a license for a family gaming centre which is different.

were there any other £500 bandits?

baz

[subby]

No other £500jp machines apart from those 3 they they hid.
alex

[ady]

On topic reply ... a scam 'big time'

Remember the Four machine rule and Gala being clever (along with other establishments) by creating 'sections'....therefore independant areas?

I used Gala and they had in excess of 20 i'd say, having not been there for a year and going last Xmas-Eve I was amazed to see a fair few empty areas where the machines stood and a load of other switched off with notices on them.

Appears that the powers that be may be stepping up!

[SUPER7]

I no 4 a fact your allowed 4 £500ers max but as Ady said people get around the rules some how.

[stanmarsh14]

Betting they do not have an AGC, or no licence for B3's at all.

Be the only reason why those £500's got moved double quick, and the plodd turning up a few mins later.

[jim2311]

Begs the question...who tipped them off ???

[subby]

As far as i know the guy that owns the arcade also owns another further up the same street.. it had 2 500jp machines in it if i remember right but i havent been in it yet to see if their still there. theres rougly 7 fair size arcades in the town and i doubt if they would tip each other off but i guess they must have gone into the first arcade then they tipped the second one off to hide the machines.
Definatly something going on there, I dont mind going in and losing a few quid when the place is legal but when you think on them making plenty of money as it is and then cheating the licence system and god knows what else their up to with the machines . Think il give them a miss from now on!..

alex

[Nudgeman]

They need to up their game. Remember the classic quiz show revolving stage? The losing contestant spins around to the back, whilst the next couple spin around for the next round. Well they need something like that, so your £2/spin Slotto, Panther and whatever else spin around for a £5 Duff Beer Guide, £5 Neptune's Treasure etc etc
As soon as plod leave, it's centre stage for random spinner once more. Saves Doris putting her back out doing supermarket sweep with the s16s!

[stevedude2]

Reminds me of that Simpsons episode with the Beer Baron. They're all in Moe's Tavern and the Beer Baron walks in - Moe pulls a lever and the bar turns into a pet shop or something, and everyone hides their drinks behind their backs.

Personally I'd grass the arcade up - f*** 'em. Why should they get away with it, when most other places try to be legit?

By the way you can now have 8 B3's per area in a Bingo place I think.

[nails]

you need to ask them if they are an FEC or AGC.

if it was an AGC, then they would simply unplug the machines and leave them off - explaining that the duty had not come through.

if it was an FEC (family entertainment centre) then the law would not allow the use of the higher category machines. this would explain why they were unplugged and moved out. that said, they could have been old s16 machines.

Bingo halls were allowed to have 8 machines per area, but like you said, many arcade owners have jumped on the band wagon and split their premesis in order to obtain more cat. b3 machines on their premesis. According to the gaming commission they see `no problem with split premesis` in regards to split agc/agc or agc/betting shop.

source - last weeks coinslot.