Best Fruit Machines To Play
Fruit machines are very similar to typical slot machines, but they operate differently and typically only pay out a maximum of £25 making them more for laid back entertainment than anything else. While slots all operate randomly, fruit machines are built with cycles programmed in. That means if you play them long enough you will win a major jackpot. That isn't to say that these machines are guaranteed to be profitable, and if you play them long enough you'll always lose money, but if you happen to start playing at the right time you could stand to win quite a bit. That's why so many people like sitting behind fruit machines at the casino, and why they continue to be popular with so many different slots coming out in recent years. You'll often find these machines in pubs and at Fish and Chip shops around town. They're fun to play but it takes time to really master the machines.
Play Thumb Bandit™ 1960's Fruit Machine FREE SLOTS. One of the original and best mechanical fruit machines from the swinging sixties! Totally retro, colourful and simple to play. This vintage classic one-arm bandit fruit machine is now brought back from the sixties, accurately recreated and best of all now you can play any time you like. It is going to be your decision as to whether you do play fruit machines or would much more prefer playing casino styled slots instead but do also keep in mind that you are also best advised to lean about keno slot machines and how to play them as you could instantly take a shine to those types of gaming machines too.
How To Play
Fruit machines are similar to slot machines but they require a bit more skill to operate. Like slot machines you put money into the machine and you press the spin button or bet button to get things going. The real skill aspect of the game starts after you've been playing for a little bit. As you play the game you'll accumulate holds and nudges that you can use to manipulate the three spinning reels. You can use the hold feature to keep one or two of the reels locked in place so that you can try to win bigger combinations. The nudge feature allows you to bump one of the reels on your next turn so that it moves in one direction just a little bit more, nudging the reels can help you win more money.
Using The Bonus Board
Fruit machines often have a bonus board feature up top that allows you to win bonus money occasionally. When activated the board lights up in a spinning pattern. It's up to you to press spin button to activate the added features from the bonus board. You just have to keep your eye on the board so that you can hopefully unlock these added bonuses as well.
Gambling Your Winnings
Each time that you win money from the fruit machine you can gamble with it to try to win even more. To do this you simply press the Hi or Lo button. If you choose Hi and the machine lands Hi you'll multiply your winnings, but if you're wrong you'll lose them.
When playing with a fruit machine a cash ladder is a quick way to increase your winnings.
Using The Cash Ladder
Fruit machines also come with what is known as a cash ladder. These feature lights up periodically and you have to hit stop at the right moment in order to lock in a prize as high up on the ladder as possible.
Progressive Jackpot Machines
Some fruit machines are linked together to create enticing jackpots for everyone in the casino. These are known as progressive jackpot machines and can really provide some excellent rewards to lucky players. Take a look at the different machines in your local casino to see if any of them offer much higher jackpots than the others. This is likely a progressive jackpot machine and worth playing if you want to win some of the highest jackpots given out at your casino. Just know that as soon as someone playing one of the machines wins the jackpot you'll no longer be able to win that high jackpot any longer. It will reset and even if you win a few minutes later it will be considerably smaller.
Look Out For Streaks
One strategy when playing at a real life casino is to watch out for streaks or periods where a machine rarely pays anything out at all. After the fruit machine has gone so long without paying money out it must pay out money to right the imbalance. If you keep your eye on enough machines for long enough you should be able to spot a streak in at least one of them that lets you know it's more likely to pay out in the near future. If you are patient enough you can learn how to get at least small payouts from machines quite frequently since they aren't completely random.
Fruit machines are interesting to play and can pay out quite a bit of money if you happen to come across one that's ready to pay out and you know how to play it properly. Just make sure that you take advantage of all the different features or you'll miss out on some money.
Words by Rob Weitz
For the first time, a “player” sheds light on a secretive and unheard of side of gambling.
Ever wandered into a pub and lost money on a fruit machine. Fear not, 99.9% of people who play are getting cleaned out on a daily basis.
When Terry turned 18 and started going to pubs, he soon became fascinated and drawn in by the flashing lights.
Fruit machines are known as one-armed bandits, not only because they were originally designed with a large lever on one side of the machine, but also because of their ability to leave players penniless.
A fruit machine will typically have between a 70-80% payout rate and in the first year Terry was playing them, he just became another statistic, losing money.
After all it is a multi-million pound industry that nearly always beats the punter. But not everybody comes out losing.
A professional fruit machine player is known in the industry as a ‘player’ and Terry told me exactly how he first became such a player.
“I remember the first ‘player’ I met was in Clacket Lane service station. He had won the jackpot 3 times in a row – turned out he used to be a manufacturer of fruit machines and he knew another guy who put ‘glitches’ in the programs of the machines so they could be manipulated.”
He says that a bent programmer would broker on (i.e. sell) this information to the likes of this guy he met at the service station. Terry ended up getting his mobile number and started to buy information from him. He would then use the info himself and broker it on to other people.
Before he met this guy Terry was unaware of this line of work. He told me “It’s an unheard of black-market industry; many people still don’t know these possibilities exist.”
When Terry started in 2002, there were about 50 ‘players’ in the country, but since then the market has become a lot more crowded and there are now at least 500 players, “That’s happened because people can’t keep their mouths shut and they can’t fight the temptation to sell on the info. Myself included!” admits Terry.
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Over the years, Terry explains, you start to develop a network of player contacts. “When you see someone playing a machine as beautifully as a piano, in the same way as you do, then you’ll probably find that they are a player too.
“You naturally start chatting with other players, exchange numbers so you can swap and sell information on to each other”
The other half of winning is simply about using some basic maths and percentages. Terry says that if you know a machine has an 80% payout rate and you see an innocent business man (known in the game as a ‘cluey’) lose, say £50, in a machine, you then you know that £40 of that £50 is due to come out.
Seeing this guy lose £50 definitely puts you at a mathematical advantage.
“I’d say about 60% of “fruities” I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole, I only look for certain machines, those I have information about or knowledge of certain playing methods. I buy ‘lists’ off programmers, so I know where the machines are located.”
This saves Terry a lot of time and hassle, (instead of driving around checking every pub).
“A day in my life? Well, it can be very strange! There’s a lot of competition nowadays because there’s so many players doing the same. Turf wars have also broken out” Terry told me.
Best Fruit Machines To Play For Beginners
He cautions that it would not be sensible to go a pub which you don’t know, because it is likely to be covered by another player. He explains that whilst some players are placid and harmless computer geeks there are also a few nasty characters out there.
One of their trademark moves, if they find someone on their patch, is to tip them upside down to empty the coins from their pocket. As Terry’s been in the game for over a decade he has established a name for himself and subsequent respect, so he doesn’t tend to get into any trouble.
Terry has also been known to wear a wig – as he has been barred from a lot of places (about 20% of London pubs) – and is on pub watch in many counties across the UK.
Of course, playing the fruit machines is not illegal in itself – it is merely the manipulation of the program which is illegal. Pub landlords have the ‘right to refuse you entry’. This right does not have to be justified because it is their property and they can simply say ‘I don’t like your haircut’ if they want, they do not need any other excuse.
Places like Wetherspoons and the big chains are better, Terry says. He buys the cheapest drink in the pub and cracks on with his business. But when it comes to little country pubs Terry buys a pint and some food to increase his chances of staying in the pub without any hassle.
Terry says if you come in and jackpot the machine twice a week they’ll want you to spend some money in there as well. Some landlords are more clued up than others. Terry says you need to assess this from the start to see how to play it.
“If a pub is really valuable to me (i.e. I can make £200 a week in the venue) then I’ll treat it with a lot more respect, always buy food and a pint or 2 (a lot of the time throwing the pint away in the urinal cos its 11am) . I also try and build some rapport with the landlord, anything to keep the venue ‘alive’.”
“The amount I can make in a day varies but on average it’s about £150-£200. I’ll typically work 3/4 days a week.” It’s tax-free, so that’s a bonus. Gambling is tax free as long as it’s not your main source of income.
Terry has a few regular ‘routes’, and keeps accurate records of all his pub visits. He always writes down when he last “did” each machine and how much he made on it – so he can try and estimate when it’s best to come back. The timing can be critical.
Fruit Machines Games
Terry would advise youths not to waste their student loans on fruit machines. But take warning: a small spark of interest and curiosity could very quickly become your hobby and lead into a lifetime addiction to gambling.