Coin Slot
Issue: 1979 December 058 - Page 26
Coin Slot Magazine - #058 - 1979 - December [International Arcade Museum]
THIRTY YEARS OF
the slot machine player vs.
the manufacturer/operator
by
Robert I. Frankenberger, Ph.D.
Whenever man invents a machine, game, or system designed to sepa
rate a man from his money, whether it is cards, horses or a pea under a
walnut shell, some other man will find a way to beat the system. Slot ma
chines are no exception. I suppose when the first slot machines appeared
in large numbers players discovered ways to get an edge. As soon as this
discovery became apparent to the manufacturers, they in turn secured the
machine against the technique. This tug of war by both the manufacturer/
operator and players see-sawed back and forth for thirty years.
Some of the methods used to beat the slots were crude hammer and
pry bar methods, but some were astonishingly clever and devious. Manu
facturers and operators, in retaliation, devised counter methods to assure
continued profits.
In talking with collectors and many of the older operators, I learned
of a variety of methods used to lure the players to play and to reduce
chances of winning without discouraging continued play. On some of the
older machines (1930's - 1940's), it is well known that the pay out was
less than generous. Some machines paid only fifty percent!! Frequently
the twenty symbol reels had only ten pay out stops. That guaranteed a
lean pay out for sure. Manufacturers also designed wide and long jackpot
windows that were actually quite shallow — only two or three coins deep.
This kind of deception was doubled when later machines added the dou
ble jackpot. I have heard of, but never seen, machines that displayed mere
pictures of coins in a bulging jackpot window.
com
.
m
:
m
eu the addition of a magnifying lens over
Another clever
o deception
us was
m
d fr recently
-
the escalator. de
The
played
nickel suddenly blossomed into a coin
de
a
a
o
l
c
r
n
of truly
heroic proportions.
a
Dow //www.
:
24
http
© The International Arcade Museum
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
THIRTY YEARS OF
the slot machine player vs.
the manufacturer/operator
by
Robert I. Frankenberger, Ph.D.
Whenever man invents a machine, game, or system designed to sepa
rate a man from his money, whether it is cards, horses or a pea under a
walnut shell, some other man will find a way to beat the system. Slot ma
chines are no exception. I suppose when the first slot machines appeared
in large numbers players discovered ways to get an edge. As soon as this
discovery became apparent to the manufacturers, they in turn secured the
machine against the technique. This tug of war by both the manufacturer/
operator and players see-sawed back and forth for thirty years.
Some of the methods used to beat the slots were crude hammer and
pry bar methods, but some were astonishingly clever and devious. Manu
facturers and operators, in retaliation, devised counter methods to assure
continued profits.
In talking with collectors and many of the older operators, I learned
of a variety of methods used to lure the players to play and to reduce
chances of winning without discouraging continued play. On some of the
older machines (1930's - 1940's), it is well known that the pay out was
less than generous. Some machines paid only fifty percent!! Frequently
the twenty symbol reels had only ten pay out stops. That guaranteed a
lean pay out for sure. Manufacturers also designed wide and long jackpot
windows that were actually quite shallow — only two or three coins deep.
This kind of deception was doubled when later machines added the dou
ble jackpot. I have heard of, but never seen, machines that displayed mere
pictures of coins in a bulging jackpot window.
com
.
m
:
m
eu the addition of a magnifying lens over
Another clever
o deception
us was
m
d fr recently
-
the escalator. de
The
played
nickel suddenly blossomed into a coin
de
a
a
o
l
c
r
n
of truly
heroic proportions.
a
Dow //www.
:
24
http
© The International Arcade Museum
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).