Advice needed here please…

Before I start, I would like it to be known that I have absolutely zero knowledge of electrical gismos / mechanics and wotnot. I am also prone to believe urban myths.

In short…I am an cretin.

I have however, recently heard that your average ‘bandit’ gambling machine is run on differing amps (volts) for different tasks and that the mechanics of which mean that they can be controlled.

Thusly, the theory is that if you unplug said machine, then plug it back in but via a ‘dimmer switch’ adapter, you can adjust the voltage through the machine and set it to a lower voltage that triggers the automatic ‘payout’ or ‘empty’ function.

This sounds highly unlikely to me. Could it be true?
( Pooflake braces for an onslaught..., Mon 4 Aug 2008, 12:13, 10 replies)

I don't know about bandits, specifically
But I do have a technical background, and that sounds like bollocks to me.

Edit - it is however possible, and indeed likely, that reducing the voltage on a piece of electronic equipment will cause it to malfunction before it stops working completely. One such malfunction, should you be lucky, may be the jackpot payout.

Properly designed equipment should shut down gracefully though.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Mon 4 Aug 2008, 12:17, closed)

Those differing voltages/currents
would be determined by smaller internal circuits. Changing the input voltage will only adjust the voltage that goes into the transformer and most likely just cause the machine to shut down.

It's a nice thought, though.
(LongJohnBaldry, Mon 4 Aug 2008, 12:35, closed)

,
Apparantly you can watch the machine for a while and see how frequently it pays out. Then time your go just at the right moment for a win. This is especially true for the grab-it games. Small children can help more efficiently here. But you aint going to get rich by stealing teddy bears
(Miggyman, Mon 4 Aug 2008, 12:39, closed)

Emulators (sp?)
I was told that you can find emulators on t'net that follow the same payout patterns as the proper machines. You can use your computer to play for free until you recognise the lead-up to jackpot payouts then mooch around the arcades looking to jump on a machine that some chump has been filling with cash just in time to put a couple more quid in and empty it.
(Greencloud Wanted to go fishing on, Mon 4 Aug 2008, 12:46, closed)

Doesn't sound
like it'd be true. The payout would be controlled by a little microcontroller inside it- this allows for easier fixing and alteration of the operating settings (i.e. they get to scam you easier).

There are also reports of people rigging up devices to try and stop the wheels turning on fruit machines. No idea if its any good, and again I'm not sure if it'd work. Anyone got any more info?
( uberdeity Wondered why Owen Lars knew of the term "hell" on, Mon 4 Aug 2008, 12:48, closed)

Now then
what you do want is one of the keys the owners use which lets you see how full each machine is.

They are useful, and of dubious legality.
(Shippy likes linebreaks and doesn't care what you think, Mon 4 Aug 2008, 13:07, closed)

hahaha
for all the bother you guys are going about, why not just take a sledge hammer to the box instead... and just salvage the money.

alot easyier.
(Dan dan dan They tik urh jerbs!!!, Mon 4 Aug 2008, 14:25, closed)

Unsure about that method
But a few years back there were certainly devices that you could buy which delivered some sort of shock to the system which could prompt a payout. I can't remember any details though!

These days - from what I've seen on the Discovery channel - the machines are a lot more sophisticated, well designed and processor controlled. Unless there's a backdoor built in, which is very closely guarded against through code audits and so on, I don't think there's much of a chance of cheating a modern machine.
( Fireflier La la la la, not listening on, Mon 4 Aug 2008, 16:47, closed)

Why not just...
Learn every fact in the world, and take the jackpot from the quiz machine instead?
(Rotten_Cointreau is a proper scientician, Mon 4 Aug 2008, 17:03, closed)

@Miggyman
So, am I to understand that those grab-it crane machine things have a device that means that no matter how accurate you are with the grabber, it'll only actually grab if the counter says it's time for a payout?
That would explain a lot.
(richardm, Thu 7 Aug 2008, 10:37, closed)