Expensive Prize Claw Machines

[kingsislandfan1972]

Have you wasted your time trying to win expensive prizes like an Ipad or a Ps4 or anything like that? I noticed that I have never seen anybody win at all Cedar Fair Parks and every where I see them. I play the stuffed animal claw machine at Krogers or Walmart all the time and those seem not as rigged as the ones with expensive prizes.

[Gabe]

As others have mentioned in the midway games thread, such machines cannot be rigged. Much like the midway games, a certain skill is required to win, but winning is not impossible, no matter how large the prize.

[kingsislandfan1972]

I have never seen anybody win an expensive prize ever with a claw machine, not even on YouTube.

[malem]

I played one of these exactly one time as a kid, winning a stuffed animal for my sister with her quarter(s). I quit while I was ahead.

I doubt that any of them are rigged to only pay out part of the time; that might constitute an unlawful game of chance in many states. Rather, I would expect that the difficulty setting is increased when the prize values are higher.

[Voicetek]

Actually, I saw a video once of a guy who owned a bunch of various arcade-type games. One game/machine that he had was a claw machine. He opened up the control panel and showed that there was a knob that you could adjust how tightly the claw grabbed. Turn it down, the claw would close but not put forth enough pressure to actually grab something. Turn it up, the claw would grab the heck out of whatever was in the machine. So not sure if you could call it "rigged," but you could definitely control the outcome to an extent.

[shark6495]

Played the PS4 game in the KI arcade. Played 5 times to set up a way to win the key. Had it all set up and then.... Nope I mis hit and messed up my entire plan....

[homestar92]

The machines aren't rigged in the sense that it's impossible to win. But many of them have a determined payout rate where the game will prevent winning if its cashflow has not reached a certain threshold since the last prize was given. Once this threshold has been reached, winning a prize reverts back to being purely skill-based. Now, this isn't true as much with claw machines. Those rarely have logic complex enough to do that, so they just set the claw strength to adjust the difficulty in such a way as to prevent easily winning. On newer, computerized games, most notably Stacker, this is very much the case, as demonstrated by this video:

Now, to regular claw machines.

These are not rigged at all in most cases. I play the claw every time I am at the local Meijer or Kroger. Nine times out of ten, I go home with a prize after one or two attempts. The typical claw machines with plush toys are usually games of pure skill. There are techniques you can learn to maximize your odds. You have to use your angles and look at the machine from all sides. You have to go for the toy that is least wedged in with others and as close to the prize chute as possible. Sometimes shape matters, you need to go for something shaped in such a way that the claw has a vantage point to grab on from. On a freshly filled machine, you can sometimes even use the claw to just "rake" toys into the chute. As a rule, the more valuable the prize, the more likely it is that they are messing with the strength of the claw or throwing in other variables to make it more difficult. With the 50 cent plush machines, the toys are usually not worth much more than the cost of one play, if even that. Typically, they are worth a bit less. Even if they have a really good group of players come in and play, the owner of the machine will be making a profit.

[malem]

But many of them have a determined payout rate where the game will prevent winning if its cashflow has not reached a certain threshold since the last prize was given. Once this threshold has been reached, winning a prize reverts back to being purely skill-based.

Set payout rates...

A device matching that description would seem to be a slot machine.

[The Interpreter]

I've said it many times. I still do not understand why most amusement park games (not just machines) are not gambling.

[homestar92]

In some ways, the machines with expensive prizes are worse than gambling, because in order to win a prize, you have to be lucky, and then you must simultaneously be skilled enough to win the game.

[The Interpreter]

See: poker.

[LOKJAW]

I worked for the company that ran these machines back in the 90's at PKI. As homestar92 said earlier the machines that have the expensive prizes have a threshold that must be reached before the prize will be awarded. So in a sense they are rigged. As for the plush machines, I could stuff any machine so that you couldn't win. But on the other hand when you pay 50 cents to play and win on the first try KI still won, the prize only cost us pennies. I could also take a closed ended wrench and slightly bend the claw arms to make a game easier or harder to win. Kind of like every time you pick something out it slips out. Bottom line is there are some many ways to set these machines up to be loose or tight. I typically watch someone else play so I can determine if it can be won or not.

[malem]

I've said it many times. I still do not understand why most amusement park games (not just machines) are not gambling.

Perhaps simply a lack of challenge by states' attorneys.

Many games are much older than legislation that expanded the definition of "gambling". They have been operating in the open for many years.

[TTD-120-420]

I have a friend that won an iPad playing a Stacker game. Ten minutes later she won a PS3 in "Cut-the-String."

We went out and had her buy lottery tickets, but her luck ended there.

[dtk1378]

I let my daughter play the rubber duck claw game all the time, she wins it every time! :-)

[kingsislandfan1972]

I like the Halloween themed ducks that are in RiverTown Arcade its the one claw machine that you know that you can win at, I remember the Duck machine at the arcade in Coney Mall, before it turned into Kill Mart.

[gad198]

I've said it many times. I still do not understand why most amusement park games (not just machines) are not gambling.

Mostly because there are a select few people who have the skill to beat some games consistently. This does NOT apply to the mechanical games (Stacker, the claw games with electronics, etc.) because the odds have been pre-stacked against you (no pun intended). It doesn't matter what your skill level is at those kinds of games, because if the machine isn't ready to pay you have a near zero chance of winning.

On the flip side, skilled players can often do quite well at games where the player has direct control over the outcome of the game, 3 Point Challenge being an example. A good player on that game is - on average - going to score more points than non-skilled players over the long-run. There's variance on that game to be sure, but unlike a casino, the odds of winning most amusement park games aren't really pre-set. It depends on the players skill, and most patrons simply aren't skilled enough to be able to beat the games. Those who are usually run up against prize limits. I'll say it again, prize limits exist for a reason!

I know for a fact that there are several parks out there that have my season pass in their database and will alert games management when I'm in the park. I often see supervisors quickly after I arrive at some games, and some know me and call me by name even if I haven't been to their park in a year. Parks know who the skilled people are. One of these days I'll share some interesting stories I've had in my travels, but suffice it to say some games most definitely are not luck, at least in the long-run.