3 replies to this topic

[Daniel Penman]

I would just like to ask what types of machines can you install category B3 games as i am starting to get use to all of this and also where can you buy B3 games if this is possible or do they come with the fruit machine

 

[stanmarsh14]

There is a thread over at Classic Reels, which details quite a bit in what you can have under B3 (Certainly in respect to what you can have in an AGC / Over 18's Arcade), and this actually includes some older section 16 games now, which has been confirmed with the GC when Dave enquired about what is permitted.

<Dave>

The main reason for section 16 going was the stake being reduced from £2 to £1. Section 16 machines are legal now as they fall into the category b3. You were not allowed to have a combined credit and bank if there was on auto play option.

We have acquired the relevant documentation from the gc before rounding these legacy £500s up. Legacy machines have different technical standards to modern release machines

 

<Dave>

The bank and credit being combined in the display has always been allowed BUT not with the auto play as WELL. Its all changed now that the stake has been returned to £2 and s16 is classed as a legacy B3 now.

The reason why the stake was reduced was as people were losing their houses and lives on roulette's and continue to do so they decided to reduce the fruit machine stakes. Yes, makes no sense.

The fruit machine ALWAYS gets the blame, yet the crack cocaine of gambling = FOBT machine in the bookies continues to ruin everybody.

The government also didn't like the fact that the s16 was a 'loophole' in the legislation of the 1968 Gaming Act and allowed 20 simultaneous bets of 10p to award a maximum prize of £25 per bet. Some companies, realising their was no actual limit in the 'rulebook' made games like red hot 675, a £675 Jackpot machine.

Anyway, all is crystal clear now. b3 is maximum £2 stake and prize in any one game £500, so whatever falls into that bracket is a B3.

[nails]

absolute bollocks that quote.

 

section 16/21 was a program(s) which had stakes up to £10 per go. dual screen saw £20 per go. the program itself or more to the point how the number was generated was under scrutiny. RNG being housed outside the machine was a prequesite for a while until the gaming commission stepped in and closed the loophole and reduced it to £1 stake under the new b3 category and all manor and variety of stipulations (like bank and credit options).

 

in a nutshell, the whole section 16 thing was a loophole really that key developers exploited, though they are now subject to technical standards - they are here to stay.

[stevedude2]

As I recall (feel free to correct me where necessary) S16/21 games exploited a loophole in the Bingo regs allowing multiple bets to be played at the same time for a maximum prize of £25 cash per bet, with any greater amounts to be paid in vouchers. 

 

At the time there was a gentleman's agreement between companies that no-one would advertise a prize greater than £500 in cash, but this was broken by Concept Games when they did Red Hot Fever, which had 27 lines and could therefore pay up to £675.  Manufacturers were able to get away with stakes of up to £10 a spin because the maximum stake per game of Bingo at the time was 50p.  In an effort to appear to be 'socially responsible'(!) some manufacturers later limited the maximum total stake on which their games could be played to £2.

 

But with no limit on how many of these games an operator could site per establishment the floodgates were open, and the market was flooded with Section 16/21 games from a variety of manufacturers, with some operators siting 20 or more in the same premises.  It was also reported that some operators were lumping some of the profits from their Cat C and D games into the cashboxes of their S16 machines in order to take advantage of the lower tax duty.  Players who previously were limited to a maximum stake/prize ratio of 30p/£25 were suddenly exposed to what was effectively hard gambling, up to that point the likes of which could only be found in casinos.  The money that these games were capable of generating was alarming, not least due to the speed of play and the fact that the player could play from winnings (as there was only a single credit meter) and therefore lose track of how much they were spending, despite the seemingly generous percentage payouts of 94% or greater.  The start button could also be wedged down to enable a makeshift autoplay function.

 

With casual players getting sucked into a form of gambling that was outside their comfort zone prompting outcry from various charity and social responsibility groups, it was clear that steps were going to have to be taken in order to properly regulate this Category of machine.  But with many players now used to these sort of games, operators were worried about the risk of losing them to casinos and LBO's if these games were removed entirely.

 

A new category, B3, was born, which limited the stake to £1 and imposed a minimum game time.  To offset this, players would be allowed to gamble their winnings at the end of a spin.  However, a license was required to operate B3 games and they had to be in a designated area, with the profits taxed, and a maximum of 4 machines were allowed, leading to arcades attempting to circumvent this limit by applying for Bingo licenses and creating additional areas within the same premises in order to site extra units.

 

Later, dual and single bank would be introduced, along with an increase of stake to £2.  Some manufacturers, never happy with what they are allowed to get away with, tried to get around the maximum jackpot of £500 by producing games under Bingo legislation, which looked like B3 games but had a bingo game underneath, and could therefore pay out prizes of £1000.  The Gambling Commision held firm and these games were eventually abolished.

 

All in all, S16/21 and now B3 games have changed the face of gambling and, in many people's opinion, not for the better, insofar as the term 'amusement' has all but been eradicated from the traditional seaside arcade or family entertainment centre and many problem gamblers have been created.  The damage has been done unfortunately and the widely-held view is that it is irreversible, as is the overall decline of an industry which is decades old.

Edited by stevedude2, 08 September 2014 - 11:31 AM.