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State gaming boards really need to investigate arcades in general. They are much worse than the casino with the same kinds of games, but a much worse payout. I
by Something1234 5y ago
State gaming boards really need to investigate arcades in general. They are much worse than the casino with the same kinds of games, but a much worse payout. I once calculated it out when I was on a bus trip I would get back 70% of what I put in (n=$100). At the arcade you're lucky to get 5 cents back, and most of the time the games are not even fun.
We need to put together a team of experts to audit all of these machines.
- koz1000 5y agoI worked on a redemption device a long time ago, one of those "stop the lights" game for a large manufacturer. There were a few jurisdictions, Iowa and New Jersey come to mind, that were already aware of the nature of these machines and required the manufacturers to have their software audited and validated by (state approved) third-party gaming labs identical to what the slot machine companies do when getting code approved for release. The key point was that the probability of a win couldn't be adjusted on the fly to make the target payout percentage (kind of what the article says). The probabilities had to be fixed for every player on every game. Although the first method is a lot easier to write, software-wise. =) For the rest of the jurisdictions, the default payout was 40% and anything was fair game to hit that number. Remember that the next time you're in a Chuck E Cheese.
- nomel 5y ago> The probabilities had to be fixed for every player on every game. For every play of the game, or across all of those game machines sold?
- koz1000 5y agoThe operator-set percentage and payout was always local to the machine. There's no way to network these things, and even when do you see networked progressive slot machines (e.g. IGT's Megabucks), the RNG and payout is always local to that machine.
- Something1234 5y agoOn the same note could you name any of the third party labs? I'm interested in the topic.
- walrus01 5y agoCome on down to chuck e cheese, eat some low grade pizza in our rat themed child casino!
- TedDoesntTalk 5y agoThe problem is not the payout probability being fixed or variable. The problem is a lot of these machines suggest they are skill-based when they are really skill and luck based.
- distances 5y agoI don't think you can call it luck when the machine is programmed to explicitly not give a win until a number of games. It's not luck, it's not odds. There's zero chance of a win until the condition is reached.
- erdos4d 5y agoI mean, given the cash-only nature of the business, I'd be very surprised if most arcades weren't laundering money these days too.
- eli 5y agoMost arcades I’ve been to recently use prepaid cards you top off with a credit card
- AussieWog93 5y agoMy experience is the same at dedicated arcades, but not at the random machines in shopping centres etc.
- gentleman11 5y agoNot just arcades, but all video games, especially on mobile but aaa is really trying to catch up on desktop with loot boxes and skinners box “progression” systems
- sircastor 5y agoI remember hearing a story about Pinball being proven as a game of skill, rather than a game of chance, over-turning decades of a ban. [1] https://gizmodo.com/how-one-perfect-shot-saved-pinball-from-being-illegal-1154267979 https://gizmodo.com/how-one-perfect-shot-saved-pinball-from-...
- GuB-42 5y agoIn the arcade, you get exactly 0% of your money back. You may get a prize though. It is the thing that makes it not gambling. In a casino, there is the risk of spending more than your disposable income, hoping to get your money back. In an arcade, you know that once the money is in the machine, it is gone, less chance to overspend. The main point of anti-gambling laws is to prevent addicts from ruining themselves, not to prevent you from spending some money to have fun at the casino, and not to save your disposable income. The line is blurred when the prize has resale value, and in fact, a common way to disguise gambling is for the machine to give out prizes that the shop next door conveniently buys for a good price.