8 replies to this topic

[peter1230]

Hi everyone this is my first post for quite some time and sorry if i ramble but my experience this weekend made me feel i had to say someting on here.If just one person who reads this post finds it useful then i feel it makes it worthwhile.

For a little background information i started playing fruit machines in the mid 80's onwards until the mid 90's when i managed finally to give them up or so i thought so until recently

What made me start? It was the thrill of being able to use a certain amount of skill and knowledge to actually make a small profit mostly at the expense of holidaymakers etc who just didnt know how to play them.

It was being able to spot machines ready to pay (anyone else remember sun-spots? it would streak after the machine flashed for a very brief moment) then roll in one jackpot after another,the old donkey kong cancel button trick,being able to follow the holy grail at top speed on indiana jones,all the 80's machines with a good abitlty of true skill required to successfully make a profit with skill stop climbs etc.

What made me give up?

When the fruit machines became low tec easy for all to play no fun,no true sense of being able to 'beat' the machine through the players ability.

Not saying it was easy giving up I managed it with help from my partner and suggestion of looking to 'gamble' elsewhere.

Where to look? I am not advocating this for everyone I turned to playing on-line poker for small stakes .10c cash games $5 sit and go's tourneys and $2 multi table tourney's

Since doing this I have felt the same sense of achievement of winning that i found from playing fruit machines as you do need a good level of skill and that you are actually able to win or lose at any time it is not predetermined as with most fruit machines these days.

Anyways nearing the end now I was at a loose end this weekend so I decided to take a trip to the coast in somerset (burnham on sea) and have a browse in the shops to look for a present for the wife's birthday.

Sure enough the old feelings made a re-appearance after all these years giving up I got drawn into one of the arcades on the sea front.

Spotting the over 18's section I took a wander around to see how much it has changed since the last time i visited.

Lots of people just shovelling note after note into a complete plethora of section 16 games just drew me in even though i knew there was no skill involved.Watching one youngster drop £300 from one machine then moving on to the next and about 5 mins later he dropped another £200.

I could feel the money in my pocket £50 for my wife's present i thought well okay maybe just £20.To my surprise I picked a cashino £500 machine to play.
After several small wins I saw lots of the same symbols appear and the money bank jump to £200!

Nice one i thought took it out and made my may towards the exit,when another machine caught my eye.To cut a very very long post short 2 hours later i left the arcade minus the £200 i won minus the £50 i had when i walked in minus another £150 which i stupidly took out the cash machine in the arcade as well.

Now in a month's time i have got to explain all this to the wife when the bank statement comes through :-(

Please please anyone who reads this post who can relate to this experience seek help look elsewhere to use your ability to gamble try cutting down on your stakes,until today i found very small stake poker just as rewarding if not more so to feed my addiction to gamble.

Apologies to the mods for this huge post I just felt that I had to get this off my chest and maybe help one person if i can :-)

Not sure if there is a sticky anywhere maybe the mods could come up with something to help us 'addicts' I feel it worthwhile anyone else or any comments very welcome and a big thank you for your patience reading this post

Goodnight :-)

[Liverpool2008]

Huge Posts .. lol

we have a Few Very Large Posts ... Nearly 2 pages long lol

[mocochoco]

O man thats really harsh mate:( I try not to play anymore because of this exact reason. Thing is im sure someone who has never been big on gambling could never understand why this would happen to someone and why they wouldnt walk away and leave the arcade after winning but i can fully understand where your coming from and its a sad thing really

Well i hope that you (and other people reading this) might learn from this experience ...... they'r nasty little f*****g things these days and the best bet is just not to play em... especially with cash that you cant really afford to lose:rolleyes:

Il think of this thread next time i get tempted to have a play..

[mitch19]

I can relate to this story in some ways. I used to play the fruit machines in the 80's, making a steady profit from as you say skill based fruit machines, skill stops and knowledge of when a machine was going to pay out.
Luckily for me I gave up playing fruit machines, once I knew the skill factor had gone. I moved on to small stake gambling on horses Lucky 15 and placepots etc. But was still missing a gamble, where I was in control.

Luckily three years ago I was shown poker by a friend, and then moved on to on line poker, playing $1, $2 and $3 single table tournaments, making a healthy profit along the way and as Peter says I to found this just as rewarding if not more so to feed my love of a gamble, and have felt the same sense of achievement of winning that i found from playing 80's fruit machines.

You do need a certain amount of skill and knowlege to win, but if you play at stakes you are prepared to lose, this game can be very rewarding both for pleasure and profit.

Heres hoping that from reading this post, I have convinced a few fruit machines players to give up their losing habit, and given them an alternative and cheaper way to gamble.

[Bencrest]

I'd never recommend online gambling to people susceptible to gambling addictions, because it is inevitable some will be unable to control their habits, and will end up wagering more than they can reasonably afford.

Personally I'd say to try something like the free poker on Triplejack ( www.triplejack.com ), I find it as entertaining as real gambling, although you are only gambling with points.

[jonny_the_rod]

this is exactly why i don't play machines anymore. I too used to play them alot back in the 80's only i never managed a small profit. i was young,stupid and money just used to burn a hole in my pocket if i had any money then i just had to put it in fruit machines sooner or later all my winnings would end up going back in.

I really understand where you're comming from last year me and the girlfriend got the chance of a free caravan on the east coast for a week (near bridlington). I started going into afew arcades 1st time in years and all the old feeling came flooding back. I started the week just playing the 5p machines with abit of loose change but by the end of the holidays i'd blown about £200. Haven't been in an arcade since

[Gazeyre1966]

They say Peter, that alcoholics can never have another drink again. I think the same thing applies to fruit-machines. You can't just turn it on and off. Once you quit is has to be for good. It constantly amazes me how much I lose on the emulators set at 86%. Never mind some crummy Party Time set at 70%. I did break this rule once when I spotted a Vindaloot in my local. By this time I'd played the emulated version to death so I kinda could guess how it was going to play in the pub, but at that, I took small wins..and made a comfortable profit over 5 months.

There are some great threads on this subject in the forums. I can't remember them offhand but I'm sure if you do a simple search for "fruit machine addictions" then they will show up. Plenty of stories from me and a load of others that should make things a lot clearer. I think most players will be unanimous in saying that they've all strayed at least once. Hope you don't get too much grief from the missus.

[chan]

no matter how much you put in, the next pounds gonna get me on the board! u know what i mean dont you, thing is its going to rape you and send you home skint regardless, but still you play ahhhhh whats wrong with me

[mitch19]

I'd never recommend online gambling to people susceptible to gambling addictions, because it is inevitable some will be unable to control their habits, and will end up wagering more than they can reasonably afford.

Personally I'd say to try something like the free poker on Triplejack ( www.triplejack.com ), I find it as entertaining as real gambling, although you are only gambling with points.

I too would not recommend online poker to people with gambling addictions. I was purely giving players another option of gambling who enjoy a gamble, and the challenge of beating a skill based game, and who do not have this option anymore, with the true skill based fruit machines now gone.