UK fruit machine market under the spotlight
Posted by Gavin Smith on 11 Jun 2009 at 08:06
Just about all of us have tried our hands at one form of casino game or another, from home versions of blackjack via 'pontoon' to a few hands of a form of poker with friends.
One very common form of gaming appears to be doing really quite well during the current UK financial crisis - the fruit machine, which in Britain alone accounts for hundreds of thousands of units.
The gaming machine sector has changed dramatically over the last 10 years, with formats now available on people's computers over the internet, through their television set-top boxes, and through mobile devices. Unlimited jackpots have also arrived to entice gamers.
According to the Daily Mail report, the biggest UK jackpot for a fruit machine stands at £2,086,585 won by a 49-year-old man last November.
The Daily Mail report added the market for fruit machines has increased 15 per cent in the last 12 months, as gamers go for a flutter in not just casinos, but some of the other common hideouts of the 'gambler' - pubs, taxi offices, amusement arcades and fast food joints.
Altogether, the machines make their owners 2.17 billion, according to the newspaper's report on the phenomenon.
In his journey into the world of the fruit machine Mail reporter Phil Robinson discovered some of the tricks of the trade, including what is known as 'attract mode', which is when a machine emits a number of noises when not in use in order to encourage someone to play it.
He also took a look at how the industry has developed and some of the payout percentages for some machines – which in some cases have attracted controversy.
The paper adds manufacturers in the UK say many machines pay out 95 per cent of what is paid into them over their lifetime - although this can be as low as 70 per cent with certain devices.
Not only are machines popular with pub landlords but also with casinos, who favour their added edge which can be much higher than table games.
Robinson also headed into the hub of one of the UK's biggest manufacturers of fruit machines - JPM in the Midlands. He took a look at the inner workings of the company, noting that the firm employs not only engineers and test gamers, but mathematicians and computer programmers. Their job is to "handle the intellectually demanding work of designing mathematically complex games to fit inside electronically complex cabinets".
Quoted by the paper, director Duncan Cheadle said: "If we are designing a game for Spain, we have professional gamers on the payroll who will travel to the country and play the games there. They'll come back and we will storyboard our own game. After that the statisticians and programmers will create the maths, then the artists will work on the look and the graphics.
"A software developer will create the actual game play. It costs about £250,000 to research, develop and fund a new game."
The origin of the slot machine can be traced back to the United States where early versions included the big pull lever and a simple three-wheel format known as the one-armed bandit.
These days elaborate themes are common and computer graphics are used to show off machines which can be based around the likes of television shows.
Also quoted in the report is Las Vegas university professor and actuary Michael Shackleford, who sheds some light on the random number generators which are behind many of the more modern machines.
He said: "The way any machine works is that a random number generator will pick random numbers and map them to a position on the "reel strips" in the computer memory."
"The machine's outcomes are determined by random numbers and every time you play a machine the odds are exactly the same. It's a myth that the slot machine will tighten up after it has hit the jackpot, or that it will be loose if it hasn't been paying. This is not true. It's like spinning a roulette wheel. Every time you play the odds are the same."
