Coin Slot Magazine - #081 - 1981 - November [International Arcade Museum]
of the payout cup. After a machine has paid out, it
THIS MONTH'S HINtBON
RESTORATION
AND
REPAIR
By Man: Harrison
Anti-v^heat
Devices
henever I think of the technical
complexity of the typical slot machine engine, or the
enormous tangle of electro-mechanical circuitry so
characteristic of console type machines, I cannot help
being struck with awe and wonderment. Imagine the
design and engineering represented by these
constructions, and the men, machine tools, dies, and
blueprints by the thousands which together formed a
mighty industrial complex dedicated solely to the
manufacture of beautiful and functional devices
devoted to one purpose only—to separate the
gambler from his money.
But the manufacturing might of these companies did
not expand without challenge, for there existed an
equally inventive group disposed to a hostile and
cunning design — to separate money from the machine
through the art of cheating
This battle was fought and won on the drawing
board, where the engineers designed a variety of
devices to hinder every clever scheme contrived by
deceitful, fraudulent, or unscrupulous persons.
While the machines now residing in collections are
unlikely to be exposed to such chicanery as was
practiced by the swindlers of yeateryear, the vestiges
of the many anti-cheat devices remain in operation on
the mechanisms as testimony to the cleverness of
both the cheater and his mechanical nemesia
com
.
m
:
u
use
from to thwart
m
d
-
porated in the/mechanism
such
attempts.
e
e
oad .arcad
l
n
Dow //www
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http 'POONING — this is the term given to
The following ^re descriptions of the various means
of bilking the machines and the instruments incor
s,
efforts to manipulate the payout slides by inserting the
fingers or other utensils, usually spoons, up the ramp
68-THE
© The
International COIN
Arcade SLOT
Museum
should be possible to pull the slides forward far
enough to allow them to reload from the coins stacked
in the tube above them. Once reloaded in this manner,
they can be released, allowing them to snap back to
the payout position and dump their coins down the
payout chute. Rapid manipulation of the slides in this
fashion can soon empty the payout tube, leaving a
handsome profit for the pilferer.
This problem was initially counter-acted by
redesigning the payout chute to include a variety of
metal guards to prevent the insertion of instruments,
and even sharp spikes to repel probing fingers. Later,
methods of locking the slides in position after a payout
were developed, usually by a rod passing thru holes in
the slides or by a spring loaded lever falling in behind
the slides, preventing any movement of the slides until
the machine is reset by pulling the handle.
On Pace machines, the safety slide is released
directly after the payout slides pull, covering the
payout opening and protecting the slides from any
possible intrusion.
i,
IILTING — as its name suggests, tilting,
shaking, or lifting the machine to the right can be used
to force a payout regardless of the symbols appearing
on the payout line. By utilizing the influence of gravity
or the inertial force of a violent jarring on the horizontal
payout levers, these levers can be moved to the right
just prior to the fifth click, (the release of the payout
slides) allowing the slides to pull to the rear and deliver
coins. Although this method requires quite a bit of
manhandling of the cabinet, if it can be done undetected
in an obscure or out of sight location, it is most
effective.
A variety of checks exist to hinder this manner of
cheating, all of which use the same action of gravity or
inertia to activate them. Most popular is an overhung
equally inventive group
disposed to a hostile
and cunning design —
to separate money
from the machine through
the art of cheating."
metal tab, which when tilted to the right, swings from
the vertical to block the movement of the slides or stop
the reel timing bar from completing its cycle. On Mills
engines, tilting to the right also releases the safety
slide, which moves across the payout opening at the
base of the slides, blocking the delivery of any coins.
To prevent the dumping of the jackpot by movement
of the horizontal jackpot lever due to jarring action, an
additional spring was placed between the horizontal
November 1981
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