Fruit Machines Included in this page are ash's fruit3.txt (i think) These are the Basics Further down the page are hints and tips etc ... Tips after the fruit list Compiled by Rupert Squires The Three Holds You have two matching symbols on the pay line and the machine allows you to hold them three times in a row then on the third time the symbol will spin in to give you the win or the feature. Hold Buttons Flash The machine has three matching symbols in a row directly above or below the win line and the hold buttons flash differently to a normal hold then hold all three reels and the win will just drop in. Some machines require you to press start first after holding the reels before the win drops in. Other Holds Or if the machines sound speaker says "hold" or the likes of ,hold all three if you need one nudge to get a win as it will give you the nudge. Or if the machines sound speaker says "take this "etc.. hold your two of the same symbols to win. Hold After Nudges When you have nudges and no chance of getting a win from them then nudge in two matching symbols - if it allows you to hold them dont - your win will drop in on the next spin. An exception to the rule is machines with a screen you will normally need to hold them - it'll usually tell you. The Cancel Button Very often machines will allow you to slow down a skill selection by pressing the cancel button - try it! Roll an even dice to win !!!! If a machine ever wants you to roll an even dice to continue or win etc. then let the machine go until it stops itself , this works on most they usually stop at the end of a tune etc.. but if after a minute or so it hasnt stopped itself then it will probably go on for ever. Try for the Number 1 its pretty easy to see because you will probably miss and land on 2 or 12. Stop Look and Listen remember the sounds the machines make on features etc.. anything different go for the jackpot :) Pot of Gold 1. If the pot of gold in the center of the feature flashes red just keep going until you move in for the jackpot, you cant lose :) (play's a tune too at the start of the feature like a trumpet or something) 2. Get the three holds if you have no numbers on. 3. If you have 2 red 7's on or near the winline go for silver level and take the one pick for the 8 nudges and the jackpot 4. The numbers count when your nudging Roadhog/Hotrod (any feature when something is chasing you) On the feature if you get over 6 the cops/monster/wife get two go's Dracula Hold down the cancel/collect button to slow down the taxi if you do get the jack pot your will get it again within £1-2 and usally a repeat .. . Three numbers on the winline will get you on the feature If on pick a win it flashes in this order 1, 2, 3, 4 etc etc let it go right up to the jackpot If the Barcrest man laught's etc and flashes then go for the jackpot Jumpin Jack If you are just 1 number away from the feature and it holds once then your on the feature Bash the lamp !! Hit the key when it is flashing No real afterplays Place Your bets There is no afterplay on this machine once you get the jackpot then walk away quickly Jewel of the Crown If you get three super nudges its always £4 or even more sometimes If you are just 1 number away from the feature and it holds once then your on the feature *************************************************************************** ************************** Start FRUIT 3 ********************************** *************************************************************************** RESET CODES I was talking to an engineer in my local last night and he confirmed that the 321 231 code is just for downloading info. Apparently the ones that do it have some sort of infra red beam thing near to the coin slot. He also showed me another code, but he did it VERYquickly, and he wouldn't tell me what it did. It started with Cancel - 1 - 2 and then 3 -2 3 -2 lots of times. Anyone know more than this? Monopoly 60 When you land on just visiting, pressing a combination of the holds can produce wins. The best one is 2-1-3 which gives win series Trivial Pursuit If you get the cheese thing on the middle reel hit 1-3-2 for Win Series - this usually gives a good win streak of 5 to 25 pounds! Fast Track If you get the Keycode bonus on Fasttrack, hit 2,3,1 (I *think*), which gives you the feature where it flashes 1,1,1 2,2,2 3,3,3 etc on the LED's below the reels. Stop it on 1,1,1 for Jackpot Repeater. This often repeats 2/3 times. Top Tenner When this machine (and Place Your Bets) is in a good payout mood - you can often hold two fruits and spin a win in FIRST TIME. I've regularly got the pound signs, the cherries (3 quid) and once three blue sevens (7 quid) on one spin. However, it's definitely down to the payout mood and can't be achieved all the time, so if you're trying over and over without success - don't bother wasting too many more 20p or 25p gambles! When it starts giving true skills, advice to let the reels spin etc. - then you're on to something. Cash Lines - Barcrest A couple of things I've noticed on this machine - You sometimes can get holds even though the buttons aren't lit. There doesn't seem to be any of the usual brief button flashes or cancel button stuff to indicate this, and it mainly seems to happen if you've got pounds on the win line (but then again, when haven't you?) If you can't get anything with the nudges, shuffling until you've got none left will give you trail held if it's in a good mood. It'll then spin in a number if it's in a _really_ good mood. Eastenders If the eastenders sign turns blue then you will get to the end of the board, in fact it's the only way you will get to the end of the board. Also the 'Exchange' button flashed very briefly and after I pressed it, it let me choose 3 wins which it added up and gave me. Wall Street I bet you would love to find one of these. Probably the easiest machine ever made. Though the latest chipped version was a bit ruthless. I expect you used to double the cherry and exchange until you climbed the cashpot out then climbed back up for the crazy reels. You only need to climb up the ladder occasionally to see if the cashpot is available. My favorite way was to double the 40p then go x3 all the way to 194.40. I used to get loads of these gambles out. I found it was usually up for it when the digit account was doing 2's - which was the sign to see if it had a crazy reel feature in it. The machine wouldn't need to take much money afterwards for you to go back and get the pot and crazy after. I can understand why you want to find one - they are worth about 400 a week!! Great Escape (MAYGAY) I always hold down the button on Even Money and it has once or twice given me enough evens to pay the jackpot. For this reason, I believe even this is fixed. After all, you would have no way of knowing if you had timed it just right when you could stop it on say 9 instead of 10, or 11 instead of 10. It's the same with Barcrest etc. on their "Stoppa" bonus - which flashes all the amounts, inc. jackpot repeater where available. Of course, it often just goes one below the cash line/nudge line etc! That is unless the Barcrest man is flashing, or you're holding down Cancel on a JPM/Ace/Maygay machine. big break Watch for the jpm flashing this eaither helps you onto the board or spins in a win. Sometimes the jackpot. Also when on the board if you have lucky strikes more than 2 then take this its usually 4 quid Also on the feature pocket if the cashpot is at ten quid then take the feature you then have to skill shot all the balls this is well easy the light goes round the board to each pocket and you have to stop it on each ball Also try the cancel button on skill choose a trail and stoppa it slows it down, clear the table is a skill shot feature cancel works on this only take nudge time if there is a win very close to the line or you have more than five seconds Holding the bonus ball if you get a respin works also if you hold it keep trying to get respin because numbers usually come in every time so gets you onto the board easier Monopoly 60 - Get out of jail more often than not Here's a quick tip for Monopoly... If you land in jail, or get throw a double or take a chance, it's quite easy to get a double if you follow these rules... There are 3 doubles on the reel, 1's, 3's and 6's. The reel is in order of 1-12 and spins slow enough that you can make out where the 10, 11 and 12 are as they appear bigger (as someone mentioned about another machine yesterday) but it's too fast to accurately stop it on the number you want. However it does stop where you hit it, not where it wants to thus we can exploit this as follows: The target area is the 12 and 2 as they are only 2 apart i.e. the reel is structured like this: 3 LOSE 2 WIN 1 LOSE 12 WIN 11 LOSE So I normally aim for the 1 using the big numbers (10/11/12) to work out where it is. This sounds illogical as 1 is a lose but chances are you'll stop either side and get a double and onwards you go!!! (well at least until you land on chance the next go and get declared bankrupt!!!) There is an easier way of getting the number your need on the dice on Monopoly 60. If you look at the dice before they spin and you need the next number, for example say for need a double and you are currently on an 11 then just hold down the the start button before the dice starts to spin and the next number ,12, will just roll in. This will work for anything, doubles, get higher than an eight etc. You just need to be aware of what is happening, for example if you are on the board then look what the number is when you move forward, so you can see if the new number can be of any use if you land on a chance or what ever. Subject: Re: [FRUIT] Las Vegas Strip Regarding the comments about Hit The Top being crap - this is a problem I have noticed with several machines... On It's A Knockout I've come away with just 2 quid from the Top Feature. The same with Coronation street and several other Maygay machines - this is a con, I think if you reach the top of the trail on ANY machine then 10 quid should be the absolute minimum... This raises another issue - I've noticed lots of people are DESPERATE to take a feature rather than cash on some machines - maybe it's some sort of psychological defect. For example, I was watching a couple of blokes the other day on one of Barcrest's clones (the one with the keys) and they had 8 quid and 6 keys - instead of taking the 8 quid they kept using the keys and rejecting the features offered until they ended up with Graphic Cash and 40 pence! What morons!!!! Super Pots For the 3-2-1 barcode on the win line, the machine sometimes spins in the 2 and 1 bar with a hold. Hold the 2 and 1 and the 3 bar usually spins in on the left hand reel. I had this twice yesterday. Subject: [FRUIT] Indiana Jones JPM I was on Indiana jones recently and I got some holds. There was nothing worth holding, So I pressed the holds in this order 3,2,1 I canceled it and pressed the spin button. The strange thing is it didn't spin the hold buttons flashed and came on again. This doesn't usually happen when you press spin after councilling holds. So I then pressed 1,2,3 and the same thing happened, then I did 2,3,1 and then 2,1,3 and spun it and got straight up next spin. Great Escape Help Eddie, just things that have probably cropped up before in the group. Usual holds after nudges and 3 holds in a row apply, also, red bar-blue bar-yellow bar offers you a hidden feature, I usually press the first reel, it gives you the chance to spin in a number and then adds that number onto the features board (normally giving you a fiver cash). Also, if you get on the board and the words "The Great Escape" turn red, just keep going round the board, as long as you don't kill yourself on the searchlight square, it'll drop in the super jackpot repeater eventually. Last thing I know about it is the "Escape Committee" symbol, pressing the holds in a certain sequence gives you another set of features, if anyone knows what they all are, I'd be grateful for a few tips! Cash Lines - Barcrest You sometimes can get holds even though the buttons aren't lit. There doesn't seem to be any of the usual brief button flashes or cancel button stuff to indicate this I noticed this as I must admit I always attempt to hold any numbers, regardless of whether I can or not (!). Force of habit when I play so fast - and try to play each move in such a way that it will help the next spin. I suppose this is a new hidden feature that will appear on all the new Barclone machines in the future. Most of the "hidden" features are actually shown by the Barcrest man/coin - so you can usually find them all out. Pharoah's Gold (Cash On The Nile clone) There is a knack of playing these machines. They can appear to be playing awful just before they do the jackpot. I call this the calm before the storm. To make steady money from this machine you need to keep records of when it last paid out and a rough idea of when it will be ready again. I have played these machines for the past 3 years with many excellent results. The positive signs to look out for are: 1) It will climb easily to #15 but always loses. 2) Most features are _CHOOSE A WIN_ 3) CHOOSE A WIN will offer you 6 choices. 4) It is NOT nudging in 3 of a kind wins. 5) It is NOT offering many STOPS If these apply then generally you can expect the machine to _roll_ to the #200. This means that when you climb the Hi-Lo the only numbers you will see are 1, 2, 3, 10, 11 and 12. This is called NILE ROLL. This is not strictly true because it will occasionally throw in a middle number to confuse you. Just go with the odds and it should go back to the good numbers. Sometimes you may find that you have played it too soon and the result is you get to the #100 and it gives you a bad number. Unfortunately you should take this as the jackpot is unlikely to be available, but you can take a little more out of it on the features. To get a feature you must get 4 mixed bars on the win line and press the correct barcode. The features to practice on this machine are CASH EXPLOSION (1-2-3) and STOP A SNAKE (3-2-1). Quite often you will find this machine is not ready but there is good value to be had playing the features. I have often taken a quick #50 from these smaller features. Both involve a skill stop on a money grid the same as on COUNT CASH. The slower these features are the happier the machine is. With some practice you can still win money when these features are fast. Other features to watch out for are CASH FALL (2-3-1), REEL MATCH (3-1-2) and WINNING SPINS (1-3-2). The latter is generally the best with the usual amount around #50 though it can pay as litlle as #20. Reel match is a four of a kind match on the reels, the machine can often roll from this feature. Choose a Win (1-3) is what you take when forcing the gamble out. Cash Lines - Barcrest Just when you thought they must come up with a new idea, makers of the most original machines on the planet - Barcrest - have come up with yet another clone of "Ten Out Of Ten". I'm amazed they put in effort thinking of a new name when obvious candidates like "Black Pot" or "Tenner Top" or "Pick Your Take" are around. The only difference between all of these games is the growing length of the trail you need to complete before getting a feature. On Cash Lines you need over 15. There are 2 bonuses on the way though and once again SELECTOR seems to be the best. There is the usual BARCREST man flashing which indicates TRUE SKILL or collect what is being offered 'cause it will be good or that you can slow the BONUS using CANCEL. When you have nudges you can shuffle at the cost of 1 nudge. When you get a win you can collect, gamble, exchange or shuffle the feature (every second shuffle is free - ie #1 is not taken off your prize). Exchanging will give you cash or feature and will be either SILVER or GOLD - if it is GOLD you get a repeat chance, the probability of getting a repeat is indicated by the number of segments lit up on the GOLDRUN. So if you are offered #1 with 9 GOLDRUN segments lit up and you take it you will probably get a repeat and then the 9 segments will stay lit for another repeat chance (of course the number of segments is really irrelevant because the machine will always decide whether it's going to give a repeat or not). The features on the gold run are numbered, the low ones (1,2,3,4) are low winners but I have collected GOLD feature 2 and got several repeats to win #18 so you never know. Basically the playing strategy is the same as the other clones - wait until somebody loses then play! Club Give Us a Break Does anyone else play the Club Give Us a Break machine? We have just had one installed at my local club and it looks like a pretty good machine, once the feature game starts going. The 1st time I played it I got _50 from nudges on the feature game, the 2nd time _75 from 8 knockouts and the 3rd time _55 from the Big Break feature. I did lose last night though, even though I got the top feature Big Break it only gave _18 and the feature below that only paid _9. Anyway, the reason I am mailing is because I have a question about the feature game. When you have built up a few features, nudges, winspins, knockouts etc., the game normally ends by landing on Potluck and then Leave Table. This forces you to collect one of the pockets to take the either the cash, knockouts, win spins, feature or nudges. Has anyone ever tried hitting the Bonus pocket at this time. If for example the Bonus is Add Again, you roll a 6 to land on Potluck and get Leave Table, if you collect the Bonus pocket will this move you forward 6 and let you continue around the board? I have never tried this before as I normally have a good win to collect under this situation. Also, whilst playing last night I got a Random Stop from the Bonus cherry. I somehow missed lighting all the letters (yes I do know about the cancel button!) but there were 3 other cherries on the line and it then gave me the automatic win light and span in 4 cherries (_10) on the next roll. Has anyone else had this before? Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. A quick tip on the new Great Escape machine. If you get into the feature game (which comes very regularly but often ends before you have any chance of a decent win) and roll a 4 to start with to land on the +3 cash square, and then the next square you land on is either another +cash square or the Searchlight corner square, keep on rolling the dice as it will keep landing on +cash squares and go right up to the top of the cash ladder (Super Jackpot Repeater). If you land on the searchlight square after your second roll, skillstop it back on the +3 cash square, and keep rolling. Big Wheel Hi all. Just a quick one, this. On The Big Wheel (similar to Casino Crazy), when you're on the wheel, if the hub flashes once after every roll of the dice, you'll always get the Jackpot eventually (usually by the ride ticket feature). Also, the Copy Cat feature is an easy fiver every time, as long as you're sober. PS Both times I've taken the Cashpot, it's spun in the Jackpot after only a quid or two. Anyone care to confirm this? Place Your Bets Basically - all of these so called gamble features to work up the board are fixed. Therefore, rather than sit there trying to time it (unless on a TRUE SKILL) - you can just hold down START/GAMBLE until it either takes you to the top, or makes you lose (but of course, you can still collect whatever it stops on). One word of warning with holding down the START key on TEN OUT OF TEN (against say Place Your Bets) is you really want to check the features it offers each time. So many times, I've held down START and missed GOLDEN HOLD or PICK A WIN [both usually good, although Golden Hold is only any good if there is something on the reels worth having). I'd always recommend checking the reels so you can see if it is worth taking skill nudges, golden hold etc. Oh, and if the Barcrest coin flashes - take the feature. If it also allows you to select the feature on skill (sometimes it does this when you work your way up), you're set! I've noticed that different pubs have different features on this game. On some you have the Roller Coaster feature and others you get Mega Cash. I am not sure who decides what features to place on it - and I've also noticed many pubs get the things in the wrong order. That is, you think it's offering MEGA CASH and it's actually going to give you CASH FLASH or something lame! My local pub said it was to add more skill to playing - I said it was just a blatent attempt to rip off the punters (they knew which ones were which!). Subject: Re: [FRUIT] Club Give Us a Break If the "Great Escape" logo changes from yellow to red, you will always get the super jackpot. However, you don't always get a repeat of course! I wouldn't take the chance otherwise - but the advice on the searchlight is certainly true enough. Holding cancel will allow you to build up the cash a fair bit. 4 quid is probably worth collecting anyway, as in true Maygay style - there's plenty of ways of losing everything very quickly! nudge explosion (again!) Just wanted to emphasise how good the 1-2-3 or 9-8-7 etc feature is! The more I use this the more I'm sure the machine is much more inclined to pay out this way than by offering you 3 fruits. Very often you can nudge in the code using fewer nudges than would be needed to get a "normal" win. Then, if there's a big prize within a few nudges, press hold 3 to take them, otherwise take 1 for features or 2 for cash. The Super Hold feature is also a good bet. It often lets you pick a 1-2-3 combination. (use cancel to give yourself time to check). Sometimes it lets you choose which bonus you want. Hot shot goes right to 99 nudges first time. Cash Bowl When using the 'hotshot' bonus feature, keep holding the button down until you are ready to go for the 99 nudges then go for it. The few seconds I get to prepare have allowed me to hit 99 nudges every time. The next problem is whether to take the Jackpot repeater or the top feature (win streak I think). Can't really say which is the better of the two apart from the jackpot is obviously a tenner in the bank... As to the 1-2-3 bit, especially useful for the golden hold feature, although if I go for cash it tends to throw 2 quid at me. Also, check for the cash bowl symbols when you have the option of taking win searcher (usually a bit dull) as I have seen several jackpots thrown away because nobody even looks at the bottom feature, and goes for something else. Donkey Kong Barcode There is no 3bar 2bar 1bar code like on other maygay machines, but what there is is a "barcode" symbol on the middle reel which performs exactly the same function. This sometimes spins/nudges in, but the easiest way to get it is from the "reel skill" bonus. When you have it, press a hold button for a hidden feature, the only one I can remember is the middle button gives you "Top Bananas" which goes up/down the reels filling the trail at the side from the numbers on the banana symbols. Don`t take this, as it usually gives only 3 quid. The same symbol is on "The great escape" but that machine also has a 3bar symbol so the code can be activated manually, although you do need an exact number of nudges to bring the three symbols in. If the 3bar 2bar 1bar row is 1 nudge away and the machine gives you 2 then tough (or does anyone know better?). I found with The Great Escape that you only seem to get the escape comittee by nudging it down. When this happens it is usually with 3 or 4 nudges so you can't see it. If you can nudge only 1 or 2 great escape symbols down (3 needed for feature) and have 3 or more nudges try nudging the middle real. You may get the escape comittee. I havn't played this one much so I may be wrong. Could someone try it and let me know. It may be that the machine rewards proper gambles. Likewise on many JPM machines which have the special symbol (or on Big Bucks, the three red lines). Sometimes it is worth having a go (try and check the back of the reels if possible), especially if you can still nudge something else in if unsuccessful. You could alternatively try and map out the reels. On Barcrest machines this is quite easy as they often have markers, holes or other distinguishing features. This may be a little over the top though! One of the ACE machines has the reel sequences on the glass! On Barcrest machines certainly, one reel has hardly any jackpot symbols. This is why it can easily wind you up with 6-7 nudges and two jackpots or red sevens on or above the payline.. then offer you something silly like 1 or 2 quid! On my 1993 machine, 16 nudges (maximum) is not always enough to get the jackpot [and it sequences the reels this way automatically when the TT light is flashing!]. Super Pots - Maygay I'm starting to get somewhere on this machine. Here are my tips. When you get on the nudges I usually collect a low win like 1.00,1.20,1.60. I've managed to get blue sevens off nudges but it rips me off on everything else. The exchange number can be worked out by looking at the list of numbers by the exchange number. So an 8 goes to 12 and a 3 goes to a 1. Swapping a pot gives you the exchange number back, so by collecting a low win and swapping back between money and features so can get quite high up. When you get a bonus on the win line always hold it incase you get a respin. The cancel button slows down the skill stop. The features I go for are stop a fruit, choose a win and notation. Notation is my favourite as it sometimes goes up to 16.00 pounds. I got the cash pot this lunch time. The machine span in a cash pot symbol on the left reel with a hold. I held the left reel and then the cash pot span in on the middle reel with a hold. After holding the left and middle reel the third cash pot symbol then span in (I think somebody has already mentioned this). Eddie's advice about the middle reel and getting higher on the notation feature is wrong. It just doesn't do anything! I'm sure there is something else on this machine. On the left hand side there is a picture a woman with 4 stars above here head. Sometimes these stars are light and sometimes they are not. Does anybody know the significance of this? A tip for the new Money Money Money machine. The Lucky for Some feature seems to be a guaranteed jackpot repeater. Just hold the cancel button and you can't miss!! Payout levels such as 70 % If you notice, the machine will pay out 70% of it's taking on the REELS, not on the features. ( Little Sticker on *most* machines ) In reality, who keeps playing the reels only, not taking the feature, where it may rob you, or award you with a fortune. As far as i understand, the payout on the features are in the hands of the maker/engineer who will set the win rates ( Take/Give ) Super Soccer tips: Three 1's or three 2's will get you the feature Always nudge in numbers for the bonus - If the tip light fashes (Left hand side) HOLD down the Exchange number button (by Low) and the Bonus will slow down - Take End Shot you can use the Same button to slow it down. When you get the feature, the tip may light briefly - this means that if you get on Take a shot or direct free kick you can use the Exchange number button to slow it down - a 10 every time!! Subject: [FRUIT] The Gambler Just had a new machine put into a local pub called The Gambler, made by a company called Empire (never heard of them before). Anyway, it seems to be the Devils own machine so I wondered if anyone has seen or heard of the thing before. Also, on the subject of the 75% payout thing, I've heard that when new machines are installed, the payout is deliberately set very high for the first week or so to convince punters that the machine is generous and good to play. This seems to be fairly true as far as I've seen although the money does seem to dry up after a little while, probably to cover the first weeks 'bonus' payouts... Rovers Return This machine does streak - the biggest I've had is 68.00 - normally the tube is dead easy to see and as long as the cash is over the clip - your in business. The way to tell if this is going to streak is when you get a bonus - if it gives skill a lot its ready. When it does streak it'll drop in wins and numbers to features - DO NOT GAMBLE them unless your on a 1 or 12 it will lose. Just take every feature (which will repeat on and on...) Boosts take you right up to the top on a streak On eastenders look out for three 1's on the winline, and press exchange, you should win about 7 quid. Also look out for the estenders sign glowing blue, a sign of a guaranteed tenner. Subject: Re: [FRUIT] The Gambler Empire launched their first machines last year. They are rebuilding old machine cabinets. Their machines are really cheap (800ukp new) compared to the major makers (2000ukp plus). Machines are not set to 75% everywhere. They are set between 70% (legal minimum) and 98%, although if you find a machine set to payout over 84%, then you are in luck. New machines payout well initially because when you reset the memory in a machine (as it is initially), it will initially pay high to enable it to find it's payout level. As a guide to where to play machines: Chinese/Indian takeaways (etc): Con merchants of the finest quality. I have been offered hard cash to set machines below the legal minimum. Don't touch their machines with a bargepole. They rely on the 'pissed on the way home' brigade to line their pockets. Chip Shops (not Chinese owned): Usually hover around 78%. While waiting for your chips, wait and see if they're really friendly with the locals. They'll be the same with the machine. The more friendly they are, the higher the percentage. If you can, find out wether the owner likes kids. Bizarre as it may seem to some, but if the owner doesn't like kids, then the percentage will be lower (and who plays a chippie machine??). Pubs: Fall into 2 categories: Long term tenants/owners: Know and like their customers. Usually high percentages. Short term managers: In it for the cash. Clubs: Go for the non-profit making, unless they specifically support charities in a big way. Snooker Halls (especially) are struggling, so their machines can really be bad. You're better off with clubs like the British Legion, and local union clubs. Bingo Halls: Large companies are governed by standards. Gala Clubs set all their machines to 82%, Rank Clubs (including Mecca) to 84%. All their machines are also designed to pay large wins regularly, so despite only being 10 jackpot, they will, by a 'winning sequence' pay out 30-40 every 100 or so. This isn't a definitive guide, but is from experience with over 200 sites. Let it known if you have any comments. Rovers Return etc Regarding the rovers return - This machine appears to be an almost total copy of the "instant win" machine, in fact apart from the names of the features and the samples it`s identical. It plays exactly the same as well, as has been said it will quite happily sit and only pay out 1-3 quid for every 15 put in for ages until its ready, then your in the money. Never collect cash amounts, always swap for the opposite feature as if it`s ready all the features will repeat repeat repeat. There now seems to be another version of this machine, featuring those nobs skinner/baddiel. Perhaps this sort of payout cycle has proved to be a popular one? It`s obvious if the machine is going to pay within a couple of quid, so if you get nothing - wait! BarClone Ok folks - a very useful tip here for you. On Barclone machines (which are crap to play) if you get 2 Jackpots and holds as well, hold them because they hold 3 times very regularly and is usually a sign of a 25 quid payout on the way. I've done this on Jewel in the crown, and 10 out of 10. Usually a 6 or 8 pound win will come in very soon after this and you can usually gamble up to the Jackie again :-). These machines really are piss poor amusement though. Someone said that if you get real skill on nudges you should exchange when you get a win as the real skill follows over to the win gamble. This works on either top tenner or ten out of ten but not both. (Gits) Cluedo Super Sleuth Anyway, if you get the 'Secret Passage' option on the Magnifying Glass and it's takes you to the room at the top right hand corner of the feauture board (sorry, can't remember the Cluedo board from when I was then make sure you accept the secret passage. It will fire you all round the board and give you all the weapons and take you into the 'Gold Room' or whatever it's called. Not that this guarantees you owt - I did this five times, and every time except one it gave me 2 quid plus repeat. What a bag of shit... Still, that's the way it works... Worth taking on the strength that 2 quid plus repeat is the very worst you can get. How queer that this is what you seem to get most often... How queer... Eastenders This might be crap but... I have noticed several times that when you take a feature / cash on the feature board, if you don't take the little button which usually gives you a repeat chance, it holds the eastenders trail and so you instantly get back onto the feature. This also seems to work on its a knockout, by the way. Any confirmation let me know. Sonic Hi, this is my first message to the group. I just found out about it on the WWW. Anyway, I`ve been playing Sonic the Hedgehog in my local arcade quite a lot and have the following tips. 1) This machine is designed very well. It always gives loads of features and holds after nudges (Sometimes 2 or 3 per 1!!) and then promptly skanks it all back off you on the feature board!!! 2) You only get a no-lose gamble after spinning after nudges. (Spin sonic spin). A no-lose gamble will occur on the second gamble if your win was 1. On the first if it was 1.20 3) Always exchange any win of 2 or less for the feature as it usually offers at least ?2 before conning you. 4) On the feature board, if you get a question mark and then "Extra life" this will shield you against landing on a lose square AND will also let you survive a hi/lo gamble!!!! Great stuff if you want to gamble on a dodgy number!! 5) If you get a skill stop off a question mark just before the second "Lose" square and if you have a 4 or below always stop it on loop the loop and gamble higher for "Super Sonic" It will let you win the gamble about 70% of the time. 6) Holding in cancel works on Random Stop, Skill stop. 7) When you have mega-hold, always get an arrangment of numbers in the window that give you enough to start the feature if it awards numbers in view. 8) You can hold a respin along with any accompanying numbers. 9) I`ve found that when gambling up to ?2, if you have a "5" you can quite often gamble higher and it will give you a six. (Giving you ?3) 10) This machine is very nasty with nudges when you`re in the feature and you`ll frequently find that the best win from 12 nudges is ?1.60!!! 11) The features: Mega Hold: Complete crap, always ?2 Fast Cash: I love this one!! Nearly always ?2 BUT it is TRUE skill. No suspect dodgy cons on behalf of JPM!!! I find that I can get ?5 on 2 out of every five attempts!! Loop The Loop: Great feature. If you get this far and don`t have a gamblable number, then collect it. If you get ?4 it will award you a repeat chance. You can always get ?3 or ?4 on this and sometimes a repeat chance. Quick Shot: Not a bad feature, usually ?3 max, and sometimes a repeat chance. Nudge Spinner: Again, quite crap. Usually ?2, about 1 in 5 times ?3,?4, ?5 or ?6. Strike it rich: EXCELLENT! ALWAYS take this. ALWAYS. It`s completely up to the machine how much you get!! Minimum ?3, Maximum ?15? Just keep hitting start! Super Sonic: VERY EXCELLENT this feature is tops. Hi/Low gamble and adds up the cash. On this feature, ALWAYS gamble on the most likely result. Lower than an 8. Higher than a 5, etc If you do this it will take you to ?5 or ?6 guaranteed, and from then on, it`s purely a matter of luck!!! Lowest payout from this feature: ?5, highest: ?22 (Highest I`ve seen) Super Looper: No fucking idea!!! The machine has never offered me it! Anyone know what this does???? Jackpot repeater: Speaks for itself! I`ve had ?30 off of it. :) Notes: This machine loves giving you the feature. It will literally do anything to give you it. (Including not bothering to hold a respin and watching the machine give you enough numbers to take you into the feature!) Beware the question marks. Especially the two at the top. They are complete cons and will always do their best to fuck you up. example: I`m on ?6, the next square is 12 nudges (?1.60 guaranteed ((WOW))) the next is Super Looper, then ?, then ?7 then ?, then Jackpot repeater. I`ve got an extra life stored. So I gamble. It spins a 3. (Surprise Surprise) Puts me on the first ?. "LOSE". Ok, I carry on. It spins a 2. Guess where I land, on a big fucking question bastard mark, that`s where. And what does it give me? Go back 2!"!! Back to the other fucking Question Mark. What do I get? Bonus Number. (How absolutely orgasmic) I spin again. A "2". Oh look, I`m on the other fucking question mark again. Guess what I get, "Back 2". Oh lookee here!! What a surprise. I`m back on the first question mark. What does it give me? "LOSE!!!!!!!!" Talk about a masochistic cunt! This happens nearly all the time. Oh well, never mind, hey, it`s only money! I was also playing Big Bucks earlier and I had a red seven with a 2 on it, another red seven above the second reel and a red seven with a 2 on it on the third reel. I held them, all to take me to 3 nudges, to nudge in 8 quid. BUT, the bastard machine decided to give me The feature trail instead of the nusge trail!! Usually if you get onto both trails it lets you choose which one you want. This time it actually made a "laughing noise" and took my ?8 away! The number was a 2 so I gambled it and it span a "1" At that point I got up and left. Big Bucks has just lost my business for good. If anyone has got any more tips for Sonic or Magnificent 7 then Please send then on. :)) Subject: Re: [FRUIT] Sonic (FRUIT) My almost complete guide!!! I thought the no-lose gamble only happened if you had enough numbers to enter the feature (and therefore will enter the feature when you lose on the gamble). As a result, it usually makes you lose almost immediately. This is certainly the case on Monopoly. > Super Looper: No fucking idea!!! The machine has never offered me it! > Anyone know what this does???? I presume this is the same as on the other JPM machines where the reels spin around and you stop it on a win. You then have the chance to make it drop down and win that amount etc. etc. ??? Magnificent 7 is a real pain - and quite boring to play. Even though I usually like trail games, this one hardly ever seems to put you into the feature - except when the machine wants to pay you money. In true Barclone tradition, you can spend a tenner just playing the reels and getting nowhere (trail boost taking you a quarter of the way along the line and then there is no trail held!). Assuming it does put you in, it kills you as quick as it started. The marshall doesn't even protect you from everything - and why do you get caught cheating? I think they couldn't think of anything to replace this from the Las Vegas Strip version [which is COMPLETELY the same feature wise]. The only way I have ever won anything on this is when the Barcrest man gets involved - not exactly a good way of getting enjoyment out of a machine. (Do Barcrest actually playtest their machines?] Talking of Barcrest - BWB have now launched a "new" machine that seems to be a complete rip off of Crystal Maze - except they've made it a little more futuristic. Why do Barcrest even continue producing products under the BWB brand? An idea I sometimes notice that in the first 2 pounds you put in a machine it tends to give you a "win" i.e 3 pounds or something to let you think it is being in a "generous mood" but once you get the win you feel lucky and then the machine bleeds you dry. To get to the point I sometimes go in my local arcade with let say 20 pounds I put only two pounds in ten different machines and win what I can then leave them I often walk away with a profit...you can do this with more machines if you want, some will give you a feature on the first pound, some will screw you. Does anyone know any good betting newsgroups like this one in terms of betting tips? Sonic & No-lose gamble Just in case anyone on the list is as unobservant as I am, my girlfriend pointed out to me that after spinning in a win, the gamble on this machine is sometimes 'no-lose'. Which means that you can go lower than a 2 and get given a 1. That way you get a better number for the next gamble, or you can exchange and do the gamble there, like on Rollercoaster. Nudge Explosion features This may be a common Ace feature I didn't know about but... When gambling up the features, I noticed that pressing cancel caused the machine to tell me how much money I would win if I took the feature rather than gambling. Obviously this doesn't work on all features i.e. not on those where it's up to you to make choices about what you get (super hold is one such example.) The machine in our local pub also has the interesting habit of often paying out one pound too much when you collect your bank. (This happens about once every hour or so.) Club paradise This is a good machine. The simplest tip is to play for the hi-lo crazy feature. If the machine is 'backing' into the cashbox then you can usually get up to this feature for less than 50 quid and it often pays over 100. Don't collect anything until you get it and don't be afraid of bad numbers. Red Hot Poker s/w bug I was talking to one of my fruite mates and he told me a cheat on release one of this machine - does anyone know if it was actually a working one as it sounds a bit silly if BWB coded it in... Was it possible to empty this machine by playing it with 20p coins, take each go individually, wait until red hot repeat came up then collect the three or six pounds, it then went into its demo mode. This flashed up a video screen of a king and a two with hi lo gamble demo. Inserting another 20p at this point would bring that screen to life and let you go higher on two. Collect and do the same until the tubes were empty. empty machines To add a bit more to the emptying machines using less-than-accepted methods, i've encountered two rather inventive ways of screwing machines in my boozer... i) some clever chap drilled a hole through the right hand side of the machine - very accurately - and drilled through the mechanism at the bottom of the coin tubes. Hey presto: tubes empty in cash tray in one go. We had a few machines screwed in this way - its quiet (using a handdrill), very effective if you know where to bung the holes and depending on the positioning of the machine in the pub/club, can be very hard to spot. I know quite a few machines now have thick steel plates to prevent this though. ii) "stringing" - a guy who works for a big arcade company in Nottingham told me about this one - it works too ; ).... tie or glue a piece of cotton to a 50p piece (these drop straight into the cash box and dont go anywhere near the tubes) then lower gently into the machine. once the credits have registered, whip it back out and do it again. and again. And again. brill! i havent tried this one for a while now though and I suppose the coin mechanisms are a bit more advanced now. Still, one to try if you have access to a machine with no-one watching. Subject: [FRUIT] Donkey Kong Barcode Hello All, I was just perusing previous posting on the group and want to add to the barcode feature on Donkey Kong. As far as my experience goes with the machine I have only ever seen the barcode symbol roll in once. Usually it is only available by the reel skill bonus feature. I find that when the reels are spiinnig aimming for the banna symbol with a 2 on it usually ensures success (this is two symbols away from the barcode). Once you have pushing one of the three buttons will acticate a feature. Button three will cause the gamble reel to roll and what ever number you stop it on it will climb that many on the cash climber on the side. The numbers roll fairly slowly (I aim at 9 to land on 12) this is usually good for about ?6. The second reel gives the banana man feature where you may step the wheels up or down and bananas (and banana numbers) cause it to go up the cash climber usually good for ?4-?6 but got the Jackpot yesterday with it! Unfortunately I have never had the balls to push button one (a bird in the hand or something....) if anybody knows what it does please post it. Hope this helps Rich & Famous The pub by the office has got this - it is actually quite a nice little machine... If it's anything like ours it is a poorly converted old #6 or #8 machine as then wins go: 1,1.20, 1.60, 2.00, 2.40, 3.00, 10.00 Quite a jump at the end! And therefore always worth the gamble... If it gives you nudges, and you can't get a win, but can get a pair, try bringing them in, as it often says Let 'Em Spin and will then spin in the third. Keep an eye on the display, it often gives out instructions... Also, if you get any 3 numbers on the winline, it will start the feature. If you get a skillstop from the Lucky Stars, try and hit it on Locomotion This just lines up the reels, and then spins them round slowly - an easy jackpot. Subject: [FRUIT] JPM-Snakes & Ladders On the JPM ?10 Jackpot Snakes & Ladders Machine. Holding down the middle hold button when the reel bonus is there and respin is selected holds the bonus there. Also it generally puts enough numbers on the two outside reels to get on the feature so the bonus isn't even needed! Subject: [FRUIT] let the good times roll Can i just say this machine in some right skanky moods.....a few occasions ive won over 40 quid other days down 20 or so. Here are a few tips: If you have more than 5 super nudges then take them as even if you have no immediate win a spin with the cost of one of them usually gets you around 3 - 6 and even the jackpot sometimes. Never wait for the last knockout as 95% of times it lands on 1. I have also noticed that if the machines in a good mood the feature board will start off with the first feature lit. If its in a bad mood no features will be lit. Another good indication is that when landing on the ace bonus, if you get feature boost and it boosts over 2 features up its usually in a good mood (worth taking the feature) The best piece of info i can give is DONT over use the turbo gambles...this machine is very good at tempting you to lose all youre winings..so you should set yourself the highest amount youre willing to gamble...only gamble up if next amount is a feature exchange... good machine to play....but if you abuse the turbo gambles youre get nothing... Rocky Horror Show - BWB Just a quick tip for Rocky Horror Show by BWB (Genesis 3 cabinet) The more I play this machine the more I like it. If you get on the feature board, it usually kills you off on the third spin. Frankenfurters Garter Belt feature usually gives around #3.00 + if you wait long enough. This is just a barclone money belt feature. Janets grab it is also ok. I've had the Jackpot off this feature a few times - I still haven't got the cancel button to slow anything down. This machine also gives wins above + below the winline - watch out for the symbols to flash briefly before it gives you holds. Just hold them all as usual. Obviously the last thing, this machine only pays out #1 coins - just the same as most Barcrest Genesis 3 cabinets - so accepting 2.40 on a dodgy high low gamble will give you the three quid anyway. Genesis 3 is only equipped with a single Azkoyen hopper for the #1 coins. Fruit explosion I am finding this machine very interesting. Always won quite a bit (in small amounts) the fruit bowl features seem very good, and seem to be active as soon as you get on the feature board... the second feature in "follow fruit" allows you to get up to about 5...just by pressing the last light shown...(easy till it gets impossibley fast) and "mellon madness" seems to get you around 4....although today I managed 10 from that feature alone...it repeats 2 if you get the hi/lo right... Subject: [FRUIT] New Barclone feature This isn't exactly a super new tip, simply as it was noticed in Cash Lines.. however, I suppose it is worth mentioning simply because it will presumably be used in all new BWB & Barcrest machines. As most regular fruitie players do this anyway, you've probably noticed the ability to get hidden holds. This isn't new (on machines for years), but it is quite a common occurance on the new Barcrest machines and is vital in cases to get on to the features, or get some nudges on the trail. As usual on Let The Good Times Roll, any three numbers on the line will award the feature (same as Winner Takes All, Crystal Maze etc.), so holding two numbers twice and then getting a hidden hold will get you the feature. It will also work for getting wins. One final thing - the usual nudges and then spin worked differently for me on L.T.G.T.R. recently.. I nudged down two red sevens and had a blue seven above. However, on the "let them spin", it gave me three red sevens (6 quid)! Quite kind of it really (that was the time I won 40+ on it though, so I couldn't really lose). Fruit Explosion This machine will HOLD after a nudge for 5/6/7/8 quid wins so try for them if its in the mood - also always go for the cherries 'Mystery Win' (As above). If the machine is ready it will give high mystery wins. As mentioned before, the barcode on this is red hot, unlike Great Escape which will drop it nearly every time you hold two of the bars i.e. three, one. Fruit Explosion only give it every 40 squid or so, However you will be able to tell when it does as it will stall when you hold one of the bars. It may also give it you by nudges, but again only after a long while. When it does drop in its a guaranteed tenner + (I've had the max 33 twice) Take reel ONE - HI / LOW Cash and it climbs the Melon cash trail collecting. (If you check the max is 33 squid !) Another tip on Big Bucks when gambling up the nudges is to NOT gamble a number if it would bring in the jackpot or some other equally high win. Sounds mad? Well, if the machine is being a bit of a bitch [why play it then?!] it will screw you. Likewise, if you're on a feature or cash line and can gamble up to get exchanges over to nudges, be careful. If it knows that to exchange to nudges would pay well - it can also make you lose. *Of course, if you are on a safe number - you MUST do it. It's just that JPM tend to make you lose on even (seemingly) safe numbers. As with all machines, you can win quite a lot by collecting 3 quid here,4 quid there and not always going for "Big Bucks". fixed machines On the subject of machines blatantly giving you something you don't press : Here are two examples of this: Las Vegas Strip. Gave the feature that lines up the reels and then you stop it on a win. A mate of mine blatantly stopped it as it came onto the jackpot, but it just sailed past onto a quid. I got the same later on, and mindful of what had happened before, I started hammering the button as it left the previous win, and suprise suprise, it carried straight over the tenner onto a quid. Another one is FastTrak. This has a feature called Fast Trak, where it runs up and down the wins fairly randomly, but there is always a bit where it hovers near the top. A few times I have stopped it on say 6ukp, for it to drop down to a quid, and twice, stopped it on the jackpot, the display went into the jackpot winning sequence, and *then* it dropped down to a quid. Taking the piss or what?! Cash Machine - Now with Crystal Maze SWP Tips... Seeings as I have simply played this to death I guess I can help. Okay firstly we are talking about the New Crystal Maze and not the team challenge jobby.=20 The golden tips: 1) This machine pays about ?5 for every ?12 put in (that's what we reckon anyway). 2) If it don't want you to win it will simply only put 51 gold in the maze at the end and no matter how many crystals you win, you won't win. 3) If it doesn't want to pay and its going to screw you on the crystals it makes the games easier to make you believe you have a chance next time because your so good. The harder the games the more likely it is to chuck loads of gold in the maze at the end. 4) Never play Physical or Mystery because they will screw you with pumpy action game which is particularly painful when you are drunk. 5) Always play Mental first then if it gives you another play skill (although you may get screwed with a particularly nasty lets run across the screen and collect loadsa things many times game). Game tips: * Fit the seven, four coloured squares in their place.=20 Challenge: Easy How: Get the centre four squares right and the ones on the outside will just slide straight into place. * Paint running through tubes. Challenge: Medium How: Trying takes to long so get into the habit of checking the routes in your head. You need a good ten seconds for the paint to run in to win a crystal although if the paint has started running in the pots it will let you have the crystal. Sometimes it will give you it and the four sets of pipes will already be in order, a good 75% of the time four sets go in (top to bottom from start) the following order - 1 3 2 4. If that doesn't work quickly try various other combos. You end up getting a sixth sense for it and you can see as soon as the game starts what order they are in. * Rotate the 7 hexagons so that all colours line up. Challenge: Medium/Easy How: Technique is the key. Don't piss around randomly rotating things. Rotate one of the outside hexagons until it aligns with the centre one. Do the same for another nearby hexagon. If this doesn't work then and only THEN rotate the centre hexagon and repeat until everything fits. You can always do this operation in the 30-60s given. This is another game that ultimately you can do in your head and don't even need to touch until you have the solution. * Wordsearch Challenge: BITCH How: If your drunk and alone you have no hope. If your alone and you are familiar with the wordset it chooses then maybe you have a chance. For a fresh wordset take the time to read through the whole list at the start of the game, this saves loads of glancing back time. The easiest way to do this game is to get a crowd of mates with you searching and clean up in no time. * Lets add some numbers up Challenge: Hard How: There is no escaping the fact that if fast mental arithmetic isn't your forte and you find the numbers round in countdown impossible to do in your head then you have no hope with this one. There is one tip that works quite well. Look out for *3 multipliers. If the final number is divisible by 3 then you can sometimes get an easy win., or three with a remainder because there are often 1's and 2;'s kicking around Otherwise look out for 1st number * 2nd + 3rd number. Theres loads of patterns that do come up, there is normally a 1sr + 2nd + 3rd solution. You will rarely if ever need minus and I think I have only used divide in a solution once. * Paint the boxes so no two adjoining are the same. Challenge: Medium How: Work with one colour at a time, rather than swapping colours a lot. Work methodically across the map. We now take the challenge a bit further and try to do it in three colours. You should always be do this one, just make sure you don't run out time! * Lets all play snap. Challenge: Medium How: Be methodical or/and get a friend to help. Try to spot one or two sets at the coverup for a big advantage. If it gives you loadsa time, it's a sure sign its not going to pay. * Strange shape fitting thing. Challenge: Medium/Hard How: There is no real how, just work off the shape it gives you, don't try and start in some obscure place. If in doubt play with the biggest bits first. * Shooty targets thing. Challenge: Easy/Medium How: Start at the left and work your way up. On the top row always do the middle one first, as it is nearly always that one and if not you know which one its going to be. Another one that is easily fucked up if played when drunk. * Run across screen and collect fhings and run back again. Challenge: Medium How: This is a game that it will either give to you (one thing to collect in 30s) or screw you on (3 things to collect in 30s). If it tries to screw you, look on the brightside... it probably wants to pay! * Mazey - roll balls and collect keys/miss holes. Challenge: Medium How: Pure skill. If it wants to pay it will make it harder. If its easy consider all your games practice for your quid, cos you aen't winning any money! * Pumpy, lets roll ball quickly Challenge: Pure Richard O'Brien Bastardness How: No really if you are stupid enough to play physical or mystery then you deserve this one! * THE CRYSTAL MAZE Challenge: Depends on how much gold there is. How: If there is loads of gold, hold down the button and scoop it up. This really is loadsa skill. It makes collecting the crystals positively easy. Theoretically you can always win because it always puts at least 50 gold in, but this requires a lot of skill (more than I have at least). Give Us A Break! It's very much like Casino Crazy, with a bonus symbol and numbers to enter the feature. It also has a wee J.P.M button on the left - if this flashes, you'll usely be given a 1 quid win which can be given. The bonus is usually good, Skill Stop, Random Stop can use the cancel. Step up and Step down will give you the feature, Choose a Trail sometimes. MegaHold is always good and self-explanatory. Reel Boost will give you extra numbers from the number on the 1-12. Even Boost itself is pretty good. Add Again usely sucks. Can't remember any others. The feature itself is alright. But don't try gambling too far because it will slap you. You have 6 pockets : they are 1) Knockouts - you will need 8 for the Jackpot 2) Bonus - Different sorts of bonus 3) Feature Games 4) Cash 5) Nudge-time - If you are quick, you can get 3 or even 4 nudges per a second. 6) Nudges. However, it is usually necessary to land on the pocket before selecting its prize, which is a bit of a bastard. However, at the start of the feature, it will usually give you a "free pocket". But it will be the one you don't want. Bonuses are self-expalanatory. Beware of boost. It can kill you. Choose a Colour - don't press start, press the button you want selected. SuperBonus builds them all up a bit. Roll a Number or what ever it is called can be a bit tricky, make sure there are no death squares near the one you are going for. Features. First 1 I have never taken, 2nd is Crack Shot I think, will give you between 2 quid and 7. Feature 3 - CashPot. Only take if the Cashpot is worth taking. ie. more than a fiver. The light whizzes round the board, and you have to stop it on each of the pockets. Not usually too difficult. Feature 4 - Pocket Money. Only ever take if the reel number is v. high. 10,11,12. Basically steps around the reels looking for different coloured balls. Each step is equivalent to one step on the reel number. Get all of them for the Jackpot. Feature 5 - Clear the Table. 7 quid everytime. Skillshot - cancel button works. Feature 6 - Same as Feature 2 only you get a repeat. Feature 7 - Snooker Loopy. Like Roulette Wheel in Casino Crazy only it lets you step up or down. There is a trick to this, but it is a bit tricky to explain. Basically, don't go for the Jackpot - go for the Red Sevens. It will let you step to the bells for the full tenner, and then if it gives you the repeat, you will get another 7. If, however, you go for the Jackpot. The next win you can step for is the 2 quid, and it will never let you step back. Clear as mud, eh! Feature 8 - Big Break. Jackpot repeater using win spins. Basically, this machine is good, only it will never let you gamble far. All too often, you will get a 1 or an 8 from the start, and get slapped immediately. Only go on if there is nothing worth taking, and no pockets are selected. Also, quite a few times, you will get enough nudges to either select a 1 quid win or to start the feature. Always, go for the feature - it quite often builds the pots up more. If you gamble from 1 quid to 2 quid, you can exchange, and everything will be on its second light (ie. Feature 2, 2 Knockouts etc.) It is sometimes worth gambling up to the 3 quid, even on a crap number, because it will then put you on its 4th light. There is also 3-2-1 Bar and 1-2-3 Bar Secret Features. But you get them about once in a blue moon. I took Chalk n Choose and that was just select a win. Monte Carlo or Bust A couple of weeks I was in an arcade and the guys next to me were doing well on this machine. I lost about ?10 in "Viva Espana" so I could watch them! What they were doing was refusing all wins (even the "Special" feature which is ?10 +possible ?5 repeat) until the jackpot came in. Then they got about three repeats on the jackpot (one is very unusual) and started playing "properly" picking up the Special feature and more wins in afterplay. I tried this myself on another machine and very quickly went down ?30. I bottled out and took a special to reclaim some cash so wasn't too far down in the end. Las Vegas Strip This is one of my favourite machines because i always seem to win on it! The usual 3 holds/holds after nudges apply. I would always recommend holding Any number on the reels because any 3 numbers will get you up onto the feature board. The board is dead good with only a few ways to get chucked off. I think the best 2 features are 'Luxor' and 'Treasure Island' . Luxor, there is a small circle cut into segments each of which has a cash amount and there is 2 lose parts. The lights spin round the segments and give the amount landed on....it repeats until you land on lose. You are usually guaranteed at least a fiver, often nearer a tenner. Treasure Island..... similar kind of thing but the 'board' is a tiny set of reels and it spins in wins and adds together until something else spins in. Even after 10-15 quid win keep playing because it always seems to pay out about 25-30 quid which would maybe cost you 7 or 8 quid. Barbreast Warning!!! Let the good times roll. When you get a Bonus watch the cancel button not the man (If he laughs then it is cancel for skill) The cancel button will sometimes just flash quickly..press it to slow the bonus down - NOT AS FAST AS A BARCREST SKILL - but just slow enough to get what you want.. This also applies to 3 holds on this and "Cash Attack" either the Barceast man will flash quickly (But no noise) or the buttons will flash. Only when you hold them and press start will he say his shitty saying... Watch those buttons! Bar Codes Money Money Money (maygay) Great Escape (Maygay) Cleudo Super Sleuth (maygay!!) Fruit Explosion (Maygay) (Take reel one Hi-Lo cash 33 squid!!) Monte Carlo or Bust Just like club machines, if a machine is on a good payout - it will do silly things like this. As for the afterplay, if the machine has just paid me 30-40 quid, I usually continue to play by collecting smaller amounts (ie. what it offers you early on). I've noticed (and this is logical due to the payout setting) that after a significant win - if you are going to continue at all - you shouldn't try getting cocky again. It will make you lose if you try and get another jackpot repeater [although NOT always!]. If it starts spinning in 4 quid here and 3 quid there, take them immediately.. After all, sooner or later it is going to go back to collecting money for the next win series. The Great Escape Here's a tip for the Great Escape. Everyone now I think knows about the 3-2-1 tip. Well, it is as likely to come up as the 3 symbols, so it is worth holding even one of the relative symbols, as another one will usually fall in. When you are watching someone play it, if they go for the feature all the time(they probably won't know about the 3-2-1), when you play it, go for the 3-2-1 in preference to the features and you will get more. Incidentally, who has been chucked out of a pub for emptying machines? I reckon I've been thrown out of at least 4 (not forcibly), even though I bought a drink and I wasn't scamming or cheating. By the way, the best place to play machines is undoubtedly in pubs. A) People are even more pissed than in pubs. B) There is so much noise, you could take the machine apart with a chain-saw and no-one would notice A club with me has Give Us a Break. I go in, empty it, and then come back later and do it again. It is easy to see if someone has been playing it since, because the Cashpot goes back up. The Great Escape Time for some more fruit machine info I think, after all that is what this service is really for. I had a superb result on The Great Escape last night, _3 in - _60 out!! I got _6 from nudges on the feature board from my first credit, and within The same pound I got an _18 Win Streak from nudging in the Escape Committee symbol. The wins kept repeating until it needed another credit, but when I put in my second pound, the repeat went to No on the first press. Within a couple of spins the Escape Committee span in on it's own. This time Win Streak paid out _36, but again the repeat failed when it ran out of credits and I had to put in another quid, but that was probably the best payout out I have ever had on a pub machines with such a small investment. ESCAPE COMMITTEE Always look for this symbol on the middle reel when you are offered nudges. I would always go for this, even if 3 Great Escapes can be lined up for the feature game. It quite often seems to come in twice within a few credits, so if you get a good win from the first Escape Committee it is worth a couple of quid to see if it comes in again. The best combination seems to be 1-2-3, Win Streak. This normally pays between _5 and _10. I have never seen less than _5, but quite a few _20's and last night it paid _18 and then _36 within a few credits. The only other Escape Committee combination I can remember is 2-1-3 which is Mega Hold, basically Super Hold where the reels moved and down 2 steps. I have only taken this once so I am not sure if the amount of steps varies, but it may be worth taking if there is a good win in view. I have taken a couple of different combinations but the features they gave where not very good, so I always go for the 1-2-3 Win Streak combination now. BAR CODE The Triple Bar - Double Bar - Single Bar barcode works on this machine, but you have to have the exact amount of nudges when nudging in the barcode, so if you have skill nudges look to see if the barcode is available, it may be better to aim for 3 nudges for the barcode than 4 nudges for a feature game. The reverse barcode does not work on this machine. This machine does very often spin in the third symbol if you have a hold and 2 of the bars are in the correct position, so I often go for the barcode even if there are also 2 Great Escape symbols on the winline. When the barcode is there press a hold buttons for the following features :- Hold 1 - Stop the hi/lo reel and this will then count down from which ever number you stop, adding to either the feature, nudge or cash trails on the feature board each time. You then get to select the trail that you want to collect. If you manage to stop a high number it will normally offer a reasonable feature or _5 or _6. Alternatively I have stopped a 1 for the bottom feature, Multiplier, but this pays around _4. Hold 2 - Follow me for _5. The collect buttons on the feature board will flash a random sequence of 5. Repeat the sequence and get _1 for each button you press in the correct order. May sometimes offer more than _5, but I have never seen it. Hold 3 - Select a bar. Random stop on one of the bar symbols for _3, _4 or _5. More often than not it gives you the _5, and you can then gamble hi/lo, so check the number first. FEATURE GAME The Great Escape probably offers more feature games per pound than any other machine I have played, so is good fun to play, but don't be suprised to get killed very often, even before a half decent collect has been offered. Occasionally the Great Escape light will be lit in red instead of yellow. If this occurs keep pressing as the machine will just keep landing on yellow cash squares, taking the cash tunnel upto the Super Jackpot Repeater. It may also land you on a Searchlight, in which case stop on anything other than Cooler or Gotcha. There are only 3 ways you can be killed on the feature game, but these pop up extremely often. There are 2 Gotcha squares which kill you instantly. On each side of the board there is 1 Cooler square, giving a random stop on one of the following:- Tunnel Collapse - Removes all lights from either the feature, cash or nudge tunnels. Caught - Game over! Forgery Bonus - Lights an extra Forger symbol. Transport - Lights an extra Transport symbol. Bonus Tunnel - Adds randomly to the feature, cash and/or nudge tunnels. Note that sometimes this will fill all tunnels almost up the top, and then kill you on the next move. Decoy - Extra life, you cannot be killed if you have a decoy. It is not unusual to lose your decoy and then be killed on the very next move though! Do or Die - You must correctly go higher or lower than the current number. The better wins you have available the more likely you are to be killed. 11 is probably the most dangerous number! When you land on a Searchlight hold the cancel button to slow down the trail. Obviously check the nudge situation as it may be worth getting those extra 2 nudges for a good win (nudges are up and down on this machine). It can be worth going for the Forger or Transport squares before the Searchlight, as more often than not it will give you the number to hit the Searchlight again, so you can light all the Forger or Transport symbols. The 3 cash symbols square on the bottom row of the board is also a good choice, as this puts you on _4 straight away. The forger and transport symbols are one of the best features to win. You have to match up a pair to get the relevant feature. _4 Win Repeater - obviously _4, but often repeats 2 or 3 times. Big Money - Randomly flashes from the _5 to Jackpot wins, but nearly always gives the _5. Does give a repeat chance though. Big Win Repeater - Spins in a random win of _5 or more, with a repeat chance. Super Series - Same as Win Streak from the Escape Committee. Jackpot - Jackpot, but no repeat, so some of the lower features can actually pay out more! Super Jackpot Repeater - Jackpot plus repeat. Doesn't very often, but when it does it normally repeats twice for _30. When you match a pair you get a 3 shot climb, so it is possible to start with the _4 Win Repeater and end up with Super Series. I had never seen this climb once in about 50 tries, but at the weekend it climbed, on 2 different machines, about 50% of the time. Not sure if there has been a chip upgrade or something?? The green tunnel features are as follows. I don't know what all of the features are, so if anyone can fill in the blanks. Multiplier - Flashes random wins, i.e. 20p * 8, _1.60 * 3, etc. Very quick, but can offer some decent wins. Look Around - Never collected it. Follow Me - Repeat the flash sequence shown on the hold buttons. Everytime I have taken this feature it pays _2 if you repeat the sequence correctly and nothing if you don't. Not sure if this value ever goes up. Bid For Freedom - 3 shot cash climb up the cash tunnel. Always seems to pay at least the current value of the cash tunnel. Knockout - Random number of knockouts, but usually offers at least a bar combination. Even Break - I have taken this once before but it wasn't very good. Can't remember what you had to do though. Heavens Above - Spins the reels. You need to select the highest value symbol above the winline on 1 of the reels by pressing the hold button. 3 of those symbols then spin in. Often gives Jackpot, lowest I have seen is _6. Don't worry, I don't think this feature will give you mixed sevens as many other machines do on this sort of feature. Stir Crazy - Never reached it! Up Against Time - Never reached it! Super Jackpot Repeater - Jackpot Repeater (duh!). Bar Codes Money Money Money Barcode :- Hold 1 - A random shot on the cash trail - cannot go hi / lo afterwards. Hold 2 - A random shot on the feature trail - cannot be exchanged. Hold 3 - A random shot on the nudge trail - not sure if you go hi / lo on this or not. Reverse barcode also bars, just press hold button 2 to respin the barcode in correctly. Great Escape Barcode :- Hold 1 - Stop the hi/lo reel and this will then count down from which ever number you stop, adding to either the feature, nudge or cash trails on the feature board each time. You then get to select the trail that you want to collect. If you manage to stop a high number it will normally offer a reasonable feature or _5 or _6. Alternatively I have stopped a 1 for the bottom feature, Multiplier, but this pays around _4. Hold 2 - Follow me for _5. The collect buttons on the feature board will flash a random sequence of 5. Repeat the sequence and get _1 for each button you press in the correct order. May sometimes offer more than _5, but I have never seen it. Hold 3 - Select a bar. Random stop on one of the bar symbols for _3, _4 or _5. More of ten than not it gives you the _5, and you can then gamble hi/lo, so check the number first. Jewel in the Crown I don't know how many other machines offer the 'NudgeBuster', but on JITC it's definitely worth checking when you get random nudges. Yesterday I had 2 nudges, needing 4 for the jackpot, but the nudgebuster meant I could get the jackpot with only 2 nudges. Handy! ;) Then later on, I got red 777 (I'd had a few pints, so I can't remember now if it was 3 holds or if I nudged it in), and it HELD after the win. How common is this these days? A cheat or not ? On the old Monopoly by MayGay a friend told me of this "cheat" which was this... Without putting any money in press in this order LEFT, RIGHT, MIDDLE, RIGHT, MIDDLE, RIGHT and he says the middle button will now flash.... ....he said then put 2.00uk pounds in....and your away....the thing he didn't say was what he did and i haven't tried it...does anybody know about this or even better made money out of it ??? Subject: [FRUIT] MORE BAR CODES Fantasy Football does not have them, it was probably going to give you nudges anyway. Eastenders doesn't have them, and for me, the 1-1-1 on the win line doesn't work either. On Cluedo, left hand gets you superhold (1 up, 1 down), middle gives you 5 quid if you can remember sequences, and right gives you I.D. or Super I.D. Parade. Incidentally, I believe MayGay wanted more people to know about the 3-2-1 feature, so in Great Escape, they put a symbol on the double bar in the middle, and on the single bar on the right, so even if you were just going for the ordinary feature, you might still get the barcode. Whenever I am playing and go for the bar-codes just by holding one of the bars, I get loads of strange looks and whenever the machine pays out, it is so loud that the whole pub stops talking. Don't think I am flavour of the month there. Barclone payout cycles Ok folks, I'll have my tuppence worth here I think. What I have noticed on barclone machines is that they play complete shite for ages and then all of a sudden pay out between 25-40 quid within 2 quid. I've done this twice on Ten out of ten in a pub nearby to where I stay. It usually starts off by giving you the 3-holds on the 2 jackpot barcrest man. Next time it will give you a skill stop up the trail, stop it on it's first cycle as it goes high. You will usually get about red 7's for 7 or 8 quid, it usually lets you gamble up to the jackie. Soon it may also give you another red 7's win by flashing up the cancel button quickly. It will probably not let you win this gamble but will offer an exchange onto mega cash if you lose. This can be good for anything between 5 and 25 quid. Hope this helps. I usually wait until people have put in loads and then go for the kill. I would never walk straight up to this fruitie (or any of this type of clone) and play it the minute I got into the pub as you just can't tell. You may be unlucky and the person who puts a quid in while you are watching the machine scoops the lot but that's the luck of the gamble, your more likely to win by watching and waiting. Here ends the file. There are a few unanswered questions in there which some people may be able to answer and I hope that it helps fellow players out there. This information was taken from emails posted to Ash's list last year and I may have missed some good hints as I didn't save every mail unfortunately. I have shortened the file to try and only include hints and any information contained in here (especially that regarding physically removing money from machines) does not necessarily mean I have done the tricks mentioned. Thanks to everyone who helped to contribute to this file by posting to Ash's list. Please lets have everyone post their tips. I've had a lot of offers of info from people offering me tips for this file. So I say to you to post them to the list as I don't have time to work on this anymore. Hope you enjoy Later Dave *************************************************************************** **************************** End FRUIT 3 ********************************** *************************************************************************** Hints and Tips... Compiled by Rupert Squires Super Soccer tips: Three 1's or three 2's will get you the feature Always nudge in numbers for the bonus - If the tip light fashes (Left hand side) HOLD down the Exchange number button (by Low) and the Bonus will slow down - Take End Shot you can use the Same button to slow it down. When you get the feature, the tip may light briefly - this means that if you get on Take a shot or direct free kick you can use the Exchange number button to slow it down - a £10 every time!! Super Pots - Maygay I'm starting to get somewhere on this machine. Here are my tips. When you get on the nudges I usually collect a low win like £1.00 ,£1.20,£1.60. I've managed to get blue sevens off nudges but it rips me off on everything else. The exchange number can be worked out by looking at the list of numbers by the exchange number. So an 8 goes to 12 and a 3 goes to a 1. Swapping a pot gives you the exchange number back, so by collecting a low win and swapping back between money and features so can get quite high up. When you get a bonus on the win line always hold it incase you get a respin. The cancel button slows down the skill stop. The features I go for are stop a fruit, choose a win and notation. Notation is my favourite as it sometimes goes up to £16.00. I got the cash pot this lunch time. The machine span in a cash pot symbol on the left reel with a hold. I held the left reel and then the cash pot span in on the middle reel with a hold. After holding the left and middle reel the third cash pot symbol then span in (I think somebody has already mentioned this). I'm sure there is something else on this machine. On the left hand side there is a picture a woman with 4 stars above here head. Sometimes these stars are light and sometimes they are not. Does anybody know the significance of this? Cluedo Super Sleuth Anyway, if you get the 'Secret Passage' option on the Magnifying Glass and it's takes you to the room at the top right hand corner of the feauture board (sorry, can't remember the Cluedo board from when I was then make sure you accept the secret passage. It will fire you all round the board and give you all the weapons and take you into the 'Gold Room' or whatever it's called. Not that this guarantees you owt - I did this five times, and every time except one it gave me 2 quid plus repeat. Eastenders On eastenders look out for three 1's on the winline, and press exchange, you should win about 7 quid. Place Your Bets Basically - all of these so called gamble features to work up the board are fixed. Therefore, rather than sit there trying to time it (unless on a TRUE SKILL) - you can just hold down START/GAMBLE until it either takes you to the top, or makes you lose (but of course, you can still collect whatever it stops on). I'd always recommend checking the reels so you can see if it is worth taking skill nudges, golden hold etc. Oh, and if the Barcrest coin flashes - take the feature. If it also allows you to select the feature on skill (sometimes it does this when you work your way up), you're set! Ten Out of Ten Read Place your Bets first!One word of warning with holding down the START key on TEN OUT OF TEN (against say Place Your Bets) is you really want to check the features it offers each time. So many times, I've held down START and missed GOLDEN HOLD or PICK A WIN [both usually good, although Golden Hold is only any good if there is something on the reels worth having). Big Wheel On The Big Wheel (similar to Casino Crazy), when you're on the wheel, if the hub flashes once after every roll of the dice, you'll always get the Jackpot eventually (usually by the ride ticket feature). Also, the Copy Cat feature is an easy fiver every time, as long as you're sober. PS Both times I've taken the Cashpot, it's spun in the Jackpot after only a quid or two. Anyone care to confirm this? Trivial Pursuit If you get the cheese thing on the middle reel hit 1-3-2 for Win Series - this usually gives a good win streak of 5 to 25 pounds! (It's not the yellow wedge, but more like the escape comitte as found on The Great Escape). Fast Track If you get the Keycode bonus on Fasttrack, hit 2,3,1 (I *think*), which gives you the feature where it flashes 1,1,1 2,2,2 3,3,3 etc on the LED's below the reels. Stop it on 1,1,1 for Jackpot Repeater. This often repeats 2/3 times. Super Pots For the 3-2-1 barcode on the win line, the machine sometimes spins in the 2 and 1 bar with a hold. Hold the 2 and 1 and the 3 bar usually spins in on the left hand reel. I had this twice yesterday. Indiana Jones Always collect if you land on the Holy Grail ( and carefully follow the patterns and repeat.) Also with the leap of faith the old trick of holding down cancel while your doing this to 'SLOW' the thing down (£10 agian) Pot Black - Barcrest If you light up six pound symbols on the matrix, as shown below, you can enter in a secret code. By pressing reel 3, reel 2 and reel 1 in that order will give you six shots! If so - you get the "trick shot" bonus by getting pound signs as; ££- £-£ Win Line -££ Monopoly 60 If you land on Community Chest or Chance, then quickly find your dice throw in the list at the side, and look at the next one up in the list. If you are asked to throw a double to avoid going to jail, and the throw above your current one is a double, just hold the start button before the dice spins and it will drop in. However it does stop where you hit it, not where it wants to thus we can exploit this as follows: The target area is the 12 and 2 as they are only 2 apart i.e. the reel is structured like this: 3 LOSE 2 WIN 1 LOSE 12 WIN 11 LOSE If you land on Just Visiting and then type in the following code it activates a feature called "Sets Apeal" I the code is 2,1,3 This gives you sets appeal could be any thing form £1.00 to £8.00 repeater probally the best feature on this machine but remember you only get one chance to enter the code.. And on the club monopoly machine, I found that holding cancel down when I got sent to jail lead to me getting a chance to get out. I don't know if this happens all the time because I was only playing it for a couple of hours. Holds then Nudges... feature Anything Anything Anything feature feature Win Line If you hold all 3 in the above pattern, you get a nudge next go. This applies to Monte Carlo, Las Vegas, Hot Rod and some Snakes and Ladders. Viva Espania - 5p fruit machine If you land on the board on your last credit and then land on "Duty Free" (you can not carry on as the machine automatically picks it for you) look out for "had your quota" on the disply. If it does not come up and everything stops and the collect button flashes like it does when you are out of credits, put in a 10p (or the smallest coin you've got) and you will get another turn on duty free.Watch out for other people just taking the money and walking away, once this guy was on LUXURY duty free and he just took his money. So I put in a 10p and stopped it on #6.00. TIP for Old machine : Cops and Robbers (£3, £4, £6, £8 and £10 jackpots). If you land on 'Caught Red Handed', and informer lights up - keep going until you get the jackpot, or if you feel like pushing for a pattern then collect just before you get a token win (i.e. £2.80 or £3.80 depending on the machine), because you cannot lose once that is lit. If you get the feature 'Cop The Lot', then collect it - its the jackpot. Always look for holds after playing the game, whether you win or lose on the board it frequently gives holds (unless its 5p a go) to drop you in again. Oh, one final thing. This machine has a cherry surprise of its own. If the reels have 2 cherries on the win line, and one above, as shown below. Seven Cherry Seven Cherry Bar Cherry Win Line and you get holds, then hold all 3 as 9 times out of 10 you will then get a nudge (not applicable to 200 ukp jackpot machines). Nudge Explosion This may be a common Ace feature I didn't know about but... When gambling up the features, I noticed that pressing cancel caused the machine to tell me how much money I would win if I took the feature rather than gambling. Obviously this doesn't work on all features i.e. not on those where it's up to you to make choices about what you get (super hold is one such example.) Cash Bowl When using the 'hotshot' bonus feature, keep holding the button down until you are ready to go for the 99 nudges then go for it. The few seconds I get to prepare have allowed me to hit 99 nudges every time. The next problem is whether to take the Jackpot repeater or the top feature (win streak I think). Can't really say which is the better of the two apart from the jackpot is obviously a tenner in the bank... As to the 1-2-3 bit, especially useful for the golden hold feature, although if I go for cash it tends to throw 2 quid at me. Also, check for the cash bowl symbols when you have the option of taking win searcher (usually a bit dull) as I have seen several jackpots thrown away because nobody even looks at the bottom feature, and goes for something else. Fruit Explosion This machine will HOLD after a nudge for 5/6/7/8 quid wins so try for them if its in the mood - also always go for the cherries 'Mystery Win' (As above). If the machine is ready it will give high mystery wins. Fight Night. Barcode works, take reel 2 for money shooting type feature. Hold cancel on skill stops for nudges (like Fruit Explosion) sometimes on Ref's Desicion too. Good bit: Notice on the feature glass (the top one for those not 'in the know'!!!) just inside the ring there are 5ish options, like Win Series, Big Money etc...if you are offered these on a skillstop or in the main feature where you choose shots and then choose fe ature, tap in the combination behind the words, Win Series etc on the Hold buttons, you will notice eact buttons has a different coloures star on it, this ais a common feature on Maygay's now. Boulderdash DOES have an invincible mode....The Boulderdash Logo at the top flashes and the machine "squawks". It will then go along on all the +cash symbols to the Jackie. Las Vega Stip Anyone noticed the Seven Stepper feature? This is actually very good for such a low feature, and it is very easy to land on it, with the Taxi. Basically, this feature gives you the option to step the reels up or down and it will then match the closest 3 sevens. 3 Blue sevens for 4 quid are often there, and very often, 6 quid is there. The best bit is, if it encounters a win whilst stepping the reels, it will give you that win, so if you have 3 jackpot either above or below the line with no sevens on the winline, then take this, step the reels the appropriate way, and a tenner is yours. The first time I took this as I had 3 blue sevens above the winline, so I thought I'd take it incase it gave me that. It then gave the step reels up/down option, and 3 jackpot symbols where sitting nicely below the winline. I stepped up, and got it. Since then, this feature has proved very useful! Let the Good Times Roll. When you get boost on the BONUS feature (on the reels), hold down the Cancel button for another go, but you lose the orignal BOOST (doesn't work on all machines). Frankie Dettories Lucky 7 If you get a hold on 2 yellow bars it very often brings them in and that if you get the round robin feature when you have a jackpot symbol in the bottom line of reel 3 you get the jackpot. Also when you exchange to the feature if the words JACKPOT on the four columns (eg superhold/nudges etc) flash it will let you continue round the board and give you the jackpot. Achtung Baby Always take the macbeth feature a guaranteed £30 quid, when skill shot comes up then always land on Argentina as this will magic powers of the Kingsacre which should see you to the JACKPOT!! !!!! END OF FILE !!!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back To Index