Play Meter

Continued from page 14
PLA Y METER: How long does it take you before
you usually convince the location owner to go with
th price change?
CLARK: It frequently takes three, four, five trip .
Now I probably have a little over fifty percent of my
pool tables at 35 cents. And anywhere between
eight months to a year from now, it depend upon
the economy, I intend to hit these same location
again that we both need more money, and so let's go
to 50-cent pool. Getting the location off the quarter
wa the hardest project that I have come across
yet. I think it'll be a lot ea ier to move from 35 cents
. to 50. I think that ha a lot to do with the coinage.
To a percentage of the customers, doing away with
the dime will be able ing.
PLA Y METER: What are your feelings about the
dollar coin?
CLARK: If the operators would use it, I think it
could be a terrific boon to the jukebox end of the
industry. I think there could be some increase also
with orne of the e newel ctronic games, if they
are et up on a dollar because my feelings are that
the larg r the denomination of money the machine
can take, the more money that machine can make
for you. In fact, if inflation continues to run
rampant and if the government starts talking about
the two -dollar bill again, I'll be ready to rig my
jukeboxes to take two dollars. But I feel that the
majority of operator will not do anything with the
dollar coin, except on a limited number of piece .
For me, the fir. t thing I'm going to do is fini h out
all the jukeboxe to where they can take paper or
coin . And it'll give me a good chance to see how
eff ctive the dollar coin i and how effective the
accepto r are . Right now , I've re -rigged the credit
unit on orne of my phonograph to where they will
take four quarter for a dollar' worth of ongs, but
that ha it problem , if one of the quarters gets
stuck, or if the machine doe n't count right. It ha
all type of problems like that. Now, after I've
fini hed with the jukeboxe and have all of them on
dollar capability, I contemplate going to dollar
ca pability on my new pin . I'm not ure whether I'll
give the play r a bon u , like five play for a dollar ,
or whether I'll rai e the price and give them three
play for a dollar. I'll probably try it everal
diff rent ways.
PLAY METER: Do you
increa e a a package d al?
pre ent your
Mali
The Henry W. T Mail & Co Inc
257 Park Ave South
New York . NY 10010
12121 475 4!Jl(]
Toll Free: 11m 223 6468
64
pric
CLARK: No, ev rything i
parate. A for the
pinball, I pretty much tarted all the new
I ctronic on off at on play for a quarter a oon
a the new electronic game came out. 0 with
them, I wa abl to get away with it by wheeling
them in the door that way. And I cleaned up on the
older one and chan g d them over to the new
pricing a th y came back to the hop. But I don't
pre ent a price increa e a a package deal, t hat if
you don't I t m rai
t he price of t hi or that,
v rything com out. I have been able to do it by
winning th location owner' confidence that I can
h Ip him make mor money off the mu ic and game
in hi location .
PLAY METER: You aid you have yo ur pingame
priced at one play for a quarter. I that t hree -ball or
five -ball?
CLARK: I have one three -ball pin, and th re tare
on five -ball. I f I rather than cut down t he amount
of ball, I would rath r rai e the price. It would be
lik a bowling all y till charging you 75 cent for a
gam but aying that now you can only bowl even
fram . My fling i that the player would prefer
to pay an increa d pric and get the arne game he
i u ed to getting. I may be wrong at t hat, I don't
know. But my only th r e-ball game i not the high
money -maker for me in th location where I have it.
PLA Y METER: Do yo u u e token ?
CLARK: We have it at on location, for ec uri ty
rea on . I'm real pi a d with it. We went to a
tok n there that wa a pproximate ly t he size of a
dime, to create a mall an opening a po ible. W
wanted to re trict t he amount of garbage they can
t hrow into th machin . And we ell t he tokens at
four for a dollar. We u e a changer to ell t he tok n
at th location. With t hi . it' very po ible that we
might be able to in titute a price increa ethe r to
mayb three token for a dollar.
PLAY METER: Have you had any ucce
with
getting a chan ge in t he commi ion arrang m nt ?
CLARK: I feel that in Ii u of taking money away
from t h location, I would rather how th location
own r how w can both make money. I frequ ntly
put minimum on th game, but I don't normally
operate that way. What I do have, how ver, ar
location contract . But all location contract ar
only a good a th two partie that enter into th m
in th fir t plac . It do
iv you a little mea ure of
ccurity . Our location contr act u ually run for two
or three year .
Billiard Cloth
.~ tyl
-'20-Plain,
t~'l
D20-Backed
A \'ailable through your distributor.
PLAY METER. March , 1979