In the back of Viz & like-minded lad magazines, you often see adverts offering a booklet describing the tricks and secrets of many different fruit machines, thus enabling you to get huge winnings by knowing when to hold, nudge, etc. Has anyone ever bought one of these, and if so, have you had any luck with it?
Perhaps I am an ignoramus, but what you’ve written seems totally incomprehensible to this (above average, of course) American. What the @!$! is a fruit machine? Is it like a slot machine? What’s “Viz”? is it like “Maxim” or like “Playboy” or like “Hustler” (ie Tame, Suggestive or Lewd, as the Leather Goddesses of Phobos once said…)
If indeed you are talking about slot machines, I would suspect the information you are referring to is less than reliable.
Almost all slot machines are electronic. The outcome is determined by a random-number generator in a computer chip; unless you can somehow directly affect electrical or quantum signals, it’s unlikely you can improve the outcome.
AFAIK, all localities that permit slot machines also make it illegal to interfere with their correct (i.e. random) operation.
In short the information is almost certainly ineffective, and, if effective, illegal.
Slots are called fruit machines in the UK
I know someone who bought one of those books, but the info only related to pretty old machines, but when the guy got to put the info to the test it seemed to work, he won quite a bit.
Viz is nothing like Playboy etc. It’s a lunatic British publication, you can get a taste for it at http://www.viz.co.uk/
unfortunately the site doesnt quite capture the feel of the thing itself, which is very funny indeed.
These slot machine books do not interfere with the machine in any illegal way, but use hidden cheats to maximise your winnings.
I remember a friend of mine had a book titled something stupid like ‘2000 great secrets revealed’ that had the following advice for slots:
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Play machines that are in high traffic areas, specifically bordering the gaming tables, buffet areas, etc. Supposedly the payouts occur more often on these machines because the casinos want to attract attention to them. This makes it seem like a better winning prospect then whatever the non-slot player is doing at the moment. No one wants to play a machine when they walk by and see a pissed off guy losing all his money so they supposedly make these machines ‘easier’. (sounds somewhat logical)
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Machines that have a single payline are more likely to hit if there is a cherry on or just below the payline in the center column (sounds like bullshit)
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Machines generally have ‘pay cycles’ and so you should bet more agressively (i.e. more coins per spin) immediately after hitting a small jackpot to increase your overall likelihood of a big win (also sounds like bullshit)
The advice is worth what you pay for it (i.e. nothing) but at least this hopefully saved you the $15.95 or whatever that stupid book costs.
P.S. O.k. I get that fruit machine=slot machine in the U.K. but what the hell is ‘holding’ and ‘nudging’?
Holding = when the machine allows you to prevent one or more reels from spinning.
Nudging = when the machine allows you move a reel up or down by one ‘fruit’.