the answer is a big yes and can be fixed for a certain percentage of the payout given out. the crane grabber tightens up after a certain amount has been put in but they get you hooked if you watch someone feeding it who walks away and people go on expecting a win. you could win one, put another quid in straight after and win another but then not give another out for over 150 goes. more or less they are a one armed fruit machine that work on a similar principle. it makes it even more annoying as the toys inside em are dead cheap and you could not buy one for near the price they do.

Did you have a good eye for who was going to rock the coin pusher when they thought you weren't looking ??

We used to go to the town Moor and rob the penny pushers. The alarm would go off eventually by then our pockets where very heavy indeed. Great fun for a group of 10 / 11 year olds back then.

The rifles were always dodgy, but use the first shot to work out the inevitable deflection of the sight and he presto, loads of useless pot ornaments for yer mam ….. who dumped them in the bin a week later.

Goldfish or Coconuts...never left a fair with one...

I used to work in a betting shop & it's frightening how much money people are prepared to gamble every day. You do get some who only spend a few quid on a coupon & that's their limit, but I have seen people gamble thousands on the horses & the gaming machines.

I got loads of both but biggest problems were the gold fish died within 24 hours and sometimes on the way home. And the coconuts maily out of date.

remember you have to put them in water.

darts were far worse and usually they were of different weights to make it harder to win the tat.

does not shock me in the slightest. nobody seems willing to mention that or criticise the system that was brought in to legalise it all. if it was drink or drugs we,d know much more about something thats a national problem. the only people who suffered the most from this legislation were the seaside arcades who had to spend money in alterations to their premises for any high payout machines they had. you had to have them because punters would go elsewhere that could be a competitor next door who had them. used to hate the things with a passion as kids could play the other machines which was only a practise session till they became 18 to feed the devil.