What was so good about the old days
I've heard people say it used to possible to make £1000+ a week playing fruit machines, but now it's almost impossible to make a living from them.
Just wondering what it was about fruit machines made ten years ago that made them so profitable, and why most of the current ones are supposed to be crap. More tricks/emptiers about, or something else?
Skill features, hundreds of rips, classic JPMs which were great to play but I did not get much time to play as I was growing up to machines and coming into the world of Crazy Fruits etc
Its only on loannnnnnn, its only on loaaannnnnn in Athens Grace will bring it back hommmmmmmmeeeee.
Liverpool F.C - European champions, 77, 78, 81, 84 and 05 ***** JFT 96 YNWA
It's not to hard to figure out.
Over the last 20 years, since electronic fruit machines with microprocessors were first introduced , the manufacturers have learned from their 'mistakes'.
Until as recently as 5 years ago, playability and 'player control' were big elements in fruity design.
Classic JPMs are a prime example of machines where knowing the features and having honed skilss really made a difference to the odds of winning ( knowing about the 'numbering' on JPMs was just the icing on the cake).
Going back further, there was a period from the late 80s to the early 90s where Barcrest churned out similar machines, one after the other.
The amazing thing with these early Barcrests was that the skill features were [originally] true skill.
So players with the abilty to hit skill stops and reel match couldn't lose.
Machines like Cash Counter, Cash Matrix, Cash Zone, Super Two, Cash Card, Super Black Jack (all AWPs) were all emptiable on early ROM versions.
Most of these can now be played on the emulators. It's even possible to play an unchipped version of Cash Zone (and that'll give you an idea of just how good you had to be at skills to take advantage of machines of this era).
Oddly enough Barcrest stopped making skill machines in the early 90s and started churning out boring 'board game' style AWPs (like Andy Capp) that offered very little in the way of skill or 'player control'.
In that period Bell Fruit(ironically enough) was the only company still featuring true skill but they also switched to the skill-free board game style by the late 90s.
It took JPM to revive the skill and strategy based AWP in the late 90s, and other manus (like Impulse) followed suit.
In some ways the mid-90s was similar to today (the mid-2000s).
Skill features have been largely designed-out, and the only way to make real money playing machines is to do something dodgy or downright illegal or to know about a manipulator based on a secret coding error.
In the early to mid 90s the biggest manipulators (AFAIK) were the the free win trick on the lines/matrix on ACE machines and the free token wins manipulators on Bell Fruit and other AWPs. There were also manipulators for various Maygays, but all these schemes relied on knowing about coding errors. The machines as designed offered almost nothing in the way of player advantage (IE, learning the features and practising the skills was pointless).
As this was before the internet, these tricks were known to only a relatively small number of players, and would often last for many months and even years.
Some players simply reverted to illegal methods during the 90s to make money. Strimming was fairly widespread, as was the switch-off/sparking cheat (this enabled almost all mid-90s AWPs to be emptied). Not something I ever went in for, as I like to stay on the right side of the law, but it was relatively easy to get away with that stuff back then.
Others tried even more illegal methods, like fake coins and hopper dumping (still going on today,by all accounts).
The main difference between then and now is that the manufacturers have learned from their mistakes, and have tightened up on the all things that allowed players to take advantage (both legally and illegally).
The second difference is the internet - something that didn't exist in the early 90s.
The internet has alerted 1000s of players to the fact that it is/was possible to consistently beat fruit machines,and this has of course increased competition and forced manufacturers to take the 'pro-playing phenomena seriously. This is why most machines today are generally rigid clones that take no chances with innovative design.
And that's why modern machines are,by and large, unplayable rubbish!
Nice post
I can't really comment on older machines because I am young and never had the chance to play them, but I'm sure in 10-20 years time, current players will be saying how much easier it was to make profit "back in 2006 than it is now!".
That's just the way it is I suppose. Although I don't think it is that bad now. But I don't know how good it was back then, so only have my point of view
Agreed on the shiteness of machines nowadays compared with the luxury of playable machines of the late nineties.
However, it is largely due to the fact that everyone is now a 'player'.
If there was the same ratio as before i believe it would still be possible to do alright. But your average punter is far more clued up now and it doesnt help that the same machine gets 'checked' 10+ times a day by different players.
It still is possible to do alright but you need shit loads of disipline and lots of spare time.
I have the disipline but not the time or 'get-up' to be bothered.
I still take 80 odd coins to the pub on a friday just in case lol. (space raiders and lucky strike)
AA
K
On the subject of players being "Clued Up" these days, players like myself tend to adapt, and maybe go to small working class towns where most of the population spend their pittance of a shop floor wage compulsively gambling on AWPs on a weekend. You still see them putting £18 in and collecting a £5, putting the £5 back in, losing, getting another note out, after an hour, I can see the guy thinking "Should I, Should'nt I spent my last £2 on the machine or catch the bus home".
I find now that a lot of students seem to be smarter on fruit machines,
so I stay away from University towns and cities.
The refill key mechanism on most machines still are OK so you know where you are at in establishments where they refill once a week.
Again, in clued up establishments, ie. Yates, Wetherspoons, they hopper up daily. Find places where this is not the case, ie. standard size pubs.
Make sure landlords are not nosey gits.
Talk to any potential player. Get to know him. Be friendly.
and then, the HOLY GRAIL of all players! DISCIPLINE. It took me 15 years to understand that word!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice post slotter
Nowday play is utterly boring, I stopped at the services the other day and even though I made a small profit i nearly feel asleep doing so. I stopped off for a little break from driving. I had to get 2 cans of red bull for the rest of the drive home after playing that trash.
Used to be better when we could play machines in black and white.
Profits are possible, discipline, locations and timing are all essential.
Different places done on different days is prety good, the city around here is always good for profits in about 3 establishments if you don't mind being there on fri/sat night, which to me is no bother.
Then thers outer skirts which are less busy which are normally good to go by sunday.
but again, all comes down to discipline and travel.
Last edited by Dunhamzzz; 31st August 2006 at 12:58 AM.
Couldn't agree moreOriginally Posted by Dunhamzzz
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