Skegness - The Sequel

[kidgloves]

Half term is upon us therefore a trip to the coast is due. We've just spent the last couple of days in Skegness. Some people love it, some people hate it, call it the Marmite of seaside towns if you will. I quite like it for a number of reasons, it doesn't feel like a hell of a drive to get there, machine wise there is lots of choice and an abundance of playing areas, not just 'the day job' but also in the evening around the pubs. We both like a good walk around when it comes to drinking so it's usual to take in anything up to 15 pubs a night, all depending on what the machines are and the mood they are in. Some pubs get a glance through the window and we move right on past, some get a quick drink and short test of the machines to find them dead or not worth the force, some pubs we get a couple of drinks in if the machines are stubborn or rarely where there is more than one to play that's worth the time and effort.
I'll start now by saying I didn't make a profit, but like some others, I'm not in it for the profit these days, that's just a bonus. The various wins and losses detailed below are a snapshot of an overall loss of about £200. I did enjoy myself for the most part and if I was being totally honest at least half of the loss was due to dodgy discipline more than anything else.
The last time we were at Skegness was the night the Grand Hotel went up in flames along with a big arcade below it and a couple of pubs that had been newly refurbished. No building work has been started on that site yet, but it has been completely cleared and enclosed apart from a window through which you can look through to see where the hotel once stood. Fuck knows how you go about claiming the insurance on the arcade that was there...just think about the individual components that you could claim for - the pound coins in the machines must run into hundreds of thousands, the machines themselves, fixtures, fittings, carpets, the bill must be massive, then there are the gaming licences for each of the bigger JP machines, do they get a refund or is it dead money or another insurance claim ?
My playing session started mid afternoon and I had one of those times where whatever I played I had no luck. My float of £200 was steadily dwindling not through poor play, just testing out various machines and not hitting anything. You only need 10 or so of these to be £50 down before you know it through no fault of your own. It's at this time you really need to discipline yourself and write it off rather than go running for the nearest S16 or pull up a chair to the first machine you find with any remote signs of life. Most of the losses were on Magic 10's Bar X 7's which are always worth £3 to spot for signs of life but they were all unusually comatose, you can normally hit at least a couple of wins before deciding that's all it's going to be and move on but none of that this time.
Another reason I like Skegness is the abundance of chuzzy kits on the Bar x's . So many tourists still don't know the various hold setups on these that they will often have some value in them. By the same token though, why would there be so many if they also weren't taking money for the operators ? In reality they are in fact quite tight. They don't display percentages on the l.e.d. as some more modern ones do but I imagine they are set low. The win plans were often set at £15 for x's and £25 for bars so clearly aimed at the hard core player. Basically these seemed to just play a flurry of 3 to 4 wins close together after taking some profit down below then starting the whole cycle again. The streak feature never went for more than one Jackpot and I only found 2 units during the course of our stay that were feature ready from the off. That's quite a few lower than the Summer, but I suppose that's to be expected as we are now into low season, less tourists but the same amount of local players wanting their share of the pie. Best result on these was 3 quick flashes for £25's followed by a flat £25 off the feature.
The wife, often sensing when I'm 'well and truly dug in' on a machine will disappear for a bit of retail therapy or go and find a Pink Panther and SH red line it (this manip never wears thin for her) or seek out one of those God forbidden donkey derby units where you play a bar x style fruit machine awaiting the 'race' which activates at certain intervals. She was none too pleased to plough the coins through 2 separate units to finally be awarded a race and find her 'race' button didn't work, leaving her nag on the start line. The other race she had the button did work but the computer won as it always seems to do when just one human player is playing.
My discipline failed me when I started playing stand up Party Time that was full after £3. I decided to plough on against my better judgement and soon got into that zone where you pay £10+ for a pound win which doesn't go up. The only saving graces were 3 £25 wins on the bottom reels keeping me afloat whilst waiting for that elusive big top reels win or combination of features. The bank kicked out at £90ish and the hopper ran dry at £3 left to pay despite me putting more than that in so some crap top up had been performed. Whilst waiting for nudge timeouts on this pile of filth I kept piling £3 worth of credits into the newly categorized Elvis at £35 called road to riches. It amused me as all new machines do, all fancy graphics on the feature but essentially fobbing me off after giving me the run arouind with no win offered over £4.50 cashpot and 2 free plays...wohoo. It did offer me 3 nudges for JP at one point and I didn't wonder if a streak would follow with the statement of randomisation it always puts up at the start of money being entered.
Hardly any of the pubs had their machines changed since our Summer visit. Harvey's (?) on the seafront still had Hissing Squid which I didn't play as I couldn't be arsed with SSS should it come to that but I did play their Jackpot Genie which was dead and I was happy to get a few £5 wins back out of. The next bar along is always extortionate for the drink...£6.80 for 2 J.D's and one bottle of coke but the machines had been changed here. Show me the Mummy was dead as was Bucks Bunny. I didn't even try the DOND Power 5, I could hear it telling me to fuck off from the other side of the room.
On we went into town, grabbed £3 out of spot the difference in a really dead pub with just us in there and then in to another place with a row of 5 machines and a change unit .. how subtle. Monopoly was dead, as was power 5. I played a Global Jackpots that Rock 'n' roll which sadly for me was full. I forced....I forced some more....£140 later it finally goes on normal for £35 then about 6 features later a red top feature for £75 so a lucky escape there.
We moved on to the top of the high street by the station where they always have a crowd in due to Elvis/karaoke going on. Played the DOND here and got the respinner bonus off square 4. Double melons on reels 1 and 3 so I held these as the bonus never normally gets you enough numbers to enter the cash trail. 1st respin - blank 2nd respin blank then I hit repeat 'yes' for the 3rd respin which then turns into a skill hold - very surprising as I didn't even know it could do that. I bang in the other melons for a £10 win which I gamble to £12 off the cash side and collect. The wife takes over and it repeats twice for a very surprising £36.
JDW's was next up, last time it had all Red's in there but 3 had gone this time. The Vortex that remained was dead, as was Billy the Quid and the others not worth playing. We called it a night after a session on the it box with lot's of variations to the Bullseye game which we hadn't seen before...£1 a go...true or false... and even a version that cost £5 a go which put you on the prize board straight away..didn't play it at that price but would like to see it in action. Trip to the Chinese and the night was done.
Didn't run into many players/locals but it was sad to see a young lad of 10 or so playing 3 £5 golden games all at once obviously playing them 'in the know' with regard to pots and holds etc. He had that showing off air about him that you could only have at that age. Later that day we some him looking a bit more dejected playing a lot tec pink panther which was obviously having his pants down. What hope if you are playing a 6 hour session at that age?
The only other adult player I came across was playing a Magic 10, backing as I entered the arcade as I wandered over to play a similar machine about 3 units down. Mine went full after £15 and I was in the mood for a force so pulled up a chair. He was the type of guy that looked round at every players machine when something was happening, clocking it all. I don't know whether I sat down just because the signs on the machine said so or also because a little bit of me likes playing the mind games with another player....can I get my machine to pay before yours...how dead can I leave it ? I was professional to the last, not flinching so much as an eye in his direction every time he had a win and particularly not when he got the JP plus a hold. He strangely paid me the same courtesy despite his earlier mannerisms when I dropped wins so it was all 'pretending not to notice' awareness of each others success and failures, in reality knowing exactly where each of us was. As it happens this was a vile profile/percentage setting so I ended up down but had the sense to walk after getting a flurry of £80 or so in wins. I suppose he won that mental victory, but I'm too old to care when thinking about the greater scheme of things.
Off to London tomorrow to stay over and see the Lord of the Rings show at Drury Lane Theatre. Hopefully a few machines will be involved along the way, maybe I might even dare to enter that shark den at the Trocadero in London just to see what all the fuss is about.

[Prowler]

i wouldnt touch "the crystal rooms" in leicester square or any of the play 2 wins on wardour street, a lot of the s16's are switched off and whats left is mainly lo tecs that are regularly emptied after a phone call and a chinese handshake!!

[kidgloves]

i wouldnt touch "the crystal rooms" in leicester square or any of the play 2 wins on wardour street, a lot of the s16's are switched off and whats left is mainly lo tecs that are regularly emptied after a phone call and a chinese handshake!!

I think it'll mainly be opportunistic hit 'n' runs from some squalid backstreet pub if anything at all.
Can somebody direct me to the 'all Barcrests and JPM's from the 90's' quarter ?
Failing that, I'll take a couple of no. 42's from the local chinese into 'the gary rooms' by way of peace offering introduction. By the end of the day I'll be teaching them how to empty a slotto with their own chopsticks.

[S6TAV]

Trocadero I haven't been there since King Kebab days

I have booked this friday of and was going to venture to my local tourist attraction (Southend)
I only like it because it is the only place around where i can still find VIU's/YDD's and old school maygays. I totally forgot about the school holidays though so might give it a wide birth

[DannyC]

When I saw this post Mike, me and the wife sat down with some popcorn... yet another great read from the mighty kidgloves!

My story... We have just launched a Brand New commercial radio station here in Preston, and guess who's;

Production Manager
Engineer
DJ

All in one?

Woohoo, went on a SWYW today, to get nudge bonus, slow down, took mystery nudge and nudged in Mega Spins... all off £1.20, happy days!

[kidgloves]

Trocadero I haven't been there since King Kebab days

Bwahaha...you ain't gonna believe it, but they (still?) have a King Kebab in there.
No luck in that place, but I did catch a full Bar x 7 in the crystal rooms at 6pm before the show.
Instantly thought something was up, but it played nice and spilled about £80 worth of wins..just enough not to get involved at the wrong time of night and just enough to annoy the local players.
It had a dodgy coin acceptor only taking 1 out of every 4 or so. The foreign guy working his shift was soon over to me offering to 'change' them for me, but it was so obvious he was checking they weren't fake as so many got rejected and I was a stranger.
Something up with Cluedo in London ? Both machines I played the notey was off and they were dead dead dead.
I can heartily recommend the Lord of the Rings show. Some excellent special effects and a multi level hydraulic stage that also revolves adds to the perspective. Gollum - 10/10 Orcs 9/10 Gandalf 2/10 he sounded bored and rushed his delivery.
To cap it all had a go on LOTR The 2 towers pinball in a Play to Win arcade today before queuing for the train - the one day we choose in the year to go to the capital there's a fookin train strike.

[levartemit]

Ehh Kidgloves, your tales of merriment always bring a smile to my face. I watched a theatrical rendition of LOTR by the Theatre Sans Fils in 1993 long before it became famous again thru the Jackson films. I had to complain though cos the SH method had been chipped out lol.